NEW RELEASES WEEK # 35 AUGUST 26, 2014

AUGUST 26, 2014 (WEEK # 35)

1.    BASEMENT JAXX-“JUNTO” (8/26) 

2.    CELEBRATION-“ALBUMIN” (8/26) 

3.    COLD SPECKS-“NEUROPLASTICITY” (8/26) 

4.    CYMBALS EAT GUITARS-“LOSE” (8/26)

5.    DARKSIDE-“WHAT THEY SAY B/W GONE TOO SOON” (SINGLE) (8/26) 

6.    DRY THE RIVER-“ALARMS IN THE HEART” (8/26) 

7.    FLOATING ACTION-“BODY QUESTIONS” (8/26)

8.    LISA GERRARD-“TWILIGHT KINGDOM” (8/26) 

9.    ROBYN HITCHCOCK-“THE MAN UPSTAIRS” (8/26) (Hitchcock balances beautiful, moody originals with a clutch of cover songs, working in a mostly minimal, acoustic environment. His album-opening cover of the Psychedelic Furs “The Ghost in You” is gorgeous and haunting, and finds new pathos in a familiar song.)

10. THE LAST INTERNATIONALE-“WE WILL REIGN” (8/19) 

11. LETTING UP DESPITE GREAT FAULTS-“NEON” (8/19) 

12. LUCA LOZANO-“ISOLATION DISTORTS” (8/26) 

13. LUNATE-“FAR SHORES” (8/26)

14. J MASCIS-“TIED TO A STAR” (8/26) 

15. MERCHANDISE-“AFTER THE END” (8/26)

16. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS-“BRILL BRUISERS” (8/26) 

17. OPETH-“PALE COMMUNION” (8/26) 

18. CASSIE RAMONE-“THE TIME HAS COME” (8/26) (Ex-Vivian Girl Cassie Ramone returns with an album under her own name. Unlike the rocketing, rickety guitar-pop of her former band, The Time Has Come comes stocked with echo-drenched acoustics and Ramone’s melancholy vocals. The sonic touchstones here are Marine Girls and the Softies, lounging on the line between indiepop and folk.) 

19. GEMMA RAY-“MILK FOR YOUR MOTORS” (8/26) 

20. THE RENTALS-“LOST IN ALPHAVILLE” (8/25)

21. ROYAL BLOOD-“ROYAL BLOOD” (8/26) 

22. RUSTIE-“GREEN LANGUAGE” (8/26) 

23. TY SEGALL-“MANIPULATOR” (8/26) 

24. SHOVELS & ROPE-“SWIMMIN’ TIME” (8/26)

25. CHELSEA WOLFE-“GRIME & THE GLOW” (8/26)

26. THE WYTCHES-“ANNABEL DREAM READER” (8/25) 

27. ZAMMUTO-“ANCHOR” (8/26)

NEW RELEASES WEEK # 34 AUGUST 19, 2014

AUGUST 19, 2014 (WEEK # 34)

