DESTROYER - "TROUBLE IN DREAMS"

Destroyer is the work of Vancouver musician Dan Bejar. You would know him best for his work with his main gig (or perhaps it's more like the side project of Destroyer?) in The New Pornographers. Don't take a name like Destroyer to mean that the music is at all abrasive, aggresive, nor resembling the Kiss album by the same name. Bejar continues his tradition of intricate vocals and misty arrangements on this record, and any New Pornographers fan should obtain his records, too.

DEVOTCHKA - "A MAD & FAITHFUL TELLING"

Denver's DeVotchKa is an impossible band to classify. So let's not, then. Trying to do so would distract us from the fun that they are to listen to. Learning that they got their start as a backing back for burlesque shows goes a long way in describing their sound. They incorporate some world rhythms and "cha-cha-cha" feel to their music, and you can't simply say that they "employ a wide range of instruments", because that won't cut it. They incorporate strings, horns, piano, accordian, theremin, and sousaphone (or, tuba). Singer Nick Urata's voice comes across as the ringleader to this circus of sounds, and he sounds to me a lot like Win Butler of The Arcade Fire. This is DeVotchKa's 4th full-length (since 2002), and you can bet I'll be at The Vic for their gig on 9th May.