The Perceptionists, "Breathe In The Sun"
A side project of Mr. Lif, Akrobatik, and DJ Fakts One, the Perceptionists are a good band to check out if you're a fan of any of the individual artists. Since I like Mr. Lif a lot, that's what brought me here. I think the star of this album is really Fakts One, who does a great job on the beats. This is the closer to their first album.
Dianogah, "Plankton and Krill"
By and large, there's a lamentable lack of experimentation with the lineups in rock. The biggest wrinkle, usually, is one guitarist or two. Dianogah is one of the rare bands that really messes with the formula, with a lineup featuring not only a non-standard number of bassists (two) but a non-standard number of guitarists (zero). It gives the mostly instrumental band a pretty unique sound, and they're a lot of fun. This comes from their first album, As Seen From Above.
Badly Drawn Boy, "The Blossoms"
Pop musicians admirably experiment with a lot of different arrangements, though. Like this! Badly Drawn Boy here has a flute on lead, which is nice. I'd hate it if too many flutes showed up all over the place, but it's nice every now and again.
The Wedding Present, "Hot Pants"
The closer to the underrated Watusi, an album that kind of marked a transition for the band from more frantic and raw sounds of their earlier career into a more well-mannered era of poppier sounds. But it's not just a transitional album, it also contains some fantastic and heartfelt songs, but I don't hear anybody talking about it. I think it's my second favorite album from them. I've probably said that about a bunch of their records.
Love Battery, "23 Modern Stories"
Lots of album closers today! Three of them, by my count. Love Battery played this album (Dayglo) in its entirety live recently, and I'm kicking myself about missing it.
(cool story, bro)