30 Second Reviews from 2/9

Beach House
Teen Dream
(Sub Pop)
SOUNDS LIKE: Droney keys, airy guitars and Victoria's soaring vocals make a gorgeous third LP and SubPop debut
FREE ASSOCIATION: A few tracks save it from being monotonous; cover to cover it's solid
FOR FANS OF: Yo La Tengo, Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins

Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy
Heartland
(Domino)
SOUNDS LIKE: Violinist and indie pop composer extraordinaire from Toronto is gifted at making lush, nuanced chamber rock
FREE ASSOCIATION: His previous record is called He Poos Clouds for Chrissakes, POINTS!
FOR FANS OF: Patrick Wolf, Andrew Bird, Nico Muhly, arty gays

Linstrom & Christabelle
Real Life Is No Cool
(Feedelity/Smalltown Supersound)
SOUNDS LIKE: Norwegian beat-man and producer recruits his homegirl's pipes to make dancey housey ultra-electro freak out jams
FREE ASSOCIATION: First listen is tough; then you hit the tracks deeper in that are bombtastic
FOR FANS OF: LCD Soundsystem, Brian Eno at Studio 54

Charlotte Gainsbourg
IRM
(Elektra)
SOUNDS LIKE: French Renaissance lady's second adult LP is produced, written and performed by Beck and it is BAD ASS
FREE ASSOCIATION: Damn, Beck signatures all over it with a mix of Bjork electronica/ambience
FOR FANS OF: Serge, Air, Marianne Faithfull, Anti-Christ

Cuddle Magic
Picture
(FYO Records)
SOUNDS LIKE: Brooklyn/Philly supergroup fills a stage with strings, bodies, lamps and plastic animals in making sweet, meticulous folk pop
FREE ASSOCIATION: We're down with anything cuddle-oriented; this is soft enough to earn it
FOR FANS OF: Folksy Broken Social Scene, Megafaun

The Watson Twins
Talking To You, Talking To Me
(Vanguard)
SOUNDS LIKE: Louisville natives ran to LA and settled into Siverlake as backup singers who also write slightly sad alt-country folk
FREE ASSOCIATION: Rabbit Fur Coat did you girls, good, but will anything ever live up to it?
FOR FANS OF: Jenny Lewis/Rilo Kiley, Feist, Mirah, SoCal

Nneka
Concrete Jungle
(Decon Records)
SOUNDS LIKE: Nigerian-born German neo-soul/MC's second LP is a rich and complex array of bangin' beats and slow gospeldelicism
FREE ASSOCIATION: One of the biggest surprise gems of 2010, she's about to take off
FOR FANS OF: Badu, Mos Def, Lauryn Hill, Fela Kuti, Raphael Saadiq

Four Tet
There Is Love In You
(Domino)
SOUNDS LIKE: London's Kieran Hebden's genius with loops, found and synthesized beats with bits of vocals for good measure
FREE ASSOCIATION: One of the best electronic records in years if not solely for "Love Cry"
FOR FANS OF: Flying Lotus, Caribou, Aphex Twin, headbobs

REALLY REALNESS.