1.    BAHAMAAS-“BAHAMAS IS ALFIE” (8/19)

2.    BISHOP ALLEN-“LIGHTS OUT” (8/19)

3.    BENJAMIN BOOKER-“BENJAMIN BOOKER” (8/19) 

4.    CASTANETS-“DECIMATION BLUES” (8/19)

5.    CHILDHOOD-“LACUNA” (8/19) 

6.    CONNECTIONS-“INTO SIXES” (8/19)

7.    THE COURTEENERS-“CONCRETE LOVE” (8/19)

8.    ROCCO DELUCA-“ROCCO DELUCA” (8/19)

9.    DWARVES-“DWARVES INVENTED ROCK & ROLL” (8/19) 

10. ORENDA FINK-“BLUE DREAM” (8/19)

11. RUTHIE FOSTER-“PROMISE OF A BRAND NEW DAY” (8/19)

12. GRUMBLING FUR-“PRETERNATURALS” (8/19) 

13. JENNY HVAL & SUSANNA-“MESHES OF VOICE” (8/19) (What happens if you bring together two of Norway's most special voices, both in terms of songwriting, performance and presence in music? How will it work to merge two creative worlds into one beast? These were questions Norwegian artists Jenny Hval and Susanna were curious to find answers to. "It felt like an adventure to open the door to Jenny's universe -- to invite her into my space, and to be a part of hers." Susanna says. The composing of the music and lyrics for the festival Ladyfest in 2009, turned out to be an exciting exchange of ideas, images and resonance of two very different voices. An exploration in how to melt together and how to cultivate each other's strengths. The result became some sort of a modern fable about human mind and body combined with the mystery of nature, where a black lake both threatens and comforts, a feast of beautiful melodies and harmonies to be interrupted by expanding noise and reverb. We meet lust and fear and pondering, milk running down the bones, apples dreaming, and calling of divinities for the truth. Inspired by the bestiaries, the surreal architecture of Antoni Gaudi and Maya Deren's experimental film Meshes of the Afternoon from 1943, the two artists explored the contrasts in a material drifting in and out of both a sparse shimmering, and a loud, violent-sounding landscape. A pallet of instruments like grand piano, guitar, electric harmonium, effects and electronics, prepared piano and percussion mixed with a mesh of voices, became this moving and groundbreaking new music.)

14. SARAH JAFFE-“DON’T DISCONNECT” (8/19)

15. JJ-“V” (8/19) (The emergence of Swedish duo JJ in March 2009 was both meaningful and mysterious. A debut single, jj no.1, enchanted the music press, simultaneously existing across indie-pop and hip-hop spectrums, excitingly new and yet frustratingly vague in its presentation. This was a taste, a scent, something intangible, an impression made without force. The music was here, but little else its makers remained anonymous. Pitchfork's Best New Music review for the band s debut album, summer 2009's jj no.2, spoke first of their enigmatic qualities, rather than precisely what this music was: another sumptuous menagerie of styles, blended by an expert hand, intoxicating and otherworldly. Both Elin Kastlander and Joakim Benon appeared in the Marcus Söderlund-directed video to "Let Go." Cover, broken. Evidently at the top of their game in 2014, JJ are ready to, in Benon's words, "communicate with the world," quite unlike they've ever done so before. They're embracing, not retreating. Besides, mysteries are more frustrating than fascinating without resolution.)

16. LITERATURE-“CHORUS” (8/19) (Philadelphia, PA's Literature features Kevin Attics, Nathaniel Cardaci, Chris Schackerman, and Seth Whaland. Attics, who'd written for numerous music trades as a teen, met Cardaci and Whaland at the house venue they both operated in Austin, TX. Cardaci and Whaland each ran small imprint labels and, a million adventures later, the trio decided to form a band. Upon moving to Philadelphia, the group befriended Schackerman who also joined the fold. In 2012, following a well-received single and a track on Gerard Cosloy's ''Casual Victim Pile II'' compilation they released their debut album, ''Arab Spring,'' which became a cult hit within the indie-pop community. That album is sharp and immediate, almost mod-ish in its attack, but always tuneful and going for melody where it counts. They toured the US in support, and have performed with the likes of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Eternal Summers, Ted Leo, Sic Alps, White Fence, Gentlemen Jesse, Hospitality, and Brown Recluse. They also appeared on Terre T's ''Cherry Blossom Clinic.'' In 2013 they released a follow-up 7'', ''Tie Dye'' and contributed a track to Esopus Magazine alongside artists like Jens Lekman and The Shins. They also played at that year's NYC Popfest, which helped cement the buzz that was steadily growing amongst savvy pop fans. ''Arab Spring'' was treated to a remastered re-press, which followed the first pressing and quickly sold out. Autumn of 2013 saw the band begin work on their second album, ''Chorus,'' with lauded engineer Gary Olson (whose body of work includes records by Crystal Stilts, Mad Scene and The Beets) at his Marlborough Farms studio in Brooklyn, NY. As a beautiful autumn turned into one of the harshest winters in recent memory, Olson and the band began stretching out, enhancing the album with studio techniques dating back to the late '60s including true-tape flanging, sending vocals through Leslie speaker cabinets, and the same analog style of automatic double-tracking created at Abbey Road Studios. The result is an album that is as immediate as it is timeless, full of effortlessly catchy and well-crafted tunes that echo pop legends like Smiths and Orange Juice. All of that time in the studio has resulted in a rich, considered sound that puts the band's arranging and playing front and center. ''Chorus'' is one of the most exciting pop records in years, and marks Literature as true contenders.)

