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)
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