I also got that trio recently, at the same time as well. The Fratelli's i like. But i have to give it more time to see how it "ages". The Klaxons i liked less and left me a bit unimpressed. The Kaisers' disc really dissapointed me.

If you like the Fratellis, check out the View. I believe they have an album that is just as good as last year's Arctic Monkeys (sophomore release from them should be out anytime now).

Also based on you liking the Klaxons, check out the latest Cooper Temple Clause (their third), Make This Your Own. Same combination of rocking and light electronic elements. Only better achieved, in my honest opinion. Their debut is amazing by the way.

Ok, no more rambling from me. At least for now.

10-4!

-G.

I know i don't post here often enough, but i wanted to list some of my faves from 07 so far. If any of you guys are not familiar with the following names, check them out. Some are already out, some will be real soon and some are promos and/or leaks. The list:

Dean & Britta - Back Numbers
If you loved Luna (especially their later period stuff) and the quiet side of Galaxie 500 this should be your cup of tea. Just like their previous solo collaboration, it deals mostly with sultry, sexy duets. Quiet, and if i may say so, pretty album. A very sensual piece of work.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
A return to rocking after the acoustic Dylan/Cash tinged Howl, this one combines all the previous detours they've taken in their musical career. Not their strongest but still a good album and if the labels do their homework, their easiest to "sell".

The National - Boxer
I just love this band. While it has no Mr. November or Lit Up and it is closer to Sad Songs than Alligator, it is a great, mature record.

Dungen - Tio Bitar
Another band i really like. They had their 15 minutes with the last album so you might have heard of them. This one, like all their work, sounds like a bunch of swedish longhairs jamming in '72 were taped only for the reels to have been found in some archeological dig after being lost all this time. I have a low tolerance threshold for "wankery" and prog, but this stays clear of that and i dig.

Sister Vanilla - Little Pop Rock
The whole JAMC reunion puzzles me. Yeah i am happy that is happening, but did they ever really go away? I got the Freeheat CD last year which was one of the Reids plus the JAMC bass guy with half the Gun Club. That was about 5 years of worth of work there. Then there's this Sister Vanilla CD which is a collection of songs worked on for a decade and includes Lurie and both Reids. All tracks are sung by the Reid's sister (the Vanilla in the name). Less feedback overall and sunnier than most JAMC, but i bet that if you liked Sometimes Always, Some Candy Talking and Just Like Honey, you will very likely have this one on heavy rotation soon.

Fields - Everything Last Winter
I've seen this described as shoegazey and i don't think it realy is (unlike, say last year's Engineers). It is a damn good album in any case. I actually hear more of a C86 thing going on (i am aware there is some overlap). A nice collection of not-too-loud stuff that still manages to rock out.

Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Return of the band from the 90s, original lineup and all. It doesn't feel awkward at all (aural antidote for the Stooges' latest) and i was really missing that fuzzed out guitawr.

Cut City - Exit Decades
Could be easily lumped in the Uncut/Interpol/Editors camp, but while that comparison might initially work for these Swedes (and obviously bringing up Ian Curtis and Co.), they also have traces of the Chameleons, Comsat Angels, Echo and The Bunnymen and a lot of other bands.

Bell Hollow - Sons Of The Burgess Shale
EP from a NYC band in the same vein as Cut City. Shows a lot of promise for their debut, whenever that drops. Slightly poppier than Cut City though.

Grinderman - Grinderman
Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and a streamlined version of the Bad Seeds. Rocking, garagey, horny, dirty, edgy. Love this shit. Plus, regardless of what the press will say (they will ignore the softer side), there are some good ballads in there. But yeah, mostly mean mean mean rock on this one.

Other stuff that might make the list eventually (or that i got into at the very end of 06 and might not technically qualify )

Howling Bells - Howling Bells
The Besnard Lakes - ...Are The Dark Horse
Voxtrot - Voxtrot
Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
Earl Greyhound - Soft Targets
Calla - Collisions
Bloc Party - Weekend In The City
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Shins - Wincing The Night Away
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Chetes - Blanco Fácil
Cerati - Ahí Vamos
Pop Levi - The Return To Form Black Magick Party
Uncut - Modern Currencies
The Two Koreas - Altruists
Nassau - Machines To Paradise

As usual, check out the LastFM profile if you feel like it. You'll find samples in there. ( www.last.fm/user/juepucta )

-G.

Anybody who claims that there's a better record than Neon Bible either have no taste or just haven't listened enough. It's basically all that I've listened to consistently since January.

Ooh, I can't wait to hear Boxer.


The Field's (not the same band as juepucta speaks of) From Here We Go Sublime is as good as they say it is. I'll go as far as to say it's the best electronic/dance full-length since Discovery. Takes this whole (IMO extremely boring) minimal techno/microhouse thing that's all the rage these days and somehow, despite extreme genre limitations, infuses it with the emotion and immediacy that's missing from the rest of the genre, as opposed to, say, Ricardo Villalobos, who basically just loops a drum track and a few barely-there synth lines for 30 minutes (literally -- listen to that "Fizheuer Zieheuer" track).

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