Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle

Blonde Redhead - Penny Sparkle (4AD) released 13th September 2010


Blonde Redhead are a Alternative Rock band from New York. They've been around for nearly 20 years and often compared to Sonic Youth. Named after a DNA song, Blonde Redhead offer dreamy psychedelic-tinged rock music. After reading pitchfork's review of newly released "Penny Sparkle" I felt it was way too opinonated and I could do a better job.


"Penny Sparkle" follows there usual dream-pop sound but is a lot more electronic, sounding very 80's. The vocals are soft, sexy and ethreal; the overall sound of this album is a lot more quiet than previous work and less Sonic Youth-esque. I think fans of Beach House will like this album, it's got a lot to offer. Guitars and synths build walls of sound, creating very eerie dreamy sounds, almost sounding like "Fever Ray" though not that eerie (some of the producers on Fever Ray's album are also on this).


There's more drum machines than on last album "23", another reason why I think Beach House fans will like it. Vocals are a lush lullaby of echoes and whispers, think a mix of Rachel Goswell and Björk; they heighten the atmosphere on this album, which is really mellow. Despite pitchfork labelling this "chillwave" (as they like to give everything a label), it's far from, this is a mellow dream pop which is synth-heavy and sexy. Though maybe not there best work and definitley not there most experimental, this is definitely a solid album with good songwriting. You can hear the influences on it too, a fusion of Depeche Mode and My Bloody Valentine. Definitely worth a go if you'd like a fresh dream-pop album with plenty of synths.


7/10


Here's there brand new video "Not Getting There".

Villagers - Becoming A Jackal Album Review

Villagers - Becoming A Jackal



Villagers are an irish indie-folk band. They've played several festivals and were nominated for the mercury prize. So, what's so good about Villagers?



"Becoming a Jackal" is overall a mellow folk album, great lyrically and frontman O'Brien is a talented guy, doing alot of the instrumentation on the tracks himself. There's a very dark theme to this album, it's all quite depressing; the only upbeat track really is "The Pact-I'll be your fever". None-the-less this album is fairly interesting. Mainly acoustic instrumentation as you'd imagine, from a folk sounding artist, with some catchy riffs and enticing vocals.

Content-wise, alot of the songs to me sound pretty similar, There's potential in it but it's like the band doesn't have anything new to offer. They don't sound like any other bands really either, but thats not exactly a good thing, it's like they have the blueprint to something and they're not doing much more to it. If Villagers were more experimental I think they'd appeal more to me, but hey, they appeal to alot of other people, just not clicking with me. I'm not saying they're bad, or good. I really don't have an opinion. Lyricaly it's great, and overall it's a good folk/indie album, if only they had more variety.


So I'd recommend you give it a go, they're not my cup of tea. But if you like bands like Mumford and Sons or a dark folk album; give it a go!



5/10