17. MOON DUO-“LIVE IN RAVENNA” (8/19)

18. MUSIC GO MUSIC-“IMPRESSIONS” (8/19)

19. MV & EE-“ALPHA LYRAE” (8/19)

20. NOVELLER & THIS QUIET ARMY-“REVERIES” (8/19)

21. PALLBEARER-“FOUNDATIONS OF BURDEN” (8/19) 

22. TWIN ATLANTIC-“GREAT DIVIDE” (8/19)

23. MIDGE URE-“FRAGILE” (8/19) ('Fragile' is the first collection of new, original music from Grammy and Brit award winning musician Midge Ure in over a decade. An album of beautifully crafted, atmospheric music which swings from 'Become' and 'Dark, Dark Night', where he collaborated with fellow musician Moby and shows more than a passing a nod to his electronic roots, all the way to the heady, cinematic soundscape of 'Fragile' or 'Star Crossed', which could almost be termed 'contemporary prog rock'. 'It's all about songs with melody and atmosphere', Ure claims. 'Musical influences hopefully don't ever stop and I think on this album you can hear elements of the music which has shaped me over the years. Kind of wearing my musical heart on my sleeve'.)

24. VARIOUS ARTISTS-“KOMPAKT TOTAL 14” (2-CD COLLECTION) (8/19)

2014 NEW RELEASES WEEK # 33 AUGUST 12, 2014

AUGUST 12, 2014 (WEEK # 33)

1.    WILLIS EARL BEAL-“EXPERIMENTS IN TIME” (8/12) 

2.    BLACK TWIG-“HELIOGRAM” (8/12) 

3.    BLOOD ORANGE-“UNCLE ACE” (REMIX EP) (8/12)

4.    BLUES PILLS-“BLUES PILLS” (8/12) 

5.    ALEX CLARE-“THREE HEARTS” (IMPORT) (8/12) 

6.    COCKSURE-“TVMALSV” (8/12) (Christopher J. Connelly and Jason C. Novak bridge the gap between Wax Trax!-era industrial and the future sounds of mass corruption with huge mechanized rhythms and bone-crushing noises that stretch from 2014 all the way back to 1985 … long, endurance testing, panic-attack hit songs that you can drive around at night to, sweating dry-ice and smoking your chemical-weapon blunts.)

7.    COLOURED CLOCKS-“ALL IS ROUND” (8/12) 

8.    THE DESOTO CAUCUS-“THE DESOTO CAUCUS” (8/12) 

9.    FALTY DL-“IN THE WILD” (8/12) 

10. FKA TWIGS-“LP1” (8/12) 

11. GRANT HART-“EVERY EVERYTHING” (DVD DOCUMENTARY) (8/12)

12. LAURA MVULA-“LAURA MVULA WITH METROPOLE ORKEST. CONDUCTED BY JULES BUCKLEY” (8/12) 

13. SINEAD O’CONNOR-“I’M NOT BOSSY I’M THE BOSS” (DELUXE EDITION BONUS TRACKS) (8/12) 

14. OWL JOHN-“OWL JOHN” (The debut solo release for Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison as Owl John was produced by band mate Andy Monaghan and Olympic Swimmers' Simon Liddell.) (8/12) 

15. PORTER ROBINSON-“WORLDS” (8/12) 

16. SLOW MOTION RIDER-“SLOW MOTION RIDER” (8/12) 

17. SONS OF MAGDALENE-“MOVE TO PAIN” (8/12) (JOSH EUSTIS FORMERLY OF TELEFON TEL AVIV)

18. MIREL WAGNER-“WHEN THE CELLAR CHILDREN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY” (8/12)

2014 NEW RELEASES WEEK # 32 AUGUST 5, 2014

AUGUST 5, 2014 (WEEK # 32)

