mp3: Broken Social Scene - All to All (mp3 download removed)
First off, another new track from Canadian indie collective Broken Social Scene's upcoming fourth studio album, Forgiveness Rock Record. All to All came out as a digital single yesterday, and I like it a lot. With its lush, atmospheric and ambient sound, combined with very sweet female vocals, it reminds me of the classic Broken Social Scene track "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl" from their 2002 album You Forgot it in People. If the three tracks (from the album's thirteen) released so far are anything to go by, the new album will be another eclectic mix of genres and moods – BSS at their best, in other words!
mp3: MGMT - Flash Delirium (mp3 download removed)
In my opinion MGMT sounded a lot like the Flaming Lips on their debut album Oracular Spectacular (2007), with their euphoric psychedelic rock, and also thanks to the production work by long-time Flaming Lips producer David Fridman. While the Flaming Lips moved in a quite different direction with last year's Embryonic, MGMT's new track "Flash Delirium", from their upcoming sophomore album Congratulations, due out April 13th, in my opinion sounds more like the Yoshimi / Mystics era (former half of the 00s) Flaming Lips now than ever. I can also sense a stronger influence from trippy 60s psychedelic rock, and less disco beat and 90s britrock nudges, this time around. This track left me very excited for MGMT's return!
mp3: Foals - Spanish Sahara (mp3 download removed)
Post-punk/indie rock band Foals from Oxford, England, released their very funky and danceable debut album Antidotes in 2008, which was one of my favorite albums that year. The album was full of vigor and punch, and when I saw them live in the spring of 2008, their almost endless-seeming energy impressed me. Their sophomore album Total Life Forever is due out in May, and judging by the album title alone one would expect it to be even more energetic than before. But this time, Foals have slowed down a bit, and switched danceable indie anthems for slower and more modest, atmospheric and reflective tunes. According to the band, they had been planning another "funky" album, but then plans changed. The first track from the album, Spanish Sahara, indicates that this new style suits them just as well, and although the soundscape is rather different now, it still unmistakably sounds like Foals.
