Marktopia » indie

Give Up

mizidy — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:54:13 +0000

The side project by Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello is one of the best selling and well known Sub Pop albums of all time, and with good reason. Created by sending tapes across the country through the USPS (clever name huh?), this album fuses Gibbard's vocals with Tamborello's electronic music skills amazingly well.

I actually chose this since Ben Arnold recommended Owl City to me, after which I had to listen to this instead. Owl City is nice, like way way too nice for my extended listening, but they are definitely fans of The Postal Service.

This album is a bit of a modern classic, if you havn't given it a listen, I highly recommend it.

Know by Heart

mizidy — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:52:59 +0000

Know by Heart is an album by The American Analog Set, introduced to me by Mattbot. The lo-fi sound caught on right away with me especially with the aggressively named first track and the less than aggressive sound that came with it. This album is great to relax to as it won't surprise you after you know what you are in store for. That being said, it is still a great album to give a listen to.

LP

mizidy — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:39:55 +0000

A side project featuring a member of Vampire Weekend (Rostam Batmanglij) and a member of Ra Ra Riot (Wes Miles), this takes the sounds of each band and rams them through the electro-pop/Auto-Tune machine and produces something that is different but not all bad. While the entire album isn't fantastic, and at times I can't tell if they are mocking the Auto-Tune, there are some gems that can be pulled out.

The first song that really caught me was Can You Discover?, basically a redesigned version of Ra Ra Riot's Can You Tell (a song I love). As you progress through the album, you find songs like Carby, auto-tuned to the MAX but still decent nonetheless. The top song is the remake of the Jackson 5's I Want You Back.

Soapbox Army

mizidy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:33:29 +0000

DISCLAIMER: A member of this band is a good friend of mine.

The quality of this album is top notch for indie rock. Bordering on indie pop, the diversity of the music instrumentation makes this worth a listen to by itself. Once you add in the quality lyrics, you have something that is worth paying attention to. My only dislike from the album is that the vocals drift a little close to the Goo Goo Dolls for my liking on some tracks. That being said, for a first album, this shows quite a bit of promise.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

mizidy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:25:32 +0000

The latest from Phoenix (apparently a French super group) is one of the better albums of the year and also happens to be a great summer album. Tons of fun, while also having a lot of quality as well, this is one of those albums that you can listen to on repeat while driving around with the windows down. My only complaint is that it is a bit short.

Veckatimest

mizidy — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 17:58:07 +0000

Continuing with amazing albums this year, the new Grizzy Bear album falls right in line. Another amazing orchestration of music with wonderful lyrics, this album will have you interested the first time you listen to it. The sample song below is one of the better songs on the album, so if you like it, you are likely to love the rest of the album.

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

mizidy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:17:47 +0000

The first album of the week is by Neutral Milk Hotel and is considered one of the true gems of indie rock. While not for everyone's tastes, this album mixes horns with distortion and throws in a touch of over the top lyrics. It took me a few listens to figure out what the big deal was, but once I did, man it is awesome