Every Tuesday is an exciting new day for music! And an exciting day to write about it. Here are a few selections worth checking out (or avoiding), with links to articles, reviews, videos and anything else the Internet could provide...Happy Listening!
I apologize for my tardiness. Here is the week of 7/24 as well as my review of Channel Orange from week of 7/17... ~PL
I apologize for my tardiness. Here is the week of 7/24 as well as my review of Channel Orange from week of 7/17... ~PL
New Releases... 7/24/2012
Passion Pit - Gossamer
Review: Huffington Post
Gossamer is one of those albums you just have to DANCE to, you have no choice. Equal parts indie darling and synth nostalgia, in this album you have the whole package. A danceable album that hits the sophomore mark.
I have loved Passion Pit for a few years now, anxiously awaiting this release and I can say it was not only worth the wait, but worth the hype that would surround it. Listen to this album with a pair of seriously amazing headphones or on real speakers and you will hear what this band is all about, sound. It's not just music, it's an experience!
Tracks: Take A Walk, Mirrored Sea, Love Is Greed
MoZella - The Brian Holland Sessions
Review: Vintage Vinyl News
If Duffy had a love child with a combination of every Detroit 'The' group from the 50s, their child would be MoZella.
With a little help from producer/writer Brian Holland, MoZella puts out one hell of a record. The vibe is 50s Motown, with a modern twist, her VOICE! There are times I long for the innocence of the music from the 50s. When it was all about subtle inuendo and necking or going steady. This album brings back that feeling of purity to music! Call me old-fashioned (note: I am SO not old enough to have experienced the music of the 50s, but I have parents who did and passed on their love for the music from this amazing decade to me), but I wish artists would look to the good of our musical past to find inspiration for the music we hear today. A little more Brenda Lee and a little less whore would be a start...
Tracks: Another You, Baby Save Me, I'm In Love Again
New Releases...7/17/2012
Frank Ocean - Channel Orange
Review: AV Club
A little more than a year after the release of his hugely successful Nostalgia, Ultra mixtape (February of 2011), Frank Ocean would release his first full length, Channel Orange, first as an iTunes exclusive July 10th and then again on July 17th in physical form. Shortly before the iTunes release, Ocean made headlines by releasing the liner notes to Channel Orange on his Tumblr page prior to it's release, dedicating the album to the first person he was ever in love with, a man.
"...I don't have any secrets that I need kept anymore...I feel like a free man..." - Frank Ocean Tumblr
Frank Ocean is something special. Channel Orange is something special. The entire listening experience is something special. I hadn't felt this level of anticipation for a new release in I can't even tell you how long. Would it live up to the mixtape I loved so much?
When I heard "Nature Feels," off Nostalgia, Ultra for the first time, I was stunned. It is rare that a song could excite me as much as this song did. I didn't ignore the feeling and immediately downloaded the free mixtape online. It was by no means a disappointment. Brilliant. From start to finish. There isn't a bad song in the lot. Using samples from Coldplay, The Eagles and MGMT (to name a few) seemed so extraordinary. Old, yet refreshed and new. I found myself discovering nuances in each track I hadn't heard the first 100 times I listened. To me, Nostalgia, Ultra solidified Ocean's place in my heart and music, period.
After the first listen of Channel Orange, I was sure I didn't hear anything that would or could surpass Nostalgia, Ultra. And then I stopped comparing. I had to remind myself that this wasn't Nostalgia. It was something different. It was something different from the same artist, that already proved once he had something I thought was worth listening to, so I should just his voice and his vision and just listen. When the comparisons finally stopped, what I found was a completely amazing piece of work that I would come to love just as much as Nostalgia.
This album will stand the test of time, even if people don't realize it now. I look forward to getting to know Frank Ocean over the course of what I can only imagine will be a lengthy career.
Tracks: Thinking About You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Lost
When I heard "Nature Feels," off Nostalgia, Ultra for the first time, I was stunned. It is rare that a song could excite me as much as this song did. I didn't ignore the feeling and immediately downloaded the free mixtape online. It was by no means a disappointment. Brilliant. From start to finish. There isn't a bad song in the lot. Using samples from Coldplay, The Eagles and MGMT (to name a few) seemed so extraordinary. Old, yet refreshed and new. I found myself discovering nuances in each track I hadn't heard the first 100 times I listened. To me, Nostalgia, Ultra solidified Ocean's place in my heart and music, period.
After the first listen of Channel Orange, I was sure I didn't hear anything that would or could surpass Nostalgia, Ultra. And then I stopped comparing. I had to remind myself that this wasn't Nostalgia. It was something different. It was something different from the same artist, that already proved once he had something I thought was worth listening to, so I should just his voice and his vision and just listen. When the comparisons finally stopped, what I found was a completely amazing piece of work that I would come to love just as much as Nostalgia.
This album will stand the test of time, even if people don't realize it now. I look forward to getting to know Frank Ocean over the course of what I can only imagine will be a lengthy career.
Tracks: Thinking About You, Sweet Life, Super Rich Kids, Lost
