Bloc Party

Promo Photo from Bloc Party

Talons

Bloc Party is by no means an undiscovered act. The four piece English indie rock band has been around for the better part of a decade; the group broke through by passing along a demo to the BBC and Franz Ferdinand. Over the course of their career, they've shifted from a raw rock sound to incorporating various layers and including electronic music.

"Talons" is actually my first Bloc Party experience and...sweet jesus...I think it's spectacular. The pseudo dance beat rhythm section at first kind of worried me; I thought it was going to be another The Killers "Somebody Told Me" catastrophe. Instead, I found a frantic, in-your-face with no fucking around, beautiful rock song. It's badass, I promise.

The Middle East

Image from VisitTheMiddleEast

Blood

I first found this track through OpenYourEyesToMusic and was immediately intrigued by Peter's statements surrounding this song and band: "By all logical explanations, I shouldn't know it exists. The band is based in Townsville, over 1000km away. I had neither heard or heard of them before today." Which is completely, 100% true. This band is based in Australia...on the other side of the planet from me. They have no label affiliations, no promotions here, and the only way I found them was through some light digging online. I'm so glad I did the little bit of digging it took to find this song.

Yeah, the title frightened me a bit. When I first downloaded this track I thought I was getting myself into some kind of death metal song; In the first few seconds I found out I was totally wrong. This is one of the most spectacular tracks I've found online in a long time. The use of vocal harmonies is amazing; the pacing of the song is perfect; the development of recurring melodies almost reminds me of a Sigur Ros feel. This definitely isn't a post-rock track, but the Sigur Ros influence is pretty noticeable. Solid track overall.

Jenny Lewis

Image from Minnesota Public Radio

Acid Tongue

Most of you probably know Jenny Lewis from either her contribution of vocal tracks on The Postal Service's Give Up or her indie ensemble Rilo Kiley; or, I guess if you don't know her from either of those, she was in Troop Beverly Hills. She's been in the music scene for about ten years, but didn't achieve widespread acclaim until 2004. Whatever, anyway, in my opinion, this track showcases an independent Lewis at her best.

I'm pretty sure with this Jenny Lewis title track off her new album, Acid Tongue, I've become a sucker for alt-country. Her alternative take on the genre is really amazing; not only is the track simple in terms of production and instrumentation, but it also highlights Jenny Lewis' amazing sense of musicality with her vocals; I think the gospel-like vocal harmonies are a stroke of genius. If this is any indication of what's to come on the album, I can't wait.

The Day the Ship Sank

this will be the first post of chrysanthemum music's blog: esoteric mumblings. we'll post the occasional song, give the random review of cd's released (either historically or presently), and share thoughts on the general state of the music industry. let it begin.