Rilo Kiley
Under the Blacklight
Cutesy indie-rocker Jenny Lewis returned with the rest of her Rilo Kiley cohorts recently with an album that was both poppier and safer than anything they’d produced prior. Some of the tracks here have the same kind of smoldering blues mystique that was so alluring about Cat Power’s 2006 album The Greatest while others employ riffs that would’ve been right at home in a Rock Kills Kid album. My current favorite is the wonderfully catchy "Breakin’ Up" which — in a cute moment of wry wit — compares breaking off a relationship to a failing cellphone conversation (am i breaking up? / is there trouble on the line? / did your heart break enough? / did it break enough this time?)
There’s great stylistic breath in this album, and you’ll immediately notice how blindingly polished everything sounds. Hardcore fans will definitely be put off, but for people (like me) who have always thought of Rilo as "that cute indie band," it’s a really cute indie album. (3.5 out of 5 stars)
Patrick Watson
Close to Paradise
I stumbled on to this little gem while checking out the short list for the coming Polaris Music Prize this September. Apart from being featured once on Grey’s Anatomy, nobody has ever heard of this guy, and I personally believe he’s the scion of Jeff Buckley. (He doesn’t have the cherubic vocal range, but he’s got that same flair for dramatic falsetto.) Close to Paradise veers well away from Buckley’s R&B underpinnings though, employing Rufus Wainwright-reminiscent piano and strings. The entire album is damagingly brilliant, but "Luscious Life," "Drifters" and "Man Under the Sea" are standouts. (4.5 out of 5 stars)
This year’s Polaris is going to be crazy-tight. With big names like Arcade Fire (again) and Feist, the newer artists like Watson and (my pick) Miracle Fortress have the work cut out for them. Still, Final Fantasy took the prize home in 2006 against competition like Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers and Wolf Parade, so miracles do happen.
(And check out Watson’s awe-inspiring performance at the 2007 Junos.)
Did I mention that I secretly wish I were Canadian? A good 75% of everything I listen to these days hail from that perfect, perfect musical landscape.
Miracle Fortress is the one-man-band project of Graham Van Pelt, another Polaris contender. Five Roses is the perfect summer indie album, and there are tracks in this collection that could put the brakes on a typhoon just by their sheer euphoric warmth. My favorite cut by far is "Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart," which is a cascade of shimmering synths and a melody worthy of Brian Wilson. Definitely on my "Best of 2007" list. (5 out of 5 stars)