Whilst none of these SKY SAILING songs would be amiss on an Owl City album, the eleven acoustic tracks of 'An Airplane Carried Me To Bed' stand strong enough on their own as a separate entity, that they're likely to appease many grudges against Adam Young still held by devoted fans of The Postal Service. The progression in Young's songwriting between 'An Airplane Carried Me To Bed' and 'Ocean Eyes' is positively endearing in retrospect.
Young recorded these songs three and a half years ago in his little bedroom basement and describes the album as: "a step into the past, the documented account of a shy boy from Minnesota with more hopes and dreams than he knew what to do with. When you listen to this record, you can hear naivety, innocence, inexperience and the wide-eyed imaginings of a wishful thinker. It's both light and dark, optimistic and melancholy. Unpolished and dusty, it's an antique and therefore holds a truly unique and graceful aesthetic within. Though there has always been just one artist behind the music, before there was Owl City there was Sky Sailing and I consider it a great honor to finally find this opportunity to share it with you."
The album is aptly titled, as it is indeed the perfect transportation from reality, to the land of sweet dreams. Insomniacs are sure to find a silver bullet within 'An Airplane Carried Me To Bed' to arm themselves against even the worst of nightmares and sleeplessness. Each song also doubles up as heartening playlist essentials, especially for rainy indoor days earmarked for catching up on your reading list. Snuggle into Sky Sailing, when you're in need of a comforting blanket of vocalised daydreams.
MUST-LISTEN:'Captains Of The Sky', 'Tennis Elbow', 'Explorers', 'Sailboats'. HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + 1/2 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: Owl City, Ace Enders & A Million Different People, Copeland, I Can Make A Mess Like Nobody's Business, The Album Leaf, Hellogoodbye... and drinking cups of tea in Winter whilst reading your favourite book. THIS COULD HAVE WON US OVER MORE, IF... it was released physically, accompanied with the cute, cute cute packaging it so deserves. WATCH: An unofficial animated video for 'Captains Of The Sky'.
If first impressions count, then love at first listen ought to carry the weight of a cosmic reckoning. The Auckland-based GLASS OWLS are triumphant across all fronts: having won me over from the very first song I discovered them upon, to the first time I watched them live, and the first time I listened to their debut EP 'Dead Love'. I'm crazy about this band. From the opening notes of the impeccable 'Griffin Boy' to the nostalgic charm of 'Summer Girl', the great promise that this band sounds out is every bit as real as each of the earnest jolts of song on their debut EP.
Glass Owls have a wholehearted urgency about their music that's brilliantly showcased in cleverly crafted emotional free-falls - such as track five 'Sarah', which steadily paces along one foot in front of the other before skyrocketing into an effortless shimmy.
Dear Glass Owls - Anthony Metcalf (guitar), Tomas Nelson (vocals), Cameron Allan (drums), and Christopher Pearce (bass) - I think you might just boast my favourite local release to date, of recent history.
MUST-LISTEN:'Griffin Boy', 'Summer Girl', 'Nothing Personal (Just You)'. HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: Julian Casablancas, Ivy League, Hockey, Gold Motel, Razorlight, Phantom Planet, Artisan Guns... and the comforting sound that fallen leaves make when you kick 'em up in drifts. THIS COULD HAVE WON US OVER MORE, IF... it fully reflected how talented the band are live. The tracks don't sparkle in quite the same way. WATCH:'No Avail' performed live for Balcony TV.
You will know GENERAL FIASCO from the single 'Ever So Shy' - <cue> "let's get wasted, it's all we ever do / we're so stupid, that's okay the drunks are your friends" - one of this year's catchiest power-pop debuts. Twenty-two-year-old frontman Owen Strathern dots his lyrics with sincere anecdotes, enriched with sing-a-long choruses, and the relatable wisdom of a youth who has learned first-hand from habitual observations.
Track seven 'Rebel Get By' is one of my favourite songs of 2010 so far, with its old-soul quips: "what it takes to relate to the things you'd like to be" and "I don't know if the one that I resist is the one that I need, do I need it?". Similarly, track five 'I'm Not Made Of Eyes' is forthright, and infused with the fighting spirit of a band that knew they had to rise above the complacent swagger that plagues our generation, to be walking the walk ahead and out of their small-town home in Northern Ireland.
General Fiasco speak simply, but like British band You Me At Six, they are resolute to their cause. Their cause, being the honest representation of life as they know it. And that's a wealth of narrative that I much prefer to tall tales of sun-kissed floozies.
