CDs: 

Abandon All Ships – Malocchio CD (Rise)

Back again with their unique brand of Europop-infused hardcore, Abandon All Ships is following up their debut album Geeving (2010) and sophomore release Infamous (2012). 

Band Of Horses – Acoustic At The Ryman CD/LP+MP3 (Brown Records)

A 10-song virtual “greatest hits” set of acoustic renditions of songs from across the Band Of Horses catalog, recorded at Nashville’s legendary Ryman Auditorium over two nights in April 2013. Available on CD and on HQ-180gm vinyl.

Frankie Ballard – Sunshine & Whiskey CD (Warner Nashville)

The title couldn’t be more fitting for the rising newcomer, who has launched into the Top 20 at Country radio with the smash “Helluva Life.”

Bastard Noise/Lack Of Interest – Bastard Noise/Lack Of Interest CD/LP (Deep Six)

Features four brand new songs from Bastard Noise and nine new songs from Lack Of Interest.

Bavaria – We’ll Take A Dive CD/LP (n5MD)

Bavaria is John Tejada and Kimi Recor. While We’ll Take A Dive is the first for the duo’s newly cemented partnership they have appeared as guests on each other’s releases for nearly a decade. They decided to exclude any extraneous instrumentation so that Tejada could focus solely on his modular synth programming while Recor took on the role to provide that all-too-vital human element by way of her silky vocal delivery. The album highlights the duo’s deftness in getting maximal use from their instruments of choice while creating a superb darkly hued electronic pop album that showcases its own unique strain of affecting tension and restraint.

Bike For Three! – So Much Forever CD (Fake Four Inc.)

Bike For Three! is Joëlle Lê and Buck 65. Their new album, So Much Forever, opens with the sound of a solitary heart beating underscored by Joëlle’s eerie, soothing atmospherics. From there the urgency of “Full Moon” kicks in and Buck 65 is at the podium, unraveling his innermost thoughts through tightly knit stanzas and abstracted fragments. Vinyl version due March 25.

Blondfire – Young Heart CD/LP (Tender Tender Rush)

Blondfire is songwriter/vocalist/guitarist Erica Driscoll and her brother Bruce. The two have been playing together since they were kids growing up in Grand Rapids, MI. Their new album channels the irresistible synth-pop feel of British new wave bands like Depeche Mode, New Order, OMD and Pet Shop Boys, as well as the larger-than-life arena-rock ambitions of U2, Coldplay, and even Arcade Fire.

Breton – War Room Stories CD/LP (Believe Recordings)

War Room Stories was written during a year spent touring incessantly and playing festivals across the world. It was recorded this summer at the Funkhaus in Berlin — a building with the same otherworldly weirdness as Breton’s beloved creative HQ, The Lab in south London. Breton also employed the services of the Macedonian Radio Symphonic Orchestra who appear on five tracks throughout the album. The band recorded the tracks earmarked for orchestration on a laptop, translated them into sheet music and flew to Macedonia where the 44 piece orchestra then played them live in the studio

[Read more…] about New Releases for February 11, 2014

CDs:

Ásgeir – In The Silence CD (One Little Indian)

US debut for the rising Icelandic folk/electronica artist. “Despite being a ‘singer/songwriter’ album, In The Silence certainly doesn’t lack variety from an instrumental perspective — ‘Torrent’ matches its emotional lyrics with a brash rock sensibility, making it the most immediate-sounding track on the record, while ‘King And Cross’ is more akin to Alt-J with its humming bass and aquatic synths. ‘In The Silence’ comes across like a more chilled out Of Monsters And Men, and the stark, minimal ‘Going Home’ calls to mind James Blake.” – Drowned In Sound

Nicole Atkins – Slow Phaser CD/LP (Oh Mercy! Records)

A neon noir tour de force of hi-def late-night pop, Slow Phaser marks Nicole Atkins’ most ingenious and indelibly modern collection to date. Produced by Tore Johannson — with whom she partnered on her now-classic 2007 debut, Neptune City — the album is a milestone for the acclaimed singer/songwriter, her restless creativity fully realized via the addition of some surprising colors to her already diverse pallet.

Atomic Ape – Swarm CD (Web Of Mimicry)

Here’s some good news for fans of meticulously crafted instrumental music and records with major production efforts behind them: The Web Of Mimicry artist(s) formerly known as Orange Tulip Conspiracy have returned with a new lineup, a new sound, a new name, and most exciting of all, a new album called Swarm, which features a massive cast of 25 musicians, including: Trey Spruance, Eyvind Kang, Tim Young, Devin Hoff, Jessika Kenney, Dave Abramson, Timb Harris, Steve Moore and other heavy luminaries like Joe Doria, Danny Frankel and Mike Stone.

