Music I've been meaning to buy, but I checked out at the Library Series Part Six:Beach House - Teen Dream

I've heard a lot of things about Beach House. For example, somone told me that they sound like "Best Coast". Other people have told me that they sound like "that Indie Dream Pop" that I like so much. But despite that, I really don't know what to expect. Sure, you might have seen my other installments of this series when I said that I "didn't know what to expect", but I'm really sure this time. I'm looking forward to this review. Trust me, I will buy this album because I know it will sound great (based off of the "hype" from it) and plus, I can't pass up a CD/DVD combo. I had this CD for a while, so sorry if my review was a little bit late.


As with all reviews that I post, I have not heard the whole album, but I have heard some songs off of the album, here and there, but you have my word that I haven't heard the whole thing. (I call this a "blind" review just in-case you didn't know).

Zebra
This one starts off pretty mellow. That guitar is starting to hook me in too. I hope they get to the lyrics because I want to see if they are any good. What do you know, the vocals are fantastic! Sounds a little bit like the Velvet Underground. This song is very light, almost "airy". It almost reminds me of one of those wafer cookies; flaky, light and sweet. A grand start to this album. I'm hoping that it will flow through to the rest of the album.

Silver Soul
This opening sounds better than the last one. Wait, this song sounds better than the last one anyway. Listen to those vocals! No wonder why people recommended this album to me! This is straight up 80's influenced Dream Pop right here. This is a great song. I think that you should find it on Youtube or wherever else this song would be uploaded and listen to it.

Norway
When the last track finished, I ended up listening to Norway (alright sorry). I could talk more on how this is a revamped version of 80's Dream Pop and Shoegaze, but I won't. This song is really nice. Those background instruments (modded guitar?) sound really great, it feels like I'm slowly sinking into this song, and I love it when a song has this type of power. I don't know if this is important or not, but I'm not really paying attention to the lyrics although I have the lyric booklet out. I guess that I really dont need to because I feel like the music is more important in this genre.

Walk in the Park
Another good opening! This is four in a row! As for the sound, it is great. I feel like I am walking though the park, but I also feel like I'm spinning around and floating (vivid right?). I feel like I heard this song late at night when I was watching one of those "late night" shows and Beach House was on TV. I probally thought "Oh, this is really good sleeping music! But this is a pretty awesome song! I'll buy the album later". I should start to listen to my brain more when I go on trips to the record store, because I listen to some pretty good stuff and I always forget about it.

Used To Be
This song sounds more upbeat to me. On the rythym and muis side, this sounds like an old Portishead song to me. Heck, it was probally an infulence to them, but why should it matter? This is a great song. I think that this song is going to be in my head for a while, I can just feel it happening. The shift at 2:40 is genus.

Lover of Mine
Nice opening! I quickly looked over the lyrics before this song started, and I could tell that this song would be great because it rhymed! While I'm still on the voclas, I think that these really stand out for me because they are so Dream Pop-ish! It is like taking vocals Sioxsie Sioux, Lisa Germono and Nico, blending them togehter, and making a vocal smoothie that is awesome.

Better Times
Looks like they slowed things down again. More Velvet Underground infulences on this sonng (espally the Nicoesque vocals). The shift aroud 2:30 is great. This song sounds like really good elevator music to me (that is a compliment!). I'd kind of wish that I would be stuck in a elevator for 4 minutes though.

10 Mile Stereo
I feel like I heard this song too (I most likeley did). No wait, I'm sure that I did! Probally on TV again (NO I'm not a TV junkie, I only watch shows for the musical guest.) When I heard it, I remembered to "listen to this again, because this is totally sick! And plus it sounds like Portishead". I really like this song. I wish I could decribe it for you. Yeah, check this song out NOW if you haven't heard it (you can come back to my review right?)

