Moby
4/5
Available Now
Moby's latest effort is a return to his roots. These songs were made for clubs. Even though these are dance beats and not Moby's techo-blues fusion, they still show the evolution of the last couple of albums. Possibly the most fun song on the album, "Disco Lies" is a retro club song, but with modern bass lines. It's hard to not start dancing while listening to it. Overall, the album is pretty good, and it definitely has the feel of Moby's older albums, a feel that Play, 18 and Hotel lacked. Of course, those albums weren't club music in the sense that Last Night and everything pre-Play are. Though "Disco Lies" is a lot of fun, the best track is probably "I Love to Move in Here" with Grandmaster Caz. It's also probably one of the most modern songs on the album. Overall, the whole album is definitely a return to roots for Moby. And that's not a bad thing.
If you like this music, you might also enjoy:
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs
Hard Candy - Madonna
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The Ya Ya Boom Project
Isn't Pretty
3.5/5
Available May 3
Despite the sheer size of Albuquerque's burgeoning music scene, there really aren't all that many bands with actual potential. It's nice to get to hear a local band that doesn't fall into the also-ran category. The Ya Ya Boom Project has put out a clean sounding album. This one might elevate them into the category of bands that have escaped the confines of Albuquerque and garnered some national fame. The first and sixth track particularly stand out on this album. The sixth track has a sound vocally reminiscent of both the Cranberries and No Doubt, though the overall sound of the song compares most favorably with mid-'90s Red Hot Chili Peppers. What is going to make this band famous is the unique sound qualities it brings to the table. The guitar work is by far the most fully realized of all the components of the band, though the vocals are by no means immature. It's clear that while Marissa Demarco is pretty good, she has yet to reach the absolute peak of her ability. When she does, people will buy this album on iTunes and at Borders - not CD Baby.
If you like this music, you might also enjoy:
Live Through This - Hole
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Kala - M.I.A.
R.E.M.
5/5
Available Now
Sweet joy. The R.E.M. everyone used to like has returned. Accelerate, the band's 14th album, is a breath of fresh air after the dismal performance that was Around the Sun and Reveal. It's a good thing too, because one more piece of vinyl crap like Around the Sun would have guaranteed R.E.M.'s fade into obscurity. Instead, we got an album full of all the things that made R.E.M. great in the first place. It's an album that makes the listener want to keep listening to it, a claim that the earlier 21st-century R.E.M. albums couldn't make. The opening track, "Living Well Is the Best Revenge," has a steady rock beat, and echoes the band's late-'90s work more than anything else. The third track, "Supernatural Superserious," could have been a track on any of R.E.M.'s earlier albums, though it would have been a particularly good fit on Document. This album represents the redemption of once-great band that had spent the better part of the last decade sliding into an indecent obscurity. The only bad thing is this: How many more albums of this quality does R.E.M. have left in it?
If you like this music, you might also enjoy:
Funplex - The B-52's
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings - Counting Crows
Shine A Light: Original Soundtract - Rolling Stones
