James Mercer and his band The Shins have just pooped their sophomore release Chutes Too Narrow. In what has been a rather dull year for music releases, receiving this album a few months ago restored my faith in the music Buddha. THANK YOU LORD. Its common knowledge now that......well, we all know most bands never live up to their hyped first release well.....BREAK OUT THE CHAMPERS, I think The Shins have cracked the sophomore curse.

This album stands tall next to Oh! Inverted World with the uniqueness and inventiveness of James Mercer's melodic sensibility, which simply cannot be overstated. On Chutes Too Narrow, as with its predecessor, Mercer makes brilliant use of his formidable vocal range, writing soaring melodies every bit as original as they are memorable. Theres not a dull moment on this record. Right from the beginning, James etches out Kissing the Lipless that has everything from meaningful/meaningless lyrics (Ill let you decide) to a fresh catchy tune..... and carries all the way to the mellow riffs of Those To Come, 34 minutes later.

Its not just a good example of indie pop done right, its also a powerful testament to pop music's capacity for depth, beauty and expressiveness.

The Shins - Kissing The Lipless 192kbps 4.5mb
The Shins - Mines Not A High Horse 192kbps 4.8mb
The Shins - So Says I 192kbps 3.9mb
The Shins - Young Pilgrims 192kbps 3.9mb

After the death of guitarist, Mary Hansen late last year, Stereolabs picked up from where they left us 2 years ago with the release of a new maxi ep entitled instant 0 in the universe which was leaked/released a few months ago. To put it simple, this sounds pretty much like anything Stereolab have done since Emperor Tomato Ketchup. Its not a bad thing but its not a good thing either. They seem to have stopped trying to push the limits with experimenting and settled for your next cocktail space jazz party soundtrack.

Why am I doing a post on it then? Even if this ep is a little woozy and sounds like it came straight from 2001's cutting room floor, It has some very nice moments, for instance Ž...Sudden Stars which starts off with Laetitia Sadier's ever-distinct alto and is nu skool Žlab to a tee. Even without Mary to add complexity, these tracks do hold up, even if they have lost that edge.

This leaves Stereolab fans wondering if these cocktail space jazzy folk will the do a 180 degree turn or go into their next long player with an unchanged idea, due out Australia Day 2004.

Stereolab - Ž...Sudden_Stars' 192kbps 6.4mb
Stereolab - Jaunty Monty and the Bubbles of Silence 192kbps 5.7mb