Date Released: October 24, 2011
Album Genre: Electronic Rock, House
Album Rating: 7/10

I have to get this off my chest before I start, if you liked anything about the hits from Justice‘s debut album then you’ve got another thing coming. That especially goes for those of you who only listened to Cross for the electro-pop tracks D.A.N.C.E., DVNO, or Tthhee Ppaarrttyy or the harsh electro tracks Genesis, Phantom, Stress or Waters of Nazareth. Did I just name off all the tracks from the first album? Pretty much! This album is more like Audio, Video, Disco, not enough Electro, but to be honest when has Justice ever described themselves as solely electro? We just assumed it as they were riding the French House movement and are signed with Ed Banger who seems to be the principal French label for releasing electronic-house music internationally, but looking at it now I feel this album is more true to Justice than the last one ever was. If you’ve ever heard any of Justice’s mixes, I’m talking about their famous Fabric Rejected Mix, or gone to their off-tour shows where half the people asked “wait, aren’t they going to play D.A.N.C.E.? What is this stuff they’re play now?!”, then you’d understand that they’ve always been this.

The album starts off with Horsepower and Civilization, which you assume is the direction they’re starting to take with all this talk about the album being so different. It is in a sense still similar to some of the harsher sounding electro tracks from their first album, which I actually think sounds great. Little do you know they’re only easing you into how much they’ve changed as you come across Ohio and Canon, which I had to double check that my iTunes wasn’t on shuffle and that I was listening to a Pink Floyd track I had never heard before. I actually had to triple check, so now we hit the 80′s progressive rock section. The tracks are awesome, but sadly I have a feeling they will be criticized for not being “Justice” enough, in other words no one is playing these tracks in clubs. Then we come across the synth rock section with On’n'On, Brainvision, Parade, and Newlands. They’re definitely tracks I’d prefer to chill out or work out to than rock out to in a club. And ending off with one of the better tracks in the album, Helix which actually sounds like Justice and Daft Punk had a child, an awesome child. It’s the only track from this album I’d consider truly electro, it also sounds like it should be in the opening cinematic of a Halo game. The last track to end off the album is Audio, Video, Disco which I have to admit I wasn’t very impressed with when I first heard it. It lacked a lot of what I liked about Justice but it totally grew on me since first listening to it.

Favorite tracks would have to be Horsepower, Civilization, Parade, and Helix, which all seem to be the harder sounding tracks of the album. I’ve never really liked the soft ballad sounding songs in any music so it’s not that the other tracks are bad, just my taste in music. I’ll have to finish this review off by saying you shouldn’t listen to this album expecting the Justice you’ve heard before. Walk in with a blank slate and you’ll enjoy it a lot, the album is solid once you do that. Or maybe you’ll hate it!

Justice – Horsepower

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Justice – Helix

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Date Released: April 23, 2010 (digital), May 24, 2010
Album Genre: Electronic, Industrial, Experimental, Synthpop
Album Rating: 8/10

An album review written by an electro-house blogger on experimental 8-bit electronic music, this is bound to stir up some problems despite how close the two genres are. Let’s just get this out of the way first, I never liked Alice Practice nor did I like any of the tracks that resembled it in Crystal Castles‘ debut album although there were many tracks I did like such as Air War, Vanished, Good Time, Magic Spells and the like. It was the overuse of glitchy 8-bit bleeps and scratchy over-bass beats that despite the fact was or is Crystal Castles’ staple sound just didn’t rub me the right way which to my surprise are the exact sounds Crystal Castles toned down in their once again self-titled sophomore album. They also broadened their music to touch on other genres such as synthpop which really worked in their favor rather than depending solely on their niche of 8-bit sounds like remixes off of an 80′s game soundtracks. The novelty wore off pretty quickly.

