Hey Mother Death
Hey Mother Death
(Divorce Records)
2.5/5
The first release by Halifax/Paris-based duo Hey Mother Death is a dark, atmospheric soundscape. But Hey Mother Death are largely inaccessible and far too on-the-fringe for most listeners.
The EP begins with the compelling and moody instrumental “You Left Me.” Dark, eerie synths, a slow, resonant, almost reggae bass line, and spidery guitar arrangements make this track a masterpiece of ambient music.
The second track is an unfortunate shift into more sprawling, sparse, and ultimately more pretentious territory. “Black Monday” is a bloated, boring piece that has none of the charm of the previous track. The experimental guitars are completely abandoned, as is all sense of melody. Smatterings of French spoken word are peppered throughout, which instead of adding to the atmosphere give the impression that this song is nothing more than entry-level, art-school garbage.
-James Down
Miike Snow
Happy to You
(Universal Music)
4.5/5
Swedish indie pop trio Miike Snow’s latest album, Happy to You, makes me want to run barefoot through a misty, overgrown garden with friends, laughing and eating candies. It’s cinematic. It’s happy-go-lucky danceable. And it just sounds good.
Happy to You is full of synths, piano, marching band-style percussion, and effect-laden vocals. The beat carries most songs. Heavy piano, bass drum, and bass balance well with delicate snare, vocals, and synth lines.
Highlights include “Bavarian #1 (Say You Will),” which builds from charming whistles and snare drum to a lush, layered conclusion, and album opener “Enter the Joker’s Lair,” an upbeat, fairy-tale-esque tune with an almost Caribbean sound.
The antidote to grey skies and long study nights is here: Happy to You is the perfect album with which to welcome spring.
-Rose Jang
Simone Felice
Simone Felice
(Dine Alone Records)
4/5
Simone Felice is a dreamer, a lover. He’s a musician from the Catskill Mountains of New York who escaped death twice (brain aneurysm as a child; emergency open-heart surgery as an adult) before creating this debut album.
Because of this, Felice has a true understanding of the fragility of life; it shows in songs like “New York Times,” where he expresses that he never wants to see anyone he loves as a headline for the biggest newspaper in the world. Really, the theme of life in the spotlight is all over the album: Felice’s ability to empathize with a rock star is highlighted in “Courtney Love,” while he laments a slain movie star in “Sharon Tate.”
At the heart of Felice’s music is a perverse honesty in the lyrics and a haunting beauty, which resonates throughout this album.
Felice has shown death the door twice with his love of life. Now he’s sharing his love of life with the world with this album.
-Dan Darling
West My Friend
Place
(Grammar Fight Records)
4/5
Not every band can use the word “ethnobotanist” in a song. Victoria indie folk band West My Friend can.
Their debut album, Place, is a joyous, charming addition to the Canadian indie folk scene. It will warm your heart and get your toes tapping. The songs, played primarily on mandolin, accordion, guitar, and bass, are 13 rays of sunshine. West My Friend’s earthy sound is catchy and it’s undeniably west coast.
Place is carried by lead singer Eden Oliver’s crystal-clear voice. Oliver is also the band’s main songwriter; crafting a melody seems to come as naturally to her as breathing. Her vocal lines often vault all over the place, engaging the listener and complementing the instruments gracefully.
Put Place on over the speakers, grab a dance partner, and get ready to smile.
-Rose Jang
Trampled by Turtles
Stars and Satellites
(Six Shooter Records)
4/5
The concept of being trampled by turtles is far from ideal. But if the experience is anything like the pleasure of listening to Trampled by Turtles’ newest album, Stars and Satellites, I suppose I would have to give it a shot. (At worst, it would make for a good story to tell later.)
This group of five rockers-gone-folk from Duluth, Minnesota have developed an exciting, folksy, bluegrassy sort of ride that you’ll want to go on over and over with Stars and Satellites.
The band’s use of acoustic instruments forms a very down-to-earth sound, while the poetic lyrics deliver an ethereal element to the proceedings. Together these two components create a tranquil escape from the rush of final exams.
Stars and Satellites is the perfect album to pick up as we plunge face-first into spring, and Trampled by Turtles would make most excellent mates for a day by the lake.
-Lucas Milroy