My cup runneth oveeer!

I have acquired such a plethora of interesting new music this past week, that I don't really know where to begin and end. I think however I'll start with Arcade Fire, who are drip-dropping more and more of their forthcoming third album, The Suburbs. The latest are these two new tracks, both of which are good - I mean, really good! I sincerely like the sound of this.

It's been a long time coming, but I finally got a hold of The xx's debut album, xx. This too is massively rad. I get the chills by how their guitars are constantly mixed in a sort of distant, atmospheric way, and their tête-a-tête male-female vocal work is adorable as well. Try checking out 'Heart Skipped A Beat', 'Crystalised' and 'Intro', which examplifies the guitar twang really well.

I also got a hold of three Roskilde-bound acts' newest records, namely The National's High Violet, Florence + The Machine's Lungs and LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening. Of the three, the latter stands out as a really extraordinary record. I love how James Murphy encompasses the generic party anthem, without having to make 3:30 pop songs or having to leave out any of his blazing creativity and distinct vocals. 'Pow Pow' has emerged as an early favorite, as has 'I Can Change'. High Violet is pretty good too. It's much more textured than Boxer and Alligator were, and the lyrics are somewhat simpler - sadly. 'Conversation 16' has unbeatable harmonics.

Elsewhere, I got a hold of Foals' sophomore album, Total Life Forever. I wasn't instantly impressed, but all reviewers seem to agree that this is a slow grower, so I'm not ready to be disappointed yet. 'After Glow' is an amazing track (can't find it anywhere on YouTube, sorry!). I need to devour this album in different kinds of way though, before concluding anything. It is definitely more generously instrumentalised - there are more different and askew timbres, more synths, and Yannis Phillippakis now sings actual lyrics more than yelps chants. The signature poly-rhythmic guitars and super-tight drumming is still present though.

Finally, I got a hold of a bit of new electronic stuff, by way of Delorean's Subiza, which I haven't really heard yet, and Autechre's Oversteps, which I must admit disappoints me quite a lot. I don't know why, but I had expected something just a wee bit more beat-and-pace oriented, but I guess IDM is IDM after all...

And it goes pow, pow pow pow pow, pow pow pow pow!