Hello,
This is a music blog. If you like what you read, I have more reviews at www.toneandgroove.com

Girls
Album
True Panther/Matador

Christopher Owens is the lead singer and songwriter of this band. He has a quirky voice and can sing the high and low end at the same time. His lyrics seem to describe confusion and frustration as a way of life, until he realizes at the end of the album that he doesn't have to live like this. Musically, this is sweet sunny, loopy pop, and it's the music that makes this album so much fun to listen to. He's never angry or bitter, but just wonders what's going on, and trying to get a handle on the women he wants to date. This is an album to think by, or with the windows open on a warm spring day. [www.myspace.com/girlssanfran]
Andrea Weiss

Regina Spektor
Far
Sire Records

Spektor’s piano playing is fun, quirky, and light but not light weight. Her lyrics are thoughtful, smart, and a little odd whether she is singing something sad, like “Eat,” happy like “Human of the Year,” sweet and whimsical like “Folding Chair,” or strange like “Genius Next Door.”

“Wallet” is a tale of a woman who finds a wallet, and takes it to the nearest Blockbuster so that it can be returned to it’s owner anonymously, is the happy, sweet, and oddball side of Spektor. “Laughing With” is sad, smart, thoughtful, and brims over with emotion. The song is about the reasons why people turn to God.

An album with such heartfelt emotion, direct clear lyrics, music that grabs and holds throughout the album is different. It's like having a conversation with a close friend. Far is an album to cheer for. It’s warm, giving, and caring, and for me personally, the album of the year. [www.myspace.com/reginaspektor]
Andrea Weiss


The Big Pink
A Brief History of Love
4 AD Records

The Big Pink are a digital hardcore band, and this album is their debut. But they aren’t harsh, noisy, fast, or angry. They sound more like a softer, quieter, more streamlined Nine Inch Nails with lovelorn lyrics. This is not to criticize them. Their album is excellent, even if the lyrics to “Dominos,” their single, are sexist. The music flows very well, with electric guitars meshing nicely with the synths. This is a good album to spark the imagination, and also to dream to.
[www.myspace.com/musicfromthebigpink]
Andrea Weiss

Times New Viking
Born Again Revisited
Matador Records

Fifteen songs in the thirty-one minutes of this album fly by joyfully, good and noisy. A wonderful clamor. Lyrics and singing are almost beside the point on these lo-fi, minimalist, experimental pop songs. They add to the fun by being unintelligible. These songs are meant to be played at maximum volume, and you'll have a great time doing so.
[www.myspace.com/timesnewviking]
Andrea Weiss