Forest Swords - The Weight of Gold

Forest Swords is the work of UK producer Matthew Barnes, who turns out a fresh approach to electronic music on his debut, Engravings. The sound is hypnotic and somewhat psychedelic, but also has an ancient, tribal feel to it. It sounds like electronic music people would have listened to hundreds of years ago, if it had existed back then. But it also has a very distant, smoky, and much more modern texture to it. If you liked Burial's Kindred EP from last year, chances are you'll dig this as well.

Daft Punk - Giorgio by Moroder

The latest Daft Punk record, Random Access Memories sees the French electronic duo fully indulging themselves in their1970s funk and disco influences. This marks a bit of a departure for the band, but is a treat for us listeners. The album comes off as a calling card for the cool, suave and groovy; think of it as this generation's answer to Steely Dan's Aja. In fact, if Donald Fagan and crew had been majoring in discotheque back then rather than jazz, it's not hard to imgine the result would have been something like this. "Giogiro by Moroder" stands out, however, thanks to the fact that it's a bit different from the rest of the album's material. It's more focused, more intense, and borrows less from the retro-disco influence. The result is that it's much more fresh and modern sounding, while still featuring the spoken word guest spot from famed disco producer Giovanni Giorgio Moroder to tie it in with the main theme of the album.

Jess and the Ancient Ones - Astral Sabbat

February has given us tons of great music in plenty of different categories, so let's end the month with a fun one. Finnish retro rockers Jess and the Ancient Ones released their delightful Astral Sabbat EP on the 22nd, which provides a true trip back in time. Similar to fellow Swedish rockers Graveyard, Jess and the Ancient Ones pull proudly from the 60s and 70s musical tradition, but rather than heavy metal they go for more of a campy 60s occult vibe. The title track from their Astral Sabbat EP is distinguished by Egyptian flavored guitar riffs and a ripping bassline. They're in a similar vein to Witchfinder General if they were less doom and more silly psychedelic pop/rock.

Liz Lawrence - Monday Morning

This is a cute song, from UK punk singer turned acoustic folk guitarist Liz Lawrence. On first listen it sounds like something that could be directed toward a romantic interest, but not necessarily so. Rather, it's a heartfelt expression of friendship and camaraderie, spoken very simply and eloquently and coated in the rich cadence of her Britishy accent. It was released as a free download on her bandcamp page. It's from her debut full length Bedroom Hero, which unfortunately you can probably make plenty of snarky jokes about. It's an okay album; most of the material doesn't really hold up to the quality of this track.

In spite of it all, I think I like this version better than the studio recording. Much more organic and refreshing.