Jakeshaft

Taxi Taxi! - Ripest Fruit

People knowing me well can’t stand swedish bands anymore. Taxi Taxi! is not a band I discovered a few days ago but they are releasing their first full-length album Still Standing At Your Back Door. I figured I had to listen to it as the previous EPs were quite remarkable. Taxi Taxi! are two lovely twin sisters, born in 1990, doing a charming and delicate indie folk/pop. The whole album is very quiet and soft, delivering vulnerable songs in a dark and yet minimalist way. This is definitely one of the records I’ll have in my ears when I’ll be having a smoke outside of the house on Christmas Eve.

Phoenix - Lasso (Two Door Cinema Club Remix)

Phoenix is all over the blogosphere/tv/press. They decided to release a deluxe edition of their best-selling album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, including 17 remixes of some of the 10 original tracks. You get it : marketing strikes again. We won’t say all of this is useless, because it serves its purpose : getting people to listen again to Phoenix. As this band is always a good reminder of summer, I think you’ll enjoy it !

Urh. This covert art is ugly. Fortunately, you don’t have to appreciate the visual to get the music. Or so I hope. Because I truly love Atlas Sound. This is the project of Deerhunter lead singer Bradford James Cox. The poor guy made a mistake by accidentally releasing an unmastered version of this album on his blog. Everybody got to judge the work before it was finished. Which is, as you know, putting anyone off finishing it. But the guy managed to do so. And he did good. Very good. Listen to Walkabout, featuring Noah Lennox aka Panda Bear. I think Bradford lost his way on this one, getting too “Animal Collectivy”. But me likey.

As said earlier, Halloween is always a time when I open my ears to weird stuff and side projects. This year, my favorite themed band is Dead Man’s Bones. Besides its creepy name, this project first caught my interest when I heard it is comprised of actors Ryan Gosling and Zach Shields. I don’t know who the hell is Zach Shields but we all know Ryan Gosling from the indie-good movie Half Nelson (among others). The self-titled album Dead Man’s Bones features L.A.’s Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir, adding there and there a nice ghostly touch to it. Surprisingly strong, this album grew on me quite easily. Put your earphones on and listen to In The Room Where You Sleep.

Memory Tapes is known as Dayve Hawk, a great guy from New Jersey. He’s also using the names of Memory Cassette or Weird Tapes. Friends of electro, I predict this guy is the next best thing. Maybe he’s already it. I wouldn’t know. Anyway, be sure that Seek Magic, his debut LP, will grow on you. I strongly recommend the following track too.

Memory Tapes - Walk Me Home (zShare)

Julian Casablancas, known as the lead singer of The Strokes, is finally getting something done. I mean a whole project. He’s releasing his first solo album Phrazes for the Young. Listen to the first single 11th Dimension here. Click. You know you want to.

After the synth-pop projet VEGA, Alan Palomo released a few days ago Psychic Chasms, his debut LP as Neon Indian. Mixing early 80s tunes and video games sounds, the result is pep and nostalgic at the same time. Do I really need to say I find it very charming ?

Falling in love with the 80s is well criticized among the blogosphere. You probably won’t like it if you’re one of those “been there, done that”. If not, listen to Sometimes, the first single from the upcoming debut album (early 2010) of Miami Horror.