Real Love
"I met you somewhere, In a hell beneath the Stairs" This might be one of the best lyrics I've ever heard.
I know, it is hard to follow a good song like 10 mile stereo, but this song is great! I don't usally say this, but I have the urge to cry tears of joy because I don't want this song to end. Yes it is THAT good (I'm super glad that this song is 5 minues and 20 seconds). This isn't a sad song or anything like that, but I feel like this sond would have a spot on my "break up" playlist. I have no idea why though. 

Take Care
I feel like I heard this song someplace. It is great, almost "soft" and it just flows really well. It just sounds like a good "album ender" to me.

Now that I've listened to this album, I can say that Teen Dream is one of the Best things that I've listened to in a while (Sorry Warpaint and Wild Flag, I still love what you do, but you aren't quite Dream Gaze yet! (Woah, Dreamgaze... I came up with a new Genera!). The openings and endings are all sold, the music is just exciting to listen to, and plus it is simple to muscically understand! What else can you ask for in an album! I don't know why I don't have this album yet, but trust me I will have it and the other Beach House albums soon!

Music I've been meaning to buy, but I checked out at the Library Series Part Five: Surfer Blood - Astro Coast

I don't know what to expect from this album. I heard Surfer Blood a long time ago when I was probably doing some programing in my computer class and I had my internet radio on. I probably thought "Oh, that sounds cool, I'll check this out later." but it never happened. But I found this CD last week and I knew that I had to listen to it for myself.

As always, this is a "Clean Review". I haven't heard the whole album through, and I really don't know what to expect. I'm reviewing each track as I go along, so you know exactly what I'm thinking when I'm listening.


Floating Vibes
This sounds interesting. I don't want to sound obvious when I say this, but its very "surf rockish". Again, I haven't heard this album, but just from this first track, I can tell that they are probably are going to use harmonies a lot. That is different, and I can't wait to hear the rest of this album. Anyway, I like this song. Just looking at this song, I'm expecting this song to be

Swim
This sounds different (in a good way). It is loud at first, and then we get a small interlude, and then right back to the loudness. So far, when I'm listening to this album, it feels like I'm surfing. Is Surfer Blood recreating the experience of surfing in an album? If so, that is pretty radical.

Take It Easy
"Wow, is this a straight up surf-rock song?". It sounds like it. I'm liking this album so far. Its like a giant wave hit my brain and now I'm floating in the vast ocean that is Surfer Blood. I'm enjoying that main riff very nice.

Harmonix
The opening is hooking me in so far. The lyrics are helping, so now I just want to just focus on this song for a while. Hey, a tempo change. Is that feedback? I'm like floating in a sea of amazing. I'm hooked on this album so far. I want to see if it is all this good!

Neighbour Riffs
The guitar is standing out on this one. Wait, the song is called Neighbor Riffs, so are (2?) guitars playing almost the same riffs, or is one guitar looped with a delay someplace, or am I just over thinking this one? Whatever it may be, this is kind of a short song, but its working for me. We hit the halfway point on this song, I'm enjoying it! It went super fast though.

Twin Peaks
Is this song about Twin Peaks (it probably isn't)? This song sounds like a party, and enjoyable party inside my brain that has a lot of things going on. I think my brain is in overload mode.

Fast Jabroni
I'm guessing that this is the faster version of Slow Jaboini. I think that I'll like Slow Jabroni because I like Fast Jabroni.

Slow Jabroni
I guess they weren't joking  about this being the slow version of Fast Jabroni. It really is! Slow Jabroni is 6:06 so yes, it is 3 minutes longer than the 3:04 minute Fast Jabroni. Fast or slow, I like them both.

Anchorage
Believe it or not, this is the longest song on the album. I'm interested to see what they are going to do with it. That is a pretty sick main riff, I think I'll keep listening to this song just to see when they are going to play it again (yeah, that is pretty lame right?). Other than that I like this song. I'm not trying to be lazy, but its one of those songs that you have to hear to understand.

Catholic Pagans
And the last song on the album is short! (not like that means anything to me). I like it. They opened and closed this album well! That is 5 stars in my book.

Sure, this album might be labeled "Indie Rock" by a lot of people and reviewers, but this album sounds more like Surf Rock to me. Indie Surf Rock? Does that sound alright? (You know how I feel about new genres). I do recommend this for you to listen to. I'm sure that you will like it.

