Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Coldplay are a band that seem to stimulate a whole array of different reactions. Some people love them ever so dearly, while others despise them greatly. What can't be disputed is their popularity and their ability to sell records for a good decade now. Me? Well, I never hate them, but I've certainly had mixed reactions to their work. I believe them to be a band capable of so much and I continue to respect their choices to change up the vision of each album, so as not to repeat themselves too often. This adventurous nature has elicited a number of responses from me, but their last effort Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends brought out a very positive one. Coldplay were trying new things along side guru producer Brian Eno, exploring a very earthy tone to the album. It was rock mixed with world music, electronica and even some orchestral arrangements. It was a great album and possibly the best from the band (though I am also quite attached to A Rush of Blood to the Head).

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Hope & Social - Sleep Sound

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Sometimes in life, by chance you stumble upon something really great. One day on Bandcamp.com, I was browsing through albums by genre, probably the difficult to define genre of “alternative,” when I stumbled upon this record. I think I was caught by its beautiful cover art. I clicked and then I listened and I knew that this was quality work and from that moment on I was a Hope & Social fan. I was actually planning on reviewing this months ago, but then I moved and forgot about it for a time. But I have now remembered and I wish to share my enthusiasm for this record with anyone who is willing to read.

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Brandon Flowers - Flamingo

- Burnaby, British Columbia - Flamingo is an odd album, though not in the sense of being out of character and element for Flowers. When one thinks of the type of music that he has produced with The Killers, none of it should come as an entire surprise. Flowers has produced another album in which he messes around with different musical instrumentation and stylings. Of the previous Killers albums, it resembles "Sam's Town" the most, which may not be surprising since the album was an ode to Americana, which is hard to separate from Flowers' tribute to Sin City.

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