Neon Indian - Era Extraña (2011)

I still have yet to find a "chillwave" album that did anything for me. This may very well be because it isn't for me rather than any real drawbacks to the style. I feel like I'm hearing very bland electropop. The synths drown everything out with chilly waves of noise, yet it's in the pop structure which tells me that the words are meant to heard and the melodies reacted to. I guess it's the "chilliness" itself that distracts from what might otherwise be a perfectly enjoyable melody. This album by Neon Indian feels like it lacks personality. Nothing about it is really that bad, it's just bland. The rhythms don't feel like there's a lot of heart in them and the atmosphere isn't especially convincing and I see little reason to spend time with music that doesn't keep my attention.

6.5 / 10

The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient (2011)

The War on Drugs, who I last heard on their 2008 album Wagonwheel Blues, initially struck me as a folk-rock group but I obviously didn’t listen closely enough. There are a lot of psychedelic vibes going on, from the shoegazey guitars, the vocal drawl (which sometimes sounds a lot like Bob Dylan) and the general haziness to the every element of the instrumentation. In general, I hear a lot of shoegaze mixed with sugary-sweet pop music or harsh black metal, if it is mixed with anything at all. So Slave Ambient is a rather unique blend of styles. Indie folk doesn’t generally get this psychedelic, and music this psychedelic often sacrifices melody. The band still have that rustic folky vibe but they take it in an ambitious direction and the results are a joy to listen to.

8.2 / 10

Maria Taylor - Overlook (2011)

Maria Taylor is an alt-country musician and Overlook is her fourth album released under her own name. She's also been featured on four albums as one half of the folk duo Azure Ray. While Azure Ray's music is low-tempo, low-key and has a sense of fragility to it, Taylor's solo work is more lively and has a poppier feel to it. The first thing I noticed was how great her singing voice is. Of course that was true of her previous albums, but I had forgotten just how beautiful her voice is. The production handles it perfectly, at times lending an airy quality to it that contributes the album's emotionally-dense feel. I think one of the marks of a really great singer is when you hear him or her sing, you’re convinced the words mean more than they actually do. That happens while I listen to Overlook, and that’s an exciting thing. I felt like the music itself was as emotive as her voice but there’s a weight to the music. Anyone can sing sad songs over soft acoustic guitar plucking, but here Taylor really layers sounds, strings here, a warm synth tone there and a bluesy guitar solo for good measure. So much alt-country sounds like it goes through the motions, trying one cliche after another. The authenticity I hear in her voice and the beauty of the arrangements make Overlook an above average album for those who have an interest in the style.

9.0 / 10