Asobi Seksu – Hush

9.0 out of 10 | iTunes | Buy CD

I have always wondered what it would be like to hear music and see colors. And I don’t mean like a bad mushroom experience … I mean like a good one! (Just kidding). But honestly, it is, well, magical.

Neah Lee – The EP

9.0/10 | Download CD

When I was first given the opportunity to review Neah Lee’s new EP I was optimistic.  When I actually got the chance to sit down and listen to Neah Lee’s new EP, I was in love.  Neah Lee’s hypnotic voice carries listeners off into another plane of existence.  I could imagine myself sitting alone in my room with this EP and feeling at peace with everything…her words and music are just that moving.  Although it’s only 5 tracks (4 tracks and 1 hidden bonus track), the EP, mixed and mastered by Robin Lai, is still chock full of substance.

Alfa: Second Skin

9 / 10 | iTunes | Buy CD

It’s not often that I get emotional during morning rush hour.  Normally, I’m too sleepy/tired to even think straight, let alone notice things like, say, words or feelings.  However, the final track on Alfa’s first full length album, Second Skin, not only made me stop playing solitaire, but had me completely absorbed in the song’s message of familial love and growth.

Mind you, the rest of the album is just as good.

The Happy Analogues: School Tales

8.0 out of 10 | iTunes | Buy CD

With their first album release only a few years ago, The Happy Analogues have done it again, taking fans back to school with their follow up double album, “School Tales” which as the band describes is “a collection of songs celebrating school life in the Philippines.”  Even though I’ve never been to school in the Philippines, there are still similar themes we can all relate to – puppy love, youthful shenanigans, homework and the sadness that comes when it’s all over.  If one were to compare THA to the Beatles, one of their stated influences, then certainly the first album is like the mop top band of the early 60s and the second album is like their sound later in the same decade, demonstrating a definite progression with expansion and experimentation of different musical styles.

Vienna Teng: Inland Territory

8.0 out of 10 | iTunes | Buy CD

When I finally sat down to listen to Inland Territory, Vienna Teng’s fourth album, it had already gone through the digitalization process, been purchased online and transferred to my iPod. It was, therefore, ironic to me that the first thing to be heard on the album is the sound of crackling vinyl. But this sound is somehow comforting and is no doubt a reference to several of her influences. Just like the heroes of the 60’s folk movement, Vienna Teng has written lyrics that are poetic and intelligent. And her classical training has heightened her song-writing abilities, which together form a style that is more complex than much of what is written today.