Archive by Author

LxListening: The Music of Jenny Lewis

24 May

jenny lewis

I’ve found myself listening to a lot of the works of Jenny Lewis lately, after digging into Rilo Kiley’s rarities collection Rkives recently.  Lewis has proved to be one of the more undervalued talents since RK broke onto the scene in 2003, releasing new material with RK and on a solo basis at a tick of at least every couple years.  Besides Rilo Kiley, Lewis has released a solo record, a record with The Watson Twins, a record with Jonathon Rice, and was an integral role in The Postal Service.  That is a pretty impressive first ten years of a career.  So without further ado, here are five choice Jenny Lewis tracks to brighten your Friday.
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Daft Punk Review Royale: Random Access Memories

22 May

Daft Punk
Random Access Memories

daft punk, random access memories, album, cover, art

Austin’s Take

Random Access Memories is one of those records where it is hard to separate the immense hype and expectations from the eventual finished product.  What we ended up with is an album with perfectly executed promotion without the deep satisfaction that we expected.  The album reminds me most of a microbrewery releasing a trendy new beer with slick packaging, and finding the flavors don’t mesh into the clean finish you would hope for.  In the same way, Daft Punk combines disco-era sounds with their electronic home base and even what I would call plain old adult contemporary to create a most confusing brew.

Daft Punk , cheers, beer, brew

Mmmmmm, Daft beer!

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Heavy Deeds Review: Light Lunch EP

14 May

Heavy Deeds

Light Lunch EP

light lunch

We get quite a few emails from bands and promoters of bands informing us of lower-profile releases.  Sometimes these emails are just to inform, but often they are solicitations of sorts to see if we will review an album or EP.  Often, we just ignore them, but every once in awhile, one of us will go through the stack and see if there is anything worthwhile to write about, or even just add to our iTunes library.  So, when I opened the email to check out Minneapolis-based coast-rock band Heavy Deeds, my mind was open, but expectations were not soaring.  I am happy to report, Heavy Deeds debut EP Light Lunch(officially released today) has been in heavy rotation on my iPod for about a week.
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Top Ten Thursday: Duets to Die For

9 May

duets 2

We decided it was finally time to make a list concerning the combination of kindred vocals.  Duets that is.  A guy and a girl is the most popular concoction, but there is certainly room to wiggle with that formula on this list.  For frame of reference, we attempted to stay away from two very specific types tracks that may be considered duets.  The first area is hip hop tracks.  R&B tracks are fine, as long as they don’t interfere with the next criteria, but it seems every hip-hop song has multiple rappers, or at the least one rapper and someone else for the hook.  Just seemed a little too muddled.  The second criteria we aimed to stay away from were artists that have two vocalists, where almost every one of their tracks might be able to be considered duets.  Sorry, but we were looking for duets where the source recording is at most part of a one-off album.  As always, I think we crafted a solid list, but am certain we missed something along the way.  Feel free to offer suggestions, and enjoy.

10.  The Postal Service & Jenny Lewis – “Nothing Better”

jenny lewis, postal service, nothing bettter

Ben Gibbard & Jenny Lewis combine for an electonic-infused back and forth on The Postal Service’s 2003 track “Nothing Better”.  The conversational tone of Gibbard and Lewis vocals is about as fun as it gets, and makes us thirst for more than just a Postal Service tour reunion.  Record a new album!
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The Knife Review: Shaking The Habitual

7 May

The Knife

Shaking the Habitual

shaking the habitual

Sometimes one of my favorite artists pisses me off so much, I have to wait awhile to even talk about it.  I don’t want to be overly hyperbolic and just rip them apart without sitting on my feelings for awhile.  So, even though The Knife’s Shaking The Habitual came out weeks ago, I am now ready to properly evaluate it, devoid of my initial reactionary response.  Boy am I glad I waited.
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