Afterlife

Arcade Fire's fourth studio album Reflektor is due out next week and today, the band released a brand new lyric video for the song called Afterlife, featuring footage from a 1959 French film, Black Orpheus. I'm digging it more and more, but I bet it will work even better in the context of the whole record.

So is this gonna be the biggest album of the year or what?

Thursday night edit: Following today's leak, the band is streaming the whole album on YouTube. That was quick.

Turin Brakes

Turin Brakes is one of those bands that Sparkle introduced me to back in the day, and although I could never call myself a huge fan of theirs, I've given their albums a fair couple of spins during the years. Namely the songs like Fishing For a Dream or Last Chance stuck in my mind.

The English duo has recently released a sixth studio album called We Were Here. What's it like? Well, it's pretty much like all their other albums. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. If you're craving some acoustic indie/folk rock and all your Augustana CDs feel highly overplayed, chances it will suit your mood.

On a sidenote, this is the 300th post on this blog, we're three years in and still counting. Back in March 2010 I honestly didn't think it would last this long. Thank You for all the support. Here's to hoping we make it to post #1000 one day. :)

Paul McCartney: New

I am a huge Beatles' fan, and I've always been. But I have to admit that, unlike with George or John, I've never really got into Paul's post-Beatles stuff. Nothing that he released either as a solo artist or with Wings did excite me very much, that is, with the notable exception of the 1973 album Band On the Run. Well, to be perfectly honest, it's not like I've listened to everything he's ever released. Not even remotely. Fortunately, though, the release of New has been generating a lot of buzz and I for once fell victim to it.

I am listening to the album for the first time as I am writing this post, because much to my surprise, I have been enjoying it a lot right from the very start. When approaching a record from a music bard like Paul, you do it with a certain idea of what the artist will sound like, and more often than not, he falls right into that box. Not this time around, though, because New sounds amazingly fresh and contemporary from the opening riff of Save Us to the last note of Road. (And then some more...) Yet, this is the same Paul he was when Please, Please Me came out. He's effortlessly a churning out tunes with such an ease in the way only he can, and you will hear hints and echoes of many Beatles' songs, from Love Me Do to A Day In the Life. It's an absolute joy to listen to. The album is a clear statement that the now 71-year-old McCartney has many tricks left up his sleeve and still a lot of things to say.

Best tracks: Alligator, On My Way To Work, Early Days, New