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

Music on TV - Week of 05.14.12: Tenacious D

Tenacious D return with appearances on Letterman (Monday), Fallon (Tuesday) and Leno (Friday).

A lot has happened in the six years since we last had new material from Tenacious D, but foremost on the minds of members Jack Black and Kyle Gass is the dilapidated state of rock and roll. "Rock is Dead" declares one title from the new release, Rize of the Fenix, a bold statement if ever there was one. But is rock truly dead?

"Well, no, but it's very, very ill," relays Gass to Billboard. "It has pneumonia." While Black and Gass are clearly tongue-in-cheek in the role of rock saviors, their is an underlying urgency in Rize that lends itself to their usual delusions of grandeur.

Another relevant thing that's happened in the past six years is the transformation of Jack Black from being stoner's idol to hero of children everywhere. Both my kids instantly recognize his face (from School of Rock, Gulliver's Travels, not to mention appearances on Yo Gabba Gabba and The Muppet Movie) and his voice (Kung Fu Panda) and exclaim "that's Jack Black, Daddy!" But this new audience ripe for the picking is not an easy task for an act that's been rated a hard 'R' up to now. To combat this, the band has taken the usual route of releasing two versions, but instead of bleeping their way to a clean version, they just rewrote a second album for their underage audience.

"We replaced all of the bad words with creative clean words," Black recently told Billboard. "We're not big on bleeps. I know the Eminems of the world are big bleepers, but it's a lazy way to do a clean album. If you really want to go the extra mile, you make the clean album just as entertaining, without the F-bombs."

In cleaning up their act, Tenacious D can also now perform all the songs on the late night talk circuit, and they take full advantage of that this week with performances on The Late Show with David Letterman (Monday), Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (Tuesday) and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (Friday).

Elsewhere, there's a lot stay up for with Beach House making the rounds (Letterman on Friday) for their latest (Bloom), the return of The Cult (Jimmy Kimmel on Friday) and Mick Jagger closes out another season of SNL with Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters and Jeff Beck all lending a hand onstage with the Rolling Stones' frontman.

Picks for the week
Monday, April 2
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Silversun Pickups (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Tenacious D
CBS: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: The Imagineers
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Karmin
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Willie Nelson
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: We Are Augustines
Tuesday, April 3
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: El-P
CBS: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: The Imagineers
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Santana
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Tenacious D
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Ting Tings
TBS: Conan: Gregg Allman
Wednesday, April 4
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Best Coast
CBS: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: The Imagineers
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Dr. Dog
Thursday, April 5
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Delta Spirit
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Regina Spektor
CBS: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: The Imagineers
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Paul Weller
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Young the Giant
TBS: Conan: Rufus Wainwright
Friday, April 6
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: The Cult
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Beach House
CBS: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson: The Imagineers
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Tenacious D
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Garbage
Saturday, April 7
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Engelbert Humperdinck
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Mick Jagger featuring Arcade Fire, Foo Fighters and Jeff Beck
PBS: Austin City Limits: The Avett Brothers, Heartless Bastards (REPEAT)
Sunday, April 8
ABC: The 2012 Billboard Music Awards: Cee-Lo Green, LMFAO, Kelly Clarkson

Top 50+ Albums of 2010

2010 turned out to be another pretty good year for music, but no album ran away with the top spot this year. LCD Soundsystem's This Is Happening gets the nod for me, by a nose, but it's not even really James Murphy's best effort (that would be Sound of Silver). The rest of the more than fifty releases below are an eclectic collection, although my rockist bias is still probably apparent. But how many lists out there are you going to find with Ty Segall, Kanye West and John Mellencamp on it. (Yeah, the last one surprised me as well, but it's gooooood.)

Playlist: Top 50 Albums of 2010

1. LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

If this is indeed the last album that LCD Soundsystem releases, and James Murphy has hinted as much, then this is the way to go. This is Happening, lyrically, is Murphy's most personal release, continuing the inward trend since LCD SS' beginnings in detached irony.

