While November is the season for video games, January appears to be the time for albums. So far we’ve seen recently released albums courtesy of Good Shoes, OK Go, Field Music, RJD2 and Hot Chip. I’ve already posted a negative review of OK Go’s Of the Colour Blue of The Sky because it lacked the pure pop charm of their second album.

The Good Shoes album is a classic case of an indie band becoming a one trick pony. Their sophomore release, No Hope, No Future, is full of un-catchy riffs, bad track ordering and an overall lazy sound. Their previous mellifluous art rock sound has all but disappeared to reveal just generic indie music, it’s a shame as I loved the former.

I probably haven’t listened to enough of the RJD2 and Hot Chip albums to form a full opinion but what I have heard isn’t promising. I thoroughly enjoyed the last two Hot Chip releases but this one doesn’t seem to have those one or two catchy tracks that lift the whole album. Meanwhile, I originally got into RJD2 for his album The Third Hand – it was mellow and I could happily use it as ambiance while writing. The Colossus seems to lack that same tight production but I’ve only listened to it a handful of times, so I’m not ready to cast it off yet.

The only album of the five released this month, that I can happily say I’m enjoying, is Field Music’s Measure. This lengthy twenty track double album is full of the perfect mix between experimentation and that classic, unappreciated, Field Music sound. As soon as I took a sneaky listen to an advance leak, I pre-ordered the limited edition vinyl and it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.

It’s ultimately been disappointing month; filled with two albums that only feature a few decent tracks, two albums that are taking longer to get into and one album is… well… brilliant. At least there are Justice, Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, N.E.R.D, The Roots and The Streets albums penned for the rest of the year.

I’m hoping the internet police will look the other way on this one but, like a majority of internet users, I download music. I know I shouldn’t but it’s easier than buying it from a shop and it’s way too accessible. I’ve been doing since I can remember but sometime in 2008 I had a change of heart. Vinyl was becoming a trend and in an attempt to keep up with the Joneses, I decided to hop on the bandwagon. I’ve since amassed twenty five full length 12″ albums and 17 7″ singles and rarities.

Not an impressive collection but I do have a few rare albums that I’m proud to have bought for under a tenner. The first Justice album for £14 was a steal considering I saw it go for £137 the week before on an overinflated eBay listing. Then there’s my budding discography of Gang Starr and the gatefold of Sufjan Steven’s breakthrough album, Illinois.

Anyway, I’ve recently, as the sidebar will tell you, spent a lot of time listening to Ugly Duckilng. I could spend ages telling you how they are the best thing in hip hop at the moment, but that’s a different post for another time. The point is that one of their albums titled ‘The Leftovers EP’ can’t be bought online and can’t be bought on vinyl. I’m thinking I might as well buy it on a good ol’ compact disc. I hovered over the ‘buy now’ button for sometime before putting it off for another night.

The problem is that jewel cases suck. They’re the most horrible thing to look at, they’re probably the reason why I prefer giant cardboard sleeves. Regardless of this, I eventually tried to convince myself that CDs make more sense.

This is progressed in to even worse thoughts of why don’t I buy everything in my library on CD? It would be cheaper and I’d be able to get everything on it. It makes sense right?

I still might put it off for some more of the black stuff but if I bought everything on CD I would accomplish my goal of owning all my music a hell of a lot faster.

I’m still trying to figure out why I’m doing this. I don’t think I have enough to blog about. Maybe I should start listening to those RJD2, Good Shoes & Hot Chip albums some more, so I can review them. Otherwise not much I can talk about.

I don’t lead an interesting life that isn’t full of uni work, sleep and eating. Maybe I should document some of my university design work and how that whole process works. Might be interesting to hear people’s feedback to it as well. Sounds like a decent idea.

Otherwise, not sure why I signed up. Writing every day has been more of a hindrance on my real writing if anything. That maybe because I’m struggling to review VVVVVV because it was simply enjoyable – neither brilliant nor terrible.

Anyway, expect more concise thoughts tomorrow.

The following is a short review of Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky by Chicago’s own OK GO, due out on the 11th on January over here in the UK.

Now let’s not label this pop rock band a guilty pleasure, because that denotes that despite how bad they are, you’ll still listen. Let’s be honest here, Oh No barely put a foot wrong during it’s 41 minutes of pure joy. It didn’t have any deep songs, it was just about fun and if I’m honest that’s what most music should be about.

Ever since their treadmill escapades catapulted them from vaguely recognisable to ‘oh, that band’ the follow-up had to always look like a tough mountain to climb. Instead of playing it safe with another poppy three quarters of an hour, they’ve decided to do the honourable thing and experiment with the formula that got them to the ball.

It starts off well enough with the grinding bassline of WTF which soon transitions into the skip-a-long, piano infused This Too Shall Pass. It’s definitely a change of pace as they both slowly chug along when compared to the frantic sophomore release, unfortunately the album carries on at this pace and the tracks only get progressively uninteresting. I Want You So Bad I Can’t Breathe isn’t a terrible track but it could be written by any old Prince inspired American pop band.

If you’ve ever had a close friend who was always a great laugh until he fell in love, you’ll relate to Of The Blue Colour... because that’s exactly what OK Go have gone and done. No more crashing the party or ideas that seemed like a good idea at the time, OK Go have grown up and probably lost most of their appeal in the meantime. **

So I’m sitting here on the 3rd of January thinking about what to blog about. It’s the third day. Not looking promising, considering one of the two posts made previously in the year was the obligatory “I’m doing a post everyday now” post. Nevertheless I tried something I put off for a while. It’s not rock climbing, zorbing or anything cool. It’s actually listening to that critically acclaimed Madvillainy album that came out six years ago.

I’m not update on music by anyone’s standards but after being berated to listen to it by many friends, it was Metacritic’s best music of the decade article that pushed me over the edge. Madvillainy’s 94% average score suggests that it’s worthwhile, yeah, for an album 94 is an exceptionally great score because music critics actually critique things. The clue is in the name.

After a few listens, it’s hard to believe that this is the fifth best album in the last ten years. Granted, it’s not bad and it’s definitely unlike anything you’ve heard before. But is that all critics really value, originality?

I for one, if I may call myself a Games Critic, value this above anything else. I’ve happily given sparkling reviews to games like Mirror’s Edge, Skate and Fahrenheit. Meanwhile I’ve been spotted giving average reviews to Gears of War 2 and Killzone 2. I’m trying to figure out why this is.

Yeah, reviewing, playing and constantly reading about games for two years is a surefire way to get burnt out on the generic carbon copies of the latter list. That’s not to say that those are bad games but we’ve seen hundreds of FPS clones and whether they are first or third person, it’s all the same to me. Yeah Killzone 2 looked great but I might as well be playing any other shooter. So I guess I’ve got to decide what’s going on here. Am I not enjoying Madvillainy because I don’t listen to new music every week or is it because my tastes haven’t matured?

I guess journalists who play, listen or watch everything lose touch with the person they are talking to. I know loads of people who really enjoyed World At War but didn’t they play the exact same game, the year before? Didn’t anyone else notice that?

The answers to those questions aren’t that important but I would like it know; Is this all a case of being overexposed, journalistic snobbery, out of touch journalists or people not knowing a good form of media if it hit them in the face?