Elemeno

Liars - Four Songs (15 mins)
4 track sampler of Liars angular art-punk. Some demos, and a Crystal Castles remix, which sounds heaps like CC (Sailing to Byzantine/It Fit When I Was A Kid)
Little Pictures - Owl + Owl (26 mins)
Minimal bedroom pop from a boy and girl in love. Awww. A bit samey across the album, but heaps of fun. (Owl + Owl/Tiny Gaps/You + Me + My Amplifier)
Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster (42 mins)
Easily my favourite band, just amazing on so many levels. Phenomenal debut. I'll probably post about them later. Anyway, great 'everything in the mix' indie pop. Sound explosions. Vindictive lyrics. Songs about being an aimless 20 something. Relationships. Dance parties. It feels like my life won't be complete 'til I see them live. (all the songs)
Los Campesinos! - We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (32 mins)
More great stuff, darker than before. Insanely memorable lyrics. 'We kid ourselves there's future in the fucking, but there is no fucking future'. (it's all good)
Jody O Lloyd - Loops of Love (56 mins)
Great hip hop album, reminded me a bit of RJD2. A more enjoyable listen than Trillion's SilentInvisible (Happy & Healthy/Happiness Is.../Recipe for a Perfect Nap)
Lullatone - We Will, We Will Rock You (To Sleep) - (30 mins)
This 'Beginners Guide to Lullatone' is a great intro to the minimal bedroom Japanese pop duo. Lots of soft percussion, and lullaby-esq tunes. A good place to start when defining 'cute'. (Good Morning Melody/Hello Kitty Makes a Band/A Miniature Finale)
Metronomy - Nights Out (43 mins)
'Kind of' a concept album about going out to clubs. Fantastic IDM/pop album, and an amazing live act (The End of You Too/On Dancefloors/Heartbreaker)
Mint Chicks - Screens (30 mins)
One of my most anticipated releases of the year, it certainly did not disappoint. I really like the direction these guys are headed (in to the future, to deconstruct art/pop/punk), and it's a strong album full of great songs. (I Can't Stop Being Foolish/Hot On Your Heels/Life Will Get Better Someday/Enemies)
Mount Pleasant - Horseshoe Lake (34 mins)
Wistful, dreamy instrumentation, with the occasional burst of distortion. Very little singing, just fractured, honest statements. A few 'good vibes' floating around too. (In Lust pt.2/Song With X/Track 4)
The Naked and Famous - This Machine (19 mins)
A great debut ep, with mixes of electro, post-grunge, pop, and shoegaze. Spongelike music. (Part 1/Post)
The Naked and Famous - No Light (19 mins)
Ostensibly the second half of the 'not released as an album-album', more of the same, though less rewarding. (Birds/Part 2)
The O'Lovelys - The O'Lovelys (30 mis)
This was probably the first local band I became a fan of when I moved to Chch. Some nicely written pop songs (Oh No/Clocks/Black Stitch)
Operator Please - Yes, Yes, Vindictive (39 mins)
I hadn't listened to this in ages, and found that I still enjoyed it as much as when I first got it. Perhaps even more. Trashy throw away electro-pop songs from precocious kids - heaps of fun. (Leave It Alone/Zero Zero/Other Song)

Eye, Jay, Kay

Tommy Ill - Matchsticks (27 mins)
Fantastic slacker rap. Lovingly self deprecating, with tight raps and sweet down tempo beats. (Letters to the Editor/Matchsticks)
Insurgents - Yours Disappointedly (12 mins)
Great little ep of pop rock tunes. The album was good, but I think I prefer this as a recording. (Rather Be Dead/None of Us Are Getting Out of This Alive)
Jimmy Zoom & The Beytown Grifters - Jimmy Zoom (11 mins)
Until I listened to this, I'd forgotten how much I liked JZ&tBG. Nice little guitar tunes, genuine stuff (Orange/Golden Girls)
Kim K - The Book Fell Open (25 mins)
Does music get any better than hand-made cds from pretty girls? Delightful ep of folk/twee/soft pop (Marionette/Creatures of the Night)
Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future (53 mins)
It's funny to think about Nu-Rave being the (near) future of music. This album stands up pretty well once all the hype's blown over. Very British-psych, the hits-misses ratio is about even. (As Above, So Below/It's Not Over Yet/Gravity's Rainbow)
Chris Knox & The Nothing - Chris Knox & The Nothing (70 mins)
Media Player is confused again; Full Source apparently. Hadn't actually listened to the whole album before, but it's fantastic - Chris is in fine form, rollicking through genres, with all sorts of humour (Queer/Cordeoline/Outa Here/You Can't Hide Away)
The Knux - Remind Me In Three Days (64 mins)
Red hot hip hop beats, coupled with garage guitar riffs - it's good, but suffers from lack of imagination, and that Krispy says "It's Krispy, check it out now" on every. Single. Track. (Bang! Bang!/Daddy's Little Girl)

