Albums Part 2

In the second installment of information that you probably don't care about, we get a bit less mellow this time around.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm [Stand Out Songs: Like Eating Glass, Banquet]

What can you really say about this album? It's pretty fucking awesome and catchy. Not a lot of heavy songs and its pretty high energy. I probably listened to this 1000 times as I biked over the Washington Ave. Bridge. Like Eating Glass was a song that I distinctly recall listening as part of 'ON THE GO' playlist. Good song to kick off the day as you're leaving to class in the morning. Fun times.

The Killers - Hot Fuss & Sam's Town [Stand Out Songs: Somebody Told Me, All The Things That I've Done, On Top/Sam's Town, For Reasons Unknown, Uncle Johnny]

What can you say about The Killers that hasn't already been said. In a few short years they've accumulated a large number of detractors per album but they venture forth. Insert some sort of stupid phrase regarding Hot Fuss like, "IT'S SYNTH INFUSED FUN NEVER TAKES ITSELF TOO SERIOUSLY." Both of these albums grew on me slowly. Obviously if you listened to radio at all around Hot Fuss's release you were surrounded by the songs...and Mr. Brightside absolutely dominated the charts and was every fucking place. I will say that For Reasons Unknown is probably in the top 10 for best road trip songs.

Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam [Notable Songs: World Wide Suicide, Life Wasted]

I remember really enjoying this album yet I know for a fact I didn't listen to it as much as I probably think I did. What was refreshing was that to me, Pearl Jam is simply Pearl Jam. They do their thing and is one of the few remaining 'ROCK BANDS' that fits in to a simple rock band paradigm. Not much of any pretentiousness and just a good band to rock out to. (SEE ALSO: The Foo Fighters)

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time [Notable Songs: The First Song, Wicked Gil, The Funeral]

Short indie rock album that totally blew my mind. I could just say that the entire album was 'NOTABLE SONGS' because its one of the few albums I can listen to from start to finish without getting annoyed and skipping a track or two. It helps that its a pretty short album, but its just too damn catchy for its own good. Good pacing...not too hippy dippy mellow but not over the top. Good highs and lows. What I'm saying is you can fall asleep to this album but you could also fuel a road trip with it.

Notable Songs [I wasn't always enamored with full albums. Here are some songs that I played a lot but never really delved full on to the rest of the catalog.]

The White Stripes - Icky Thump

The song kicks ass. That's all the expounding I have to do for this one.

Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks

I think I've written about this cut before so lets just say that this song is ridiculously catchy but underneath its massively appealing beat/whistle is a song with some heart. It also proves that the Swedes are unstoppable in the pop music realm.

Every Rap Song Released - Various

Yeah its cliched but I like my rap songs like I like my caffeine. Super powerful single unit doses. I'm not going to pretend like I have some super in depth view of the larger rap world, but I can say that I embrace the songs and they can make some catchy ass tunes. There is nothing worse than going to Pitchfork and reading a rap review though. It is beyond annoying.

It basically goes something like:

1. If they are reviewing a classic or re-released rap album expect an absurdly good review. N.W.A. rerelease? Okay you get some fawning article.

2. New rap album by someone who has probably worn out their welcome (See: Eminem), get a review that questions their motives and is in 2000 words described as tired.

3. Fawning praise to an album by hipster approved rapper = Mos Def