I’ve not had much of time to listen to music recently, having suddenly developed something approaching a life. Thus, this quiet Saturday afternoon was spent partaking in a number of albums I’ve wanted to listen to for a while- and because I’m the sort of utter bastard who feels the need to write his opinions on stuff down on the internet, here are my verdicts on them:

PETER, BJORN AND JOHN- Writer’s Block
The Swedish indie-dance heroes responsible for “Young Folks” prove that there’s more to them than melancholy whistling. A good part of “Writer’s Block” is your typical straightforward indie rock, but there’s quite a bit of variation; “Start To Melt” has a bit of a Brain Wilson vibe, “Amsterdam” sounds like laid-back Gary Numan and the twinkly mandolin-driven “Roll The Credits” is worthy of the Earlies’ best work for sheer bliss-outery. This isn’t the party album one might expect from their ubiquitous single- but it’s still a great little LP worthy of your time. 7.5/10

MODEST MOUSE-We Were Dead Before The Ships Even Sank
It’s alright, but I don’t like it nearly as much as the fantastic Good News For People Who Like Bad News (an album that was derided as ‘overly listenable’ on Atease, a comment which makes me hate hipsters with even more passion) There’s nothing that comes close to ‘Float On,’ ‘Black Cadillacs’ or “The Good Times Are Killing Me” and half of it sounds, depressingly for a skewed talent like Isaac Brock, like a jumped-up jam band. Still, it has its moments; the sea-shanty-tinged “March Into The Sea,” lead single “Dashboard” and the intense, wild-eyed mania of the latter half of ‘Fly Trapped In A Jar’ stand out amongst the first 10 songs, and the last five are all pretty good. But it isn’t certainly not the revelation that some have been making it out to be. 6/10

ANDREW BIRD- Armchair Apocrypha
Now, this is what I’m talking about! Rivalling the mighty ‘Neon Bible’ for my supreme affection, this sublime album by the uber-talented multi-instrumentalist is sure to rank very highly in my end-of-year charts. Lush arrangements, songwriting to die for, an intimidating whistling quotient…I’m just completely in love with this. Tracks 3-6 (“Heretics”, “Dark Matter”, “Plasticines” and “Armchairs”) are so uniformly brilliant that I can forgive the slight dip in quality towards the end. I’m really upset that I missed out on getting tickets for his Bush Hall gig now…9.5/10

FROG EYES- Tears Of The Valedictorian
Mmmmm. My Frog Eyes obsession early in 2006 was rather dampened by the discovery of their good mates Sunset Rubdown- they share a lot of the same musical aspects (not to mention members) but Spencer Krug’s mob seemed to have more substance to them. But although “TOTV” isn’t quite up there with SR’s truly magnificent “Shut Up I Am Dreaming” (by far the best album of last year) it has certainly reignited my love for this most peculiar of Canadian bands. Carey Mercer still yelps like Bowie with his nuts in a clamp, there’s still that dreamy, swirling mass of instrumentation that characterises the Frog Eyes sound but the melodic qualities are perhaps stronger than anything they’ve ever done before. “Bushels” in particular is an off-kilter masterpiece that tops “One In Six Children Flees In Boats” as my favourite FE song, and “Idle Songs” is as perfect a distillation of their…unique musical style as I’ve heard. Marvellous. 9/10

OF MONTREAL- Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Kevin Barnes returns with his idiosyncratic brand of hyper electro disco and goddamn, if it ain’t half good! HFAYTD isn’t for people who don’t like dancey synth-led tracks, because even more so than their previous work, this is the album’s overwhelming sound. I thought they couldn’t top the illegally catchy “Wraith Pinned To The Mist,” but there’s a lot here that definitely gives that song a run for its money. But don’t get fooled by all the upbeat melodies- there’s a surprisingly dark undertone that runs through the lyrics and makes this a great deal more substantial than the excellent, but rather superficial pop of Of Montreal’s prior albums. There are some criticisms, though- “The Past is a Grotesque Animal” is a bit too much of an 80’s throwback, going on at least five minutes too long, and there are definitely moments where it struggles to keep the momentum up (especially towards the end). Nonetheless, I’m really rather impressed by this- can’t wait to check out their (reputedly awesome) live show this April. 8/10

PANDA BEAR- Person Pitch
The side-project of experimental noise-merchants Animal Collective, this release has been mightily anticipated by certain sections of the indie community (mainly the ones who spend more time mainlining hard drugs rather than listening to music). Well, that’s a bit unfair- I just have a general disdain for Animal Collective and those who try to pass them off as a great band (they’re not-they’ve got a couple of good songs but they’re insanely pretentious). But I must say, this is better than it has any right to be. It’s ain’t no adrenaline fuelled romp, that’s for sure- the tone is very gentle and dreamlike, comprised of echoing, mystic harmonies and subtle instrumentation. But whilst it might not be music to PUMP YOU UP, it’s excellent for chilling out to. Twelve minute odyssey “Bros” (unrelated to the Goss brothers, alas) adds a nice touch of 60’s jangle-pop to the mix; the drone of “Good Girl/Carrots” has a strangely irresistible hypnotic pull that kinda reminds me of the Stone Roses’ more psychedelic moments. With an album like this, there’s always a risk of things descending into a snoozefest (as it does on the penultimate track), but on the whole “Person Pitch” manages to remain a pleasant little treat that won’t change your world, but is no worse for it. 7/10

And here are some tracks for your delectation:

Andrew Bird- Heretics
Peter, Bjorn and John- Young Folks
Of Montreal- A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsviner (RECOMMENDED!)