March Music Madness

I've purchased way too much music this past month--I fully admit I've been binging. But a lot of great stuff came out, some of which I've already written about here. Below are some mini-reviews and a list (in general order of not-my-favorite to favorite) of most of the stuff I've been listening to that was released in the month of March. Albums that have already been reviewed on this blog will not get much of a review, just my oh-so-clever "verdicts".

12) British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?
This album's just not doing much for me. Verdict: Like eating Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream. It might be "high quality," but it's still just vanilla.

11) Punch Brothers - Punch
This album is the Next Big Project from Chris Thile, the very talented mandolin player from the now defunct Nickel Creek. The musicianship here is incredible, but I'm only sporadically in a blue grass mood. There's definitely a lot of promise here, but I know this one won't get a lot of play time. Verdict: Like listening to something Doc Watson-y, but with 20-something angst.

10) The Mountain Goats - Heretic Pride
John Darnielle is an excellent song writer, yes. But his music isn't particularly creative, and his voice is downright terrible. There are, however, some great nerdcentric songs here, including "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," How to Embrace a Swamp Creature," and "Michael Myers Resplendent." Yet I still think he peaked with Tallahassee and everything since then has just been pretty OK for the most part. Verdict: Like struggling to read a brilliant poem that has been scrawled in chicken scratch handwriting on wet newspaper.

9) Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
This album hasn't grown on me as well as I'd hoped it would. I'll stick by my initial review--good, but not really good. Verdict: Like listening to either of the last two Malkmus albums.

8) Flogging Molly - Float
I remain pleasantly surprised by this one and continue to enjoy it. Verdict: Like learning that your favorite Irish pub not only pours a perfect pint, but also serves up mean bowl of stew.

7) Elf Power - In a Cave
I've spent the last six or seven years trying to get people into Elf Power, but as far as I know I haven't won over any converts. They're a consistently good band from the old Elephant 6 Collective (wow, I'm an official pretentious music blogger now for mentioning that!), and I'd rank this album better than their last (Back to the Web) and nearly as good as their 2004 release, Walking With the Beggar Boys. I'd recommend The Winter is Coming or A Dream in Sound before this album to Elf Power newcomers, but this is a little indie pop bit of fun with the usual multiple instruments and catchy hooks. Verdict: Like visiting an old friend who's stories are kind of familiar, but thoroughly entertaining nonetheless.

6) The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion
I ended up getting this album (and I have to confess, there's a good chance it came out before March) because of the song "Kenya Dig it?" It pretty much captures the tone of the whole album, which is kind of Animal Collective-y, but in my opinion, much more accessible. And Pitchfork gave it an 8.3, for what its worth. Verdict: Like getting dragged to go see some "experimental" band and grudgingly realizing you really like it.

5) The Ditty Bops - Summer Rains
The Ditty Bops is another group I'd really like more people to discover, but it's been a hard sell. They got some publicity last year for touring across the country on bicycles, but hey, their music's pretty good, too. As their name suggests, their songs are pretty much ditties, but they're fun. Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett harmonize beautifully together, and they just really seem like they're having a good time. Oh, and they're also pretty cute (see the video from my favorite track on the album, "I Stole Your Wishes"). In any case, this is the perfect spring album--any winter blues I still had disappeared upon hearing it. Verdict: Like walking into a vintage clothing store and realizing that it's where all the cute girls in the neighborhood hang out (yeah, sometimes I don't understand my verdicts either).


The following three albums tie for second place!

2c) The Kills - Midnight Boom
Though I'm not quite as enthusiastic about this album as Clyde Squid, I will acknowledge that it's excellent. I will definitely seek out their earlier stuff. As much as I like a group like The Ditty Bops, I would not drive down the street blasting them out the car windows. I could definitely do that with The Kills. Verdict: Like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The White Stripes had a love child.


2b) The Dodos - Visiter
If I haven't already convinced people that The Dodos are a band to check out with this post, or with my recent review of their new album (which includes its verdict), then I give up.

2a) She & Him - Volume One
When I first heard about this album from M. Ward and the actress Zooey Deschanel, I posted about it because I thought it sounded pretty cool. I took the post down relatively quickly because I was kind of embarrassed by my own enthusiasm for what could have been an actress's ego project. It turns out that my enthusiasm was justified: this album is really friggin' good. The songs, all of which were written by Deschanel with the exception of a few covers, tend to have a bit of a retro feel to them--think Motown in its hay day. Deschanel is not a phenomenal singer, but her voice is pretty and comfortable and I definitely don't get tired of hearing it. You don't hear a lot of M. Ward on here, but his careful production and guitar playing is always evident. From the sweet and eerily catch first track, "Sentimental Heart" to the closer, "Sweet Darlin'", I'm truly impressed with this album. Verdict: Like finally getting to meet the cutest girl in school and realizing that she's also wicked smart, really nice, and has a great sense of humor.

1)Jim White - Transnormal Skiperoo
Still a strong contender for my favorite album of the year so far. Verdict: Like going to a Carolina pig pickin' with your best friends on a perfect southern day, hearing stories that make you laugh and cry, and going home really, really happy.