Bodies of Water: Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink

Bodies of Water: Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
Secretly Canadian: 1/22/2008

Note: This review originally appeared in 2007, but due to this album's 2008 U.S. release date, I am now including it among my 2008 recommendations.

Pitchfork's review of this album draws attention to the obvious similarities between Bodies of Water and Danielson. Understandably so, as the similarities are numerous. Bodies of Water create giant, theatrical, ecstatic songs. Unlike Danielson, however, their propensity for kitsch is driven by unabashed expression rather than a fondness for puns and a lot of caffeine.

The songs on Ears Will Pop are swollen with dense instrumentation, Broadway-style choruses and male-female call and response. Bodies' enthusiasm and pure joy are infectious. From start to finish, the album leaves hardly a moment to dwell on negativity. Even their darker and more serious songs suggest Bodies of Water take hardship in stride and see the potential for better times ahead. If you aren't moved by Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink, then there is something wrong with your brain.

Dizzee Rascal: Maths + English

Dizzee Rascal: Maths + English
Def Jux: 4/29/2008

Note: This review originally appeared in 2007, but due to this album's 2008 U.S. release date, I am now including it among my 2008 recommendations.

Until Maths + English, I didn't see what all the fuss was about with Dizzee Rascal or with grime in general. I had downloaded Dizzee's acclaimed Boy in Da Corner and the widely lauded grime comp Run the Road, and in both cases I had found them too monotonous. This is not the case with Maths + English. The songs on this album are much more varied than any other grime album I've heard (though, admittedly, my experience with the genre is extremely limited). It's also got a distinctly English vibe, which I love because I'm an Anglophile to a fault. Each track is full of great music, memorable hooks, and Dizzee's unique style. This album just might cause me to reexamine the other grime albums I had dismissed previously.

The Magnetic Fields: Distortion

The Magnetic Fields: Distortion
Nonesuch: 1/15/2008

Distortion represents an unexpected but certainly welcome turn in Stephin Merritt's prolific career. As the title suggests, its songs are reverbed and warped to within an inch of their lives. It could be said that Distortion is Merritt's triumphant foray into shoegaze, but any resemblance to My Bloody Valentine or Ride is merely superficial. At the heart of it all is the archetypal Magnetic Fields pop song: self-effacing, witty, emotionally engaging and above all, inexorably catchy. On first listen, Distortion might be somewhat off-putting to longtime fans like myself, but it grows on you. I couldn't stand "California Girls" the first time I heard it, but I found myself unconsciously humming it later that day. The second time I listened to it, it induced rapture. The rest of the album has similarly hooked me. Distortion is at least a tenfold improvement over Merritt's previous Magnetic Fields outing, the lackluster and self-indulgent i.