April 8th, 2008 New Releases
April 7th, 2008
New albums from Nick Cave, the Breeders, Nine Inch Nails...
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
Last seen under the gleeful guise of 2007's Grinderman, a no-nonsense rock 'n' roll excuse to head down to the basement and shout, now Nick Cave returns to his full time Bad Seeds co-conspirators for this release. "Grinderman was deliberately spare and the concepts were pretty simple," explains Cave. "With 'Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!' we allowed ourselves to get expansive." It picks up where Grinderman left off, filled with Stoogified electric guitar, driving beats, and Cave's literate, seductive, and firmly tongue-in-cheek lyrics.
Colin Meloy - Sings Live!
A fourteen-song set documenting The Decemberists' lead singer/songwriter's 2006 solo tour. Meloy was heralded by Rolling Stone as "a master of improbable juxtaposition: arcane, detailed fictions of star-crossed passion and avenging bloodshed dressed up in indie rock jangle, la-de-da choruses, and vintage prog-rock bombast" in a review of The Decemberists' show in NY's Central Park last spring. By contrast, the live solo album presents him in a stripped down, acoustic setting. Of the thirteen Meloy originals, two are previously unreleased compositions, "Dracula's Daughter" and "Wonder". Along the way, he employs snippets of songs from The Smiths, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, and REM. The collection also captures ample between-song banter.
New Bloods - The Secret Life
Portland, Oregon's the New Bloods take their cues from the no-wave minimalism of early-1980s bands like ESG and, appositely, the Bloods, with sproingy bass (always high in the mix), tentative drumming, off-kilter violin(!), and fearlessly unadorned singing. They shift from kittenish twee-pop to raging punk to little arty surprises, like the stark and beautiful a capella track, "Day After Day." The vibe of tribal joy, emotional honesty, and bold experimentation tags the New Bloods as a quintessential Kill Rock Stars act.
The first thing you notice is the violin - more fiddle than violin - but this isn't country or Americana; it's punk - lean, engaging, minimalist punk songs topping out in under three minutes. There's a Raincoats vibe, a little Intima, a touch of ESG and Unwound, but with dub, soul, and afro-beat influences it becomes a whole new animal. These three ladies from Portland, OR have shone a new light that won't be put out.
Neva Dinova - You May Already Be Dreaming
Their third full-length is a lush, largely electric affair, rich with the rural textures that pepper releases from the band's Omaha contemporaries. Neva Dinova have continually evolved their melancholic sound, making masterful use of counterbalanced melodies and poetic lyricism. This is their most fluid and realized effort to date.
Man Man - Rabbit Habits
Philadelphia's Man Man have found the perfect berth for their gypsy-swamp-rock-carny-soul-Viking-vaudeville-punk collective. This record matches the fierce energy of their non-stop live shows, which utilize a variety of more traditional instruments (accordion, Moog, xylophone) along with such noisemakers as soup pots, shoes, squeaky toys, and a fire extinguisher. With a following that sells out clubs coast to coast and with a kinetic stage presence, Man Man are a musical contagion waiting to happen. They've toured with Cat Power, Arcade Fire, and Modest Mouse.
Was (Not Was) - Boo!
They're back...Was (Not Was) - the darlings of the avant disco set and avatars of the absurd - have emerged from the abyss of the recording industry with a new long-player, Boo! It's been almost 20 years since their last salvos of surrealistic soul and Jurassic dance mixes delighted and terrified nightclub crawlers and pop maniacs with the hits "Walk the Dinosaur" and "Spy in the House of Love." Once again these shamelessly funky court jesters (featuring the original line up, plus some very special guests) are mixing it up and working without a net, performing a high-wire act that stretches from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Tapes N Tapes - Walk it Off (CD and LP)
The Minneapolis-based band's first record since 2006's widely lauded "The Loon" which established them as ones to watch. Tapes 'N Tapes' signature sound is distinctly their own concoction: shaky vocals, bursts of lo-fi guitars, and haunting keyboard refrains. Jittery rock that's found the sweet spot where experimental song structure meets melodic accessibility. "The album...is unique in an era of slick 80s chic, mixing the opaque jams of Pavement with the bruised-teen freakiness of The Pixies, while adding cocktail jazz and Tex-Mex folk music like thrift store finds" - Spin.
The Breeders - Mountain Battles (CD and LP)
Their first album since 2002's "Title TK". By turns goofy, groovy, melancholy, strung-out, catchy, atmospheric, and at times, impossibly lovely, "Mountain Battles" underlines that Kim Deal is a songwriter and musician of rare intuition. Her songs move from offhand charm to emotional truth with casual grace, balancing scuffed-up noise against fraught silence; timeless structures against strange new shapes. And throughout is Kim's unique voice - languid, urgent, bruised, and beautiful. "Mountain Battles" captures all the bittersweet electricity of classic Breeders records like "Pod" and "Last Splash", and still manages to break new ground. Deluxe 28-page booklet with both formats. Look for appearances at SXSW, Coachella, and Bonnaroo, and a national tour upon release, followed by a fall tour.
Torche - Meanderthal
Call this the latest and greatest bomb-string stoner pop/thunder rock/doom pop classic from Torche mastermind Steve Brooks and his fellow hook heroes. Call it the sweetest, catchiest, hugest riff colossus since "Sky Valley". "A pure sludge bulldozer" - Spin. "At long last, we know what life would be like in a parallel universe where The Melvins became a pop sensation instead of Nirvana" - Revolver. Look for them at SXSW and on a full European tour. They've shared stages with Isis, Jesu, Baroness, and Mogwai, among others.
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV (CD and LP)
Working closely with co-producer/songwriter Atticus Ross and frequently calling upon guitarists Adrian Belew (King Crimson) and Alessandro Cortini, Reznor treats GHOSTS as a score to some dark imaginary David Lynch-like film (in fact, the two auteurs collaborated on LOST HIGHWAY). While some tracks trade in Reznor's signature moody techno sound ("3 Ghosts I"), others mix acoustic-guitar strumming with bursts of industrial noise (the subsequent "4 Ghosts I"). Elsewhere, Reznor employs dulcimer ("22 Ghosts III") and marimba ("30 Ghosts IV"), letting an unusually organic aesthetic creep in. Challenging but never inaccessible, GHOSTS I-IV is the work of a mature artist operating in a compelling creative zone.
Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I - IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I - IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.
New arrivals on LP:
A Silver Mt. Zion - 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
Pennywise - Reason to Believe
Elf Power - In a Cave
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin
view other blogs...
Comments
No comments yet.