4/12/2011 New Releases

This week was stacked with intriguing possibilities in the new release department:

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
Low - C'Mon
Panda Bear - Tomboy
Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or So What
TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light
Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane

Six albums I'd give a shot in one week.  It's been awhile since this has happened.

Yesterday, I crammed in as much as I could.  Here are mini-reviews of the four I was able to get to, in the order I got to them:

Low - C'Mon
Hmm... Liked the sound and texture here.  I'm not familiar with their olds stuff, but c'mon, this is pretty boring.  Maybe I'll give it another listen, but c'mon... It wasn't that promising.  C'mon.
★☆☆☆

Alison Krauss & Union Station - Paper Airplane
You know, I don't know what it is about AKUS... They sound great.  Their music is absolutely beautiful.  But I can't think of a reason to listen to this instead of, say, Lonely Runs Both Ways.  Nothing here really stands out... Might get it when the price is right, just to add more AKUS songs to the mix, but probably won't listen to it straight through.  I should probably bump it up to three stars, if only because of Jerry Douglas.
★★☆☆

Paul Simon - So Beautiful Or So What
Now this one is the big winner this week.  I do like Simon & Garfunkel, but I don't know too much of Simon's solo work.  I decided I wanted to hear this one, and I'm glad I did.  This is definitely the one that most demands further listens.  Temped to give it four stars, but typically I have to hear an album several times before deeming it worthy of that... Perhaps an upgrade is forthcoming.  At this point, I'd say this is one of the four or five best albums of the young year.
★★★☆

Foo Fighters - Wasting Light
I haven't heard a Foo Fighters album in some time.  Not a big fan of the band, but I do like some of their songs.  That said, this album was better than I expected.  It was pretty in your face.  Heavier than I remember them being.  I'll probably give it another listen.  Probably deserving of 2.5 stars or so.
★★☆☆

I still want to listen to the TV On The Radio album, and I'd give Panda Bear a shot if I have a free moment.  Don't think either will happen tonight though, because I suspect I will be listening to nothing but vinyl tonight.