Augustines – Augustines CD/LP (Votiv/Oxcart)

Augustines was born upon the ashes of the Brooklyn indie rock band, Pela. That combo called an end to its collective trip in 2009, but founders McCarthy and Sanderson reunited to record a series of deeply personal songs chronicling despair, depression, and the untimely death of a close family member. They dubbed their intimate new endeavor, Augustines, which trademark issues required be appended to We Are Augustines. 

Ausmuteants – Amusements CD (Agitated/Aarght!)

Ausmuteants are four twenty-nothings from Geelong, Victoria raised on a diet of seminal avant-punk like Chrome, the Screamers, and letʼs not mention Devo.

Behemoth – The Satanist CD (Metal Blade)

The Satanist is the 10th studio album from the Polish blackened death metal band. The cover art was painted by renowned Russian painter and occultist Denis Forkas.

Big Head Todd & The Monsters – Black Beehive CD (Shout Factory!)

“[T]his blues-infused album may be the strongest affirmation of the band’s roots. From the gritty album-opening growlers of ‘Hey Delila’ and ‘Everything About You,’ to the folk/country blues of ‘Travelin’ Light’ and ‘Forever Bonnie,’ the group shows commitment to the form. … We all know that the blues had a baby called rock & roll. Big Head Todd & The Monsters make it so.” — Relix

Scott H. Biram – Nothin’ But Blood CD/LP (Bloodshot)

What in the past has been expressed through reeling irreverence and spirit-lifting profanity (which Biram’s still got in spades; don’t worry) is here a more penetrating, and chilling, version of The Dirty Old One Man Band self-examining and penitent, yet still as crazy as a jack-eyed preacher. On his ninth album (and fifth for Bloodshot Records) blood is many, often inherently contradictory, themes: life, death, suffering, evil, commitment, legacy, atonement. “With a raw immediacy that recalls Hasil Adkins and Bob Log III, Biram specializes in a twisted hybrid of gutbucket, hillbilly and godless metal. He’ll praise the virtues of moonshine and titty bars one minute, then tongue-lash city slickers and hippies the next.” — Houston Press

The Bixby Knolls – Near & Undear CD/LP (El Camino Media, LLC)

Powered by fuzz-driven sonics, heart-stomping rhythms and soul-awakening anthems and melodies, ‘The Knolls’ do not go unnoticed for those that witness their aural craft whether it be played from a phonograph or the stage. The four-piece collective shine a different light on the ‘indie’ sound and give hope to the survival of guitar driven pop.

Michael Bloomfield – From His Head To His Heart To His Hands 3xCD+DVD (Sony Legacy)

Guitarist Mike Bloomfield never fully got his due as one of the go-to sidemen of his generation or for his importance as a common thread in the patchwork of genres that changed the face of rock & roll in the ‘60s and ‘70s. This multi-disc anthology features released and unreleased gems from solo sessions to live performances from The Fillmore East and Fillmore West, The Bottom Line and other historic venues. The compilation also features a fascinating new mini-documentary combining vintage audio interviews with Bloomfield and live performances with new reflections from his friends, collaborators and admirers.

Bombay Bicycle Club – So Long, See You Tomorrow CD (Vagrant)

“So Long, See You Tomorrow is all about the beats, you see. It’s probably a smart move, what with guitar music being declared dead every three weeks by those music-typing folk. Lead single ‘Carry Me’ makes you all nostalgic for a summer yet to be experienced, one filed with exotic fruits, awkward romance and questionable Hawaiian shirts. It’s the type of music you’d hear at Ibiza Rocks, not that I really know what type of music you’d hear at Ibiza Rocks.” – Drowned In Sound

Toni Braxton & Babyface – Love, Marriage & Divorce CD (10 Spot)

With an all-time total of 16 Grammy Awards between them, multi-platinum superstars Toni Braxton and Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds have finally teamed up for their first album of duets.

Broken Bells – After The Disco CD/LP+MP3 (Columbia)

Sophomore album from the musical partnership comprised of Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and James Mercer (The Shins). Features the first single. “Holding On To Life. Vinyl pressed on HQ-180gm with download.

