4Play: Monsters of Folk, Built to Spill, Various Artists, Train

4Play: Monsters of Folk, Built to Spill, Various Artists, Train
Kristi Kates 11/2/09
Monsters of Folk - Monsters of Folk -
Shangri-La

Quite the cast of musical characters make up the supergroup Monsters of Folk, namely Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, producer Mike Mogis, and solo artist M. Ward. Despite the heavy-metal bandname, this is a folk-pop quartet that for the most part works very well; each artist’s genre works well with the others - ’60s-pop “Magic Marker,” the buzzy harmonies of “Say Please,” and Spanish-inflected “Temazcal” are all standouts - and they’ve managed to deftly and cohesively showcase all their skills together as a unit instead of simply presenting a turn-by-turn hitlist.


Built to Spill - There is No Enemy - WEA/Reprise

Built to Spill’s anchorman Doug Martsch has really revamped the viewpoint of sound for this project, which made a big splash in the ’90s and kind of wound downward from there. Now, he’s brought that original sound back around with a new energy and the lyric twists (some rated PG-13 and above, so listen with caution) that first drew fans to the music. Indie-rock is the main focus here, from the attention-grabbing opener, “Aisle 13,” to the initial ballad, “Hindsight,” and all the way through the concise rock songs that are “Nowhere Lullaby,” “Done,” and “Tomorrow.”

Various Artists - Eurovision 2009 - EMI/Zoom

It’s pricey - almost $40 - but when you consider that you’re getting new songs from just about every country in Europe, it’s worth it (provided you like the songs, of course.) The 2009 edition of the Eurovision song contest was held in Moscow this past May, and here you’ll find all of the songs featured in the semi-final/final rounds, over 40 tracks in a variety of genres. There’s rock from Bosnia, balladry from Cyprus and Israel, swing-pop from Germany, indie-pop from Ireland, and piano-pop from Lithuania, among many more, in a cool overview of Euro tunes.


Train - Save Me San Francisco - Sony

Most people probably know Train by their one big hit, “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” which was ubiquitous on radio in 2001-2002. In 2006, the band took a break to spend time with family and friends, while frontman Patrick Monahan stayed in the biz, releasing his solo album in 2007. Now that they’ve gotten some space, the band’s back together with their first album in over three years, which recaptures the original Train sound and adds in a more chill feel than previous efforts, as evidenced on first single “Hey, Soul Sister” and accompanying tracks “Brick by Brick” and “I Got You.”

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