1.    ADULT JAZZ-“GIST IS” (8/5)

2.    AMANDA X-“AMNESIA” (8/5)

3.    BATHS-“OCEAN DEATH” [EP] (8/5)

4.    BEAR IN HEAVEN-“TIME IS OVER ONE DAY OLD” (8/5) 

5.    GREY LANDS-“SONGS BY OTHER PEOPLE” (IMPORT) (8/5)

6.    DAVID KILGOUR AND THE HEAVY EIGHTS-“END TIMES UNDONE” (8/5) (*** End Times Undone, the latest album from DAVID KILGOUR AND THE HEAVY EIGHTS was recorded in his native New Zealand between 2012 and 2014, but that's a bit misleading. The album took so long to finish only because Kilgour assembled his bandmates every four or five months, and then only for a couple days at a time. And when they convened, the tape was rolling almost from the start. It's the perfect way for Kilgour to operate these days, more than 30 years into a career that is equally compelling, consistent, and influential. From his first recordings with THE CLEAN, the iconic band who remain active and whose legend deservedly grows mightier every year, Kilgour has had a distinct sound that has inhabited all of his albums and sounds fresh with every new release. Over just ten songs,  End Times Undone offers a robust sampling of all the various styles Kilgour has mastered over the last three decades. For an album that comes so late in one's career, it's a surprisingly convenient entry point into Kilgour's body of work.)

7.    LAKES-“FIRE AHEAD” (8/5) 

8.    LIBRARY OF SANDS-“ODD HOURGLASS / WAVY HEAT” (8/5) (***This double-disc set features two Library of Sands albums available on CD for the first time!Odd Hourglass reflects sounds that become the atmosphere, a pulse in purple mountain majesty. Blowing down from the mountain, escorted by a lasting psychedelic impression, these songs were recorded live in the Mojave Desert with special guest Peaceful Stephen McCarty. Modification on instruments chrome waterfall eagle smile cloud claw via NayNay Shineywater.Originally released as a five-song, one-sided cassette, Wavy Heat features Shineywater on vintage keys, including a tube organ found on the side of the road, along with Colm O'Closoig (My Bloody Valentine, Hope Sandoval) on drums. Deconstructionalist and minimalist in scope, a vortex opposite of Satie yet as graceful a relationship to the morphed blazing sun. Wavy Heat is as bonged as it is fuzzy.)

9.    MOGWAI-“COME ON DIE YOUNG” (DELUXE EDITION) (8/5)

10. NAOMI PUNK-“TELEVISION MAN” (8/5)

11. A.C. NEWMAN-“WHAT IF” (ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK RECORDING) (8/5)

12. THE OPERATORS-“EP 1” (8/5) (2.45 EM) (DAN BOECKNER OF WOLF PARADE & DIVINE FITS)

13. POLE-“RADOM” (8/5) 

14. THE PSYCHO SISTERS-“UP ON THE CHAIR, BEATRICE” (8/5) (SUSAN COWSILL & BANGLES GUITARIST VICKI PETERSON)

15. THE ROSEBUDS-“SAND + SILENCE” (8/5)

16. SPIDER BAGS-“FROZEN LETTER” (8/5) (*** Formed in 2005, Chapel Hill, North Carolina's SPIDER BAGS were largely a revolving cast, with only DAN MCGEE (guitars, vocals) persevering through the various incarnations of the band. But during the 2011 recording of Shake My Head , the current lineup consisting of STEVE OLIVA (bass) and ROCK FORBES (drums) was finally solidified. Building upon the foundation laid down by its predecessor, Frozen Letter  rocks with the clairvoyance of three musicians who have spent a lot of time recording and touring together over the last few years. "When we started this record, we weren't even thinking about it being released. We just did it to have fun and keep moving forward," says Forbes. This approach allowed the band to push itself further out into the psychedelic frontier than ever before, aided by engineer/producer WESLEY WOLFE. Recorded mostly live over the course of a few days, there's an exhilarating urgency to the record, as heard in riff-driven rockers like "Back With You Again in the World" and "Chem Trails." The band brings the tempo down a notch for "Coffin Car," which finds them mining an ominous morbidity over one of their prettier chord patterns. "We Got Problems" comes on like a true acid trip, alternating between utter terror and unfettered joy. Featuring a heavy and repetitive pattern, a slew of effected guitars, and searing guest leads from SUPERCHUNK's MAC MCCAUGHAN, the song encapsulates an entire Spider Bags epoch in under six minutes. Frozen Letter  is the band's fourth full-length record overall and first for Merge Records.)

