Sorry!

Sorry - there haven't been any reviews lately. I would say it's because I took a leave of absence from college and am starting off a new medication (Xanax) with a new social worker and whatnot, and I'm trying to get my life in order, but basically I've just been lazy. I'll review two more albums today, although I don't think updates will be as frequent as they were.

[INDIE ROCK/ELECTRONIC] Grand Duchy - Petits Fours [LP]

So this is what Frank Black's been up to. This is the album he recorded with his wife. The first song on the album is pretty solid. After that, though, it starts getting a little (okay, a lot) too electronic for my tastes. Black also gives away too much of the vocal duties to his wife (who's decent but no comparison), I guess in order to try and take some of the focus away from himself and to prevent people from comparing this to his other stuff. It didn't work.

2.5/5.

http://www.myspace.com/grandduchymusic

[ELECTRONICA] The Juan MacLean - The Future Will Come [LP]

The Juan MacLean is John MacLean, one of the most pretentious artists on the DFA label. His stuff is generally pretty solid, and he's had some acclaim on his last few records. I was looking forward to some good electronica, but this album seemed to drag on way too long. I found myself checking to see how much time was left way too many times for my taste, and it just seemed more like a chore than anything to keep listening to this. Disappointing.

2/5.

http://www.myspace.com/thejuanmaclean

[ART ROCK/PROGRESSIVE] ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead - The Century of Self [LP]

I would tend to agree with the sentiments that progressive rock is generally reserved for the smelly guy at the comic book shop with the Rush concert shirt from 1984 but I would make a case for ...Trail of Dead as one of the best bands in that genre. Their first three albums were pretty fantastic, although unfortunately their new album tends to be more like the last two. I was encouraged by the Festival Thyme EP that came out earlier this year, but it didn't translate as well to a full album as I thought. It's still decent music, but I miss the anger and noise that was in the first three. Those had more of a punk feel to them, and recently ...Trail of Dead has seemed to me more like a regular indie band, and they've lost a lot of what made them intriguing to me in the first place. There are some good songs, and the album is listenable without getting bored, but they don't really do enough to stand out anymore. A respectable album, but you know they're capable of so much more. Here's hoping they rebound.

3/5.

http://www.myspace.com/trailofdead

[MATH ROCK/NOISE] Zu - Carboniferous [LP]

Zu is a little-known Italian band despite having released a ton of albums. They're kind of interesting in that they're some weird combination of math rock, noise, and metal, but not nearly as fun to listen to as they seem. I had some trouble getting through this album because it's very repetitive and doesn't really offer anything great in the way of vocals, which are sparse. Songs blend together and the whole album drags on too long.

2/5.

http://www.myspace.com/zuband

[AMBIENT/POST-ROCK] Eluvium - Life Through Bombardment [7xLP]

Eluvium, an ambient/post-rock musician, has just released a limited release seven vinyl collection of every song he's ever recorded. Because it's not really a new LP and because it's just so massive, I'm not going to post a review here, but I'm going to recommend it and point it out as something absolutely ridiculous (it's 40 tracks long on seven vinyls, for crying out loud.) Look into it if you like that kind of music, it's supposed to be fantastic.

[AMBIENT/EXPERIMENTAL] Sonic Youth - Sensational Fix [EP]

Sonic Youth, the fantastic band that blessed indie fans everywhere with Daydream Nation back in 1988 and has been releasing more albums than you can shake a finger at ever since, is back with another experimental collection of songs, Sensational Fix. The album is only four songs long, and if you're expecting something like Sonic Youth's albums, don't. This is a bunch of experimental and ambient stuff from them that will be familiar to some more hardcore Sonic Youth fans. Nothing here of note, just something to get if you're a diehard Sonic Youth fan.

2/5.

www.myspace.com/sonicyouth