Noise 101: CD Reviews for Oct 9
Leonard Cohen
Popular Problems
Columbia
Score: A
On Sept. 21, Leonard Cohen turned 80 years old and released a new CD.
Popular Problems is the perfect title for Cohen’s latest release. He covers betrayal, war, famine, indigenous treaties and more.
He sounds like he smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and ate gravel for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Even more badass, he performs more poetry than he sings, and a the heavenly female vocals in the background will make your eardrums tingle.
Don’t get me wrong, you probably wont listen to it in the car with your friends, but if you feel like closing your eyes and getting lost in stories of an old man, this is the album for you.
— Matt Sutton
Hilary Grist
Come & Go
Self-released
Score: A
Hilary Grist inspires on her sophomore album, Come & Go.
The album is easy to listen to, which is a testament to Grist’s delicate vocals and catchy, yet appropriately crafted melodies. Each song on Come & Go draws you in and, before you know it, the album is playing over again.
Lead track, “Come & Go” kickstarts the album with poetic lyrics and prominent percussions, which almost hammer the songs cautionary message into your head.
Things start to slow down with “The Trade,” and its thought-provoking chorus.
Come & Go is worth checking out. Grist has a sound which is universal, engaging and charming.
— Ato Baako
Caribou
Our Love
City SlangMerge
Score: B+
Dan Snaith as Caribou has always made intelligent and sophisticated electronic music. His latest effort, Our Love, is no exception.
Our Love is a solid record and a clear evolution of his constantly changing style. Not unlike its predecessor, Swim, this album concerns itself with isolating the essential elements of Snaith’s own sometimes meditative, often mesmerizing interpretation of dance music.
Our Love strips away many of the excesses of previous releases; gone are the nods to the 60s psychedelia. In their place, is a crisp but spare production, coupled with an incessant repetitiveness and inherent danceability.
At some points in the album though, it seems as if nearly too much has been taken away.
Our Love still captivates — perhaps not at the same dizzying heights of its predecessor — but still a solid effort.
— Sasha Semenoff