Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust - Sigur Ros (2008)

In the past, I've heard Sigur Ros' music described as 'mournful'. While I don't completely agree with that sumation, I suppose I do partially agree. Their music to me has always been tinged with a certain remorse, cautious optimism and joy. I suppose that 'mournful' can be joyful and celebratory, after all, you cannot mourn something lost that you did not love.

It is that experience of having loved that comes through to me in Sigur Ros' first few albums. This newest record is a bit of a departure, however. While it is ditinctly divided into two parts, split by a marathon of a tune in the middle. The first half of the record seems a little more accessible, upbeat and stripped down from their signature sound, while the second half retreats more toward it. The shame in all of this is that the quality of the songwriting doesn't equal that of their previous efforts, nor does the production. When listeners heard their the three relatively popular albums the band put out, it would sometimes leave them sonically baffeled, asking, "How are they ever going to pull this off live?" and the punchline coming when the band would assert themselves by doing just that, and with authority.

The bottom line here is that Sigur Ros has set extremely high standards for themselves with their previous efforts, and as an experiment, this album falls a little short, though it does provide a few new gems.

Youth Novels - Lykke Li (2008)

This album was a pleasant surprise and a great treat. I'd not heard anything from or about Lykke Li when a friend suggested is to me. Upon her reccomendation, I found a copy and gave it a spin.

Three things really struck me about 'Youth Novels'; 1. Lykke Li's voice is a joy to listen to. It falls somewhere between Bjork and Duffy, and has a wonderful slow and soft vibrato. 2. The music is simple by nature, but is treated here with appropriate production (courtesy of 'Peter, Bjorn and John's' Bjorn Yttling), clean and still full and satisfying. 3. The songs occupy the space between Jens Lekman and M.I.A.

'Youth Novels' is a fun record. At times a bit bubble-gummy, but not entirely fluffy. It strikes me as odd that many times it takes a rookie to strike truth and perfection in the simplicity that veterans no longer have access to.

Highlights: My, Breaking It Up

Dig Out Your Soul - Oasis (2008)

This record confuses me. I liked Oasis' first two records quite a bit. The albums they've made since then each have their highlights, but nothing that I'd give heavy rotation (as a full-length, anyway). So the new LP was released this fall and it was given a positive nod by an artist I like a great deal, so I was anxious to give the disc a listen.

Upon hearing the first couple tracks I wasn't entirely bored, but I was waiting for big one, the track that would really get me into the swing of it, but that track never came and I was left simply waiting for the album to end. When it finally did end, I felt a little relieved. The album was a disappointment after I realized that the big one wasn't to be found here.

I'll give Oasis a free pass on this one. They've done some really good work. If I do see 'Dig Out Your Soul' as a clunker, that's fine. I still have a fondness and affection for enough of their work that it won't tarnish my opinion of them.

The confusing part came when I was researching the album after my first listen. It seems that critics the world over did not share my lack of interest in this collection of songs. Even Erlewine (the-eternal-optimist) gave it 9/10. That leads me to believe that I should revisit this one in the future.

Mad Dogs & Englishmen - Joe Cocker (1970)

It is said that after hearing Jimi Hendrix's rendition of his own song "All Along the Watchtower", Bob Dylan never played the song the same way again. He preferred Hendrix's version to his original. It is pretty seldom that a cover surpasses the original by such a margin as "Watchtower" did.

I have heard Joe Cocker before, but only casually. I know the big singles ("With A Little Help From My Friends", "The Letter", "Feelin' Alright") but realized with time that those were all covers of songs that were written by others (though not always pre-made hits). I wondered if Cocker ever wrote a hit song. It turns out that he never did. The closest he ever came was with his 1972 record 'Joe Cocker' which included the songs "High Time We Went", "Black-Eyed Blues" and "Woman to Woman" (none of which anyone will ever remember him for).

As it turns out, songwriting was not Joe Cocker's strong suit. This album is an excellent listen all the way through, but not because he wrote great songs. What he did do very well on this record, maybe better than anyone of his time, was to assemble a terrific band, and to work with Leon Russell (organizer of the MD&E Tour of 1970) to create these fantastic, some now standard, arrangements of these classic songs. Does anyone ever think of The Box Tops' version of "The Letter"? or The Rolling Stones' version of "Honky Tonk Women" (...okay, perhaps they do think of the original on that one)? or the original version of "Feelin' Alright" by Traffic? Ironically, "Feelin' Alright" was written by Dave Mason of the band Traffic and it is rumoured that he is the man that introduced Hendrix to "Watchtower".

All I know is that this record was a pleasure to listen to, beginning to end and that even if Cocker was not a songwriting force, he has a great deal of talent as a performer and bandleader.

Highlights: Feelin' Alright, Space Captain, The Letter