Incoming: The Helio Sequence, Nada Surf, Mia Doi Todd

Note: When I launched this blog a year ago, I suffered from the delusion I'd have time to do good old-fashioned album reviews around the time of their release. Fat chance. Time constraints prevented me from doing those justice. So this year, I'm going to try a series called "Incoming" -- quick first impressions, in 50 or fewer words, of albums as soon as they reach my desk. Don't hold me to any of this:

The Helio Sequence, "Keep Your Eyes Ahead"  (Jan. 29, Sub Pop):  Call it new year's euphoria, or the rashness of youth (ahem), but I could be revisiting these Portlanders in 11 months for album-of-the-year consideration. Reminds me of James at times. Brilliant electro-shoegaze, coupled with nifty songcraft.

||| Download: "Keep Your Eyes Ahead."

Nada Surf, "Lucky" (Feb. 5, Barsuk): Fifth album, third for this label, and you could spend a lot more on anti-depressants and get fewer results. Matthew Caws' vocals continue to be a hedge against ... to invent a word, bummerdom.

||| Download: "See These Bones."

Mia Doi Todd, "Gea" (March 4, City Zen Records): Why isn't this L.A. singer-songwriter massive? Maybe it's because the Ivy League-educated painter/dancer/poet/songstress doesn't dumb it down. As precise and heady as her seventh album is, it also suffers a hauteur that might keep it from its appointed destination, the heart.

||| Watch the video for "Night of a Thousand Kisses."

Comments

[Melissa Renee in LA]

I can't WAIT to hear the new Helio album. I've been a fan for so many years. I tend to only buy vinyl records that I would pass down to my children, seeing as my father has bequeathed unto me some of the best vinyl any girl could hope for. (old boyfriends become jealous as they flip through and see the Rolling Stones issue in Pearl, from when Janis Joplin died. Newspaper form with The Stooges review at the back).

I have both Helio Sequence albums.

I loved that they backed off of the upbeat tempo's on the second album, and brought in more melancholy songs. I look forward to hearing their new stuff.

Very excited to see them live when they come through in February.

See you there!

[Raul]

I'm looking forward to the Nada Surf album. If you're seeking feelgood, I'm sure the Little Ones LP should deliver. Have you heard it?