Mosquito

Karen O's NYC Rockers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back with Mosquito, a heavily anticipated album for April. On their fourth album, they downplay synths, programmed beats, and other gadgetry in favor of drums, guitars, and a mix of rock and inward-looking ballads.Something of a grower, Mosquito has perhaps the widest range of sounds and moods the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever presented on one set of songs. It might not be as cohesive as their best albums, but the standout songs rival their finest moments. I think you need to give it about three listens to decide. If anything, Mosquito may be an indicator of a band finally settling into their "sound", with the next album being the make or break moment. Buy your copy here

James Blake Overgrown

James Blake, the dubstep-via-fractured R&B producer, returns this week with his sophomore effort, Overgrown. Subtlety is perhaps Blake's greatest attribute, with what could even be the album's heaviest moments blurring into a pleasantly melancholy whole through deft production choices. Take for instance "Take a Fall for Me," a partially rhythm-less track featuring Wu-Tang's RZA in an extended set of rhymes over a looping sample of static and processed backing vocals, and samples that recall Tricky's earliest work. The jagged edges of a track like this could render it awkward with more obvious production, but Blake's touch pushes even RZA's toughest verses into a rainy, lamenting place. The skeletal piano of the debut returns on tracks like "DLM" or the gorgeous album-closer "Our Love Comes Back," which has the faintest hints of Chet Baker's springtime loneliness buried in Blake's mumbling blue-eyed R&B vocals. Brian Eno even shows up to collaborate on the sputtering rhythms of "Digital Lion," perhaps the most hyperactive track here, though only in relative terms. Somewhere between the vacant echoes of dub and trip-hop, dubstep's sample-slicing production, and the contained heartbreak of a singer/songwriter playing piano to himself in an empty room, Blake has crafted Overgrown. I found this to be more catchy than his previous work, with synth grooves that capture ones attention. All in all, a strong follow up to his debut, which leaves me wanting more. Watch a wee music video here: Buy your copy of Overgrown here.