Tracklist
1. Flume
2. Lump Sum
3. Skinny Love
4. The Wolves (Act I and II)
5. Blindsided
6. Creature Fear
7. Team
8. For Emma
9. re: Stacks

Review
Well, I should have reviewed this album sooner because it’s one of the best ones of this year. I was already eager to hear this cd after reading Bon Iver’s story on last.fm:

Justin Vernon moved to a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin at the onset of winter. Tailing from the swirling breakup of his long time band (DeYarmond Edison), he escaped to the property and surrounded himself with simple work, quiet, and space. He lived there alone for three months, filling his days with wood splitting and other chores around the land. This special time slowly began feeding a bold, uninhibited new musical focus.

This slowly evolved into days filled with twelve-hour recording blocks, breaking only for trips on the tractor into the pines to saw and haul firewood, or for frozen sunrises high up a deer stand. All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song. The end result is, For Emma, Forever Ago, a nine-song album comprised of what’s been dubbed a striking debut by critics and fans alike.

You truly feel the cold, desolate landshape around you when you’re listening to the songs. In a soft and gentle way, Justin lets you float along the feelings he expresses. It is as if you’re standing next to him, with your heels deep in the snow and only wilderness around you , contemplating how your life has been up till now.

If I could describe this album with one word, I would say ‘Intimacy’. Listen to this album, and you’ll understand why I’ve fallen in love with it…

My favorite song: 3. Skinny Love, 9. re: Stacks

Similar Artists: Iron and Wine, Great Lake Swimmers

Popularity: 29% [?]

Tracklist
1. Bixby Canyon Bridge
2. I Will Possess Your Heart
3. No Sunlight
4. Cath
5. Talking Bird
6. You Can Do Better Than Me
7. Grapevine Fires
8. Your New Twin Sized Bed
9. Long Division
10. Pity and Fear
11. The Ice Is Getting Thinner

Review
The last album of Death Cab for Cutie has leaked (and this one is not fake…) ! It differs from their last two albums by being a bit more mellow and less uptempo. The typical edgy poppy sound has been switched for a more mellow laidback vatiety. The songs are all really decent, better than mediocre, but they certainly don’t exceed my expectations. The voice of Ben Gibbard makes every song a bit more special even though the songs aren’t that brilliantly written. My favourite song is the first single ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’. Everyone has probably already heard this song (if not, then you haven’t visited their site lately :p). I dislike the long instrumental part (it is just waaaaay to long), but I reallly do like the second part. It reminds me a bit of the ‘old’ songs.

Oh yes, the file you can get, contains m4a-files. Since my music player (foobar) can play them without a problem, I was to lazy to convert them :p

Have fun with the album! Don’t forget to support the band by going to their upcoming concerts!

My favorite song: 2. I Will Possess Your Heart

Similar Artists: The Shins, Ben Gibbard, Postal Service, Bright Eyes

Popularity: 35% [?]

Tracklist
1. See These Bones
2. Whose Authority
3. Beautiful Beat
4. Here Goes Something
5. Weightless
6. Are You Lightning?
7. I Like What You Say
8. From Now On
9. Ice on the Wing
10. The Fox
11. The Film Did Not Go Round

Review
In my opinion, they sound like a mix of The Shins and Death Cab For Cutie: the poppy sound of The Shins combined with the melancholy that embodies Death Cab For Cutie. The soft voice of Matthew Caws suits the songs really well and gives you a happy feeling. All their songs make you dream away on thoughts of beautiful horizons with the morningsun, a nice breeze through your hear whilst driving along the sea. The fact that all the songs sound alike doesn’t really matter, because the overall quality of the songs is very high. In spite of the happy sunshine-ish optimistic side, Matthew Caws sounds very mature and reflective. Therefore this album is a must-have for every indiepop-lover. Enjoy the album!

My favorite song: 2. Whose Authority, 5. Weightless

Similar Artists: The Shins, Death Cab For Cutie

Popularity: 57% [?]

Tracklist
1. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
2. Marketa Irglova And Glen Hansard - If You Want Me
3. Glen Hansard - Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy
4. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - When Your Minds Made Up
5. Glen Hansard - Lies
6. Interference - Gold
7. Marketa Irglova - The Hill
8. Glen Hansard - Fallen Form The Sky
9. Glen Hansard - Leave
10. Glen Hansard - Trying to Pull Myself Away
11. Glen Hansard - All the Way Down
12. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once
13. Glen Hansard - Say It to Me Now

Review
You needn’t have seen the movie to fully appreciate the ‘Once’ soundtrack. Maybe as a quick background: Glen Hansard (Vocalist of the Irish rock group ‘The Frames’) features as a self-proclaimed wanderer with only a guitar and a bunch of shattered dreams. When he bumps into the beautiful nameless Czech girl (a convincing Marketa Irgleva), an inner journey begins, accompanied by the protagonists’ personal soundtrack. If there is any romance involved (no spoilers!) it is without any frills and with just that healthy dose of mellowness. What you get in the songs is pure and honest folk rock with an edge, thanks to the combination of Hansard’s emotionally raw and Irgleva’s innocent angel voice (think of Damien Rice on the verge of tears). If you take the time to listen carefully, the songs gently invite you to do a bit of soul-searching yourself, the screaming and kicking included. These songs and this movie were just made for own entertainment, but have already reached thousands of people all over the world and touched their hearts: so now it’s your turn to feel it…

My favorite song: 2. If You Want Me, 4. When Your Mind’s Made Up

Similar Artists: Damien Rice, The Frames, Interference

Popularity: 62% [?]

