2012
Noah’s Barks pages covering things relating to the year 2012.
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Devin Townsend Project – “Epicloud” (2012)
Oh, boy. I have a new album to direct people to when showing them the worst the cliches of progressive metal. Epicloud features vocoder vocals, “epic” operatic backing vocals, constant switching between clean vocals and screams, loud as fuck, formulaic guitar playing pursuing volume and pleasant textures, occasional “soft” acoustic segments that are, for some… (read more)
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Pet Shop Boys – “Elysium”
Is Elysium the Pet Shop Boys’ worst? No, that doesn’t sound right. After such a long career, it’s nice to see Pet Shop Boys taking a new direction, which in this case is that of the ambient pop variety. They do an acceptable job at it, not a great one. Elysium is excellently produced, as… (read more)
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Grizzly Bear – “Shields”
No Grizzly Bear album is well-rounded, but Shields comes closest. For the first time, its sonic peaks are worth traversing an album for, especially since they’re tactfully spread out. (read more)
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The xx – “Coexist” (2012)
Come on, did The xx run out of album covers already? Anyway, Coexist isn’t much of a departure from their first album—I don’t know how you could have expected it to be. Likewise, it’s just as inoffensive, overly self-conscious indie-pandering with token “chill” minimalist beats and lyrics about Sad Things that express genuine emotion just… (read more)
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Florence + The Machine – “MTV Unplugged”
Florence + The Machine seems like a perfect act for the MTV Unplugged series, considering the band often utilizes a variety of string instruments in their songs. But somehow, every song on this album ends up being less interesting than the lusher studio versions. The act is essentially selling only the voice here; the backing… (read more)