A Round of Sound

I haven’t had much time to post lately, and I don’t envision being able to get an album review up anytime soon,  so I’m going to use this post as a summary of albums released from July through September that I haven’t already mentioned here on AROS.  I did a first quarter wrap-up as well as my mid-year awards, so I guess it only makes sense that I take some time to mention the highlights of the third quarter of 2009.  Hooray!

We Were Promised Jetpacks – These Four Walls

This is the debut album from the Scottish quartet whose sound is in the vain of fellow Scotts Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad (more on them later).  Those three are actually on an American tour right now, I guess doing a sort of Scottish “emo” tour as people have been branding it.  Anyway, this really is a solid and very enjoyable release with great energy, and I just love the thick Scottish accents.

[“It’s Thunder and It’s Lightning” – These Four Walls]

The xx – xx

The xx is a quartet out of London that have been a fairly hyped UK band consisting of four 20 year olds.  xx is their debut album and is getting rave reviews from everywhere.  I like it alright, although the hype may be a little much.  There is something about it though…it’s a very intriguing listen.

[“Crystalised” – xx]

Choir of Young Believers – This Is For The White In Your Eyes

Yet another debut album from a European band, this one coming from Denmark’s Choir of Young Believers.  This Is For The White In Your Eyes is full of some great orchestra pop tunes led by band frontman Jannis Makrigiannis.  The music is super ambitious at times, which I guess is to be expected from an 8 piece band, but when they get it right, the songs can be breathtaking.

[“Hollow Talk” – This Is For The White In Your Eyes]

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

I’m struggling finding a way to describe the tunes of UK’s Wild Beasts, but theatrical is certainly an adjective that has been used before and seems to fit.  Two Dancers is the second album for the quartet and continues the ridiculously good year Domino Records is having.

[“All The King’s Men” – Two Dancers]

The Big Pink – A Brief History of Love

A Brief History of Love just might be my favorite album from the last 3 months.  It’s the debut album from, you guessed it, the British duo.  I’m in love with the electro-rock pop mix and industrial sound of the tunes.  It’s a very strong album from start to finish and as the BBC predicted, it looks like The Big Pink is one of 2009’s breakout acts.

[“Dominos” – A Brief History of Love]

Volcano Choir – Unmap

Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) teams up with fellow Wisconsiners Collections of Colonies of Bees to release this weird little 9 song album full of eerie and at times beautiful songs.  It’s an interesting release that may end up being an afterthought in the Justin Vernon catalog, but I do think it atleast validates what a great artist he is and ensures that For Emma, Forever Ago was no one hit wonder.

[“Island, IS” – Unmap]

The Twilight Sad – Forget The Night Ahead

This album was one of my most anticipated releases in the latter half of 2009 as The Twilight Sad released one of my favorite albums from 2007, Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters, and led this recent Scottish invasion.  The lyrics of this group have always been so dark and nothing really changes with this release.  It’s probably not as good as their debut, but it’s still the thick emotional ballads that I came to expect.

[“I Became a Prostitute” – Forget The Night Ahead]