The album starts off with two quite opposite sounding songs; first track Fainting Spells seems to leave off from their first album and slowly sheds their old sounds. The vocals are so far in the background that I’d consider this an instrumental track of electric static followed by their first single Celestica, which to me feels like it quickly jumps away from their whole experimental edge into synthpop with Alice Glass in a sea of electronic ambiance sounds. The third track Doe Deer which everyone loves, just like they adore Alice Practice, I hated. At first I thought it was just a bad quality rip of the actual track, but I was mistaken. Fortunately, that is the last of that in this album, the rest is pure gold.

The club friendly tracks which includes Baptism is a great mix of everything Crystal Castles is, a little taste if everything from that 8-bit sound to the low bass beats which I actually really enjoyed. Year of Silence is a similar sounding track with an even deeper bass where Kath looped vocals sampled from Sigur Rós’ song Inní mér syngur vitleysingur which I would’ve never guessed the combination but it’s genius the way it is done. It has to be one of my favorite tracks in the album. In Empathy, they took the industrial route, it is all I heard throughout the track and is just another example of the diversity they put within this album. An almost peaceful track ironically labeled Suffocation is very soothing to the ears. Alice Glass’s voice is distorted to point where it sounds serene. Diving into an 80′s retro feel, the new wave synth sound is quite prominent in Violent Dreams and Vietnam with Kath once again distorting Alice Glass’s voice this time with quite the opposite effect using her voice simply as an instrument. Birds is a pretty raw sounding track sounding almost punk or electro punk if you will. I found Pap Smear interesting not only because of the title and lyrics, but because Alice Glass’s voice isn’t really even distorted in some way other than an echo. That’s strange coming from Crystal Castles, I kind of like it.

Hot and cold, both musically and lyrically Not In Love and Intimate one after the other is an interesting choice they took for track placement. Both reminded me yet again like those two previous tracks like something of a retro feel, it’s all I see. An 80′s romantic action movie with a synth soundtrack, I could not have asked for a better closing to the album. Intimate is quite the rush of electric sounds to the ears, I only have one word to describe this track; intense. I would like to consider I Am Made Of Chalk like the ending credits track of a movie or more appropriately from the sounds of it a game which is the only way I can justify the song to myself for being at the end of this album. The track sounds like it would be in to-be-continued credits too, a sad ending you kind of want to see how the main characters bring everything together in the sequel. That’s exactly the feeling I get from the end of the album.

I am quite happy about their second album, except for the fact that they self-titled it again. Kath once again blew me away with his ability to create unusual and sometimes refreshing erratic electric sounds. They’re exploring different sounds and successfully pulling it off unlike other bands who have failed terribly trying to walk the same path. Becoming less dependent on that lo-fi sound is probably the best thing they could have done, although they didn’t let it die because it is still noticeable in some tracks. This album will get a larger following simply because the tracks are less harsh on the ears. Can’t complain about that.

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Crystal Castles – Year of Silence

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Crystal Castles – Suffocation

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Date Released: April 13, 2010
Album Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Alternative
Album Rating: 7/10

It’s not surprising that you’ll find lovers and haters for MGMT‘s sophomore album Congratulations. MGMT made it a point to stray away from the hits of their last album Kids, Time to Pretend, and Electric Feel stating in their interview with NME, “We’ve been talking about ways to make sure people hear the album as an album in order and not just figure out what are the best three tracks, download those and not listen to the rest of it.” They definitely succeeded in that aspect, there weren’t any singles in this album. For a lot of people, those were the three songs they loved and MGMT definitely took notice of that. Unfortunately, taking away the staple styles of your fans’ favorite tracks has a dangerous risk; they might not like your music anymore. Essentially, this album is the middle finger to the fans who wanted more of Kids.

