I haven't had the time on my hands to write any full- length, in- depth reviews in the last week or so, and I'm afraid to say that I will be very pushed for time in the coming months. To quell the drought this week I've written two very short reviews of two albums that I have been meaning to review for a while now but haven't been able to get round to it. Sorry for the briefness of it all, but expect to see me doing this quite a bit more over the next few months. However, hopefully I'll have time to write some proper ones in the near future.
Enjoy.
Mystery Jets- Radlands
Ever since their 2006 debut "Making Dens", the Eel Pie Island quartet have proceeded down a route utterly enthralled by pop music that was largely at its prime just before their time. A risky route to take, the poppier path means that Mystery Jets have, as have any pop band, walked the thin line between anthemic brilliance and just being absolutely cringeworthy. On "Radlands", despite traversing through a distinctly more American trajectory, the old charms remain in abundance. The musicianship is arguably better than ever, especially on album highlight "Greatest Hits" and "The Hale Bop", a full- on '70s afro- funk swing that shows the band are dab- hands at eclecticism. Lyrically it's like a very English take on a modern American love story, all the heartfelt imagery still a staple part of the Mystery Jets diet.
8/10
THEEsatisfaction- awE naturalE
Sub Pop's attempts to diversify its output have only succeeded so far, with Shabazz Palaces' brilliant landmark album "Black Up" in 2011 and its 2012 cultural label co- headliner THEEsatisfaction's "awE naturalE." "AwE natural" is nearly always smooth, sexy and tinglingly sensual. It's darkest moment, "Enchantruss" has a paranoid and rather ugly melody but a mesmerising witch- like lure, whilst elsewhere the two generally indulge in gorgeous warmth, as the looped melodies on "Existinct" and "Deeper" prove. The duo's voices work in beautiful conjunction, and although not every moment here is heavily impacting, almost every note seems intriguingly heartfelt.
8/10
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