Watch/Listen to The Format’s AOL video podcast set here.
It is rather difficult to describe the style of Mother Mother’s new album, Touch Up. It is full of different styles crossing numerous genres. Touch Up carries a very witty and poppy vibe similar to Tilly and The Wall; however, in addition, the record also borrows elements from folk, country, and even hip-hop. Although at times, this interplaying of different styles does make the album a little too scattered, Touch Up is overall a fine album.
According to Pitchfork, Girl Talk and Dan Deacon will embark on a North American tour together this fall.
On the surface, In Debt To by Napoleon IIIrd sounds like an anthem rock album; however, in reality, although there are songs with anthem like characteristics, In Debt To is an extremely complex and multi-layered album. The themes of a heroic revolution and celebrating a conscious mindset occur throughout the record. "This Is My Call To Arms" begins the uprising with, “All we do is evolution and how we evolve depends upon the choice we mace, brace for disaster... don’t live your life through the TV”. Napoleon IIIrd then provides guidance to the listeners in "The Conformist Takes It All": "Consistency and conformity in this modern world will put you on the top of the pile... listen to what I say, average is not the best you can do..." and similarly in "Hit Schmooze For Me": "this is not my life, this is just my day job, the way I pay the rent." Napoleon IIIrd’s In Debt To is a reality check album, the songs encourage people to speak and live freely without holding back. The record is brilliant in every level: from the highly textualized instrumentations to the thought-provoking lyrics, it is surely one of the most innovative records of the year by far!!!
Kevin Drew’s new song "Tbtf", from his upcoming album Spirit If..., is available for download here.
Looks like the band Mutemath is covering the classic "Transformer Theme" on the soundtrack to Transformers: The Movie. See the rest of the tracklisting here.
No Age’s brand new record, Weirdo Rippers belongs to a genre which is relatively hard to please the ears, aka noise rock. Although I am not really a fan or too familiar with this genre, I find myself extremely excited about Weirdo Rippers. Not only am I completely in love with the album right now, but I think Weirdo Rippers is actually one of the finest records of 2007 so far. No Age has successfully created a brilliantly solid record from start to finish; the mixture of 80s' hardcore punk, indie pop and Suicide influenced approach make every part of Weirdo Rippers engaging. What also makes Weirdo Rippers such an incredible record is its wonderfully strange ability to project surreal/dreamlike sensations to its listeners.
The first time I heard Tree, Swallows, Houses EP by Maps & Atlases, I thought they sounded a little like Portugal. The Man. In a way, the two bands have similar vibes, although the former is less psychedelic than the latter. Maps & Atlases is a band that experiments with how the instruments correspond with one another. Their progressive influenced guitar techniques combined with rhythmic drum beats make Tree, Swallows, Houses an absolutely fascinating EP to listen to. If you want progressive music, but feel that The Mars Volta is too overwhelming, don’t be hesitant to try out Maps & Atlases's fine EP, Tree, Swallows, Houses.
Tokyo Police Club recently released a brand new single entitled "Your English Is Good". It is another fun, simple, and fast track very similar to those on A Lesson In Crime EP.