For those of you who enjoyed the second part of Ocular Spectacular, maybe specifically 4th Dimensional Transition, this is the album for you. The album isn’t terrible, actually it’s far from despite what others say, but it isn’t very spectacular either. It has an overall tone of strangeness masked in psychedelic rock and ambiance vocals with little diversity between tracks, although they did include various genres like the Beach Boys surf rock, the “Magical Mystery Tour” or psychedelic era of The Beatles and the Flaming Lips which they only touched on in Ocular Spectacular. The problem with avoiding singles is that your album will be like driving through the prairies, it’s fun for a bit but it gets boring pretty quick. I made it a point not to post a premature review of this album, having listened to it on and off over the last month since they released it on their website. At first I was simply surprised as to how different the album was and how impartial I was to it. Unfortunately the album didn’t grow on me as much as I’d hoped, it’s not one I would put on a top 10 list of 2010 which is a swift change from my 2008 list.

The album starts off with It’s Working sounding something like the Beach Boys surf rock meets shoegazing, an interesting start as it is somewhat of a the new sound coming from MGMT, if not new, it’s refined at least. I actually enjoyed this track but it felt disjointed from the rest of the album. They had fun making Song For Dan Treacy, I could tell, but I wasn’t amused. Like an inside joke I’m neither indie or old enough to understand, I’ve never even heard of Television Personalities before and my bets on you didn’t either before you heard this song. The track sounding like what The Count’s theme song actually should have been, rather than the Eastern European sounding song he always has; it’s just not for me. I was quite torn about Something’s Missing because I liked the track, the last forty seconds of it. If the whole song was that I definitely would’ve placed it as one of my favorites from the album which unfortunately isn’t the case. Flash Delirium is one of the stranger ones from this album, it actually sounded like a sing-along from Sesame Street with the strange background group vocals, I can even see the puppets in my head dancing along. Were they watching Sesame Street when they made this album? I wasn’t the first one to noticed this either.

Another mellow track I Found A Whistle, I’m not the biggest fan of these kind of tracks from any artist, so I won’t go on about this track. The 12 minute Siberian Breaks probably could have been separated into four tracks. It’s almost as bad as the ever-so-popular in the 90′s five minutes of silence on the last track before a hidden track comes up. The ballade starts and ends a couple times, I enjoyed day dreaming while I listened to it. I’m not particularly sure if that’s a good thing or not, but there is a nice buildup in the third part of this track at around eight minutes until the end of the track which might actually be the peak of the whole album. Take note, I actually really loved this! Brian Eno was Flash Delirium Pt. 2, they should have put the two tracks one after each other or would have that been way too cliché? The fully instrumental track Lady Dada’s Nightmare was another inside joke I don’t think I understood. Yes, Lady Gaga’s nightmare of soft keyboard and melodies like something from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon? I think I thought too much about that. And lastly, Congratulations was a track I actually really liked. Slow normal guitars with clear voices and a touch of original MGMT, after an album of psychedelic synth filled tracks with inaudible vocals, it’s just what I needed.

As much trash talk as I and many others did on this album, I have to say that MGMT is brave for going their own way. Despite the fact that they gave the cold shoulder to the majority of their fans, they need to explore styles to figure out their own unique one and if that means losing fans who only liked them because of Kids, then so be it. The only thing I hope MGMT does is further develop their style and not simply fall back to Kids, that would ultimately be the worst thing to do. To sum up Congratulations, it’s strange and different, but there’s nothing that will throw you off your seat like their first album. I’m still looking forward to album #3.

MGMT – Siberian Breaks

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MGMT – Congratulations

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Date Released: March 3-9, 2010
Album Genre: Alternative rock, Alternative hip-hop, Electronic
Album Rating: 8*/10

Blur singer Damon Albarn and co-creator of Tank Girl Jamie Hewlett are at it again the third installment of their virtual band Gorillaz; Plastic Beach. I remember the first time I listened to the Gorillaz it was 3am at night looking for tabs on the internet for songs and happened upon a video for Clint Eastwood and M1 A1. Slow paced, far from mainstream sounding, excuse mashing up these genres, hip hop and alternative rock. Gaining popularity, I definitely noticed their music moving more towards a mainstream sound in Demon Days or quite possibly the other way around, mainstream was moving towards them.

