More Music

It's hard keeping up with new music when you live in the land of cheesy reggaeton or obscure 80s hits. But I do try.

So this week, I have been mostly listening to:

Vampire Weekend-Vampire Weekend. Preppy college pop/rock that's a cut above the rest of the genre. It's not as fantastic as a lot of people seem to think but it's a really, really fun album and music shouldn't always have to be difficult to be good. And fun music is certainly necessary before listening to...

Portishead-Third. Easy listening this is not but...wow...what a comeback. 10 years after releasing Portishead and 14 after Dummy, the trip-hop pioneers are back with a truly awesome album. It's not a re-hash of their old style, it's a fluid transition into how they should sound in 2008. Just don't expect to feel particularly happy after listening to it.

The Raconteurs-Consolers of the Lonely. The Raconteurs' (Jack White's-White Stripes- side project) second album is a fair bit better than the pretty great Broken Boy Soldiers. Bluesy rock at its best, just as you think it's about to turn into wanky stadium rock, the music or lyrics take you as far away from that place as possible. Brilliant stuff.

Elastica-Elastica. It may be 14 years old but I still love this album. Totally underrated, it still feels contemporary, a sure sign of fantastic-ness.

Radiohead-In Rainbows. It's been out for 5 months or so but I'm still listening. Best Radiohead album since Ok Computer. Now if I can just get a cheap enough flight back to England for the end of June, I've got a ticket promised to me to see them in concert. First time I'll have seen them since Glastonbury 1994.

And I'm still loving my Josh Ritter collection.