Atlas Sound- Logos

I would hate people to think I am in love with Bradford Cox....well I think I am. Fastidious Assassins' album of the year Microcastle by Deerhunter was a beautiful record of 50's surf/garage pop but with beautiful sonic textures, masterminded by Mr Cox. And FA's album of 2009 could well be another of Mr Cox's masterpieces.
Logos is a beautiful record. It is in essence a very simple, almost natural record, made of mostly acoustic instrumentation but with hauntingly beautiful vocals from Cox and especially Lætitia Sadier on "Quick Canal". "Walkabout" features Noah Lennox from Animal Collective and is a joyously upbeat pop song, that is perhaps my favourite song of the year, and showcases Cox's knack for penning bloody good pop songs. Logos is a testament to the brilliance of Mr Cox and is a fantastic progression from last years "Let the Blind...", which was a shuddering, bleak record, and on Logos Cox has honed this into something beautiful and cohesive.

Another slice of genius from Mr Cox that is well up there in my top albums of the 2000's, as it manages to mix simple instrumentation and evolving synthy textures into beautiful/heart-breaking pop songs. Simply stunning.

9.5/10- That is all.

HEALTH- Get Color

This album is perhaps one of the most anticipated albums of 2009, many sites proclaiming its glory months and months ahead of its release. HEALTH are a band that I never understood. A few tracks off their last album I enjoyed, but I couldn't quite get my head around what they were trying to do. Each track seemed to be a huge brick of noise, and there seemed no way of penetrating this wall of noise.

The HEALTH/DISCO came out, which was a remix album of the first album, and the remixes seemed to bring out the songs behind all the feedback and overdrive. And from listening to the new album, it would seem HEALTH have taken some of this into account. I would be lying to say that HEALTH are now a catchy, danceable band (although Die Slow does come close to a radio-friendly single); but the songs are now at the forefront. The noise is still there, but its reigned in a lot more, and the songs are all the more powerful for it. The rhythmic elements to their sound are now much more apparent, and the band stop start like a well oiled machine.

This is an album of many many layers and I have only burrowed so far as of yet, but this album is a definite contender for album of the year, as I feel it has real lasting power. I am seeing the band live on Monday, so I am excited to see how the songs come across live.

8.9- Entrancing