As my library of music is still dictated by how much money I have in my pockets and the approval of the wife, my new music collection sporadically grows. Lucky for me, I was able to procure a giftcard to Itunes and download some quality tunes this weekend. I plan on reviewing my other album later on this week (but I will not review the one individual song I picked up...Sam and Dave's HOLD UP, I'M COMING! I don't know how any living being could NOT enjoy that song).

The LP that I did purchase was the Fleet Foxes self-titled debut. Fleet Foxes are a relatively new band on the scene from Seattle, WA. I can say that they have received lots of positive buzz from the likes of multiple indie magazines (but I didn't find this out until AFTER I got the album). I heard one of their songs on college radio last week and it was the perfect summer song (WHITE WINTER HYMNAL, the first single off of the LP).

Fleet Foxes have the best harmonies that I have heard in a band since GUSTER. They are multi-layered and consistently in tune. You never realize how much you appreciate a good harmony until it is so rarely done in modern music. The music is a nice folky/indie/alternative hybrid that is not overpowering but it also will not lull you to sleep.

Initially when I listened to the disc I made immediate comparisons to The Shins. This is probably due to the fact that 1) Fleet Foxes are on the same label (Sub-Pop) and 2) The LP was produced by the same producer that has done The Shins work. However, after 3 or 4 times through the disc, it became clear to me that the Foxes bring something different to the table. I am not going to make some crazy statement and compare their harmonies to Brian Wilson's but you really can hear traces of him in their style. You can definitely tell he is a strong influence in their sound.

That is where yesterday meets today. You pull all of the things you like from the music in the past and fuse those into what you are wanting to do today. That is what the Fleet Foxes sound like to me. A nice hybrid of a few of my favorite things in one nice tidy package. You really can't ask for much more for a great summer recording. I'm sure I will be listening to it much longer than that.

Stand outs: Quiet Houses, The Protector, Blue Ridge Mountains

http://www.myspace.com/fleetfoxes

So I joined the millions this past week that purchased Chris Martin and Co's new album VIVA LA VIDA and after a few listens, I am pleasantly surprised with Coldplay's step forward.

Something that I picked up right away on the disc was the absence of Martin's famous falsetto voice. In its place, is a much lower range and an edgier feel to the majority of the tunes (especially songs like YES! and VIOLET HILL). It is reminiscent of TIL KINGDOM COME off of X&Y, which I felt was one of the strongest tunes on the album (and also not written for Coldplay or so MTV told me at the time).

Another prominent sound throughout the album was the influence of their new producer, Brian Eno. Eno is known for "sonic landscapes" on U2 albums (he was a big mastermind of their signature sound on JOSHUA TREE). Because of Eno's touch, I felt like this album was kind of a Coldplay/U2 hybrid as it had a lot of the positives that both bands bring to the table. It also makes sense as one of Coldplay's biggest influences is U2.

VIVA LA VIDA isn't really as listener friendly as previous Coldplay releases, which is a good thing. It is a sign that they are doing something different and aren't adhering to the "one plus one = overkill on the radio" formula. They are trying new things regarding tempos, strings (definitely evident in the disc's title track) and it is nice to see Will Champion not go crazy on the crash symbal on every song.

It is difficult to objectly rate this disc as I have been a fan of Coldplay since I saw the YELLOW video early one morning after class in college but it is palpable that they are the "heirs apparent" to U2. They produce solid rock/pop tunes and VIVA LA VIDA doesn't disappoint. For fans and newbies alike, Coldplay still are a quality place to invest your $9.99.

Spammers have infiltrated my Music Bath e-mail address, so instead of getting fun submissions for CDs to review, I have to spend all my time deleting crap. P.S. I am NOT going to enlarge my penis, so stop wasting your time!

