As if to underline last year's down year for releases, this week's crop is already heads and tails above any release week from last year. Less than one month into 2009, and we could already start to formulate a best of the year list.
Animal Collective's latest beats all of last year's releases, which is why there's already album of the year talk in January. Besides that, there's new releases from
Antony and the Johnsons,
Andrew Bird,
AC Newman,
Anya Marina,
Bon Iver,
Blackout Beach (Carey Mercer of
Frog Eyes/
Swan Lake) and that just covers the first two letters of the alphabet. It's as if album releases were pushed back to inauguration day, for a better association. There will be no more releases from the Bush years, folks.
Playlist:
New Releases 01.20.09
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post PavillionStream /
Purchase [mp3]
So much digital ink has already been spilled on this release since it leaked earlier a few weeks ago, there's not much else to say except the bar has been set for releases in 2009 (or, for that matter, what we'll lovingly refer to as The Obama Years). With the 2007 releases (specifically,
Strawberry Jam and
Panda Bear's solo release (
Person Pitch,)
Animal Collective was inching closer to mainstream while maintaining their artful peculiarities.
Merriweather Post Pavillion is the refinement of both those releases, mixing Panda Bear's sunny
Pet Sounds fixation with the artsy atmospherics and tribal beats that dominate an Animal Collective joint. While the whole album sparkles, two songs standout as among their best ever:
"My Girls" and
"Brothersport." Both of those are likely to expand their current fan base, which means that there will be some cries of "sellout." Just drown out those unwarranted complaints by cranking up the controlled chaos of
"Daily Routine," and carry on with smile intact.
Free AOL Album Stream
Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying LightStream /
Purchase [mp3]
If it weren't for the brilliance of
Merriweather Post Pavillion, folks would be making the all-too-soon argument for
The Crying Light as album of the year. As in the past two albums, it's the voice of
Antony Hegarty that's front and center, and it's a voice that's become far more familiar since their debut, singing with the likes of
Lou Reed,
Bjork,
Rufus Wainwright and the
Hercules and Love Affair project of New York DJ Andy Butler. His pipes have evolved into
the go to for soul+sorrow, with a new sense of maturity, which is partly why Hegarty chose an image of the Japanese Butoh dancer
Kazuo Ohno, who is now 102 years old. Much like the use of
Candy Darling for 2007's
I Am a Bird represented art and gender issues, Ohno represents maturing as an artist.
Free AOL Album Stream
Andrew Bird - Noble BeastStream /
Purchase [mp3]
When it became known that
Andrew Bird was splitting up his recordings into an album of conventional and leaving the more experimental to an EP I was a bit worried, and with good reason. Since the release of 2006's
Armchair Apocrypha, Bird has been inching towards
'Mountain' acceptability, which in the Seattle area means, adult-alternative. My dentist always plays that station in the mornings, and while hearing "Imitosis" while getting your teeth cleaned is soothing, having it followed by a Hootie and the Blowfish song makes you spit before the designated time. Since then that song has also been featured in a series of Residence Inn ads, and The Mountain sponsored his recent performance at the Zoo here as well, so one might assume Anti Records had some, shall we say, expectations with
Noble Beast. Refreshingly, the album eases back on the ultra sheen production from
Armchair Apocrypha in favor of a more natural sound, and there are lots of classic Bird flourishes throughout. While it's a more even sounding record, much of the spontanaety of past releases is MIA, getting marginalized to the mostly instrumental
Useless Creatures EP (available as one deluxe edition). A fusion of the two might be more preferable, but even still, it remains a good-to-nearly-great release.
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EPStream /
Purchase [mp3]
Bon Iver's Justin Vernon famously recorded the critically acclaimed
For Emma, Forever Ago while holed up one winter in a Northern Wisconsin forest after a break up, so there's been some buildup as to what he would do in a studio without the heartache and the isolation. While there's nothing here that will make you forget
For Emma, the title track is sure easy on the ears. Extra points for referencing his previous album's recording with the song
"Woods":
I'm up in the woods
I'm down on my mind
I'm building a still
To slow down the time
Sung using a vocoder, it's even more haunting. It's an ending to a nice appetizer that makes you hungry for whatever full length comes next.
Free AOL Album StreamDownload:
"Blood Bank" [mp3]
More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
AC Newman - Get GuiltyBlackout Beach - Skin of Evil /
"Astoria, Menthol Lite, Hilltop, Wave of Evil, 1982" [mp3]
Matt & Kim - GrandSix Organs of Admittance - RTZ /
Will Sheff/Charles Bissell - Will Sheff Covers Charles Bissell/Charles Bissell covers Will SheffAnya Marina - Slow Steady Seduction Phase IIRobert Pollard - The Crawling Distance /
"Imaginary Queen Anne" [mp3]
Coconut Records - DavyThe 1900s - Medium High EP /
"Age of Metals" [mp3]
John Frusciante - The EmpyreanMatt and Kim - Grand /
Free AOL Album StreamCut Off Your Hands - You & IBen Nichols - The Last Pale Light In The WestGin Wigmore - Extended Play (EP)The Soundtrack of Our Lives - CommunionBlack Moth Super Rainbow - Dont You Want To Be In A Cult w/ Feel The Drip Beausoleil - Alligator Purse /
Free album stream from AOLOdds - CheerleaderNorth Mississippi Allstars - Do It Like We Used To DoREISSUES
Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (Legacy Edition)Swervedriver - Raise (US Extended Version)Swervedriver - Mezcal Head (US Extended Version)Steve Earle & the Del McCroury Band - The MountainTitus Andronicus - Titus Andronicustags: music, album review, animal collective, andrew bird, blackout beach, ac newman, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody
