Music Roundup

Thoughts on some music releases:



Thoughts on some music releases:

The Joy Formidable, Wolf's Law:  I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would- this is a hard-rocking album, but stocked with some catchy tunes ("The Maw Maw Song" was especially hard to get out of my head) and some quieter ones ("Silent Treatment").  My favorite was "Forest Serenade", a blend of emotion and energy.  The Joy Formidable pretty much stayed on the side of catchy over cheesy, but there are a few overly repetitive songs (such as "This Ladder is Ours").

Rating:  0.25








Yo La Tengo:  Fade

Not sure what it is about tedious opening tracks this month, but Yo La Tengo's Fade begins with an OK opening tune that's about two minutes too long.  The next two songs are softly sung-spoken, and I normally am not a fan of fuzzy vocals, but they manage to pull it off pretty effectively.  Two songs in the middle of the album made this worth the listen:  "Stupid Things", which starts out with a mellow guitar over a more electronic sound and has a dreamy feel to it, and "I'll Be Around", which again is very mellow but haunting.  Fade, well, it fizzles out near the end, but overall is worth a listen.

Rating:  0.25






Paul McCartney, Kisses On The Bottom


On Kisses On The Bottom, Paul McCartney sings standards that he listened to during childhood.  They're older songs, but McCartney manages not to sound too old himself (other than "Inchworm", but I don't think anyone would avoid sounding old on it).  There are a couple of his compositions as well (like "My Valentine", one of the best tracks).  This is a very, very deliberately paced album, and though McCartney sounds great, it's a bit too pokey for me to highly recommend.

Rating: 0.00.