MUST-LISTEN: 'Rebel Get By', 'I'm Not Made Of Eyes', 'Please Take Your Time', 'Dancing With Girls', 'We Are The Foolish'. HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 + 1/2 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE, IF YOU LIKE: You Me At Six, Kids In Glass Houses, The Pigeon Detectives, The Cribs, One Night Only, The Subways... and a swoonerific Irish accent. THIS COULD HAVE WON US OVER MORE, IF... in this case: not applicable. The album is certainly not groundbreaking, but there's nothing about it that I don't especially like. WATCH: The music video for 'I'm Not Made Of Eyes'.
While 3OH!3 go against pretty much everything I believe music should be, I’ve always held a soft spot for their first major release ‘Want’. I knew I shouldn’t enjoy listening to their album full of mindless party tracks, but there was something that drew me in, and after hearing the tracks live... I was hooked. After all, they’re just two (academically intelligent) dudes who decided to postpone life in the real world and live the high life, celebrating their youth, and living it up while they can - if anything - you’ve got to admire them for giving it a shot, and somehow successfully marketing their brand of music worldwide.
Unfortunately, that’s really as far as my praise goes in regards to their latest release ‘Streets Of Gold’. It’s much the same from Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte - songs about girls, parties, and doing whatever, all set to a backbeat of electro-pop and back and forth vocals, with a fair amount of auto-tune to boot. There are a few decent songs hidden amongst the... well, not so decent songs. ‘We Are Young’ plays like a Summer anthem, ‘I’m Not The One’ is simple and mellow (but catchy and definitely less annoying than most others), and title track ‘Streets Of Gold’ builds up to be quite uplifting, despite the rather lacklustre beginning.
Ironically, the one song which makes me want to do anything but party, is ‘House Party’. Think Andrew WK meets LMFAO in the worst way possible: "I’m gonna have a house party, in my house". Yeah, literally a five-year-old could have written the lyrics to this song. Not impressed. ‘Streets Of Gold’ could be your guilty pleasure album of the year, maybe. Personally, I’m going to stick with ‘Want’ for my white boy electro-pop-rock party music and leave ‘Streets Of Gold’ by the wayside.
MUST-LISTEN:'I Know How To Say' (for the New Zealand mention), ‘House Party’ (for its awfulness). HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE IF YOU LIKE: Ke$ha, LMFAO, Breathe Carolina, Metro Station, Jeffree Star... and brushing your teeth with a bottle of Jack. THIS COULD HAVE WON US OVER MORE, IF... it had just a little more intelligence. WATCH: The Harry Potter ‘House Party’ parody.
SING IT LOUD's sophomore release ‘Everything Collide’ is the perfect companion to a hot Summer's day. It’s upbeat, it’s catchy and it’s relatively simple - everything a power-pop record should be - and it will undoubtedly appeal to the bright-eyed and optimistic youth who aren’t after the most musically complex album, but just something that isn’t gonna bring them down.
The sweet and catchy pop-rock instrumentation alongside Pat Brown’s radio friendly voice, has always placed Sing It Loud in a position which could see them catapult into mainstream circles, similar to the Yellowcard's and Simple Plan’s of a few years ago. Opening track ‘Sugar Sweet’ keeps it simple and cheesy, while ‘Only One’ is so damn catchy that I don’t think anyone could resist singing, or at least humming, along to the chorus. Not even people like myself, who found it really difficult to find any appeal in Sing It Loud from their debut release ‘Come Around'.
While at times 'Everything Collide' is a little too teenage-romance for my taste, I am certainly not the target demographic (I’m looking at you, high school kids…), and I must admit that this album is a step above their debut. When the Summer heat kicks in, I’m sure 'Everything Collide' will take its rightful place as the soundtrack to many a lazy day laying in the sunshine, reminiscing about days which have passed... and dreaming of the better days to come.
MUST-LISTEN:‘Only One’ and ‘Here With You’. HEARTOMETER: 1 2 3 4 5 6 [ out of 10 ] YOU WILL LIKE IF YOU LIKE: The Maine, The Summer Set, Every Avenue... and the power-pop staples of the Epitaph Records stable. THIS COULD HAVE WON US OVER MORE, IF... it had a little more depth, or a little less of a teenage-romance focus. WATCH: The music video for 'Sugar Sweet'.
