tunealge

The holiday has put me a day behind schedule especially with all the new stuff on it's way, but without further ado, here ya go:

coldplay - X & Y: They sure took their time with this one, but it seems to have paid off. The result is a very solid and anthematic disc from apple's dad & co. It's hard not to like Coldplay, and this is probably their best album yet, a bit less melancholy than the last two. FYI: the japanese version has an extra hidden bonus track after 'Til Kingdom Come'.

bob mould - Body of Song: I miss Sugar & I miss Husker Du, but I've already deleted this album from my hard drive. It's like the 'Frank Black disease' - you're solo work only sells because some people are so intrenched with nostalgia they'll buy any crap you release, instead of leaving well enough alone.

sasha - Fundacion: A new mix cd recorded over a couple of days in NYC with his new toy "the Maven", which word on the street tells me is basically made up of Ableton Live software on a G5 sans decks of any kind. Despite the ridiculous intro, the result is a pretty swell, although somewhat sterile, proggy house mix reminiscent of Involver.

lali puna - I Thought I Was Over That: A collection of b-sides and remixes of their own material and work done for other bands including Boom Bip, Dntel, and Two Lone Swordsmen. Essentially a smooth around the edges collection of pleasing glitchtronica.

smog - A River Ain't Too Much to Love: More sludgey folk rock smog style. It is interesting to note that he's taken the parentheses off of the band name now. Couldn't tell you why.

herbaliser - Take London: Boom boom, ninja tune camp studio wizardry. Scattered rap stylings (mostly female) accent another great collection of funked out down tempo big beatisms.

meat beat manifesto - At the Center: Jack Dangers is flying the jazz flannel on this one, which works , and is his most cohesive effort in some years.

oasis - Don't Believe the Truth: Although they had some good tunes released in the mid '90's, and apparently were extremely popular, I never quite bothered with oasis. This album doesn't really make me feel like I missed out on much, mainly because it comes off sounding like extremely mediocre brit-rock, just like the Doves.

the posies - Every Kind of Light: Ken Stringfellow has been pooping up a lot recently, playing keys on last fall's REM tour, and releasing a solo album. And now he's back with his old outfit, The Posies. I remember trying to get into these guys after they had some brief radio success in the early '90's with 'Dream All Day', but they're just not that engaging, and neither is the new album.

bebel gilberto - Remixed: Her first record, Tanto Tempo stood rather well on it's own before it got the remix treatment, which was just as good. But I never got much into her second album, annoyingly titled Bebel Gilberto (eponymous album titles should be reserved for your debut, if at all). This round of remixes has breathes some much needed new life into her sophtmore release. FYI: there's a bonus cd of 6 more remixes with some versions of this, and the track, 'Baby', is awful no matter how you rework it.

-tried & true, neph-