Regina Spektor "Begin to Hope" - Way pop-ier than the first album of hers I loved (Soviet Kitsch) , less weird, more produced and generally accessible. Still, it took me a couple listens to really get into this. Regina has a fantastic voice control with respect to pitch, timbre, and intonation, with plenty-quirky melodies and lyrics, not unlike Bjork or Mirah. Some people would call this anti-folk, although that's a genre I'm still straining to wrap my head around. Her piano playing is lovely and although the upbeat tunes were the first to catch my attention ("Fidelity" and "Hotel Song" keep getting stuck in my head), the more laid-back tracks are also excellent.Bad Brains "The Roir Sessions" - Lent to me by a friend, I can't believe I've never really listened to Bad Brains, Original DC Hardcore, a genre I was pretty into for a while in late high school. Anyway, it's a strange mix of hardcore/reggae/thrash, the sound quality is so-so, but it was just fun to listen to. It's nice to discover older albums rather than just new stuff all the time, and think of how they influenced the DC Hardcore kids what came after them. I recently watched the documentary "American Hardcore" with my roommate, which focuses for a while on Bad Brains. Now I see why.
Cat Power "The Greatest" - I loved this album when it first came out and I still do. Lately it's been speaking to me, it's like she's been in my head. The music is folk-pop-y and lighthearted but the lyrics are pretty freakin' poignant. The kind of lyrics that make me wish I could express myself like that (all of my attempts at "poetry" or whatever have been laughingly awful and it never conveys what I mean it to - I'm such an engineer). She's not the world's best singer, but somehow it fits the style of the music perfectly. My current favorite tracks: "Empty Shell", "The Moon" and "Love and Communication". I could listen to them on repeat for hours.