My first impression from listening to Plastic Beach was that it was a seamless movie. This wouldn’t come as much of a surprised as Jamie Hewlett’s influence must have a lot of weight. It’s not hard to notice Hewlett’s love affair with producing dreamlike noir animations and films. The album seems to take a lighter approach musically and lyrically than their previous albums, although by far much stranger, chronicling a journey through this Plastic Beach.

The album begins with a soft instrumental ballad suitably labeled Orchestral Intro followed by an old-school sounding hip hop track with Snoop Dogg basically welcoming you to something that feels like a plastic Alice in Wonderland. White Flag had a surprising introduction, real instruments? Not for long, although toned down from the heavy bass we’re used to from Gorillaz with lyrics bringing us deeper into the rabbit hole. With a rather dreamy yet eerie voice, Albarn manages to scare me but really pull me in with Rhinestone Eyes. One line struck me more than the others, “helicopters fly over the beach, same time everyday, same routine” mainly because the picture in my head was quite vivid.

Everyone’s favorite song from this album, Stylo simply because it just sounds so damn cool. I thought for the longest time they were describing about a robot in one word bursts from Bobby Womack, although quite the different image from the video, although this track seems to move way from the image of plastic. The one predominantly hip hop song that seems to be signature to any of the Gorillaz albums, Superfast Jellyfish featuring De La Soul and Gruff Rhys. The album, or shall I call it story changes pace with Empire Ants, having a relatively mellow tone throughout the song until the end where it introduces electro which is continued on into Glittery Freeze starting with “Where’s north from here?” followed by sounds of Morse code on a telegraph. It really reminded me of M1 A1 from their first track, I actually thought it was a fully instrumental track with sampling from a movie, but it’s Mark E. Smith from The Fall providing “background” vocals

Some Kind Of Nature taking a different approach in describing this world in confusion behind very basic music in the background, giving me the image of something almost like a scene from the Wild West. On Melancholy Hill touches 80′s synthpop, the first time in this album, I might be taking a leap and my memory may be lapsing, but it may be the first time Gorillaz really delved into this genre. This track really popped out lyrically from the rest of the album because it was actually about a “we”. Broken is the first time we’ve heard 2D’s, or more precisely Albarn’s voice without any distortions or aftereffects which is refreshing in an synth filled album. Mos Def raps on a completely different level and is exhibited very well in Sweepstakes, taking the front seat in this track.

Another addition to this ensemble cast, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon from The Clash get together for the first time since Combat Rock to add yet another dimension to the album. Although I was expecting something a little bit louder in Plastic Beach. It’s about time, it’s nice to hear a woman’s voice finally. Thankfully Yukimi from Little Dragon was here to save the day in The Binge where surf rock meets shoegaze and exchanging not so delightful thoughts with Albarn. Bobby Womack helps conclude the album with a rather orchestral piece in Cloud of Unknowing. I couldn’t help but notice the song having the same title as a piece of Christian mysticism and linking that thought that in the track, he’s somehow talking about God. Quite the opposite from the original The Cloud of Unknown, seeking knowledge will ultimately lead to the clouding of the image of God, “trying to find someone you’ll never know” is made to sound like a pointless quest. The album ends off with the sounds of seagulls and the sea, presumably them sailing away from the Plastic Beach. A story told through music, I wonder what we can expect from Phase Three.

1. Orchestral Intro

2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (4/5)

3. White Flag (3/5)

4. Rhinestone Eyes (4/5)

5. Stylo (5/5)

6. Superfast Jellyfish (5/5)

7. Empire Ants (4/5)

8. Glitter Freeze (4/5)

9. Some Kind Of Nature (3/5)

10. On Melancholy Hill (5/5)

11. Broken (3/5)

12. Sweepstakes (4/5)

13. Plastic Beach (4/5)

14. To Binge (5/5)

15. Cloud Of Unknowing (4/5)

16. Pirate Jet (4/5)

Gorillaz – Superfast Jellyfish

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Gorillaz – To Binge

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Date Released: September 29, 2009
Album Genre: Electropop, Pop
Album Rating: 7/10