Music I've been meaning to buy, but I checked out at the Library Series Part Four: Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - We Brave Bee Stings And All.

I'm really happy that I checked out this album because I really wanted to hear the whole thing! If you know me, you know that I just can't listen to one track on a CD and call it a day. I need to hear the whole album before I can really understand a good album, so I couldn't wait to check this one out. I really don't know why I don't have this album; this is crazy because I have most of the KRS catalog, but I realize that I didn't have this one! I'm putting this near the top of my "to buy list" (yay, I can get it on vinyl too!).

I haven't heard much of Thao, but I do know that she does sing with a band (well, that is pretty clear right?) and that she mixes Folk with that special breed of rock music that only the Northwest can offer.Like the other albums in this series, I've heard some of these songs here and there, but I haven't heard all of it, so you can trust me to give you a "clean review"

Track - By - Track Analysis

Beat (Health,Life, And Fire)
Strong start. I like this most when I'm cracking into a new album. For me, it shows that the band is pretty excited to get to the song and is ready to start it. This is really interesting song for me. It feels complete in my mind. There are so many instruments going on (well not really, but I think that it sounds like there is) and the lyrics fit the song. I think I'm going to like this album.

Bag Of Hammers
I heard this song one day and I was super impressed with it. It made me happy! That doesn't really happen to often, but when I listened to it I remember saying: "Wow! I need this right now!". The lyrics are amazing and simple. And this song is pretty short! Again, I like it when bands get to the point of their songs quickly and it looks like they did with this song.

Big Kid Table
I'm liking the change in tempo for this one. It is refreshing! This album is going kind of quickly so I'm glad that this one is going a bit slower. They even throw in some different instruments into this song. Nice. This feels like a summer song. Its light, it is slow and it is enjoyable.

Swimming Pools
This song is faster, and yes, the title of this album comes from this song. Yes, this has to be a summer album. What other season has a song about swimming pools? I guess this song is about being fearless no matter the season.

Geography
Wow! I hit the halfway point already and I don't even feel like I did! This is a slower song, but I'm liking it anyway.

Feet Asleep
Another slower song, but the instruments work together on this one and they stand out pretty well, like that piano thing at 1:30 or so. I guess if you need an example of alternative folk, you could listen to this song. It isn't straight up "Folk" but then again, it isn't straight up "alternative" so, I guess when you boil everything together you get Alternative Folk.

Yes, So On And So On
Looking at the lyrics, I guess this is a love song. It was only a matter of time I guess. I like it though, it is a nice song. Everything is just complete, all the instruments are working and the lyrics are doing their part too.

Fear And Convenience
This might be a song about love too (thanks lyric sheet!). This sounds a little bit like early (or late) Cat Power. No, I'm not comparing Thao's music to Chan's writing, but I'm just getting that vibe. Other than that, I'm happy that this is the longest song on the album! This might be my favorite!

Violet
Don't ask me about these lyrics because I don't have the slightest idea on what they mean. Despite that, I'm enjoying them, and and I'm enjoying this song. It's short, but it gets the story across.

Travel
The tempo went up again! That is great because I thought that the last couple of songs would be slow, but I was wrong again. Instead, they are pretty quick (this one is 1:47) and they sound like the first part of the album, instead of the second half. This one just ends a little bit too fast, but the song is great and that makes it ok.

We Go
Well, this one is slower than the last song, so I was kind of right. Anyway, I'm liking this song, everything is light and it isn't too fast, so I get to enjoy this song. Just looking at this album as a whole, they had the faster songs in the first half of the album, and the slower songs in the second, so it was great that they slowed things down at the end because it made the album end on a positive note.

I like this album! I will be buying it soon because I can't see my collection progressing without a hard coppy of this album in some format. No matter what, it is going to be a staple in my libary soon because it is great! I love everything about this album and I couldn't find a week track at all. I highly suggest listening to the whole album, but if you really want to, you could listen to this album in chunks, but I think that you wouldn't really like the album. Trust me, this is just one of those albums that you just have to listen through. Things flow in this album, and it wouldn't be right to mess up that flow with a bunch of single tracks here and there.

