Bat for Lashes

Okay so last week I finally got around to listening to this album. I put my headphones on and reclined in my chair and let the music play,and I have to say I liked what I heard. With this album she incorporates a an alter ego and sings about different fantasy worlds, magic and shit like that, don't worry it's not any D& D crap. I can't say that I like 'Two Suns" better than "Fur and Gold" need to have a few more listens to make that assessment, besides "Prescilla" from "Fur and Gold" stuck in my head pretty often. Either way the standouts on this album are "Pearl's Dream", "Daniel" " Siren Song" 'Traveling Woman" and " The Big Sleep" among others. I have said this before about Bat for Lashes and she holds tight to my comments, her music can be boring as shit, but if you're in the mood for slow piano driven songs with haunting vocals then, you will like this. I like it. I really hope this time around Bat for Lashes makes a bigger splash in the States this time around. Go fourth and get "Two Suns" anyway you can (with retail being the best option) and you might like it.

The Sounds

To me The Sounds always sounded (no pun intended) like they could be a crossover hit in the United States, and it sounds like “Crossing the Rubicon” the band’s third, could be their mainstream crossover album. People have to understand although it’s sounds ( again no pun intended) slightly different from previous sounds album as the overall tone of album is not upbeat, but this is good as it allows for the lead singer Maja Ivarsson to display her vocal abilities more than ever. The standouts on this album are "No One Sleeps When I’m Awake",( which in true Sounds fashions sounds very similar to "The Only Ones" , another song on the album) "Beatbox", ( which sounds like an obvious attempt at a party song, which they are known for) "Crossing the Rubicon" and the melancholy, reflective instrumental “ "Goodnight Freddy" among others. For a band that can be loud and somewhat relegated to a “party electro pop” band to me this is the most mature album to date by the Swedish Sounds. It seems that the metaphorically and in sound ( no pun..yeah you get it) that the Sounds have officially crossed the Rubicon. Go pick it up.

La Roux

La Roux is not a woman, but rather a British duo consisting of a female Singer/producer and a male producer, although the front woman, Elly Jackson is the pure public face of this outfit. La Roux takes 80’s retro/electro pop marriage that has been going on for a few years now to the next level. Elly Jackson isn’t the best singer alive but for this music, she fits like a glove. The Standouts are “In for the Kill”, Tiger Lilly which features a Thriller- esqe Vincent Price “rap” about stalking a lost love, “Bullet Proof” and “Fascination” and “Growing Pains. Although this album can seem repetitive from a style stand point, it’s fun to listen to, catchy hooks and all. Give La Roux’s self titled album a chance and maybe you might like it.

Mos Def

I remember back in the day when Mos Def put out Black on Both Sides ( wow was that an amazing album), it was hard for anyone that compiled a best rappers list to keep Mos Def off and still be taken seriously as a hip hop fan. Then something happened, he put out the New Danger, which I didn’t think was as bad as some made it out to be, but it wasn’t the most def that we wanted. The next album True Magic was the full-time rapping Mos Def that we wanted, but it wasn’t the same, he wasn’t as good as we remembered on BOBS. So we waited and now we have The Ecstatic. This one while better than the officially unreleased, more like recalled (It was sold in stores for about a week) True Magic, it’s not BOBS level. There are a few things that hurt this album, one is the production. Some of the beats are so damn boring. Sure BOBS used the hottest underground producers too but they didn’t produce boring beats. Another thing is the short songs. There is about five songs that clock in at less than three minutes. The Standouts on this Ecstatic is “ Casa Bey”, ‘Life In Marvelous Times” , ‘History ft Talib Kweli , “Auditorium” ft Slick Rick and “ Twilite Speedball”. If you’re a Mos Def fan than Mos Definitely pick this one up.

Little Boots

I have to say when I first say video for” New in Town” video I hopped on to Wikipedia to read up on Little Boots, and was as giddy as a school girl when I found out that her debut CD was coming out in June. So I patiently waited, and waited, what seemed like months was actually just under less than a month. Now this album is very electronic heavy, it’s a very pop album with hook heavy songs that are crafted for sing-alongs, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As she has said before in interviews, Little Boots wants to get played on pop music. She not one of those new artist some of which are blatantly overdrive pop, who “rebel” against mainstream acceptance, she actually wants her music to be heard. Hmm an artist who is making a career in the music industry who wants their music heard by a wide audience, what a novel idea. While some of the songs on this album fall short out of the 14 songs there are some great ones. “New in Town, “Remedy” “Mathematics”, “Tune into My Heart’ and the piano driven “Hands” among other standout songs. If you like Lady Gaga then you’ll like the toned down (lyrically and vocally) Little Boots just as much. Give “Hands” a listen and you might like it.