Dragonette is out with their second album Fixin To Thrill, which unfortunately I got my hands on a copy a little later than I had hoped. I wouldn’t say that this album is especially groundbreaking, but I definitely enjoyed listening to it. There’s just something about Dragonette and their ability to create great music. Unfortunately Dragonette doesn’t seem to receive enough acclaim, really hardly any. Who needs mainstream popularity anyways! One thing I liked is that Dragonette definitely stayed true to themselves. Although I can’t confidently say they really made moves in any direction musically away from their last album Galore, I love their music and I’m quite glad they stayed with it.

Filled with overwhelming sounds of synth and dance beats, Dragonette did make a move away from depending on the guitar in their last album. Almost fully embracing the modern 80′s revival electropop movement, there’s definitely an abundance of catchy tracks. Martina Sorbara’s voice is also unforgettable, and is it just me or did she manage to make it a bit higher than in Galore? I think that might just be me. Great track choice to start the album off, Fixin To Thrill has a slow but epic build-up. Calling people to get on that floor, sets an overall mood of the album musically. Lyrically things are completely different, at times sounding almost like a break-up or a bad relationship, especially with Liar, Stupid Grin, Easy, like half the tracks. Really one of my preferred electropop albums of 2009, Dragonette is always one of my favorites and definitely worth checking out.

Dragonette – Fixin To Thrill

Dragonette – Pick Up The Phone

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Date Released: August 17, 2009
Album Genre: Indie
Album Rating: 9/10
Sounds Like: ?

I’ve been holding off for a while now reviewing this album. I keep on expecting more surprises, and definitely not making the same mistake I made for The Stroke’s First Impressions of Earth where I judged the album right off the bat. A couple months later, my feelings towards the album changed completely from irritating to the ears to falling in love. Similarly, although not to that extreme, I found myself going through the same motions with this album. At first, I didn’t really think much of it. I heard a couple tracks, it was alright, there’s a lot of indie bands out there. But the more I listened the album, the more it grew on me. Yes, I’m totally one of “those people”, but honestly the album is great and deserves the credit. These British teenagers really got things right, the album itself is well-rounded, both musically and lyrically. Singing about love, sex, really whatever you want it to be. There’s a great dynamic from beginning to end. As an album, I’m quite impressed and didn’t hesitate giving it a 9/10. In a way, you have to look at it as an album.

Each track have their own unique characters, unlike some of those albums or artists you’ve heard where you can’t really distinguish songs apart. Maybe it’s the fact that they have dual vocalists? Intro is a great intro (were they trying to be funny?) to the album. Too often I hear either a disorganized album with no beginning or end, or an album with the most obscure sounds for an introduction. The xx hit it just right, dreamlike instrumental shoegaze. VCR, Crystalised, and Heart Skipped A Beat may be my favorite tracks from the album. I sound uncertain because it’s hard to choose, and my mind keeps on changing about it. VCR might have my favorite introduction to a song, the xylophone sounding keyboard or whatever they’re using is such a great addition. The three tracks as well as Basic Space and Infinity have such good dynamics between Oliver and Romy.

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The xx – VCR

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The xx – Heart Skipped A Beat

Date Released: August 17, 2009
Album Genre: Electro, Techno
Album Rating: 7/10
Sounds Like: Chromeo, Digitalism

I have to stop thinking of Calvin Harris as purely an electro-pop artist and more as a growing music producer. I was expecting something along the same vein as his first album, but this album felt much slower. I was both pleasantly surprised and slightly disappointed, disappointed only because I my expectations were different which is my own damn fault. It seemed like he was exploring different sounds and genres, becoming more mature in a sense. This was especially the case with some of the tracks like Worst Day, Ready For The Weekend, and Relax. There were some tracks that lingered to the style in his previous album, such as I’m Not Alone, which I’m sure you’ve heard on the radio as well as The Rain, and Flashback. Strangely, one of my favorite tracks Dance Wiv Me seemed like a bigger change for Dizzee Rascal than Calvin Harris. Just a heads up not to expect the old Calvin Harris.

