June 17th New Releases
June 17, 2008
Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer (CD and LP)
Their second album for Sub Pop (following 2005's "Apologies To The Queen Mary") might just be this generation's "Marquee Moon" or an indie rock "Chinese Democracy" released thirty years early. Better though, to think of it as the sound of a band edging forward into a wispy darkness, one hand reaching out, the other firmly clutching the past. Born primarily from cut-and-paste jams recorded in a church, AT MOUNT ZOOMER is remarkably cohesive for having been conceptualized in largely free-form fashion. And while it might resemble any number of bright and bristling genre-starters before it, this feels like a record that will be a hallmark for the way it leaves the listener thrilled and moved.
Tilly and the Wall - O
The band is known for their potent combination of sing-song boy-girl vocals, acoustic guitars, keyboard accents, and a tap dancer instead of a drummer, but this is their most sonically experimental album yet. They toyed with more instruments, voices, and bodily percussion than on previous efforts and have begun to forge a new musical path for themselves. The band invited everyone in their community to contribute to the cover art for this record, and every month it will have limited edition runs of handmade prints by different artists; or you could even create your own. This is a record into which you'll want to pour yourself.
Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea (CD and LP)
This is a sound for all nations. Here the urgent burst of life & how to live it is realized! Days of 80s–90s flavor are aflame again in these tunes. Uncanny! Excellent! An essential product of the times! Welcome to the best damn Silver Jews record ever. Through 2008, that is- because who knows what the future will bring?
Coldplay - Viva la Vida (CD and LP)
Coldplay is one of the biggest bands in the world, having sold 32.5 million albums worldwide, with their last album X&Y selling over 10 million. Now the band Rolling Stone once named the "biggest rock band of the year" is ready to take the world by storm once again as they release their highly-anticipated fourth studio album Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends. The album comprises 10 brand new tracks, recorded in London, Barcelona and New York with producers Brian Eno and Markus Dravs.
Bowerbirds - Hymns For a Dark Horse
Band members currently reside on the outskirts of Raleigh, NC on a quiet plot of land. This organic, rural, simple way of life is reflected in their music, which is pure, spiritual, and perfectly unrefined. With each song, Bowerbirds remind us that we humans are part of something larger - something beautiful and sacred. "Hymns" was originally released in 2007 on Burly Time Records, and is now issued in an expanded form featuring two bonus tracks. "Only once every ten years or so does one hear a new band this good, this bursting with ideas, this audibly in love with music...It is beyond stunning. This band is the complete package" - John Darnielle (Mountain Goats).
My Brightest Diamond - A Thousand Sharks' Teeth
With this Brooklyn band's sophomore release, we're instantly reminded of Shara Worden's reputation as one of indie music's most vibrant, creative, and original voices. This record is charming, playful, daring, foreboding, graceful, eclectic, exciting, and visceral. The songs marry vast instrumentation - marimbas, harps, clarinets, French horns, rabid guitars, vibraphones, and more - to create an unequaled amalgamation of style and color. In a word, beautiful.
Number Tweleve Looks Like You - Here At the End of All Things (CD/DVD)
This DVD/CD release captures a sold out live performance at the School Of Rock in East Hackensack, NJ. The package includes a live multi-angle video performance from the "Mongrel" tour, music videos from past releases, an exclusive interview, and a full audio CD filled with tracks from the featured live show, three dance remixes, a special tribute to Number 12 by veteran J. Gale Kilgore, and more.
Reggie and the Full Effect - Last Stop: Crappy Town
This release reveals a much different side of Reggie…gone are the joking skits & funny song titles. This album is much heavier, darker and retrospective reflecting a very real, rough time in his life.
The Impossible Shapes - S/T
The Impossible Shapes have been merrily music-making under the radar for a decade now. At the root, these four long-hairs are a pop band who've been strained through British folk as well as the whole post/beat/mystic literate gob.
War on Drugs - Wagonwheel Blues
Their songs recall the 80s guitar army of Sonic Youth with the captivating lyrics and vocal stylings of Tom Petty or Bruce Springsteen. Walls of guitar - acoustic, electric, twelve string - douse each track of this debut, threatening to cast the band into space rock territory, but the melodies and immediately identifiable lyrics keep these songs grounded. It's one of those albums that each of us holds onto tightly. They get moved from apartment to apartment through the years; they're songs on the radio that follow us from town to town. They evoke waves of nostalgia and grow more poignant with each new bump along the road.
God-Des and She - Stand Up
Ex-Madisonians God-des and She announce their arrival on the national stage with "Top of the World," the lead track on their new album Stand Up. This steady rolling track is lushed up by local knobtwister DJ Pain 1with echoed horn samples and slapped from behind with a floorboard rumbling kick drum that thumps the murky depths with all the power and glory of an old-school 808.
Newly available on LP:
Atmosphere - Sad Clown Bad Spring #12
My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (CD included)
Lyrics Born - Everywhere At Once
Joan of Arc - Boo Human
Hella - There's No 666 in Outer Space
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