E-F-G-H

East Brunswick All Girls Choir - Hideous (17 mins)
These guys are nice people, and they played well at Camp. This recording's a bit boring - drawling/howling vocals and plodding guitar. (Track 3 was cool)
Enright House - A Maze and Amazement (54 mins)
Tremendously beautiful. Warmly layer sounds and incredibly heartfelt lyrics. (On the Banks of the Rhein/Remember the Stillness/Scattering the Sun Like Gunshot)
Fuzzy Fuzzmin - High-Stepping Horses (24 mins)
Super lo-fi. Super sweet. A couple of great covers too. (See You Again/Track 2)
The Gladeyes - Hearts A'mour (17 mins)
Scratched! iMac didn't want to play this one. Will hopefully review later...
Grayson Gilmour - Phantom Limbs (33 mins)
Gosh, this is good. Grayson has the knack of (seemingly?) reusing parts of songs, in a tip of the tongue sort of way. Instantly familiar, but always out of reach. (Blood on the Keys/Cast the Red/Elmira vs the Latchkey Kid)
Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest (52 mins)
Charming four part harmonies, and dreamy instrumentation. Outstanding songs, a great album (Foreground/Two Weeks/Ready, Able/While You Wait For the Others)
Heat Like Me - You Want It (22 mins)
Ultra 90's analog synth stuff - pretty good and dancey. Would probably be better without vocals. (You Want It/My Place ft. Tommy Ill)
The Hot Grits - Champion Sounds (38 mins)
Afro-soul-funk. Not sure how I got this cd, but it was better than I was expecting. Annoying diva-ish vocals; better as instrumentals. (Mild Thing/Formula)

Throw some D's on it...

Damned Evangelist - The Wunderbar Tape (39 mins)
The second TDE show, recorded on a walkman. Two ~20 min tracks of super lo-fi surf rock. Great study music. (God Damn)
Dear Time's Waste - Room For Rent (19 mins)
I actually listened to this twice in a row. It's gorgeous. Beautiful guitar work and fragile vocals.(Cows/Room for Rent/Polarity)
The Deceivers - Deceivers EP (20 mins)
I used to manage this band. Sweet funk hooks - party startin'. (Skins n Slaps/Boing)
Die! Die! Die!- Promises Promises (39 mins)
One of my favourite releases from '07. Fantastic album - every song makes you feel something. (People Talk/Whitehorses/Blinding)
Disasteradio - Visions (41 mins)
Good study music. Good party music. Good times. (Ultravision/Hotline/Digital Pop)
Dodos - Visiter (59 mins)
Fantastic album that I've really gotten in to lately. Lots of rhythm, and lots of feeling. (Red & Purple/Winter/Undeclared)

C's get degrees

Charlie Ash - Can Can (11 mins)
Not good study music. But quite good electro-clash. Their newer stuff is all super glossy Synthi Lauper-wave, and I think I prefer them doing that (Blood Red Sleeve)
Collapsing Cities - Elixir Always EP (18 mins)
Yipes, the disc is pretty badly scratched, but this is a good lead in to their full length. The versions of Bastard Son and Eli's In a Cult Now are better on this than the album. (No Plans)
Collapsing Cities - Elixir Always (31 mins)
This album opens as a greatest hits - it's crazy. The first five songs are hit-after-hit. Fades away pretty badly in the second half though. Lots of sweet drum beats and angular guitar, coupled with self deprecating lyrics. (...Or So I Said Last Weeknend/In The Valley/Seriously)
Connan & The Mockasins - Uuu It's Teasey (29 mins)
I always like guessing the runtime for a disc, and was surprised by the half hour for these 6 tracks. Lots a fun though, psychy-bluesy guitar wailing, coupled with Connan's peculiar vocals and lyrical contents (Naughty Holdiays (Again)/Sneaky Sneaky Dogfriend)
Cougar Cougar Cougar - (17 mins)
Generally good/uninspired garage guitar rock
Coshercot Honeys - We're All Lions (18 mins)
Great little 4 track ep. These guys are now known as Brain Slaves, but still play a similar style of blues guitar rock (We're All Lions/Mr Dangerous)
Cut Off Your Hands - Skaky Hands (14 mins)
Bands changing names can sorta mess with a cd collection. And with Media Player - it thinks this disc is Blue on Blue. Tremendous debut from COYH (nee Shaky Hands), full of energy and power-post-pop-punk. (Tell Me About/You and I)
Cut Off Your Hands - Blue on Blue (12 mins)
More Pop, especially on single Still Fond and Oh Girl, pointing in the direction they were heading on album You & I. (Closed Eyes)

B is for beta particle

Bang Bang Eche - Self titled (17 mins)
Short and sharp, this ep doesn't overstay its welcome. It lacks most of what makes them such a great live band, and they've improved heaps since making this, so I'm looking forward to what they release next. (Time Mismanagement)
Benny Sings - Benny... At Home (42 mins)