Passion Pit

When I first heard Passion Pit’s “The Reeling” it was in a form of a video about three months ago, I was transfixed on not just the visuals but the sounds also. This song is infectious and deeply addictive. So to say that I was looking forward to their full length release “Manners” was huge understatement. Well on first listen I was disappointed as I just couldn’t get into it, especially with the voice of lead singer Michael Angelakos. Where his voice added to the uniqueness of the ‘Reeling” it detracts to some of the songs on the album, making some great sounding songs enter the realm of skipability, but after a few runs through this album his voice becomes less of a distraction. My standouts from “Manners” are of course “The Reeling”, “Moth Wings”, ”Little Secrets”, and “To Kingdom Come” and “ Swimming in the Flood” among others. After a few listens, I have to say that although this isn’t a great album, it’s pretty damn good. Catchy but never redundant, danceable but not mindless, sometimes it can be a bit overbearing, but that’s their style and that’s what makes Passion Pit unique. I like Manners, give it a listen and you might like it too.

Yeah, Yeah , Yeahs

Now I’m not too familiar with this band. Although I’ve always known about them for a long time, I never paid any attention to them, well now I am. "It’s Blitz!" is supposed to be a departure from their previous work, toning down the heavy guitar sound for guitars for synthesizers entering the world of Electro-Rock. The standouts on "It’s Blitz!" are the lead single "Zero", "Dull Life", “Heads Will Roll”, "Runaway" and "Dragon Queen" among others. I really enjoyed listening to this album and I hope you will too. Check out “It’s Blitz” now.

Lily Allen

Back in 2006 through a friend I was exposed to Lily Allen. This was few months before her breakout hit “Smile”. I really enjoyed her debut “Alight Still” and liked that she wasn’t the regular Brit-Pop Popster. Well I must say for the most part it seemed on her new album “Its Not Me, Its You” that she has embraced that sound to my disappointment, but that doesn’t mean that the music will also disappoint, does it? The standouts of this synth laden adventure is the opening track. “Everyone’s At It”, “The Fear “ ( The lead single) and “I Could Say” and “ Who Would’ve Known” I wasn’t disappointed, although it did take me a while to get used to her new sound. She seems to have improved in her song writing department while still managing to keep her sass in tact. I this it’s safe to say that after this that Lily Allen is officially part of the Electro-pop crowd. Although it’s a possibility that just like she did for this album, she could change her sound again for her next album. Check out Lily Allen’s new album “Its Not Me, Its You” and you might like it

Lady GaGa

My favorite guilty pleasure of 2008 without a doubt had to be Lady GaGa. Let me tell you there is nothing like a young woman that presents herself as semi-sophisticated slut. If you don’t believe me just watch her videos. But that’s enough on her image, this is supposed to be about the music right? And about that music, it’s not bad actually. By now you guys have already heard “Let’s Dance”, and “Poker Face” which I would call standouts on her October 2008 release “The Fame”, but I would also add ‘Love Game’ ( another single) and “Again, Again” a non –dance oriented song which allows her to show off her singing talent. The lyrics are risqué to say the least, and the beats are very danceable. This makes “The Fame” a very enjoyable album to listen to if you’re in the mood to just dance and have fun.

School of Seven Bells

I like this band. They’re different, but different in a good way. The only problem is that with the sometimes mellow, non-aggressive style of this band it’s easy for them to be reduced to background music. I can see myself writing a paper, or a blog entry listening to a constant stream of this album and not even noticing that it’s on. Oh well you can go that route if you want to but if you do then you’ll be missing out. A fun fact about this group is that the singers are actually identical twins (if you can’t tell by the video) Double the pleasure, double the fun I guess. The standouts on 2008’s “Alpinisms” is the current single “Half Asleep”, the 11 minute plus “Sempiternal/Amaranth" and "Iamundernodisguise". Check out School of Seven Bells and you just might like it.