Tracklist
1. Marching Bands of Manhattan
2. Soul Meets Body
3. Summer Skin
4. Different Names For the Same Thing
5. I Will Follow You Into The Dark
6. Your Heart Is An Empty Room
7. Someday You Will Be Loved
8. Crooked Teeth
9. What Sarah Said
10. Brothers on a Hotel Bed
11. Stable Song

Review
This is one of the albums that you múst have if you love mellow (indie) music! Plans, the fifth full-length release of Death Cab for Cutie, dates back from 2005 already, but I still listen to it every week. Gorgeous lyrics together with little warm melodies result in 11 simple though great songs. With love and death as the two major themes you expect dark songs, but they are surprisingly bright and light. Death Cab for Cutie provides us with perfect emo - without the whiny attention-whorey side -, Indie popsongs that are perfect on a warm autumn evening with an orange yellow sun, or on a nighttrain home after a nice warm holiday. It suits every feeling from pain to hope, from love to happiness. Enjoy!

My favorite song: 2. Soul Meets Body, 5. I Will Follow You Into The Dark

Similar Artists: The Shins, Ben Gibbard, Postal Service, Bright Eyes

Popularity: 100% [?]

Tracklist
1. Little Favours
2. If Only
3. White Bird
4. Funnyman
5. Hold On
6. Hopeless
7. I Don’t Want You Now
8. Saving My Face
9. Beauty Of Uncertainty
10. Someday Soon
11. Paper Aeroplane

Review
Since I review so little female artists, I thought some positive discrimination wouldn’t hurt … so I present to you Drastic Fantastic, the newest album of KT Tunstall. She had a major hit with ‘A black horse and the cherry tree’ (and also ‘Suddenly I see’) and great commercial success with her first album. But does her second album ‘Drastic Fantastic’ meet the high expectations set after her first success? The first thing you notice about her new album, is the fact that it’s more conventional pop-rock and less drastic (!) and stingy than her previous album. A lot of songs are a bit too commercial and radio-friendly in my opinion, but sometimes you also get lovely folk-ish songs (like White Bird). These introspective folky songs are also the best songs on this album, although they don’t keep lingering in your head, as any really good song should do. Nice mainstream pop-rock with a bite & enjoyable floating acoustic ballads: that’s what you can expect of this album and nothing more. Have fun with the album!

My favorite song: 3. White Bird, 10. Someday Soon

Similar Artists: Dido, Alanis Morisette, Sarah McLachlan

Popularity: 86% [?]

Tracklist
1. Cristobal
2. So Long Old Bean
3. Samba Vexillographica
4. Seahorse
5. Bad Girl
6. Seaside
7. Shabop Shalom
8. Tonada Yanomaminista
9. Rosa
10. Saved
11. Lover
12. Carmencita
13. Other Woman
14. Freely
15. I Remember
16. My Dearest Friend

Review
‘Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon’ is the fourth solo album of ‘Freak Folk’ Devendra Banhart. And it gets as freaky as possible: lyrics in various languages, several kinds of different instruments, psychedelic melodies, … . You hear a lot of influences, for instance of Latin music and of 60’s music. Although he integrates a lot of different ‘gimmicks’, his songs do sound quite calm and mellow. A lot of emotion goes underneath a big load of weirdness, but in the end, all these things don’t cover up for the easily forgettable melodies. Seahorse is the best song on this album in my opinion. Have fun with the album!

My favorite song: 4. Seahorse, 9. Rosa

Similar Artists: Joanna Newsom, Jack Rose, Currituck Co.

Popularity: 84% [?]

Tracklist
1. Last Chance
2. Ghost
3. Something In My Eye
4. Stalker
5. Other Side
6. Dark On Fire
7. Real Life
8. For The Fire
9. Timewaster
10. Bye Pod
11. Here Comes The Moon
12. New Star

Review
Turin Brakes’ duo Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian has never been able to fully convince me: on each album, they have some brilliant songs, but also a lot of mediocre ones. The same goes for their latest album, Dark on Fire: I like the title song (Dark on Fire), Bye Pod and some other songs, but the remaining songs on this album are a bit disappointing. The overall album quality has risen though: it has a more relaxed feeling and the sound has evolved to a much fuller, a more vivid sound. Turin Brakes still misses something special in my opinion, but for now they excel in mediocre contemporary folk! Have fun with the album!

My favorite song: 6. Dark On Fire, 10. Bye Pod

Similar Artists: Doves, Elbow, Snow Patrol

Popularity: 24% [?]