Tonight in Seattle:  

Almost Gold

Peter Bjorn and John — Living Thing

A word of caution for anyone looking for "Young Folks" pt. 2: you won't find it here. With Living Thing, Swedish rockers Peter Bjorn & John are playing a whole new ballgame -- trading in the tightly wound, guitar-based indie rock of 2006's Writer's Block for minimalistic tunes heavy on the electro dance beats, synthesizers, and with plenty of open space for the sound to run around.

And unlike with Writer's Block, the best songs on the album are hidden in pockets of 2 or 3 at a time, rather than a clear slew of songs you can listen to straight through without pressing the Forward button. Skipping over album opener "The Feeling," which is more filler than anything, it's best to just pretend that things begin with #2 -- the high energy, danceable "It Don't Move Me." The beat draws you right into its synthesized arms, and the way the drums and keys play off each other is a decent preview of the sparse feeling that can be found in the rest of the album. Then comes the cool, 5-minute love song "Just The Past," which trots along slowly and lazily and works as a balanced backdrop for Peter to sing his measured lines of unrequited love: "tell me, how do I get to know you?/you untie me as if I were a shoelace."

more...

Peter Bjorn and John — Writer's Block

Peter Bjorn and John -- Almost Gold
The song's chorus is one of the most simply stated confessions of young love since John and Paul decided they wanted to hold your hand.

more...