Listenings - Dirty Projectors, Editors, Stereophonics, Julian Casablancas, The Horrors

	Bitte Orca by Dirty Projectors (2009) The art of making unnecessarily complex music for listeners! My first listen was pretty irritating  I'll admit and for some reason, I can't stand David Longstreth's voice. Something interesting goes on in this album no doubt: beats and melodies change in the middle of almost every song: it's chaotic and unconventional that's for sure. The indie scene needs bands like this. There are many nice guitar pieces here. At some point, the 4th track (Stillness in the Move), you have this tune that out of nowhere sounds like some pop r&b song: I was wondering if my iPod shuffled the song by itself! Give it a try, maybe it'll be the best thing you've listened to in a while. It did not do it for me though. 6/10 more info video (Stillness is the Move - yo!)
	In This Light And On This Evening by Editors (2009) I was pretty disappointed by this album in the first moments of listening: where's the familiar sounding Editors? They took a different route here, going electronica with retro 80s synthesized sounds. Well it's a welcomed new direction; can't expect every band to just continue making albums like the previous ones all the time. Tom Smith's voice is just as incredible as always and ties things together. It's a good effort. Cheers! 7.5/10 more info video (Papillon - Later w/ Jools Holland)
	Keep Calm and Carry On by Stereophonics (2009) Nothing out of the ordinary from them here. They simply mix up faster tempo songs with slower ones and it works well. They did not try to re-invent themselves on this album. Do they really need to though? I'll listen to this casually nothing more nothing less! The album titles goes well with the album - stay calm people this is not an album to get too excited about! 6.5/10 more info video (Innocent)
	Phrazes for the Young by Julian Casablancas (2009) Dissimilar to anything he's done in The Strokes. Obviously there's his unmistakable voice which I think you either love or hate but there's also a lot of electronica as well. Yet another album with a retro 80s feel to it by time. He tried to mix a lot of sounds here and it worked pretty well for most songs. I just feel though that the second half is less interesting than the beginning (isn't this the case of most albums anyways?!), 11th Dimension being so much better than most other tracks. He's taken an interesting detour with this album. 7/10 more info video (11th Dimension - great vid)
	Primary Colours by The Horrors (2009) I was taken aback when I heard this album because it's very different than their previous one and I did not know what to do of it. This album is so much more experimental, yet there are familiar sounds from them in most songs, but which so much less aggression and trashiness. An interesting listen and I think that this kind of sound is what they were looking for in the first place. For some reason, I keep picturing images of monster flicks when I hear this album... and I guess that's the idea since they're called The Horrors! 7.5/10 more info video (Sea Within a Sea - long video that reminds me of a scene in Godard's Pierrot le Fou)