Calvin Harris – The Rain

Calvin Harris – Flashback

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Date Released: June 12, 2009
Album Genre: Electro, Techno
Album Rating: 7/10
Sounds Like: Bag Raiders, Muscles, MSTRKRFT

This is a remix album by Van She Technologic, an offshoot of the original band Van She, of tracks from their debut album V. What can I say? We’ve been waiting for this. I remember when I first found out about Van She Tech, I was so excited that I bought V only to find out that they didn’t really have an electronic past. So this is quite refreshing from what I thought I was getting the first time. Not to mention that the naming is almost as confusing as Soulwax’s ensemble of different names they use. I enjoyed this remix album, it had various feels of the electro genre. Obviously heard some Aussie electro in here, but I also recognized something almost like French house with the track It Could Be The Same and like MSTRKRFT in Techno Music. The last track Virgin Suicide being very Shoegaze. Loved the contrast from this album, usually whenever I listen to a synth-based album or artist, it tends to sound relatively the same.

Van She – It Could Be The Same (Van She Tech Remix)

Van She – Sexual City (Van She Tech Remix)

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Date Released: April 7, 2008
Album Genre: Indie Rock, Rock, New Wave
Album Rating: 7/10*
Sounds Like: Stars, Land of Talk, Yeah Yeah Yeahs

It’s really hard being a big Metric fan and rating their fourth album on a clean slate. It’s impossible not to compare this album to their first three albums. I know it’s taboo when looking at new albums from an artist, maybe if I just got into Metric now I could do the deed. It has been four years since their last studio album and there hasn’t been much of a change from Metric. In a way it’s bittersweet because I absolutely love the indie new wave sound which came out of Live It Out and their previous albums, but I was expecting to be blown away. So basically I’m saying Metric shouldn’t change but they should change, how could I be any clearer? They took advantage of the synthpop sound a bit more in this album which by no means is new to Metric. To anyone who said that the synth-electronic sound was “new” in this album obviously hasn’t really listened to their other albums. Stop comparing Metric to YYYs. Metric can do two things amazingly well; they can pull off both fast and slow tracks, and they can really put variety into an album. There’s been so many times I’ve listened to an album and I completely hate the slow tracks or the whole album sounds the same. This is the main reason I don’t think Metric can ever make a bad album.

It’s too early to tell if there will be any hits that will stick like Monster Hospital or Dead Disco, although I think I can hear it from some of the tracks. I’ve learned my lesson with bands and albums like this, you can’t really tell right away. It’s like wine, it’s an acquired taste. Three tracks caught my attention right away; Help I’m Alive, Gimme Sympathy, and Blindness. Help I’m Alive is a great introduction to the album, gets you pumped up at least lyrically. It’s quite the change from Empty in Live It Out. At least sound-wise, I really liked Gimme Sympathy. Internal dialogue in Haines’ head? She did mention my favorite Beatles song though. And one of the darker songs in the album, Blindness. Stadium Love was too much of a crowd participation track, it’s like they were reaching a little too hard with that one. I felt Satellite Mind, Sick Muse, Gold Guns Girls were the lower points of this album, I felt like they just weren’t being themselves with these tracks. Twilight Galaxy is such a good track, but it’s so much better acoustic, you can watch it here. Haines’ voice just goes up a level when its with acoustic, from it’s already high caliber status.

