Clinic: Do It!

I never saw what all the fuss was about with Clinic until now. I'm not sure whether this is because Do It! is a superior album to their last couple of releases, or I've arrived to a state of mind that's more amenable to their sound. Regardless, I'm really digging Do It! in ways I hadn't anticipated. I have said before that the problem with most bands is that they shamelessly rip off their influences, but rather that they don't rip off enough of their influences. Clinic can't be accused of this shortcoming. Do It! brings together elements of virtually every sound in rock from the past fifty years. Every time I listen, I hear something new; a bit of Dylan here, some Spector there and lots of other stuff I'm not well-versed enough in the history of music to recognize. Maybe I should now revisit Clinic's previous albums and find out why their fan base is so devoted.

Xiu Xiu: Women as Lovers

I have been worried about Xiu Xiu for the past few years. Fabulous Muscles instantly made them one of my favorite bands of the current decade. Unfortunately, La Forêt was a big disappointment and I only warmed up to a few songs on The Air Force. I began to suspect Xiu Xiu's best days were behind them, but I never completely gave up hope that they had another masterpiece in them. Women as Lovers isn't quite that masterpiece, but it renews my waning faith in Xiu Xiu. They seem revitalized by the addition of new members Devin Hoff and Ches Smith. A good chunk of the songs rank among their best, some even approaching the perfection of "I Luv the Valley OH!" from Fabulous Muscles. Xiu Xiu's next one might be the masterpiece I've been waiting for after all.

M83: Saturdays = Youth

M83's latest album has been described by critics, both favorably and unfavorably, as an homage to the music of the 1980s. This is probably the most obvious aspect of the album, noticeable from the first few bars of "You Appearing" and confirmed beyond a reasonable doubt by the Kate Bush soundalike vocals on "Up". On the whole, I find the result very satisfying. In fact, I can't think of anyone who could pull off such a tribute better than M83 has. Saturdays distills the best elements of new wave, shoegaze and other musical forms that comprised what came to be called alternative by the end of the decade. This album recalls a time when economic and political strife precipitated an explosion of interesting music that was commercially viable. Twenty years on, the cycle seems to be repeating. Saturdays couldn't have come out at a more auspicious time.

Quinn Walker: Laughter's an Asshole/Lion Land

Quinn Walker's debut double album finds a perfect home on CocoRosie's label, Voodoo-EROS. With the possible exception of Devendra Banhart and Andy Cabic's Gnomonsong, Walker couldn't be better suited for another label. The first two tracks give the listener the impression that Walker leans toward Iron & Wine's earnest Americana or Akron/Family's psychedelia. These sounds are interesting, but a double album that stays in that place for its entirety would get tedious. Luckily, Walker's playfulness and curiosity take the album to many strange places. Many songs manage to sound simultaneously exotic and down-to-earth. This album shows that there is still plenty of territory to explore in what critics call New Weird Americana.

Thee Oh Sees: The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In

The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In is much more energetic than Thee Oh Sees' previous work as The Ohsees and The OCS. The songs on The Master's Bedroom are caffeine-addled and aggressive. This more propulsive sound is much better suited to the band's typically sludgy production than their previous efforts were. As usual, the lyrics are completely unintelligible, but it doesn't seem to matter. The vocals are used more for melody than for content. Unlike their previous releases, The Master's Bedroom is best listened to as loud as possible.

The Magnetic Fields: Distortion

Distortion represents an unexpected but certainly welcome turn in Stephin Merritt's prolific career. As the title suggests, its songs are reverbed and warped to within an inch of their lives. It could be said that Distortion is Merritt's triumphant foray into shoegaze, but any resemblance to My Bloody Valentine or Ride is merely superficial. At the heart of it all is the archetypal Magnetic Fields pop song: self-effacing, witty, emotionally engaging and above all, inexorably catchy. On first listen, Distortion might be somewhat off-putting to longtime fans like myself, but it grows on you. I couldn't stand "California Girls" the first time I heard it, but I found myself unconsciously humming it later that day. The second time I listened to it, it induced rapture. The rest of the album has similarly hooked me. Distortion is at least a tenfold improvement over Merritt's previous Magnetic Fields outing, the lackluster and self-indulgent i.

Fuck Buttons: Street Horrrsing

I'm hardly the first to sing Street Horrrsing's praises and I'm sure I won't be the last. Not since My Bloody Valentine's Loveless has anyone so successfully married melody and noise. Loveless blended these elements into a foamy conconction in which bits of songs would condense, float by and dissolve again. Street Horrrsing, on the other hand, keeps these elements separate but operating in parallel. The result is more like, as the cover art might suggest, a heterogeneous jumble of clouds and shards of broken glass. I don't recall if this music has been described as hypnotic in other reviews, but it surely fits. If Fuck Buttons release two or three more albums half as gorgeous, then they will easily outdo MBV's legacy.

Cut Copy: In Ghost Colours

I never been able to understand what the big deal is about originality. It has its virtues, but I'd rather do something unoriginal very well than something original poorly. I mean, why make completely unlistenable music in the name of invention? Even Throbbing Gristle threw down some fierce grooves in their less original moments, which were often their best. Cut Copy have been criticized by snotty music grinches for shamelessly ripping off New Order's Technique-era Balearic sound. Who cares? It's an awesome sound and Cut Copy do it very well. I wish New Order would get back to doing that kind of music, in fact. But since Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook are too busy sniping (to be fair, Hooky is doing most of it) to make awesomely cerebral dance-rock, I'm glad that groups like Cut Copy are there to fill the void.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!

I hate to say it, but I think that having to refocus their efforts after the departure of longtime member Blixa Bargeld has done the Bad Seeds a world of good. Don't get me wrong; I love Blixa and I think that his other gig, Einstürzende Neubauten, has benefitted from finally having his full attention. But losing Blixa caused the Bad Seeds to reexamine and renegotiate their roles in the group. Warren Ellis has now taken a prominent role and his more direct collaboration with Cave has pulled the group out of the rut they've been in for quite a while. It's still too early to know the album's full impact, but I think that Dig is easily their best album since The Good Son and Henry's Dream.

A Weather: Cove

A Weather's debut on Team Love is a collection of moody, contemplative cloudy day songs. At first listen, they remind me a bit of Low. But while Low has the gloom turned up to eleven, Cove is full of quiet resignation rather than melodrama and melancholia. Occasionally, the chorus rises with the strength and hope that comes from having lived through bad times and come out the other side. "Small Potatoes", one of the album's standout tracks, has the highest concentration of the strengths that appear in various combinations on the rest of the album. A deceptively morose guitar intro unexpectedly turns upbeat on the last two or three notes, followed by an upbeat melody that belies the devastation of breaking up. This sometimes baffling interplay of mixed emotions contributes to Cove's depth and loveliness.