There's a bunch of great new stuff out this week, just in time for summer. So, let's get started.
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Holly Herndon
Platform
While Holly Herndon's work is always deeply intriguing,
Platform also builds on being deeply moving. Following the experimental glitch of
Movement, Herndon strives to makes her songs more accessible...well, at least more than they were. Though much of what she sings about is still completely indecipherable, Herndon's ability to communicate feeling through the sound of the human voice is still prominently displayed. If only artists that use actual words could say this much.
Faith No More
Sol Invictus
There was a time, just a few weeks ago when anticipation for this album was overtaken by apathy: do we really need another Faith No More album after their career fizzled out unceremoniously two seconds after it blew up? "Epic" is, obviously, the most aptly named song in history, and
Angel Dust was named by
Kerrang! magazine as the #1 most influential metal album of all time, but I bet you'd be hard-pressed to name anything else they've done.
The point is, that doesn't matter, because when FNM show up, they bring everything.
Sol Invictus isn't some sort of triumphal return, or even challenging their catalogue for supremacy. It is, however, a great summer metal album put out by a band that consistently delivered great summer metal.
Hot Chip
Why Make Sense?
If there's one thing Hot Chip has always been good at, it's their ability to create vocal-based samples and use them to powerful effect. That is still the case here, though
Why Make Sense is a much more stripped-down version of the pattern than the layer-heavy
One Life Stand or
In Our Heads. Somehow, the group is able to take fewer sounds and, amazingly, make their songs even more danceable. There's very little excess here, nor many songs that pull down the mood, turning
Why Make Sense into Hot Chip's finest work.
Paul Weller
Saturns Pattern
For a 58-year-old blues rocker, Paul Weller ain't lost a step.
Saturns Pattern is an awesome collection of intense, hard-hitting, classic rock songs that combine the best parts of Peter Gabriel and The Who. A strange set, I know, but what
Saturns Pattern lacks in apostrophes, Weller makes up for with sheer genius. As fun as an album can be, and definitely perfect for that trip to the beach, ages 8-80.