Brotherhood – The Complete Recordings 2xCD (Real Gone Music)

Right at the height of popularity for Paul Revere & The Raiders, the band’s core power trio of Phil Volk (bass), Drake Levin (guitar) and Mike (Smitty) Smith (drums) left to pursue their own more ambitious musical goals. Subsequent lawsuits and a run of bad luck meant that the first, self-titled album by their new band, Brotherhood, would be delayed, and received little notice at the time. Yet, by mixing a wealth of socially conscious original numbers with hard-rocking reinterpretations of tunes by the Mamas And The Papas and Joe South, Brotherhood was a band brimming with promise.

The John Butler Trio – Flesh + Blood CD (Vanguard)

Aussie roots virtuoso John Butler is known for his masterful lap-steel talent, as well as his unusual preference for playing acoustic guitars through a variety of pedals and distorted Marshall amps. But when it comes to the playing of stringed instruments, he virtually does it all, and extremely well at that, with a rare air of originality. Vinyl version due March 4.

[Read more…] about New Releases for February 4, 2014

CDs:

Aa – VoyAager CD (Northern Spy)

“Big A little a” — one of the quintessential house bands of Brooklyn’s mid-aughts loft party/DIY scene — have returned with their first U.S. release since 2007. VoyAager expands dramatically on the band’s primordial polyrhythms and noise palette to embrace lush electronic psychedelia, enveloping vocal textures, and even unexpected, glittering explosions of pop melodicism. Vinyl version due February 11.

Above & Beyond – Acoustic CD (Ultra)

New live release from the pioneering EDM trio. In 2013 the group performed some of their best-loved songs acoustically with a 12-piece band across three sold out shows at London’s legendary Porchester Hall.

Actress – Ghettoville CD/3xLP+MP3 (Werkdiscs/Ninja Tune)

The fourth album from techno artist Darren Cunningham – otherwise known as Actress – draws its inspiration from society’s outcasts, and adds soulful samples to a mass of different musical genres.

Arild Andersen/Paolo Vinaccia/Tommy Smith – Mira CD (ECM)

In Oslo’s Rainbow, bassist Andersen, tenorist Tommy Smith, and drummer Paolo Vinaccia re-channeled their creative energies into a program of soulful ballads and mid-tempo free-floating sound explorations. The pairing of Anderson’s muscular bass and Smith’s vaulting tenor is exceptionally compelling (as the recent Celebration album also confirmed). Most of the tunes on Mira are from Arild’s pen, though his cohorts also contribute material, and there is an unexpected interpretation of Burt Bacharach’s “Alfie,” beautifully played by Tommy Smith here. 

The Autumn Defense – Fifth CD/2xLP+CD+MP3 (Yep Roc)

Everyone has a different way to relax after a hard day of work, and for Pat Sansone and John Stirratt, the best way to clear their heads after playing to thousands of people for weeks on end was to find time to craft Fifth, the latest immaculately rendered pop opus from their long-running duo The Autumn Defense. Confident grooves underlie the duo’s masses of harmonies and carefully layered guitar chimes for what the pair considers one of their most varied efforts to date.

Algebra Blessett – Recovery CD (E1)

Born Algebra Felicia Blessett and hailing from the R&B hotbed of Atlanta, Algebra has already earned a reputation as one of her hometown’s most exciting new talents. Having already won widespread acclaim with her solo debut Purpose, and for her work as collaborator with the likes of Monica, Bilal, India.Arie, Esperanza Spalding and Anthony David, Algebra offers a fresh, expansive creative vision on Recovery, on which she worked with three of today’s hottest urban producers: Bryan-Michael Cox, Kwamé Holland and Shannon Sanders.

Bohren & Der Club Of Gore – Piano Nights CD (Ipecac)

All new material from the German collective, spanning the styles of their entire spastic catalog.

Laura Cantrell – No Way There From Here CD (Thrift Shop)

Vintage-style country music, straight from New York City. “Cantrell and co-producer Mark Nevers provide everything a fan of the countrypolitan songbook could desire: weeping-willow guitar lines and witty rejoinders from fiddle or banjo, delicate harmonies, the soft affect of a brush on a cymbal,” writes NPR’s Ann Powers. 

David Crosby – Croz CD (Blue Castle)

Croz is David Crosby’s first studio album in over 20 years, a collection of 11 new tracks from one of America’s most notable singer/songwriters. The album features guest appearances from Wynton Marsalis, Mark Knopfler, Leland Sklar and Steve Tavaglione. Vinyl version due February 11.

[Read more…] about New Releases for January 28, 2014