Guitar hero

Been listening to so much new music the last couple of days that my brain's gone all bonkers. Everything from straight up pop music to electronic post-rock, classic techno, jazzy experimentalism and indie hiphop. Deerhunter, Run_return, Lights out Asia, Dj Hell, Broken Social Scene, Tarentel, Stars, Atmosphere, Radiohead, Multiplex, Kettel, Vector lovers, Venetian snares, Last days, Jens Lekman, Kaman Leung, Justus Köncke, Landau, Exzakt, Dcast dynamics - they've all gotten plenty of play time. Quite varied genres these artists' music reside in. This post is all about the pop though. Perfect stuff for a rainy autumn sunday & monday.

Deerhunter - Hazel St. [Kranky, 2007] (d/l)

Dreamy, sad and awkward pop tracks are what Deerhunter presents on their Cryptograms' latter half. The first half of the album is more to the weird rock side of things, equally good. Hazel St and Heatherwood are my two favorites.

Stars - The night starts here [Arts & crafts, 2007] (d/l)

It's not easy delivering an album when expectations are sky high. The Stars manages it with finesse! Yes, it is basically more of the same as Set yourself on fire. Maybe. Not quite perhaps. It's more of the same but from another angle, um? Anyhow that's not something that matters much, In our bedroom after the war is a buffet of catchy pop songs, majestic orchestrated arrangements, fragile duets, violin+piano overload, aching melancholic lyrics and smashing guitar riffs. And as is often the case with Stars' albums, it is impossible to pick any one hit/stand out song. There's simply too many great tunes to choose from.

Jens Lekman - A postcard to Nina [Service, 2007] (d/l)

Jens, oh Jens. I haven't given this man enough credit. As a indie star from my own city I should've paid more attention to him. However the hype ruined it for me, I get like that sometimes. Refusing to give an artist a chance, just cause they're getting hyped up. This is from Lekman's second album "Nigh falls over Kortedala" (love the title).