Metric – Help I’m Alive

Metric – Gimme Sympathy

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This ‘Top 10 Albums of 2008′ list is coming a bit early, I didn’t post one of these last year. I will be posting the top 10 tracks of 2008 a week before New Years. This is more in accordance to Hype’s early deadline. The albums were mainly chosen in relation to the music posted in this blog, slightly. But it was good to set a limitation of genres for the albums while I was out listening, cause I would’ve never been able to decide which albums to put up. Some are more by their influence and some are just how much I liked them or both. I’m more worried about getting this post finished right now. It scares me a bit that the majority of these albums are from artists from Australia or area near. Big thanks to Tom from Cassette Culture for helping with the list.

##I will be adding playable tracks to this list, but that will happen later.##

10. Santogold – Santogold
Released: April 29, 2008
Genres: Dub, Punk Rock, Indie Rock, Electronic

This was definitely the album of the summer, I heard songs from this album all over mixtapes and radio stations. The album was very groovy punkish with a mix of electronic, which even though Santogold reminds me a lot of M.I.A., they couldn’t be more different. I guess it might be because of some tracks like Creator which sounds very reminiscent of M.I.A. L.E.S. Artistes, Say Aha, Lights Out, and I’m a Lady are definitely my favorite tracks out of this album. It was great listening to this in electro mixes because it was rather refreshing, there are a couple remixes of Santogold such as the Left/Right remix of L.E.S. Artistes, the MMMatthias remix of My Superman as well as a bunch of other ones which definitely made this year much better musically.

Santogold – L.E.S. Artistes

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9. Empire of the Sun – Walking On A Dream
Released: October 4, 2008
Genre: Synthpop, Electronic, Rock

Was quite surprised by this album, although it definitely didn’t get as much attention as it should’ve. Listening to this album reminds me of 80′s artists like David Bowie. The vocalist of the duo, Luke Steele, definitely makes a good modern Bowie. Along with the great synth and rock feel to the music, it’s a mix of sounds. I enjoyed listening to this album. My favorite tracks from this album are probably Walking on a Dream, We Are the People and Tiger By My Side, which were the more upbeat electro songs out of the album. There were a couple slower pop songs which I consider their alter-ego. Van She did a fantastic remix of their song Walking On A Dream.

Empire of the Sun – We Are The People

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8. Mystery Jets – Twenty One
Released: March 24, 2008
Genre: Indie Rock

Alright, another indie rock band from UK. But they’re not just any band, they’re a good one. UK is popping out so many of these indie garage bands it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Anyways, enough bashing the genre of the band I’m going to praise. Great album, a great thing this album had which other albums of the same genre kind of missed is that the songs are actually differentiable. I didn’t think I was just listening to one track the whole way through which is fantastic. The tracks really sounded like a mix between Wolf Parade and The Strokes or The Kooks. My favorite tracks would have to be Young Love, Veiled In Grey, Two Doors Down, Hand Me Down, 21. I was actually surprised when I heard some synth in Two Doors Down.

Mystery Jets – Two Doors Down

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7. Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours
Released: April 8, 2008
Genre: Dance-Punk, Indie Rock, Electropop

Quite the nice mix between indie rock and synth-electro. It wasn’t really mixed in genre in the tracks, but more each track was either indie rock or synth-electro. A bit different anyways. The album started kind of indie rock modern and slowly progressed into 90′s synth-electro towards the last few tracks. Really liked the tracks Out There On The Ice, Lights and Music, So Haunted, Hearts on Fire and Far Away. The two last tracks I mentioned there are so retro 90′s I was taken aback. I heard a bunch of Hearts on Fire remixes, but I was surprised it sounded like this. It’s even got that “wow” sound effect that’s in so many 90′s one hit wonders. Loved the album.

Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire

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6. Ladyhawke – Ladyhawke
Released: September 22, 2008
Genre: Electropop, New Wave, Electronic, Pop Rock

Possibly the most New Wave albums here, she really landed it. And I have a huge weakness for retro sounding songs. It’s like walking into the 80′s, if no one told me I totally would’ve though this album was twenty years old. I’m sure she got a lot of attention in NZ or Australia, but definitely not here. Among my favorite tracks were Magic, Better Than Sunday, Back Of The Van, Paris Is Burning, Dusk Till Dawn. If I had to choose a favorite though it’d have to be the oh so popular track from this album Paris Is Burning, which doesn’t really surprise me nor should it you. It’s a great song, many remixes of it. One of my favorites, the Cut Copy remix of Paris Is Burning as well as Fred Falk remix of Back Of The Van.