17. SPOON-“THEY WANT MY SOUL” (8/5) 

18. ANGUS AND JULIA STONE-“ANGUS AND JULIA STONE” (DELUXE VERSION) (8/5) 

19. TEENAGE FANCLUB-“SHADOWS” (REISSUED) (8/5)

20. TINDERSTICKS-“IN FLANDERS FIELD” (8/4)

21. TUATARA-“UNDERWORLD” (8/5)

22. TWIN PEAKS-“WILD ONION” (8/5)

2014 NEW RELEASES WEEK # 31 JULY 29, 2014

JULY 29, 2014 (WEEK # 31)

1.    BECK-“BECK SONG READER” (20 TRACKS ARTISTS COMPILED) (7/29)

2.    BLESSED FEATHERS-“ORDER OF THE ARROW” (7/29) 

3.    THE DREAM ACADEMY-“THE MORNING LASTED ALL DAY: A RETROSPECTIVE” (7/29) 

4.    LAWRENCE ENGLISH-“WILDERNESS OF MIRRORS” (7/29)

5.    HOORAY FOR EARTH-“RACY” (7/29) 

6.    THE ICARUS LINE-“AVOWED SLAVERY” (7/14) (I have friends who saw them last year and hated them and walked out. It boggles my mind. Perhaps the band was having a really bad night. All I know is I’ve followed this band from the beginning and they bring it!  The world needs Icarus Line that’s for sure.  Last years “Slave Vows” was excellent, so here is some more. Check out this review: ***Hey, this ain't no "followup" number, this is the other arm getting a shot--the Slave Vows-era Icarus Line getting its i's dotted. The companion release to that well-received 2013 album, Avowed Slavery completes the circle of fury.With the video release of "City Job" at the end of 2013, and Slave Vows still making people talk, it was time to put these songs to wax and prepare the world for The Icarus Line's next move. This mini-album serves as a booster jab; the feral ferocity of the last album is here in spades, the fire in the band's belly burning as hotly as ever. Frontman Joe Cardamone leads the gang once more into the rough--the desecrated war-zones of the music industry, American culture, and love--their brand of hellfire and brimstone rock 'n' roll on full display."Leeches and Seeds" is a frenetic blast of noise, Ben Hallett's drums threatening to collapse eardrums. A grooving and slithering earworm, live favorite "Junkadelic" could be the bastard offspring of Clinton and Bargeld. "Raise Yer Crown" closes off side one, the band's thump-and-grind Los Angeles swagger back in full effect. The B-side opens with the long-awaited studio version of "Salem Slims," first aired on the band's 2012 tour in support of Killing Joke. This fearless headrush is so completely an Icarus Line song, there's no other comparison--howling vocals, building / destroying rhythms, shards of guitar stunning all within range. Final track "The Father / The Priest" asks: Is this the calm after the storm, the comedown, the penance for the passion? Or is it the the current incarnation of The Icarus Line momentarily laying down their tools to prepare for the next go?)

7.    JENNY LEWIS-“THE VOYAGER” (7/29) 

8.    THE MUFFS-“WHOOP DEE DOO” (7/29) 

9.    TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS-“HYPNOTIC EYE” (7/29) 

10. SOFT WALLS-“NO TIME” (7/29) 

11. TO ROCOCO ROT-“INSTRUMENT” (7/29) 

12. WRECKLESS ERIC-“LE BEAT GROUP ELECTRIQUE” (1989/2014 REMASTERED EDITION) (7/29)

13. ZULU WINTER-“STUTTER” (7/21) 

14. VARIOUS ARTISTS-“HYPERDUB 10.2” (2-CD) (7/29)