Picks of the Week

This week’s picks bring us the latest from a Belgian choir heard on The Social Network soundtrack and five veterans of the New York indie rock scene…

This is a repeat edition of Soundcheck.

Scala & Kolacny Brothers – Scala & Kolacny Brothers [ATCO/Rhino]

The power of a Facebook poke... Belgian rock choir Scala has been around for more than a decade, but their international break arrived when their cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” made it into the film trailer for The Social Network. The all-female ensemble’s first full-length album to be released outside of the E-U, “Scala & Kolacny Brothers” offers a largely eerie mixture of original pieces and covers, like Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters.”  

Brothers Stiijn and Steven Kolacny founded the choir in 1996. The group performed traditional choral music until 2001, when Steven began experimenting with contemporary pop and rock arrangements. Since then, the brothers have continued to rework chart toppers for the ensemble, like the Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.”

Original compositions on the album, like “Seashell,” offer temporary moments of respite from the otherwise hauntingly gloomy atmosphere created by the singers’ combined voices.

The group shared their haunting voices with South by Southwest-goers at Stubb’s Barbecue in Austin, Texas, and will return to the U.S. later this spring for a coast-to-coast tour. [Available at Amazon] - Picked by Katie Macpherson

The Strokes – Angles [RCA]

Brace yourself. This is very controversial. Ready? The new Strokes album is good. It’s not great. It’s not mindblowing. It’s not even, as some critics have called it, the band’s best release since their impossible-to-top debut “Is This It.” But this album, called “Angles,” IS the first in five years from these New York rock misfits, and fellas … it’s good to have you back.

When the Strokes emerged in 2001, they brought skinny jeans and catchy songs back to big-label rock, which had grown fat and melancholy during the go-go 1990s. The Strokes also helped restore New York’s music-trendsetting credentials, although that scene decamped to Brooklyn --- and grew more experimental by the year. Now, a decade later, the Strokes sound pretty much like The Strokes. And … what’s wrong with that?

These days, ukuleles, autoharps and string instruments are everyday tools in the edgiest indie rock. But sometimes … you just want to hear guitars on a song, which is exactly what you'll find on some of the album's tracks.

The Strokes, the whole Strokes, and nothing but the Strokes. Their fourth album is called “Angles.” [Available at Amazon] - Picked by Joel Meyer