Billboard Album Review - The Crystal Method - Divided By Night

Billboard Album Review - The Crystal Method - Divided By Night

Billboard.com Album Review - The Crystal Method - Divided By Night

Zigmat - Sound of Machines

Zigmat - Sound of Machines - Album Review

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Zigmat - Sound of Machines

“Not unlike the melting pot that Brooklyn-based Zigmat calls home, the band’s debut release blends cultures and enigmatic styles. Over an unwavering trip-hop base, “Sound of Machines” kneads in a dash of rock and pop flair and has already inspired comparisons to such established trip-hop acts as Massive Attack, Air and Goldfrapp. Add a pinch of Latin flavor, courtesy of Monica Rodriguez’s smooth transitions between her native Spanish and English on “Don’t Tire,” one of the album’s strongest tracks. In the opener, “Whisper,” it is apparent that the haunting tone of Rodriguez’s voice is the band’s secret weapon, adding an intoxicating layer of sound. “Watch the World” showcases her rapturous range before shifting into an infusion of rock supported by bass player Stephen Yonkin. The album finishes with “Machine,” full of dark bass and evocative lyrics that spawned the album’s title.—Lara Marsman”

Peaches - I Feel Cream

Peaches - I Feel Cream - Album Review

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Peaches - I Feel Cream

“Peaches has been away for a little while—her last full-length, “Impeach My Bush,” came out in 2006—and that’s given the Berlin-based electroclash veteran ample time to assemble a fresh store of novel sexual tips. In “Trick or Treat,” for example, she advises, “Never go to bed without a piece of raw meat,” which sounds sensible enough. With production input from such indie-electro heavyweights as Simian Mobile Disco, Soulwax and Digitalism, “I Feel Cream” has less of a live-band feel than Peaches’ previous efforts; it’s almost as if the death of electroclash’s commercial potential freed her to re-embrace the style’s robot-pop roots. Whatever their inspiration, new cuts like the oddly pretty “Lose You” and “Billionaire,” the latter of which features a fiery cameo from Shunda K of Yo Majesty, throb with unexpected vitality.—Mikael Wood”

Thenewno2 - You Are Here

Thenewno2 - You Are Here

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Thenewno2 - You Are Here

“Since one of its principle members is Dhani Harrison, the son of the late Beatle George, many will undoubtedly expect thenewno2’s long-in-the-making debut album to carry some sort of Merseybeat stamp. They’re in for a surprise—but not an unpleasant one. On “You Are Here,” Harrison and partner Oliver Hest mine a chill, atmospheric pop path more akin to Radiohead than “Revolver,” with a bit of Beck thrown into the groove sensibility and some trippy overtones that—all right—harks back to the old man and his mates. The album has its heavier moments —the tuneful, phase-shifting “Give You Love,” the bouncy “Yomp,” the social commentary “Back to You”—but the majority of these 11 tracks ride a more languid and pleasantly gauzy tip, with a sharp, melodic touch applied throughout to ensure that they’re more than mere sonic tone poems. Famous father comparisons should be moot; thenewno2 stands comfortably on its own contemporary virtues. —Gary Graff”

Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw - Album Review

Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw - Album Review

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Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw

“On her second album, “Jigsaw,” the feisty rapper Lady Sovereign experiments with dancier beats, cleaner production and electronic vocals that sometimes find her singing rhymes instead of rapping them. The repetitive opener “Let’s Be Mates” gets the album off to a rocky start, but Lady Sov quickly redeems herself with “So Human.” Over a sample of the Cure’s “Close to Me,” she rants about the pressure to stay in the spotlight and make more music after 2006’s “Public Warning” gave her next-big-thing status. This time around, the British rapper wants to get people on the dancefloor with the robotic vocals of “I Got You Dancin’ ” and the synthy guitar riff and minimalist beeps and bleeps in “Bang Bang.” Although during “So Human” she sings, “I’ll be gone again in four days,” it’s probably not true—the self-proclaimed biggest midget in the game is still going strong.—Laura Leebove”

