Lotus Plaza - The Floodlight Collective

The Verdict - 9.2 out of 10

Deerhunter's guitarist, Lockett Pundt, has delivered an awesomely woozy, dreamy, ambient solo album, The Floodlight Collective, reminiscent of Bradford Cox's Atlas Sound. Both show what they brought to the table for the majestic Microcastle (one of my favorites from last year). So I can admit that there is a bit of an upward curve, but truly, this album is beautiful to behold.

Just as wrapped up in etherality and atmospherics as the phenomal release from Bradford Cox, Let The Blind Leads Those Who Cannot See, The Floodlight Collective may sound purposely thin at first but after multiple listens it delights with hidden sonic hiccups at just every single right moment.

If you have ears, you will surely enjoy it.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!

The Verdict - 8.6 out of 10

'It's Blitz!? It's Glam!' was my first thought after finishing a first run-through of the awesome new Yeah Yeah Yeah's album, It's Blitz!. Nearly gone now is the focused squall of Nick Zinner's guitar. In their place is a sea of vintage synths.

While you would figure this to be a much softer and introspective album, (which it is, owning mostly to the locals where the album was recorded; a former dairy farm in Massachusetts, and Sonic Ranch studios, near El Paso, which had 1,700 acres all it's own), the band can still cajole (EXHIBIT A & B: Soft Shock and Shame and Fortune).

But most of the album is accurately described by the aforementioned title, Soft Shock. It's Blitz relies on atmospherics more than anything the band has ever released, which is a bigger headfuck than the case of the missing guitars.

Many will dismiss this as Karen O. going soft on us, but that doesn't really paint a fair and full picture. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have released such a diverse album as to bear comparison to bands as strange as Portishead, the Cardigans and a tinge of Kate Bush. How can you find (much) fault in that?

Swan Lake - Enemy Mine

When I first heard of Swan Lake and All Fires I was excited beyond control, until I heard the middling Beast Moans. Where that album seemed barely thought out, the second album from said supergroup is a true LP, well laid out, possibly as an answer to the cobbling together of songs for their debut.

Enemy Mine features all of the quirks you would expect, but not every song necessarily goes where you would think. And the best aspect of all is how well all the songs hang together when such differing styles are concerned, with the only exception being the dawdling A Hand At Dusk.

All complaints aside Swan Lake deliver a very, very pleasant surprise.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank [EP]

The Verdict - 8.0 out of 10

There is an ever-deepening mythology surrounding Justin Vernon's haunting output as Bon Iver. When recording For Emma, Forever Ago he retreated to a cabin, (following the dissolution of a personal relationship and the breakup of his band), leaving everything behind but his guitar and some whispy vocals. Self-released in 2007, Jagjaguwar re-released a year later, to widespread critical acclaim.

And to say that each song on Blood Bank has a dense, impenetrable personal mythology all it's own, (conjuring grainy images of early childhood, forests, and family), would be obvious. But instead of getting an EP full of table scraps from the For Emma sessions, we are presented with four songs full of brilliance and wonder and surprise. Blood Bank more than whets the appetite; it's leaves the listener thirsting for more.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix details

Circle May 26th on your calendars America, and the rest of the world the day before. Phoenix are finally releasing a follow up to their excellent It's Never Been Like That album, entitled Wolfgang Amadeus Phoneix. Awesome.

The album comes to us from Glassnote and the band's own label, Loyaute.

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
01. Lisztomania
02. 1901
03. Fences
04. Love Like A Sunset Pt. 1
05. Love Like A Sunset Pt. 2
06. Lasso
07. Rome
08. Countdown
09. Girlfriend
10. Armistice

P.S. Two reasons to love this band.
01. Phoenix - 1901
02. Lead singer Thomas Mars has a daughter, Romy, with Sofia Coppola. Yowza.