Why? - Eskimo Snow

Why? released Eskimo Snow today on Anticon Records. The new album is somewhat more mellow and slower paced than last years Alopecia, but the important essence of the band is still present. What critical bit is this, you ask? In this case one you'll be surprised for me to note: the lyrics. While I hardly ever pay attention to the meaning of sung words, Why?'s lyrics are so infectious and clever that I'm constantly distracted by them and chuckling at the irony and wit in which they steep. In one of my favorites is from "Into the Shadows of My Embrace." While reflecting on contradictory claims that sex keeps you young and ages you, frontman Yoni Wolf quips "So I guess it's sorta like smoking and walking at the same time...in that it will have left you aged normally." This brilliant bit of wit has its like in nearly every track, making the album worthy of your attention even if you only listen through one time for the lyrical genius. But by the end of that listen, it is likely the music will have infected you. Buy it here.

Why? will also be visiting SB soon. At 9pm, on Sunday, October 18, Why? plays an 18+ show at the Velvet Jones. They bring with them two guests: Au and Serengeti & Polyphonic. I'm a casual fan of Au as well, so this bill is a no brainer. Tickets are $13.50 here or at the door.

The Hidden Cameras - Origin: Orphan

The Hidden Cameras released their new album Origin: Orphan yesterday on Arts & Crafts records. The music is very orchestrated and controlled, which I get the feeling is typical of the band despite my relative lack of familiarity with their back-catalogue. The instrumentation is very diverse, more often than not omitting the standard indie rock instruments (i.e.-guitar), and the synth sounds are prominent. Also, you have to enjoy the multiplicity of vocal lines, and the Hidden Cameras employ both polyphony and homophony. Overall, the album has a somber, melancholy tone with mostly slow tempo-ed tracks, with only a couple of exceptions. For me it is these tracks, "In the NA" and "Underage" are the stand outs. I lose interest in most of the others, but if your a stanch fan of theirs, or of virtually everything that the Magnetic Fields have ever written, you'll probably love the whole album. If you want to preview a couple tracks, check out my previous post. You can buy the album here.

Islands - Vapours

Today marks the release of Islands' new album, Vapours. Why do I introduce it with a more dramatic tone than most album reviews, you ask? Because this album is amazing! Vapours is certainly one of the best albums of the year, thanks to a perfect balance between eclecticism and standard rock/pop songwriting. Almost every song has a guitar, bass, and drums, but none are without some element from some other sound world. "Devout," for instance, features a drum track that belongs to some downtempo DJ, but after the first 30 seconds your ear will be pleasantly pondering the song's true genre. Even the most typical rock song, the title track "Vapours," brings in a prominant horn section for the bridge which alters the sound world despite flawless integration.

Tonight, I'll play my favorite track "No You Don't" on PUR.

Buy Islands' Vapours here.

New Album: Polvo - In Prisms

One of the 90s greatest experimental bands has reunited to give us a new album, out last Tuesday. Polvo has always had a unique take on harmony and a superb use of dissonance, but In Prisms shows a great deal of the maturity and sophistication they gained during their nearly 12 year hiatus. As such, this album is less weird than anything the band's done before, especially in relation to Today's Active Lifestyles (1993; my favorate of theirs). Yet they haven't abandoned those completely out-of-tune notes that are the hallmark of their sound. To me, this dissonance sounds something akin to the "blue notes" oft mentioned in jazz, but for Polvo they are more than blue. Perhaps "dirty notes" would better describe the utter degree of misplacement that these effect. On Tuesday, I played "The Pedlar" and previously "Beggar's Bowl" (available free here) which are definitely the stand out tracks.

Buy In Prisms from Merge Records, here.

Jay Reatard - Watch Me Fall

Tuesday marked the release of Jay Reatard's thrid full length album Watch Me Fall on Matador Records. As with so many bands which eluded me during college, I'm playing catch up. I have read that this release is somewhat of an evolution for Jay, but what I hear is a very punk inspired indie rock album: punk enthusiasm tempered with indie sensibilities, if you will. Jay has a great voice, alternating pleasantly sung melodies with oi-type shouts and near screams. This one definately has some angst, but it is curiously blended with a musical instinct that generates more depth than few chords and 2 minutes ought to provide. The stand out tracks for me were "My Reality" and "Faking It."

While it won't be my favorite album, I've listened to it more times than I thought I would, and it would be a great soundtrack for the hipster's drive to go surfing. You know, you don't want something so over the top as the Dead Kennedy's, but rather something energetic to fuel your stoke for the waves. Jay Reatard is your ticket.

Also, if you want to sample before you buy, Matador is offering a free promo track (below).

Jay Reatard - "Wounded" .mp3

Then buy the album.

New Dinosaur Feathers EP - Early Morning Risers

Early Morning Risers is a new EP by NY's Dinosaur Feathers. It's brand new today for free download from their website. As the band says, the site is a work in progress, but they have a good sense of humor about it. And let's be honest, we don't really care anyway, because they're generously giving us their music...and it's really good music! In this case, they mix funky beats with tempo changes, vocal harmonies with electronic samples. I guess it's kind of like Fleet Foxes or Grizzly Bear singing over a less dissonant version of Man Man for instrumentation. I'll be playing the title track tonight on KCSB, but you can get it right now below.

Dinosaur Feathers - "Early Morning Risers" .mp3
Download Early Morning Risers EP

The Cave Singers - Welcome Joy

The Cave Singers release their second album Welcome Joy on Matador Records this Tuesday. If you're not familiar, The Cave Singers are another Pacific Northwest indie-folk band, but this one's songwriting stands out (probably thanks to the input of former Pretty Girls Make Graves bassist, Derek Fudesco). While I haven't heard the whole album yet, I'm looking forward to Tuesday thanks to two free tracks via Matador. Tuesday, I'll probably play "At the Cut", a blues inspired groovy tune.