Music I've been meaning to buy, but I checked out at the Library Series Part Three:Ra Ra Riot - The Rhumb Line

Like the other CD's in this series, I've heard some songs by the artist here and there, but I haven't had the time (or I never remember) to buy them. No, I'm not cutting the artist short or anything, I'm going to buy all of the albums in this series hopefully on vinyl because I've already have the CD.

I haven't really heard too much from Ra Ra Riot but I've heard one song that stood out, but I forgot the name like always. I heard that this is a pretty good album, but I'm pretty skeptical because I'm not really into rock bands that use Cello or Violin in their songs. That is pretty cool because that makes them different, but at the same time, I don't think that I will enjoy it that much.

As always, I haven't heard this whole album, so you can ensure that I'm giving you a "clean" review.

Track - By - Track Analysis

Ghosts Under Rocks
First track on the album. My first thought "Oh, this isn't too bad at all". But I'm getting that Coldplay vibe from this; that isn't too good. Hopefully, Riot will sound differently when the album progresses. I like this though! I can't exactly put my finger on why I like it, but its refreshing, I don't say that albums are refreshing that often! So this is a good sign.

Each Year
Oh, this has a good opening. I like what they are doing with their song structure, it is light thanks to the Violin and Cello, but it is "rockish" because of that Guitar and Bass. You can hate me for saying this, but when I'm listening to this song, I can almost taste the Sleater-Kinney influence. (alright fine, I'll stop with that)

St. Peter's Day Festival
Well, it looks like they slowed things down this time. The melody really stands out on this one. My only question is what is a St. Peter's Day? It probably plays some role in this song, but I don't think that you have to know what that is to understand this song. (Does this sound like the Smiths to you?)

Winter '05
Sounds like another slow song. Its about Winter though, so it probably has to be slow (to be precise, is has to do with the Winter of '05). I think that this is pretty good. Although the lyrics are pretty much the same throughout the song, it still has a good flavor.

Dying is Fine
Looks like they speed up the tempo again on this one. We here some pretty good Guitar/Drumwork on this one, and that is nice. They slow down halfway through and that is refreshing.

Can You Tell
The Violin/Cello stand out on this one; you can really hear it in the opening part of the song. I felt like this one was a little bit too short, I felt like it could have been longer.

Too Too Too Fast
This is most likely the Riot song that I heard earlier. I liked it, but I remember thinking: "Why do I like this? This band has a Violin! What the heck! Why?" but hearing this album, I understand." I must say that this is a pretty good breakdown. Thanks Violin. Oh, those Backing Vocals are Ace too. Thanks 2nd vocalist.
This is a great song.

Oh, La
Things slowed down again. I'm happy that they did because that other song was almost too too too fast. (last joke I promise.) I fell like the lyrics aren't really "in depth" on this song, but that is alright because that last song was almost a monster effort.

Suspended In Gaffa
Riot did a Kate Bush Cover! Nice. I like Kate Bush! I enjoyed Riot's cover and its up there on that "best cover songs list" in my head. This is basically the same as the Bush song, except it is a little bit faster and it has a better sound. Go listen to this, I think it explains everything.

Run My Mouth
I thought that this would be slow, but I was wrong again, things speed up after a quick intro. Although they slowed things down a little again, they ended the album strong and I like that.

I like this album. I'm putting this in the "Albums I thought that I wouldn't like, but I do like" category. Very nice. I know I'm a little too late to the party, but don't blame me for all of these new releases. Overall, this album is influenced by baroque pop, notably English, and I don't think I'd be wrong if I said American Indie Rock.Don't listen to my music bias, this is a great album. Go listen to it. I feel like it is better that their newest album for some reason (Sophomore slump anyone?). I highly recommend this. Go check it out from your library like I did! Even better, go buy it.