Spoon is synonymous with that in the universe which is audibly pure and good. So thank the cosmos—as was expected, the new album is terrific due to simple pop time signatures, proficient reverberation and healthy experimentation. It’s the right combination of expedition, progress and the classic, exceedingly percussive Spoon sound. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a record for which we often long; one that improves with each go-round.
Frank Black Best of Frank Black '93-'03 (Cooking Vinyl)
He’s no Pixies (unless, of course, he’s playing Pixies songs at his concerts), but all by his lonesome, Frank Black has accumulated a spectacular catalog of music over the years. A few songs on this album are alarmingly and uncomfortably metal-esque, but some, such as "Old Black Drawing," are just perfect. Long live, Mr. Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV.
Feist The Reminder (Cherry Tree)
Sophisticated, innovative ballads and jazz, country and soul-inspired pop songs collide into one another with pleasant results. The patently refined Canadian Leslie Feist sticks to similar lyrical themes as on 2005’s excellent Let It Die : Breaking up, staying together and love in general. While this can become slightly tiring (but perhaps ideal for making sweet love, if you’re corny like that), the intriguing music and her overwhelmingly lovely voice makes up for that little transgression—that and a notable accomplishment in album art. Très jolie.
