Playlist: New Releases 06.29.10
Wolf Parade - Expo 86
Stream / Purchase [mp3]
The Wolf Parade dual-headed songwriting monster of Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner separately released their best non-WP work last year -- fronting both Sunset Rubdown (Dragonslayer) and Handsome Furs (Face Control) respectively -- and their work together as WP has always felt like it was coming apart at the seams. And that was part of the excitement. So it's perhaps a bit surprising that for an act that's been as restless both collectively and separately, Expo 86 is Wolf Parade's most cohesive, settled down release yet. If there's a fault, it's probably just that, unlike Apologies to the Queen Mary and At Mount Zoomer, there's nothing groundbreaking going on here. The band has settled into a groove and feel quite at home, and occasionally it's that settled feeling that borders on pedestrian for the band. Take for instance the song "Palm Road," which comes across like a re-working of INXS's "Don't Change." This is one of those albums that I think if you jostle the track order a bit, say swapping the aforementioned 2nd track with the 6th (and Boeckner highlight) "Ghost Pressure," it would raise my estimation, as there's plenty of great WP material to work with here. Krug's opener "Cloud Shadow on the Mountain" burns brightly, as does lead single "What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)," and they close out in foot-stomping style with "Cave-o-sapien." Download: "What Did My Lover Say? (It Had To Go This Way)" [mp3]
Download: "Ghost Pressure" [mp3]
Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody - I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years
Stream / Purchase [mp3]
After time marched on into the new century leaving shoegazers behind, Adam Franklin seemed to try and distance himself from his Swervedriver days, but that voice was hard to disassociate from that 90's favorite. With 2007's Bolts of Melody, Franklin seemed to sense that there was still a hunger for Swervedriver, and I Could Sleep for a Thousand Years is a near full actualization of that notion. Listening to the opening two tracks ("Yesterday Has Gone Forever," "I'll Be Yr Mechanic") with eyes closed will have you swearing Bill Clinton is still in office.Download: "Yesterday Has Gone Forever" [mp3]
More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Wavves - King of the Beach is out July 1 exclusively on iTunes
Scissor Sisters - Night Work
Peter Case - Wig!
Hey Marseilles - To Travels and Trunks / AOL Album Stream
The Grip Weeds - Strange Change Machine
Alejandro Escovedo - Street Songs of Love / AOL Album Stream / "Street Song" [mp3]
Jackie Greene - Till the Light Comes / AOL Album Stream
Alasdair Roberts - Too Long in This Condition / "Daemon Lover" [mp3]
Jimmy Webb - Just Across the River / AOL Album Stream
Maps & Atlases - Perch Patchwork / AOL Album Stream / "Solid Ground" [mp3]
Delphic - Acolyte
Steel Train - Steel Train
John Zorn - The Goddess - Music From The Ancient of Days
REISSUE
John Fogerty - Centerfield - 25th Anniversary
tags: music, album review, adam franklin, wolf parade, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody
No comments:
Post a Comment