Noise 101: CD Reviews for Mar. 22
WZRD
WZRD
2012 – Universal Records
WZRD’s self-titled album is the first record released by the group created by Kid Cudi and his friend Dot da Genius whom he met while working at Abercrombie and Fitch.
The album offers the familiar synthesized sound that Kid Cudi fans have become accustomed to. The track “Love Hard” is a rock-house music mash-up that offers a bit of variety that familiar sound which is a welcome relief for those looking for Cudi to diversify.
The album flows nicely with the exception of “The Dream Time Machine,” which is a slow and quite frankly distracting from the rest of the album.
WZRD also makes an attempt at covering Kurt Cobain’s “Where did you sleep last night?” which although stays very true to the Nirvana front mans original hit, it doesn’t offer anything new to make it worth covering by an urban artist.
All in all, the album is probably not worth buying except for a couple of the tracks mentioned. Download them.
— Todd Colin Vaughan
Caracol
Shiver
Indica/Grosse Maman
Canada, and specifically Quebec, has been putting out a lot of talented up-and-coming Francophone-folk-singers in the past few years, and Carole Facal is no exception. Performing under the name Caracol, she sets a new path with her latest album Shiver by making it her first international English release. Attempting to appeal to a broader audience, Caracol does a great job at producing a simple album that one can both listen to attentively, or as a general accompaniment. The subtle tones of Shiver match up perfectly with Facal’s Feist-like timbre and her guitars, and it is often tough to believe that English is not her mother tongue. After already establishing herself with her Francophone-based music, it should not be a surprise Shiver is the springboard that launches a modestly respectful career.
— Nathan Ross
Fred
Leaving my Empire
Sparks Music 2012
Fred is the musical equivalent to taking a bath with candles and Epson salts.
This Canadian bands first album takes you through melodic wailings of lead singer Jamin O’Donovan. If you’re looking for a reference of the sound think Dallas Greene’s City and Colour or Cold War Kids.
If the hipster vibe is your thing then Leaving My Empire is definitely an album you should pick up. The song “If not now when” is more upbeat then the rest of the album and has a retro feeling similar to that of The Kinks.
The album could never be confused for pump up music and is therefore perfect as ambiance. This is an around-the-house album to be sure.
I found myself wanting to criticize this album for being more of the same offered by this genre but in the end Fred was an album that was pleasant to listen to and inoffensive.
Not world-beating but worth a listen.
— Todd Colin Vaughan
