Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream

Don’t fool yourself: JJ n° 3 is actually Swedish collective JJ’s 2nd LP. I’ll be honest: I didn’t really see what the fuss was about their debut album JJ n° 2, which received all sorts of accolades and praise from everybody and their mother. I was skeptical coming into JJ n° 3, but I am impressed.

In stead of a full-out review, I’ll bullet-point the highlights:

“No Escapin’ This” — Imagine The Knife playing in an FAO Schwartz. Yeah.

“You Know” — Reminds me of The Cardigans in their heydey. Surpisingly poppy, insanely catchy.

“Voi Parlate, lo Gioco” — Harmonious, captivating, enchanting.

Get a copy of JJ n° 3

Listen to “Let Go”

Listen to “No Escapin’ This“

Because “Love 1″ wasn’t enough, I guess. French genre-creating, pioneering power duo Air released their 6th LP Love 2 back in October, but I realized I let this go by without a review. I’ll be succint.

Love 2 isn’t Moon Safari (if haven’t heard Moon Safari, stop everything and go and listen to it. Go. Now. I’ll wait for you.). But then again, it’s not about recreating the past but defiantly moving forward. Air has found ways to change the game, to constantly push their own sound into uncharted territory. “African Velvet” possesses perhaps the funkiest riff I’ve heard in some time, and the soft accent of a tenor sax adds some real color. The rocked-out, energetic “Eat My Beat” shines with twinkling ivory and dirty guitar riffs. “Love” has a strange quaintness to it, that dances around your ears and then takes a dive right in. “Sing Sang Sung” is classic Air, insanely infectious and downright joyful. See the video below for visual ecstasy. Actually, just watch the damn video–it’s too awesome.

Get a copy of Love 2.

Listen to “African Velvet”

Listen to “Eat My Beat”

And Now This (Remake of “La Femme D’Argent” from Moon Safari)