Ladyhawke – Paris is Burning

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5. Minitel Rose – The French Machine
Released: June 17, 2008
Genre: Electro, House

Who are Minitel Rose? Ya, completely random choice for number 5. Well, you should definitely invest a bit of time into these guys. They’re second in command in the French electro-house scene, alright maybe fifth in command. I think if they were a bit earlier, they would’ve been in place of Justice, but that just isn’t the case. The album is quite short, seven tracks, but it’s got some gems. Elevator, Business Woman, Continue, When I Was Punk, are great tracks. I actually had a hard time choosing a favorite track, cause I kind of liked all of them. Almost a cross between Justice, MSTRKRFT, and Daft Punk with more French accents in English vocals.

Minitel Rose – Business Woman

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4. Lykke Li – Youth Novels
Released: June 9, 2008
Genre: Pop, Indie, Alternative, Rock

No genres properly describe this album. When I first heard it I was amazingly skeptical, I asked myself “Who is this? Does she think she’s Bjork?” But this album truly grew on me. For sure it’s very different, and that’s what makes it amazingly refreshing. The album starts off with Melodies & Desires which is kind of a monologue, explains why I was a bit skeptical. But she gets right into things. My favorite tracks in this album would have to be Dance, Dance, Dance, I’m Good, I’m Gone, Little Bit and Breaking It Up. Something about these songs just blow my mind, though I couldn’t begin to tell you why.

Lykke Li – Breaking It Up

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3. Coldplay – Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Released: June 11, 2008
Genre: Alternative Rock

Yeah, not the most surprising for number 3. This album definitely gets enough attention alone, but I liked it way too much not to include it. Coldplay was definitely trying for something different this time around. Definitely one of my favorites on how the album starts out with Life in Technicolor. It’s a very soothing instrumental track. My favorite tracks would have to be Lost!, Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love, Viva la Vida, Violet Hill and Strawberry Swing. This album lasted me not only through the summer, but through the fall and winter as well. I’m not sure why they released it in the summer, cause it has a very cold winter feel to it. Read more about the review here.

Coldplay – Lost?

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2. Justice – A Cross The Universe
Released: November 24, 2008
Genre: Electro, House

Yes, I did put a live album for number 2, it rather deserved it. Even though technically there really any new tracks in this album, the whole atmosphere behind it and the mix was great. Justice knows how to pull it off. The remake of Phantom Part 1, D.A.N.C.E., DVNO, Two Minutes to Midnight, and Stress were amazing. Longer version of this here, but in short, I was skeptical about the album at first but it grew on me.

Justice – Phantom Part 1.5

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1. MGMT – Oracular Spectacular
Released: January 22, 2008
Genre: Indie Rock, Psychdelic, Electronica, Alternative

And finally, MGMT gets the place of number 1. This album did the same thing The Strokes First Impressions of Earth did to me. At first I brushed it off as nothing else. And then I listened to it a second time and instantly, I loved it. Goes to show that you can’t judge an album off a first impression. And not only did it completely change, but I liked almost every track off the album. Not only did they have this 80′s retro vibe mixed in with a very indie rock sound, all their songs had such variety. My favorite tracks are Electric Feel, Future Reflections, Kids, Of Moons, Birds & Monsters, Pieces of What, Time to Pretend and Weekend Wars. Ya, basically most of them. Surprisingly especially Pieces of What and Weekend Wars, surprising because they’re not the ones that got the most attention. Definitely deserving of number 1 on this list. There are so many remixes of their tracks, I guess I’ll mention the biggest one which was the Soulwax remix of Kids,

MGMT – Pieces of What

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