Conditions by The Temper Trap

I'm reasonably deducing that Australia is a truly awesome place for producing something that sounds like a U2 and Local Natives genetically enhanced track. I'm talking about "Sweet Disposition" here people. There is something about a guitar that sounds like it's on some weird sugar high bouncing off the walls like a tweenie girl that's appealing, but I don't think it has anything to do with the tweenie. It sounds like it wanted to be jingy jangly folksy, but instead headed for Kings Of Leon.
The Temper Trap has been around for a couple years, and I'm still catching up on all that I missed. Conditions is a good rock album that is mostly straight forward. Though it's not so straight forward that you feel like you are listening to the same song over and over. It's really a fine line. On one side of the line is complete boredom, and the other is something so diverse that listeners think it's a bad mix tape of various genres. Okay maybe not a super fine line, but you get the point. There are a total of three singles from this album including "Love Lost", "Sweet Disposition", and "Fader". The first mentioned also has elements of U2, but also I'm hearing some of The Killers in there too. Maybe it's just me.
I've also included some other tracks to go along with this one including the afore mentioned Local Natives. Pacman (Not the underground rapper, the actual yellow dude that looks like a banana pie or something) may or may not make an appearance on one of these tracks too. I think you will know what I mean by that when you hear it. If not then sorry, sucker. (Or am I the real sucker here for failing in my communication?)

The Morning Benders - "Excuses" Yours Truly session

Big Echo by The Morning Benders

Very much like any bender the initial spin of this disc will make you feel like you're not quite sure what exactly is going on. Let me tell you what is happening just to get your feet on the ground. You are going to hear abysmally deep layers upon layers upon layers. You are going to hear inertia snowballing sonically. You are going to hear a realization and a comprehension. I know you feel like you can't speak right now because the effect is choking, but in a good way, the goal is not asphyxiation. I think the expression 'breathe-taking' fits well. Perhaps you feel like you've forgotten all your lingual abilities. That's because you very well could have after listening to this.
The album begins with "Excuses", which is the greatest recommendation that I can give to anyone wanting just one new track, but seriously get the whole thing. You wouldn't buy just a strip of a painting would you? The track is surprising and emotive. And that inertia thing I was talking about, well it saturates this one. Recorded literally with dozens of musicians the track is so rich with sound and complexity it has a different effect than the entanglement that you might expect. It's somehow simple, and it's somehow deeply satisfying. Now you know what that comprehension is that I was referring to. Other standout tracks on the album are "Cold War", and "Hand Me Downs". After a couple more spins they might all be favorites.
There is good reason to name an album Big Echo if you're also looking to make a big impression. I've certainly heard the repeating effects bouncing around my skull. The Morning Benders are not only artists but also architects of a large caliber. The constructions of the album are complicated, but on another level they are simple to understand and follow. There is a difference between pleasurable music and deeply satisfying music and this is what has been achieved by these craftsmen.

Fleet Foxes: How is Seattle So Good at Making Music?

I really can't claim to be on top of the avant garde all the time, especially when we're dealing with anything outside of the music world. But what a beautiful world it is. I don't mean to sound precocious nor cocky in anyway, but my sense of music is good (geneticists have told me that it's coded in my DNA). I mean really what else could I even write about than obscure music. So, for your sake I present to you my first album review.

Unfortunately Fleet Foxes released their self-titled album almost two years ago, which means it's old news for some of you. The disk opens with a echoing chorus of folk voices in pop forms all singing in unison. It's melodically enticing. It's deeper layers of guitars laced in chorus effects invites musical images of as a robust stairwell or elevator shaft. Marching bass drums of the lowest pitch as well as clean hollow bodies medicated with chorus pedals or some sort of hall effect sweeten their only single of the album, White Winter Hymnal.

The overall effect is lightening, especially with the seasonal lyrics of of several tracks including the third track, Ragged Wood. Music often is effective in accompanying weather, and this album is perfect for the evolution of winter into spring. If there were a soundtrack to the beading buds within our domesticated lives, it would say,"Spring is upon us, follow my only song...The world is alive now in and outside our home".

So give it a listen or two; preferably in your car with the sun out and the windows down. If you don't feel like your life is suddenly going in a better direction, well you probably have a disorder and that's just unfortunate.