Top Ten Albums of 2011 - #06
DeVotchKa's 100 Lovers
Editor's Note: This is the 5th in a quasi-weekly series of reviews marking my favorite ten albums of 2011. New reviews go up every weekend through the end of the year.
Blech. If I read one more review about this being DeVotchKa's "Arcade Fire-inspired album," I'm going to be sick. AF doesn't have a monopoly on sweeping grandeur. This album deals in grandeur by the boatload and shows the sort of variety that AF can only dream of these days.
I think what people are trying to express is the smooth sound of the album in general. Past albums have high and low points that look like a bad EKG. They were scattered all over their albums. Just when you though you were settling into a mariachi type of groove, you'd get whisked away into something far more gypsy and far more dark. This album still pulls towards a number of different points on the emotional compass, but it never pulls you out of your chair in confusion.
This album makes a great introduction to the band: if you dig 100 Lovers, you might enjoy some of their previous works; if 100 Lovers is still too different for you (and this has been the case for several reviewers who have only heard a song or two of theirs through movies/commercials), maybe you should stick to something a little more mainstream. May I suggest some Cee-Lo?
Album highlights: "All The Sand In All The Sea" and "Contrabanda" are guaranteed to get stuck in your head after just one listen or your money back. Note: I will not actually pay you anything.
Blech. If I read one more review about this being DeVotchKa's "Arcade Fire-inspired album," I'm going to be sick. AF doesn't have a monopoly on sweeping grandeur. This album deals in grandeur by the boatload and shows the sort of variety that AF can only dream of these days.
I think what people are trying to express is the smooth sound of the album in general. Past albums have high and low points that look like a bad EKG. They were scattered all over their albums. Just when you though you were settling into a mariachi type of groove, you'd get whisked away into something far more gypsy and far more dark. This album still pulls towards a number of different points on the emotional compass, but it never pulls you out of your chair in confusion.
This album makes a great introduction to the band: if you dig 100 Lovers, you might enjoy some of their previous works; if 100 Lovers is still too different for you (and this has been the case for several reviewers who have only heard a song or two of theirs through movies/commercials), maybe you should stick to something a little more mainstream. May I suggest some Cee-Lo?
Album highlights: "All The Sand In All The Sea" and "Contrabanda" are guaranteed to get stuck in your head after just one listen or your money back. Note: I will not actually pay you anything.
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