Benny is one seriously smooth Dutch lounge-pop artist. I got this from RDU, just because of the amazing cover. Jaunty piano and drums, with a style FotC would kill for - a very enjoyable listen. (Blackberry St/I Can't Help Myself)
Dudley Benson - The Awakening (45 mins)
An astonishing album, full of beauty and honesty, and more pretentious/precocious than anything else I've heard. Rich instrumentation and vocals make this a stand-out. (Rapaki/I Don't Mind)
Belle & Sebastian - The Boy with the Arab Strap (45 mins)
This is such an inviting album. The kind where you always hear something new each time you listen. Lovely stuff. (The Boy with the Arab Strap/Sleep the Clock Around)
Belle & Sebastian - Dear Catastrophe Waitress (48 mins)
A more glossy pop sound, but still very welcoming. Gogogo toe-tapping! (I'm a Cuckoo/Step Into My Office, Baby)
Black Market Art - Final Show (Live) (55 mins)
Damn. I miss BMA. I didn't see them at Camp this year, and now I'm feeling all sentimental. This recording is a bit iffy, distorted in a good way, with the vocals right down. (I Want To Die/that one about Emily)
Bonaparte - Too Much (47 mins)
The end of a very long day of study, I wasn't sure how this one would go. It sounded like a party, and made me feel pretty good. Some of the songs sounded really uninspired, but lots of fun overall (Who Took the Pill?/A-A-Ah)
Boy Eat All - 1 EP (8 mins)
This was made by my friend Jos. Really low fi bedroom electronic dance beats, with incredibly earnest lyrics. (The first track)
Brand New Math - Moustache Party EP (17 mins)
Rollicking wee ep, with the band throwing everything in to the mix, and trying their hand at various genres. Looking forward to a full length from them (Idiot Savant)
The Brunettes - Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks (37 mins)
Great pop album, from one of my favourite bands. The engineers must've had fun, thowing stuff around L/R. Super sweet tunes about all the fun things in life, c. 1950 (The Moon in June Stuff/Mafioso/End of the Runway)
The Brunettes - Mars Loves Venus (31 mins)
A near perfect pop album. Brunettes are in a class of their own on this album. (Polyester Meets Acetate/Your Heart Dies/You Beautiful Militant)
The Brunettes - When Ice Met Cream (16 mins)
More of the same, with more ballads, and more humour (Pink Ribbons/The Outsider)
The Brunettes - Structure and Cosmetics (38 mins)
Yeah, I'm a really big Brunettes fan. This is like a super polished indie-pop/Americana album. It's got its moments, but loses a bit of soul (Obligatory Road Song/Small Town Crew/B.A.B.Y)

Study music. A+

Exam study has started, and I like to study in 'The Crypt' - a computer lab located in the basement of the math department. True to its name, there's no natural light, and it's ususally filled with zombiefied students, gazing unblinkingly at their Facebook pages. It is always nice and warm. It can be a bit noisy though, so I tend to bring CDs to pop in to the lovely big 21" iMacs.
To make things a bit more interesting, and avoid repetition, I thought I'd have a listen to my CD collection in alphabetical order. Not included are tapes, vinyl, mp3s, and other CDs which were on the floor of my bedroom, rather than on the shelf. Below are summaries of the listening for today (song titles in brackets are favourites)
Alex the Kid - Welcome to the Future (21 mins)
Not as terrible as the last time I saw them live, but kind of boring, and annoying on record. Concept taken waaaay too far (Time)
Shaun K. Anderson - The Stand Sure Oak (18 mins)
A nice, simple, folky ep. Lots of glistening guitar, and a few strings. Good for studying. (An Army of Tigers, Come)
Lawrence Arabia - Chant Darling (36 mins)
An outstanding pop album, full of harmony, fun, and wonderfully thought out tunes. Less diverse than his debut, but with a more matured, focused feel (Auckland CBD pt 2/Beautiful Young Crew/Eye A)
Arcade Fire - Funeral (48 mins)
Oh boy, a real favourite. Wall of sound in the truest sense, it's epic and emotive, without ever trying too hard. (Rebellion (Lies (of course))/Haiti/In the Backseat)
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (47 mins)
Bigger, darker, epic-er, pipe organy-er. Amazing stuff about life, death, religion, family and relationships. (Intervention/Black Wave/Bad Vibrations/My Body Is a Cage)
Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die (41 mins)
Quite possibly my favourite album ever, it just overflows with emotion. Mostly joyous ecstasy, but a few quiet moments add layers, making it a truly exceptional recording. (Wishbone/Do the Whirlwind/What's in Store?/all of them...)
Awesome Feeling - Real Groove Compilation (73 mins)
This is a pretty fab compilation - it did a good job of capturing 'underground' NZ music that was around, especially in RG/ALH-friendly circles. AF II, III are also good, and may get reviewed later in the week. (Cindy's a Zombie Now/Pony Prance/Bloxx War/Skeleton Dance)