The Cave Singers - "At the Cut"
The Cave Singers - "Beach House"
Get the whole album here.

Reigning Sound - Love and Curses LP

Reigning Sound's new album, Love and Curses is out today on In The Red records. It's been a long, long time, and it's good to have new tunes from these garage rockers. If you don't know them, they're perfect for all you classic rock junkies; finally, something new with some soul and groove to it. You might actually like it. You heard "Stick Up For Me" on PUR. Buy it here.

Album Review: White Rabbits - It's Frightening

Sophomore syndrome for White Rabbits' second album, It's Frightening? Refreshingly, no. After being burned so many times in the last couple of years (Clap Your Hands, Say Yeah!; the Mystery Jets), its incredibly refreshing to hear a new band follow up their debut with something not only interesting, but well constructed. I do prefer the (happier/more poppy) debut Fort Nightly, but I can't complain. The White Rabbits have only changed the mood of the music, now quite a bit darker, but haven't lost any quality of song writing. They rely more on vocals, drums, and keyboards than Fort Nightly did which had numerous guitar focused tracks.

If there are stand out tracks, they are "Precision Gun" and "Rudie Fails." The former is the album opener and has a great beat and some pretty vocal harmonies. It builds musical tension that, rather than culminating in the song, propels the listeners attention toward the rest of the album. "Rudie Fails" (track 2; a response to the Clash?) continues this momentum and is the most poppy song on the album (I'll probably play it on the radio tonight). My favorite song, however, is "The Salesman (Tramp Life)" which starts out pretty, but with a dissonant twist after only a few seconds. It is in this song that the energy building throughout the album really comes to a head.

One last item: It's Frightening is on TBD Records, which is a subsidiary of ATO Records (Dave Matthews vanity label), which is a subsidiary of RCA Records...so this is a major label release? Very interesting, even moreso considering TBD is responsible for the U.S. release of Radiohead's famously "independent" In Rainbows. Hmm... In any case, label affiliation explains why I can't send you to the record label to buy the album, because their website links to Amazon. Grudgingly, so do I.

Album Review: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Outer South

Last Tuesday, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band released sophomore album Outer South. I find this album to be fairly typical of what you would expect from Oberst based on his history with numerous bands, namely Bright Eyes. To me, it sounds like standard blues/country rock with a nice mix of slower ballads and more upbeat poppy songs. Unsurprisingly, given my indie pop to shoegazer taste range, I prefer the latter category of songs, "Air Matress," "Rosevelt Room," and "Nikorette" especially. On the slower side, the stand-outs are "Big Black Nothing" and closing track "Snake Hill." Interestingly, three of my fav's aren't even Oberst's output, but different members of the Mystic Valley Band. Oberst takes a back seat to bandmates on six of the sixteen tracks on the album, a refreshingly humble act on a solo album. Overall, the album is solid, but it doesn't blow my mind. It's a pleasant listen for an indie fan, moreso for any who love Bright Eyes and/or bluesy indie in general.

Buy Outer South from Merge Records here.
Track List:
1. Slowly (oh so slowly)
2. To all the Lights in the Windows
3. Big Black Nothing
4. Air Mattress
5. Cabbage Town
6. Ten Women
7. Difference is Time
8. Nikorette
9. White Shoes
10. Bloodline
11. Spoiled
12. Worldwide
13. Roosevelt Room
14. Eagle on a Pole
15. I got The Reason #2
16. Snake Hill

Album Review: Metric - Fantasies

In the past, I haven't been much of a Metric fan (though I did watch The Go! Team next to bassist Joshua Winstead at Coachella). Don't get me wrong: their music has energy and is interesting, but it never grabbed me enough to get me to listen to a song more than once or twice. But the new album strikes me differently. "Help I'm Alive" is fantastically catchy, and I'm intoxicated by the counterpoint between the keys and guitars in "Collect Call". And I've got to give props to their producer and sound engineer in addition to the band. The recording is super clean as is the performance. It is rare to hear an album with this much polish come out on an indie label, especially when it is self-produced.

Overall characterization: distorted lo-fi pop with subtle synths and effects pedals.

Preview the album on the band's myspace page. Buy it here.

Track list:
1. Help I'm Alive
2. Sick Muse
3. Satellite Mind
4. Twilight Galaxy
5. Gold Guns Girls
6. Gimme Sympathy
7. Collect Call
8. Front Row
9. Blindness
10. Stadium Love

Album Review: Gliss - Devotion Implosion

Perhaps I'm a little behind, but I just discovered Gliss, a three piece from just down the road in L.A. Coincidentally, I found them out on the very day that their new album, Devotion Implosion, came out. Needless to say, I took the opportunity to listen to it in its entirety. Overall, the album sounds like the progeny of the Stone Roses and Les Savy Favy, but with prettier and more subdued vocals. Gliss's crunchy guitars and droning harmonies remind me of the something from the mid-90s, Hum's "Downward is Heavenward" maybe. But they give it a pop twist only possible in this decade. The most obvious stand out track is "29 Acts of Love", but maybe that's just the DJ in me thinking about what's going to keep my radio listeners energized while they drive down the 101. The album as a whole is better suited for chillin'.

Oh, and they twitter and blog, if you're into that kind of thing (irony).

Gliss - Devotion Implosion
1. Morning Light
2. 29 Acts of Love
3. Sleep
4. Beauty
5. Anybody Inside
6. Lovers In The Bathroom
7. Sad Eyes
8. The Patrol
9. Love Songs
10. Sister Sister

Download on Amazon