Matt & Kim

Well what can I say about this. Besides Kim being as cute as a button, I can't say much good things about this paring. The problem isn't their backing music as it's okay, its Matt's vocals that that really screw things up here. Daylight, their lead single works with Matt singing lead, but not on others. He's cringe worthy at worst, at best,let's not kid ourselves here. Now I don't mean to rag too much on these guys. My band is in the process of putting together our first album, and I might have to lend my unspectacular voice to the project if worst comes to worst. Okay one good thing I will say about these guys is that I admire their ambition. Just that I'm writing about them must show something. Okay another good thing, well kind of, I've heard some songs from their 2006 self titled and some of it is actually good. However the best thing about their 2009 follow up "Grand" is that it's just under a half hour long. Standouts on the "Grand" are "Lessons Learned", "Daylight", "Cinders" ( It has minimal words)," I Wanna" and "I'll Take Us Home". Well I guess if I can name 5 songs out of 11 that I like then it can't be all that bad, right? Check out Matt & Kim and I'll let you decide.

MGMT

MGMT's Oracular Spectacular was one of my favorites from 2008. But here's a secret, even though this album was on many best of lists for 2008, Oracular Spectacular was actually released in late 2007 (October.) I guess 2008 was the year that it just got noticed. Although for me after a certain point the album starts to drag and gets tiring ( after Kids) the remaining songs aren't bad just kind of boring. The standouts songs are "Kids", "Electric Feel", and "Time to Pretend" among others. You might like this one if you listen and give it a chance.

The Ting Tings

Okay 2008 was a great, and The Ting Tings was one of the acts that added to the year's greatness, well at least in my opinion. "We Started Nothing" is a fun album although at some points it lags. Songs like "Shut up and Let Me Go", "Great DJ", "That's Not My Name" and "We Walk' are standouts for me. Go and get "We Started Nothing" by the Ting Tings. You'll enjoy it, and if you don't then let it play in the background a few times. With it clocking in a 37:47, once you get on your third listen you'll be singing along to the songs.

Review Change.

As you may have noticed or not, since it seems that no one reads this blog. My review style has changed. Instead of giving a long song by song review, I've decided to simplify things a bit. I will now give a little overview of the album/artist and give my pick of songs that I think standout on the album. I will also no longer give out ratings. Don't worry if i like or dislike an album you'll know it. I hope you enjoy this new style for Starks Reviews.

Ladyhawke

The self-titled "Ladyhawke" was one of my favorite albums of 2008. Yes it does have the 80's pop sound to it, but it also finds a way to sound very modern as well. I am confident in saying that there is not a bad song on the album. In some songs the lyrics may be lacking but the overall sound and tone of the songs easily make up for it. Even though I like all of the songs here, there are some favorites for me that standout. "Magic", "My Delirium", "Manipulating Woman" and "Dusk Till Dawn" are my among favorites. I recommend that checkout Ladyhawke, you might like what you hear.

Chromeo

This is "Fancy Footwork" by Chromeo. You might have heard this song from a recent Sony PSP commercial. What can I say about this album "Fancy Footwork" released in 2008? It does have a certain 1980's retro dance sound it, but that's the problem. It gets too repetitive. Standouts on this album are "Bonified Lovin" "Fancy Footwork", and "Momma's Boy" among others. Check out Chromeo's "Fancy Footwork" and their 2006 "She's in Control" as well, and maybe you might like it.

Yelle

This is the song "Ce Jeu" by Yelle,(pronounced Yell). As you can tell this song is in French, as Yelle herself is French. In fact despite her 2008 album "Pop-Up" being some what of a slow burning hit, her entire album is in French. Now I don't understand French, but I understand music and I like Yelle. Songs like the popular "Je Veux Te Voir" "À cause des garçons" and "Dans ta vraie vie" are standouts for me. Give Yelle a try and you maybe you might like her too.

Bat for Lashes

A new song from Brittan's Natasha Khan, better known to the music world as Bat for Lashes. Her her new album "Two Suns" is scheduled for release on April 6th. "Two Suns" is a follow up to her debut album "Fur and Gold". Okay I'll be honest,I wasn't much of a fan of her record at first, I found it very boring. However after months of ignoring it I gave it another shot and actually enjoyed it, well some parts. Songs like "What's a Girl to Do", "Trophy" and "Priscilla" among others are stands outs for me. Bats for Lashes isn't going crossover into the American mainstream anytime soon, heck despite being nominated for two Brit Awards ( Brittan's Grammy's) for Best Breakthrough and Best Solo Female, she's not even mainstream in her own country. Oh well, that's the breaks bitch. I recommend you check out Bat for Lashes. Giver her a chance and you may like it.