Meg got me a new iPod for Christmas. I haven’t really bought any new music in probably 5 years (I think the last new album I purchased was Arctic Monkey’s Favorite Worst Nightmare in 2007). So I’m trying to reconnect with music in 2011. My plan is to buy an album a week. I started with an iTunes gift certificate, here’s the albums I have purchased so far:
- Kings of Leon, Only By the Night – A great album. I was expecting something with a bit more edge to it, so it took a few listens. But its haunting sound grew on me.
- Crash Kings, Crash Kings – A complete one-hit wonder. “Mountain Man” is a great song, but the rest of the album tries to hard to emulate every other alternative band out there.
- Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More – I loved the single “Little Lion Man.” The rest of the album is solid, but they certainly picked the right track to release as the first single. The band is at their best with up-tempo tracks.
- My Chemical Romance, Danger Days – I am an unapologetic My Chemical Romance fan, I love their harmonic-punk style and experimentation (their last album, Black Parade, has a punk-polka). This album is quite different than the two previous albums. I listened to it about 5 times and am not sure what I think about it–its certainly a good album, but I think I’d prefer carefully arranged and mixed punk rock to carefully arranged and mixed electronica.
I just bought the Black Keys’ 2004 album Rubber Factory and a friend provided burns of two Vampire Weekend albums, so I have plenty to listen to this week. Next week, I’m thinking of grabbing The National’s High Violet, but I am open to suggestions.
