Gut Reactions - King of Limbs

I find it amusing that so many prominent music journalists from prominent publications found the need to release a review of this album mere hours after it became available for download on the band's website. Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I'm not one to make a snap judgment on something as potentially earthshaking as a new Radiohead LP. Let's face it, Radiohead leaves a wake of epic everywhere they go, so if there's one album I want to spend a little extra time getting to know, it's this.

But what I hear in this album is a sound that is clearly different from previous LPs, yet unmistakably Radiohead. Overall it's a more percussive album than any of the others, many of the tracks sounding akin to "The Reckoner" from In Rainbows or"Backdrifts" from Hail to the Thief. It's also a little more solemn-sounding than In Rainbows, yet it still manages to maintain an optimistic sound even amidst its bleakest moments. Anyhow, I'll give a full review later, but for now you can give it a listen yourself here.

James Blake...

...is this 21 year-old from England making these killer dubstep records that are finding their way into the libraries of audiofiles everywhere. Last year he released three EPs that all kinda sounded the same but were each individually great listens. If taken as a whole they could almost be considered his debut LP, especially if you consider how many 2010 best-of lists they landed on. But instead we have something better.

The three EPs, titled The Bells Sketch, CMYK, and Klavierwerke, respectively, were only the beginning, as we now have his official self-titled debut LP. Something of a switch, the new LP infuses his distinct dubstep style with elements of gospel, funk, and jazz to create something that sounds awfully original to these young ears.

The Bells Sketch/CMYK/Klavierwerke - 9/10
James Blake - James Blake - 9/10

Hear the first single from his debut album below:

Music Recommendation - Cosmogramma

I can't say much about this album because I'm still in the process of wrapping my mind around the shear mass of it all. It isn't a long album, and most of the tracks last for a only a few minutes each, but the density is almost unparalleled by anything else I've ever heard. But here are my impressions so far...

The White Stripes Are Over

 

I found out today that Meg and Jack are finally calling it quits after 12 years and 6 albums of some of the best minimalist garage rock to ever hit the world of indie music. They announced that the split has nothing to do with artistic differences or health issues or any of the common problems splitting up bands these days. They simply wanted to quit while they were ahead and avoid the risk of spoiling the band's iconic image. What Jack and Meg crafted was something magical and historic and I think it was a wise decision to go out on top.