Mark David Ashworth - Bright is the Ring of Words

Hey cats & kittens,
It's been a while, but I'm back to give more music reviews on a hopefully-regular basis, so let's get right down to business:

Mark David Ashworth - Bright is the Ring of Words

I'm really enjoying this album; it's mellow, organic, well-written, and all-around thoroughly pleasant to listen to, thanks in part to the creative instrumentation contributed by bassist/arranger/orchestra-teacher Tristan Arnold.  Mark's voice, part Grizzly Bear, part Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart (without the creepy), is consumately complimented by groovy guitars, tilting trumpets, flotational flutes, presumptuous piano, sexy strings, and many other equally-awesome nonsensically-alliterative adjective-instrument combos.  But don't take my word for it; a couple free mp3s from the new album are available right here:  http://www.markdavidashworth.com/music/

On top of that, here's a video from his debut album:



http://www.myspace.com/markdavidashworth
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Love Is All - A Hundred Things Keep Me Up At Night

I think this one's actually been out for a little while now, but I'm just now really giving it a good listen this week, and it definitely deserves one. As described on Last.fm:

"Swedish indie pop/rock and former members of sunshine twee pop Girlfrendo. Post-Punk-ish in sound with distorted sax, reviving the work of The Slits and The Pop Group and newer groups such as Life Without Buildings along the lines of Liliput and X-Ray Spex while still keeping some indie-pop aesthetics. They have a constantly growing fanbase and have a reputation as having some very obsessive gig-going fans."

This band's been around since 2005, and this is aparently their second full-length album, which means I'll definitely have to go check out their first one. It's fun, it's dancy, and it's full of attitude and whatnot. There are male and female singers, but Josephine Olausson seems to take the lead more often than not, and rightly so; her half-spoken, half-sung, half-yelled melodies are of nothing but the most highly-infectious quality. If you're into quirky/spunky punk-pop-dance-rock, you should probably check this band out this very second.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=40236406

enjoy!

-Brandon

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Ok, my first review of the new year, and the album isn't really groundbreaking or incredibly original, but it is adorable and fun to listen to, and I think that counts just as much. As described on last.fm:
"Imagine if the Ramones traded in their leather jackets for anoraks, or Stephen Pastel actually threw Aggi off the bridge and married Black Tambourine’s Pam Berry and had four babies that formed a pop band.Meet The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, a New York four-piece who plays dreamy, noisy POP with boy/girl vocals, blissful melodies and blistering drums."
If you love shoegaze/dream pop/awesome new bands, then you'll probably like this band at least enough to want to listen to a song or two of theirs every once in a while. Hell, I enjoyed listening to the whole album through; I can see how someone might get bored by its lack of diversity, but hey, I say good music is good music, and I definitely didn't mind hearing more of the same sunshiney, noisey-pop goodness.
Their new self-titled album comes out Feb 3rd, but you can pre-order it via the link below, on CD or vinyl, to get a nifty free poster.
http://www.insound.com/The_Pains_of_Being_Pure_At_Heart/artistmain/artist/INS33735/

http://www.myspace.com/thepainsofbeingpureatheart
enjoy!
-Brandon