First listens: Franz Ferdinand's latest offering and Joni Mitchell's debut.

Got a load of posts to do today so I'm starting early. I had been meaning to write this yesterday actually, but it totally slipped my mind. I've been having a lot of memory lapses lately actually - I put it down to being exceptionally tired. This increased physical activity is bound to be the root cause. Anyway, I listened to two albums yesterday, both new to me. They very much contrasted too, both in style and the time period they're from. Without further adieu, here they are.

Firstly, a just released album. Franz Ferdinand's fourth record, Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action. It was released August 26th here in the UK. I have to say, I found it a really pleasant listen. Very much in style with their previous records, but very enjoyable. Particular favorites being Love Illumination, Stand On The Horizon and Bullet. I liked every song though. At around thirty-five minutes in length it's also straight to the point and not weighed down by access padding. I'll be honest - the album isn't innovative nor a radical progression from their previous material. At the same time though they've honed their snappy, polished indie-pop expertly on this album. What it lacks in innovation, it more than makes up in enjoyable music. And I do place greater emphasis on the enjoyment factor of a record. There may not be an experimental track like Lucid Dreams here, but does it really matter?

The second album was totally different. Totally the opposite end of the musical spectrum. It was Song To A Seagull, the 1968 debut by Joni Mitchell. Honestly, I have to thank Simon & Garfunkel for this. It's not that they've made me a folk fan but they definitely opened the genre up to me more. I decided to investigate Joni Mitchell simply because I've heard rave reviews about her. I thought the album was pretty good. It didn't knock me out, but I definitely want to keep investigating her work more. My favorite tracks were I Had A King, Night In The City and Song To A Seagull. I did prefer the first half to the second half. Also my interest did start to wane slightly towards the end, but the songs I liked I loved. Initially I was dubious about listening to a full length album primarily because of her voice. I thought it would potentially grate on me if I were to listen to a whole album. Thankfully I have to say her voice is growing on me the more I listen to her! I'm particularly interested to here her more jazz influenced material on Court & Spark. Not only that but - the synthesizer nut that I am - I'm looking forward to hear her electronic material on Dog Eat Dog. I think she could become a favorite in all honesty!

So that's me for now - I do have quite a few posts to come today though so this won't be the last you hear from me. See you later!