Philadelphia Weekly

MUSIC

On the Record: Andrew Bird, Perfume Genius, Estelle & More

Album reviews in 30 seconds or less

By Bill Chenevert

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Mar. 6, 2012

Andrew Bird

Break It Yourself

(Mom + Pop Music)

Sounds Like: The Chicagoan indie rock violinists’ sixth is just as you’d imagine—eerie, haunting, beautiful, and full of oddball strings, percussion, sounds and ideas.

Free Association: Very few rock dudes have mastered the human whistle like this man.

For Fans Of: Jeff Buckley x DeVotchKa.

The Magnetic Fields

Love at the Bottom of the Sea

(Merge)

Sounds Like: Fifteen short tracks that use synths, finally, after a three-LP no-synth trilogy. Their first on Merge since ’99’s 69 Love Songs, and it’s weird, trippy and spacey.

Free Association: Stephin Merritt delivers another sorta-queer batch of oddball gems.

For Fans Of: Pet Shop Boys + gay Belle & Sebastian, ABBA/Roxy Music, weird pop.

Perfume Genius

Put Your Back N 2 It

(Matador)

Sounds Like: The follow-up to Seattle’s Mike Hadreas’ excellent debut, Learning, is a more sophisticated and mature batch of hymnal-like queer laments on pain and love.

Free Association: All he needs is his voice and a piano to give you hardcore shivers.

Page: 1 2 3 |Next