Now Downloading: New Releases 05.15.12 - Beach House

Beach House release another stunner with Bloom, their fourth album.

Maybe it's the effects of a full week of sunny weather, but it's been hard not to feel optimistic about new music, even when there's only a couple albums with May release dates that I'm wearing out in the headphones. One of those releases has been Beach House's latest, Bloom, which expands only slightly on their breakthrough 2010 release, Teenage Dream.

Longtime Drake fave Tenacious D stage a comeback, and decide to include some new fans (my kids, for one) with a thoughtfully done clean version.

Elsewhere, look to new releases from Best Coast, Cornershop, Plushgun, Josephine Foster, MV & EE, Bang On!, Willie Nelson, The Cribs, the comedic stylings of Reggie Watts and an Occupy compilation featuring veteran artists like Patti Smith. In reissues, check out the first digital offerings from the back catalog of Seattle's proto-grunge group Skin Yard (started by legendary producer Jack Endino and bassist/CZ records' Daniel House in 1985).

Playlist: New Releases 05.15.12: Spotify

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Beach House - Bloom [Insound]
LP/CD purchase via Sub Pop / iTunes / Stream via Rhapsody

Four albums into their already impressive career, Baltimore's Beach House have never seemed like they were in a hurry to get anywhere. "Drifting in and out," begins the stunning opener, "Myth," and the duo of Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally are content to do just that through Bloom. While the release is merely a lateral move from the 2010's breakout Teenage Dream, is there really any need to venture out from the oasis they've carved out in the land of dream pop? The band is staying put, venturing only to switch out some light bulbs (can these rooms seem even softer?) paint the trim, polish the silver and maybe set out some hallucinogenic potpourri. I thought, for a moment at least, that fellow Baltimore dream pop agents Lower Dens (with their release Nootropics)had possibly made another Beach House release unnecessary this year. Bloom, however, proves itself to be very necessary.

Free AOL Album Stream

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Tenacious D - Rize of the Fenix [Google Play] / Free AOL Album Stream
Best Coast - The Only Place [Google Play] / Free AOL Album Stream
Plushgun - Me.Me. [emusic] / "Waste Away" [mp3]
Cornershop - Urban Turban [emusic] / Free AOL Album Stream
Guided By Voices - Class Clown Spots a UFO (Single) [emusic]
Josephine Foster and the Victor Herrero Band - Perlas [Google Play]
MV & EE - Space Homestead [Insound]
Willie Nelson - Heroes [Google Play]
The Cribs - In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull [Google Play] / Free AOL Album Stream
Occupy This Album [Google Play]
Tu Fawning - A Monument [Google] / Free AOL Album Stream / "Anchor" [mp3]
Slugabed Time Team [Google Play] / Free AOL Album Stream
Mewithoutyou Ten Stories [Google Play]
REISSUES
Skin Yard - Skin Yard [Google Play]
Skin Yard - Hallowed Ground [Google Play]
Skin Yard - 1000 Smiling Knuckles [Google Play]
Skin Yard - Start at the Top [Google Play]

tags: music, album review, beach house, indie rock, new releases