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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LxListening: The Music of Jenny Lewis
24 MayDaft Punk Review Royale: Random Access Memories
22 MayDaft Punk
Random Access Memories
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.
Heavy Deeds Review: Light Lunch EP
14 MayHeavy Deeds
Light Lunch EP
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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The Knife Review: Shaking The Habitual
7 MayThe Knife
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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