October Mini-Review Blitz

So many new albums to review - many of them incredible - so little time...

Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Rating: 5

I bought this based on Pitchfork's "Best New Music" inclusion and also on a couple of his older songs shared with me by friend Russ that I really liked. Well, I guess I'll need to pick up the two older albums and hope I like them better. The Magic Position doesn't do much for me. The best songs are those where Wolf is using some creative sonic effects ("Bluebells", "Accident and Emergency") or where his sense of drama in the vocals doesn't overwhelm the music surrounding them ("Augustine", "Get Lost").

A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Rating: 8

Early-90s shoegaze is a sound that seems to be getting mined a lot more recently, but unlike a lot of their fellow archivists (see my review of Asobi Seksu's Citrus) ASDIG bring their own creativity and the result is reminiscent without ever being derivative. "5:15 Train" is that long-lost missing link between My Bloody Valentine's buzzsaw wall of noise and the Cocteau Twins' airy beauty, colliding oceanic washes of feedback with the most gorgeous vocal melody this side of Treasure. "Our Change into Rain is No Change At All" injects some urgency into the same formula with stunning success. But Scribble Mural Comic Journal also significantly ups '07's weird quotient: centerpiece tunes "Lists, Plans" and "C'mon" are chaotic almost to a fault, and show off the band's penchant for unexpected twists in mood and sonics. If I've any major complaint, it's that the murky production often deadens the songs' ambience as much as enhance it. However, even when the ideas being explored don't really gel, I still tip my hat to the fierceness of the band's originality.

Field Music - Tones of Town
Rating: 7

Tones of Town is a nice little British pop album that won't change your life, but is consistent and enjoyable enough that it will probably occupy your playlists for awhile. The songs are tuneful and just quirky enough that they never get boring. Think a more sedate New Pornographers with intelligible lyrics, and you're not too far off the mark. "In Context", with it's fantastic percussion and power chorus, is the standout track, but "A House is Not a Home," "Working to Work," "Closer at Hand," and "She Can Do What She Wants" all feature effortless melodies that you'll find yourself humming even when the album isn't playing.