The Duckworth Lewis Method - The Duckworth Lewis Method



Unique, rather interesting Beatles/classical combination by a band with a very strange name. Not bad.

The Vivian Girls - Everything Goes Wrong

Couldn't find a video for this one, but if you liked their debut, check out The Vivian Girls' new album. It's a lot darker than their previous album and lacks some of the harmonious singing. It also shows them leaving the shoegaze type sound and heading more towards punk. But they are still the fuzzy, lo-fi, punk girl trio that we expect, and they've made another great album.

Massive Attack - Splitting the Atom EP

YouTube - Massive Attack - Splitting The Atom (from Splitting the Atom EP)

I can't embed the video because the link was removed from youtube by request. The song there is Splitting the Atom from the new Massive Attack EP. Sadly the album was pushed back another year, so this is what they gave us instead. At least they released something. Check it out.

Super Furry Animals - Dark Days/Light Years



Probably the best psychedelic/experimental indie rock band around. They kick ass. They're back with a new album in typical SFA style, leaving you guessing what's going to come next. That's probably what I like most about these guys, their songs all sound so different you have no idea what to expect. This is one of my favorites of this year for sure.

Aww gee, Massive Attack put the album back another year? Bugger, I was really looking forward to it :( Still, at least they've put something out I guess.

Had no idea that SFA had a new album either, so all might not be lost for this year's music eh :D Amazing band, as you say. I'll definitely be having a lookout for their new one.

Yeah the Massive Attack news was certainly a disappointment, though I'm not as big a fan of them as some. I was really hoping their new album would be out soon though, it's been quite a while. As for Super Furry Animals, it's wonderful... but can they possibly make something that isn't?

Here's a few more for everyone.

Japandroids - Post Nothing



The debut album of noisy garage rockers Japandroids is another favorite of mine this year. The band consists of just a guitar and drums, and they make up for the lack of other instruments by playing loud and hard. It's a pretty funny album if you listen to it; not serious at all but another one that's a lot of fun to listen to.

The Clean - Mister Pop

I couldn't find a video for this one, but this is a new release that came out this week from The Clean, a punk band from New Zealand. This is not a punk album though, they've gone very poppy with their sound and create some interesting post punk/pop sounding music on this album. It works out pretty well, not going to be at the top of anyone's list for the year but certainly an enjoyable listen.

Noise Addict - it was never about the audience

Noise Addict just released a new album! Not only that, the lineup now consists of Ben Lee, and Lara Meyerratken, but also Lou Barlow. Could it be any better? Yep, it's free too. Get it from their website. The idea behind the band is that they just set out mics in Ben's bedroom and record. That's it. And believe it or not, it's actually an amazingly good album. I was sort of expecting a piece of crap, to be perfectly honest with you, but this is actually going to be in my top albums of the year, without a doubt. This is a project straight out of the indie vaults of the 90s, and from looking at their website the band gives off the feel these days of being a group of friends trying to give the people of today some good old fashioned indie rock. In fact, Ben simply says "here is the new Noise Addict album "it was never about the audience". its the first Noise Addict album in about 14 years. it felt like time for a new one." A great album from some great musicians that just want people to have good music to listen to. What surprises me the most about this is that these 3 can just sit down, have a good time writing some simple songs, and actually produce something better than what the vast majority of new bands coming out these days can do. Hmm, I think that says something...

Rubik - Dada Bandits



That's Wasteland of Rubik's new album, Dada Bandits. It initially came out in April, but I completely ignored it and it was just released Tuesday here overseas (US), so I thought I'd give it a chance. Their debut was alright, it reminded me a lot of OK Computer which wasn't too good crossed with AC. This album, however, is a huge improvement. On my first listen, up through the first half, I was seriously considering it for best album of the year. Sadly, the last 5 songs just can't keep up with the first 6. That said, this is still a fantastic album, with lots of stuff going on and major diverstiy in the songs. It's a lot more upbeat than their first, and you know you're in for a treat on Goji Berries - the song contains a very, very Animal Collective like riff that suddenly switches to harsh noise and screams for a few seconds, and back again as if nothing had happened. ****ing awesome. I wish they had done a little more with the noise breaks in that song, but it's still a really good album. Check it out if you like Animal Collective, Flaming Lips, and other Swedish pop stuff like Seabear or Sin Fang Bous.

Mouse on the Keys - An Anxious Object



If you like any type of jazz, post rock, or anything with piano, you have to listen to this. I found this completely randomly on some blog I was looking at. I think it's a Japanese post rock band, and they focus heavily on use of a keyboard playing jazzy melodies with drums beating complicated rock rhythms in the background. It keeps you guessing, rarely ever repeating anything very much, so that you never know where they are going to go next. Absolutely fantastic listen, I've got it on repeat right now.

The Raveonettes - In & Out of Control



****ing fantastic. I really enjoyed this, I think the Raveonettes bested everyone else in this genre. But just a heads up, if you don't know anything about the band, they are dark. I'm probably a little biased on this one, that song (Last Dance) struck particularly close to home for this year. Enjoy though, again ask if you want.

I really love the Raveonettes although all I have is Pretty In Black. What else do you think I should get?

Oh **** bitches I'm back to my journal. The original idea for this didn't work, no one took interest probably because I picked a bunch of ****ty bands to put up and didn't really put any time into it, just wrote 30 second random posts about the music using the words fantastic and great as many times as I could.

So now, upon resurrection of the thread, I intend to start writing real reviews of my favorite albums of the year. I'd say I'm going to do my top 100 list for the year, but that won't happen. Plus 100 is a lot of albums, the end of the list would probably be boring to write about. Instead I'll just do the ones I really like in no order, just as I feel like listening to them and writing about them. To kick things off, I'll put a review of something up in a bit; I have nothing better to do except for maybe my job.