pop culture, reviewed

The new color scheme has inspired me to write something—music recommendations from the first part of 2008, a year that has started out pretty darn good.

1. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend - If you read any music press at all, you’ve heard of this band.  Their much anticipated debut almost lives up to the hype.  It’s not the total shot of fresh air that the Strokes were a few years back, but it’s unique enough and well-crafted enough to warrant some of the acclaim.  Stand out tracks like “M79”, “Bryn”, “The Kids Don’t Stand a Chance,” “Oxford Comma” and “One (Blake’s Got a New Face),” make you imagine what Graceland would have sounded like if Paul Simon had made it when he was 21 instead of when he was 40 something and had the money to, you know, go to Africa.  This one has the added bonus of being a great soundtrack for the sunny spring and summer days on the horizon.

2. The Whigs, Mission Control - Now this my friends is a good rock album.  There’s nothing ground breaking or mind-blowingly new here, but this is one solid piece of work .  It is chock full of radio-friendly (though I doubt they’ll get much play, as well, I can’t think of too many rock radio stations still around) singles.  I wholeheartedly recommend the whole album, but if you want to give a couple songs a listen, I’ll recommend the single “Right Hand On My Heart”,  the mid-tempo “1,000 Wives”, the anthemic “Already Young,” and the ballad “Sleep Sunshine.”  This one will definitely be on the end-of-year top 10.

3.  Throw Me the Statue, Moonbeams —  I honestly haven’t really had a chance to soak in the album release, but the EP featuring the songs “About to Walk,” “Lolita,” and “the Old Believer” is fantastic — sort of acoustic electronic pop, if that makes sense.  “About to Walk” is a hit waiting to get noticed with a low key but catchy chorus that builds throughout the song.  I’d expect this to show up on a TV soundtrack this season.