Royksopp - Junior

Royksopp - Junior

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Royksopp - Junior

“After the atmospherics of 2001’s “Melody A.M.” and the energy of 2006’s “The Understanding,” “Junior” is exactly the album you hoped that the Norwegian duo Röyksopp would make. It’s an icy blast of electro-pop that channels the genre’s most quirkily beautiful moments and ups the ante with the unmistakable influence of the duo’s film-scoring heroes, Vangelis and Angelo Badalamenti. The Knife singer Karin Dreijer Andersson speaks her best Björk-ian on “Tricky Tricky” and “This Must Be It,” warbling about “flowers” and “glittering gold.” Anneli Drecker floats like Cocteau Twin Liz Fraser on the unforgettable “You Don’t Have a Clue.” And Swedish pop diva Robyn plays the girlfriend to Depeche Mode’s usual protagonist on “The Girl and the Robot,” with grooves and chants just like “Enjoy the Silence.” It all teeters between dark and light, warm and menthol. —Kerri Mason”

Mstrkrft - Fist of God

Mstrkrft - Fist of God

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Mstrkrft - Fist of God

“The electronic duo MSTRKRFT made a name for itself with a specific sort of synthetic noise that sounds like the worst feedback you’ve ever heard, sampled and looped in varying keys and levels of volume. On its 2006 debut, “The Looks,” the pair bent and tweaked it into aggressive, yet super-catchy dance-pop that picked up where Daft Punk left off, and set the stage for the more palatable Justice’s success. The follow-up “Fist of God,” its first release on Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak, opens with those familiar sonic belches. But instead of a robot voice bleating about the din, it’s R&B diva Lil Mo, smoothly intoning “You don’t know what love is.” John Legend, N.O.R.E. and even Ghostface Killah all turn up too, on tracks that vary from nostalgic hip-hop to lilting soul—without ever losing their booming electronic underpinnings. The combination of old-school melody and post-mod dissonance is risky, bold, and one of the most exciting releases of the year so far. —Kerri Mason”

The Lonely Island - Incredibad

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The Lonely Island - Incredibad

“”Saturday Night Live” principals Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone became the unofficial poster boys of the YouTube generation with the “Narnia”-themed rap video “Lazy Sunday” and the Emmy Award-winning “Dick in a Box” with Justin Timberlake. The trio’s debut CD/ DVD includes these and other familiar viral video juggernauts, but the 19 audio and eight video tracks expose the group’s deft handle on musical parody, a genre that has been thin on new superstars. The genius of the songs is in pairing in-your-face lyrical humor with a faithful musical tribute: First single “Jizz in My Pants” is crafted to every Pet Shop Boys spec, while “I’m on a Boat,” featuring T-Pain, takes hip-hop boasting to its most absurd extreme (”Believe me when I say I fucked a mermaid”). Not every track is equally gut-busting, and a few, like the poseur reggae tune “Ras Trent,” are made much funnier by the included video. But the Lonely Island has certainly found its bearings.—Evie Nagy”

Ferry Corsten - Twice in a Blue Moon

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Ferry Corsten - Twice in a Blue Moon

“Dutch trance is practically a genre unto itself, and Ferry Corsten is one of its founding fathers. But on his promising 2006 debut, “L.E.F.”—or “Loud, Electronic, Ferocious”—the DJ/producer diverged from the style’s decade-agnostic construct of synthesized arpeggios, stepwise melodies and scenery-chewing drama. He opted instead for punchy breaks and unapologetically sunny choruses, like the pop-happy “Fire” (featuring vocals by Simon Le Bon). Follow-up effort “Blue Moon,” however, reverts to the glow stick-dotted twilight of old-fashioned trance. Chanteuses coo, kick drums wallop and every song is named something either tactile or spiritual (”Black Velvet,” “We Belong”). That’s not to say it’s dull; tracks like “Made of Love” soar over the landscape like the genre’s best epics. But this could have come out in 1998 and not have been much different. —Kerri Mason”

13 New Album Torrents

I know i’ve been slacking, so that’s why I’ve added 13 new full length well seeded album torrents.  Check out the torrents page for the complete list.

Willis

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