However, I do have to give the spammers credit for some pretty amusing Subject lines. Here are the best of the bunch:

A hard on now stays on
A true godsend to your little soldier of love
An opportunity to penetrate deeper
Be the man of everyone's dreams
Be the Pied Piper of chicks (ummm...is this encouraging abducting women?)
Become the Wild Thing
Bomb her womb from your huge canon!
Britney digs larger dicks
Coming like a waterfall (body: Wake up and water your man meat, watch it grow everyday.)
Create a furore in the bedroom (body: Are you hung like a little boy?)
Enjoy yourself with your female friends (body: James Bond will need to step aside once he sees how good you are with the ladies)
Enlarge your... machine size, male device size, male organ length (body: Your girl loves huge bell-rope but the problem is that you have small one)
Ficken wie ein Weltmeister (translation: Do you fuck like a world champion?)
Find out about Harry potter's latest novel (body: Yes! The solution to boring sex is here at last)
Find the key to pandora's box (cause who DOESN'T want to stick it in a box that contains every evil of mankind?)
Forget about your partner faking her orgasm or not being able to please her. (done and done. *wipes hands*)
Gain a voluminois male package
Get... a magic wand to satisfy your lady, armed with huge love canon, hung like no one else, nominated for MBA
Gigantic snake between your legs (Dangerous!)
Hypnotise to lay her (body: What is life when you have a small thin pen, you need a huge marker right?)
I don't need no herp to keep my happy. (are there people out there who do?)
If you can't engorge properly, get in here! (kind of a catch 22, huh?)
Improbably things can really happen!
Kinky stuff you can try
Lucille cried out when she saw it (poor Lucille!!!)
Massiveness means power
More dimension and vigor for your love tool
More meat is what you need
Please spare me your anaconda (body: All the whores along the street shiver at the sight of me, I can only bag the new ones these days.)
She likes getting slap on the ass
The thing between your legs can grow!
Time for your second puberty phase
True manhood accepts no compromises
Update your Penis (ugg, Steve Jobs is making penises too now??)
Wanna have a bazooka in your boxers (Daaaaangerous!)
Your male device is super (Just what I like to hear. Well that...that's just super.)

And even some poems:

Be good, think twice.
Look into that blondy's eyes
Catch glance, feel free.
Visit that link recommended by ME

Girls, white girls, black girls, red girls, yellow girls.
I love any of them.
And they love me.
Want to know wy?

NIN is offering a free downloadable EP for the bands that are supporting them while they are on tour. The EP features some quality bands that I have enjoyed on MySpace lately, namely Crystal Castles and Does it Offend you, yeah?

Free is key.

http://dl.nin.com/lightsinthesky/signup

So we are due for another Musicbath posting as it has been over a few weeks since we have had one. Due to the fact that most of my new music purchased lately has been older stuff, this is going to be focused on an older release.

I developed a taste for Camera Obscura very quickly. I attribute my immediate approval to the fact that I was currently going through a big Belle and Sebastian phase (Another solid Scottish indie rock band) and the fact that I loved Tracyanne Campbell's voice. I had picked up their most recent release last year (LET'S GET OUT OF THIS COUNTRY) and I loved every track, from start to finish. So, like I typically do when I love something, I picked up their back catalog over the past few months.

Camera Obscura has put out 3 LP's since their founding 1996 (LGOOTC was released in 2006; UNDERACHIEVERS PLEASE TRY HARDER in 2003). BIGGEST BLUEST HI-FI was released back in 2001 and it definitely provides you with where the band's sound has developed. A lot of indie fans consider C.O. a poor woman's Belle and Sebastian as their music is very similar with lots of organ and layered orchestration (consisting of strings and horns) under mostly introspective lyrics and vocals.

On BIGGEST BLUEST HI-FI, there is clearly a theme. It is to create a poppy sound with lyrics of longing and descriptions of life events. The music is far from complex but it is produced with an immaculate touch for detail and each song, with all of its flaws, comes through with complete clarity. Camera Obscura are not going to be receiving awards for breaking new ground in musical experimentation but they should get plenty of kudos for fusing 60's sounds into a 21st century theme.

Stand-outs on the debut BIGGEST BLUEST HI-FI would be "Happy New Year," "Eighties Fan," and "Pen and Notebook."

http://www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband