Spring music round-up

You may have noticed I've been blogging a lot about music recently. You may also recall I have previously resolved to try to be more conservative with going on music download binging, which I'd say I was successful in doing for a while. 2013, however, has come out like a lion with new albums I've really enjoyed, particularly this spring. I'll run through some of the most notable ones below. I did my best to keep it short and have chosen my top three. For all intents and purposes, this list also happens to be my top three albums of 2013 so far*...

* = (subject to change very quickly with Daft Punk's Random Access Memories out this month and now streaming HERE, and Classixx's Hanging Gardens out tomorrow)

3. How to Destroy Angels - Welcome Oblivion

Genre: Electronic, Industrial

Run-down: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross team up again (third time?) this time making an album separate from any soundtrack following their strong work with The Social Network and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Intrigued by Reznor and Atticus's work, I decided to casually give a stream a try... I ended up sitting through the whole thing. I've never been into the whole industrial scene and it took me until the self-titled fourth track before it sucked me in, but at that point it had me. Mariqueen Mandig's vocals haunt the album to darken the mood slightly (think Portishead), but not enough to alienate casual listeners.  

2. Savages - Silence Yourself

Genre: Post-punk, indie rock

Run-down: Wow, these ladies caught me off-guard. This is probably the only album in my iTunes library that is closest to any sort of punk so needless to say I was surprised when I found myself walking out of the music store with me buying it after hearing some of the songs. Echoey vocals, piercing guitar and THAT BASS dominate the record. Did I mention that bass? I would love to see them live because I could see the atmosphere being electric. I'm not fond of all the songs and it took some time to get used to them but I've loved them ever since. Time to track those tour dates. Give this song a try -- "City's Full". 

1. Phoenix - Bankrupt! 

Genre: Indie rock, Synthpop

Run-down: A much anticipated album for me, especially since I loved "Entertainment" when it was released. It may turn off some previous Phoenix fans because they've changed a lot since Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Fuller sound, more suitable for arenas and turn up that synth! There have been other bands where I was one of those fans that did not take well to this adjustment for some other bands (Coldplay, Metric) but I enjoyed the sound that came out on Bankrupt!. Upbeat, catchy riffs, and most importantly for me it's not a homogenous mixture -- each song has its own flavour. 

Honourable mentions: 

James Blake - Overgrown

Sons of Fathers - Burning Days

Woodkid - The Golden Age