Phil's Album Recommendations

Passion Pit - Chunk of Change EP (2008)
(Indie dance music = Valentine's Day gift? oh noes)
I don't know what it is, but somehow I've latched onto a lot of dance-type music this month. This is a really efficient EP, and it leans just far enough towards that indie quirkiness that those of us who decide to stand over by the punch bowl and nod our heads will still enjoy ourselves. Oh, and I totally lose it when "Better Things" comes on the radio. Yeah.


Gang Gang Dance - Saint Dymphna (2008)
(wtf, mate?)
Still digesting this one. Some of it is quite excellent, but there are a few lulls too. These guys were just in the DFW area; if only I had been a fan just a little sooner. Not much of the MySpace material is like this record, but it might at least give you an idea of what GGD is all about.


TV On The Radio - Dear Science (2008)
(high vocals, funky horns, opens with 50s "ba ba baaas")
This record will easily top many year-end lists, including mine too, I'm guessing. I saw some ridiculous reviews on Facebook calling this music "avant garde" or something. Wrong. Not boring? Yes. But avant garde? Nooooo.
I knew that I was mildly dissapointed with Return to Cookie Mountain, and now I know why - as good it is/was, it seems to grasp at ways to make TVOTR's music new and, while they are partially successful, the results also skew the original identity of the artist. Dear Science takes the winning formula of Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes and shifts it into hyperdrive. You can STILL stream the entire record on MySpace.


BAND TO WATCH:
GLASVEGAS

(kind of emo-y but they're from Scotland so it's all good)
Oh, this could go SO epically wrong (not on a Partie Traumatic level, but still...). Geraldine is a cute jam, but I could just see these guys turn it to a sad act in more ways than one. Their debut drops stateside in January...let's just hope I'm wrong. The good news is that the Nirvana cover is NOT on the record.