Wednesday, July 17, 2013

New Tunes Reviews, July 16th: Matt Nathanson, Frank Black, New Order

Every Tuesday, I check LargeheartedBoy for one of their best features: Interesting Music Releases for the Week. And I queue up some albums on Spotify.  

Yesterday, I listened to: 

Matt Nathanson's Last of the Great Pretenders
Frank Black's Oddballs
New Order's Live at Bestival 2012

As far as the Matt Nathanson album, I was a little disappointed. But I often feel disappointed after his albums. I feel like his mesmerizing stage presence and hilarious live show banter does not translate on to his albums. It seems a bit overproduced (I enjoy his stripped down acoustic stuff - like 1998's Not Colored Too Perfect).  I do hope success for him. He deserves it. If you like pop songwriters, check this album out. Its alright. 

I found Frank Black's album rather enjoyable. His vocals and writing style really appeals to the 90s alt-rock fan within my soul. And as a fan of the Pixies, I am always interested in new material from the frontman. Many of the songs are fast. "Announcement" kind of reminds me of a J Mascis song. It kind of reminds me of a raw-er Silver Age by Bob Mould.  Yeah. I think I'll listen to some Bob Mould now.

New Order is one of those bands I want to get more into.  This is just a live album that features many of the few songs I already know, including "True Faith," "Bizarre Love Triangle," and, of course, "Love Will Tear Us Apart." But as with most live albums, I don't think I'd listen to it beyond this week. It did make me want to listen to more New Order though. Suggestions of which albums to start with, readers? 

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