Bloc Party – Intimacy

Bloc Party’s third album titled “Intimacy” was released online today ( 21st August, 2008 ) following a growing trend of a number acts (Radiohead, NIN, Raconteures, Girl Talk, etc).

The single “Mercury” took a large leap away from the indie rock sounds of first album Silent Alarm and fell into an experimental electronic heap. The first track seems to follow this trend, but by the third track “Halo”, Bloc Party seem to have settled back into their roots. Unfortunately this doesn’t last long, as electronic sounds start creeping back into a larger part of the mix. This continues throughout the album, with small parts grabbing at your memory and your wonder of what could have been.

Some of the new sounds of Bloc Party are indeed good. Songs like “One Month Off” and “Biko” make you understand where they wanted to head, but somehow never fully arrived. Fans wanting more of Silent Alarm will be mostly disappointed, while fans of Another Weekend In The City will be stretched. Suggested by its title, this promise of Intimacy with the beautiful Bloc Party is there, but at the end of it all, you find yourself with its ugly, coked up cousin.

Highlights include: Halo, Signs and Ion Square.

MP3: “Halo” – Bloc Party

Muxtape.com

We all remember making mixtapes as kids. You had to fiddle with your recorder and write all over the cassette tapes. You would hand them out to your friends and scream “Listen to track 4, the guitar solo is awesome!”. You would carefully select songs (and their order) to give to a girl you liked. Evolution came with the CD. You could click and drag your songs and you could print out a track list and your own album art. Or you could scribble all over the blank CD and draw funny little pictures. Times are changing once again. We all know the future is in digital media, and thats where the mixtape has headed.

In March 2008, Justin Ouellette created a website where you can upload your own songs from your digital library to form a mixtape. You can click random mixtapes and find new artists to love and hate. Its very basic, and its meant to be. Its simple form and ease of use has meant that its taken off. If you don’t already have an account, what are you waiting for? Head over to www.muxtape.com and start spreading the love.