Handsome Furs - Plague Park (Sub Pop, 2007)

Wolf Parade are a super-cool band from Montreal, who released the excellent Apologies To The Queen Mary way back in 2005. For reasons unbeknownst even to myself, I have not written about them earlier, so I am glad I have the opportunity to sing their praises in this post. "Wolf Parade?" I hear you ask. "I thought you said this post was about the new Handsome Furs album." Indeed I did, and, indeed it is, but be sure to check out Wolf Parade.
You see, Handsome Furs and Wolf Parade have a couple of things in common. Firstly, Wolf Parade has two singers, one of whom is Dan Boeckner. Handsome Furs have only one singer, however, that singer happens to be Boeckner - the band is comprised of just he and his fiancee, Alexei Perry. The other similarity the two bands share, is that even after multiple listens, I have very little idea what the songs are about - for the most part, they are not of the rather easy to follow "Bought my first real six-string..." variety - and yet it matters not. On Plague Park, the music - mostly guitar and drum-machine - plays just as much a role in establishing the atmosphere of each song as do the lyrics. At times, it seems the vocals simply serve as another instrument, as opposed to being the sole focus of the listener's attention.
In describing Handsome Furs sound, words such as sparse and melancholy would be applicable, as on the track Handsome Furs Hate This City; however, there is also the pulsing electro-indie-pop of Dead & Rural, that belies the darker undertone of the lyrics.
Plague Park is a fully-formed album that stands up on its own two feet, and deserves to be recognized far beyond the status of a simply a side project from one of the guys from Wolf Parade.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/handsomefurs &
http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade

Girl Talk - Night Ripper (Illegal Art, 2006)

The first 2 Many Dj's album was awesome. However, the 'mash-up' genre that it spawned was/is not so awesome. Here's a great idea, let's combine a cheesy 80's track with a cheesy 90's track, and we'll have a great new song. Wrong! 9 times out of 10 you will simply have two crappy songs combining to make one more crappy song. Mash-ups can be cool, but it takes a lot more than simply taking the vocals from one song and playing them over the music or beat of another. Case in point: Girl Talk.
Girl Talk has been tearing up dancefloors across the U.S. for some time now, and and their album, Night Ripper, has provided the soundtrack to innumerable hipster loft parties from L.A. to Brooklyn (note: I have not yet been invited to one of these parties, so, if you can: hook me up).
To call Night Ripper an album of mash-ups would be to sell it short. It is a party starting, bootie-shaking exercise in mix-tape-mash-up-cut-and-pasting, and is basically a music snob's wet dream. At times, mixing/mashing samples from well over ten songs into an individual track - ranging from Sonic Youth, Nirvana and the Pixies; to Lady Sov, M.I.A., and Annie; to 2 Live Crew, Public Enemy, and Kanye West; to Phil Collins, Boston, and Aerosmith; and well over a hundred more - one could spend hours simply trying to identify the original source material.
Night Ripper is a genre exercise in trying to squeeze as many genres as possible into one song, in addition to making that song as funky and dance-friendly as possible. If you are looking for some music to ensure your next party is 'happening', or something simply to rock-out to in your car, or just a way to prove to your friends just how much you know about modern music, look no further than Night Ripper.

Check Out: http://www.myspace.com/girltalkmusic (Note: the Grizzly Bear remix on the site is one of the best tracks of the year, though it is not on Night Ripper, so be sure to give it a listen.)