There are two albums which now occupy the lion's share of my attention. The first is Rooney's self-titled album from last year. I wasn't inclined to like these guys at first, since the frontman is Jason Schwartzman's younger brother, and so I was expecting Phantom Planet Jr: another group of guys who, even though they are adequately talented, never would have gotten a record deal if they weren't related to people in high places. This might still be true of Rooney, but their songs are just too infectious for me to get hung up on that for very long. The chorus of "Stay Away" is just goddamn beautiful. I'm embarrassed I didn't hear of these guys sooner. How could I miss them on the OC?!

And then there's Air. Talkie Walkie is just as amazing as I proclaimed it in my last post. Favorite tracks so far: 1, 4, and 6 ... though they're all good. This is the first Air album, I think, to strip away the we-are-French-robots act and show some genuine emotion, though the first one sort of did that too. This one perfects the formula, and adds some really exciting musical elements as well. Less reliance on glitch and kitsch, and more emphasis on melody. Some beautiful chord progressions and vocals, too. And it's endearing the way the lyrics are pronounced on "Universal Traveler": "u-NI-ver-SAHL traveler ... "

But as they say on Reading Rainbow, don't take my word for it. Hear for yourself!

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