Review, May 18, 2010

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2. Deerhunter - Halycon Digest
Stream / Purchase [mp3

The slow and steady progression for Deerhunter from damaged art rock to accessible (yet still damaged) pop band has been fascinating to witness, and with Halycon Digest, they've perfected the right balance between the two for a artful pop album that rewards on repeat listens.

Review, September 28, 2010

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3. Wavves - King of the Beach
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Nate Williams rebounded nicely from an up and down 2009. Enlisting the late Jay Reatard's old band to back him, King of the Beach finds Williams still in the loner/outsider role, but now the music backing the loser-based lyrics are far more rich. Easily one of the most exhilarating releases of 2010.

Review, August 3, 2010

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4. Titus Andronicus - The Monitor
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

With every repeat listen of The Monitor, the seams holding together New Jersey split just a little more, as the love/hate relationship Titus Andronicus has with their home state is volatile, to say the least. And this from an album allegedly about the Civil War, complete with spoken word cameo from Craig Finn as Walt Whitman (the best recording Finn took part in this year).

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5. Los Campesinos - Romance is Boring
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Romance is Boring is anything but boring, instead at times white hot and most of the time unable to sit still. It's pop at in the face of chaos. An album that seems to have been overlooked by many (maybe some were assuming they'd be releasing more like the year prior).

Review, January 26, 2010

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6. Sleigh Bells - Treats
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

As if The Go! Team's cheerleaders decided to make out with the AV club guys, sending the dial into the red. Distortion and pep don't often go together, but this noisy affair is one for the eardrums.

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7. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The album I played the most in 2010. Combines everything I loved about the early 90s and turned the BPMs up to workout pace. Lift those knees!

Review, May 11, 2010

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8. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Much like Deerhunter, Ariel Rosenberg has graduated a bit from the lo-fi art noise of his earlier recordings, moving from the bedroom to an actual studio. The songs, however, are still warped by the sun and probably under the influence of illegal substances. So there's that. Wheee!

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9. Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Might have topped my list had it been released sooner/Kanye didn't seem like such a douche bag/it weren't for my aforementioned perceived rockist bias. Certainly wins for Best use of a King Crimson song on the scorcher, "Power."

(Review November 23, 2010)

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10. Beach House - Teen Dream
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

The Baltimore duo Beach House also upgraded their recording studio this year, in their first Sub Pop debut, putting some extra polish on their already lush and dreamy sound.

(Review January 26, 2010)

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11. Vampire Weekend - Contra
(Review January 12, 2010)

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12. Ty Segall - Logos

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13. The Posies - Blood/Candy

Review, September 28, 2010

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14. Joanna Newsom - Have One on Me

(Ear on TV preview December 13, 2010)

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15. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
(review August 3, 2010)

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16. Best Coast - Crazy For You

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17. Spoon - Transference

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18. Twin Shadow - Forget

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19. John Mellencamp - No Better Than This

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20. The Fresh & Onlys - Play it Strange

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21. Superchunk - Majesty Shredding

(review September 14, 2010)

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22. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz

(review October 12, 2010)

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23. Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky

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24. No Age - Everything In Between

Review, September 28, 2010

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25. Off! - Four EPs

26. The Walkmen - Lisbon (review September 14, 2010)
27. Gil Scott-Heron - I'm New Here
28. The Soft Pack - The Soft Pack (review February 2, 2010)
29. The Tallest Man on Earth - The Wild Hunt
30. Grinderman - Grinderman 2 (review September 14, 2010)
31. The Intelligence - Males
32. The Black Keys - Brothers (Ear on TV preview)
33. Field Music - Measure (review February 16, 2010)
34. Bottomless Pit - Blood Under the Bridge (review August 17, 2010)
35. She & Him - Volume 2 (review March 23, 2010)
36. Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid (Ear on TV preview for May 24, 2010)
37. Jenny & Johnny - I'm Having Fun Now (review August 31, 2010)
38. Robyn - Body Talk
39. Liars - Sisterworld (review March 9, 2010)
40. Crystal Castles - II
41. Baths - Cerulean (review 05/19/09)
42. Big Boi - Sir Lucious Left Foot...The Son Of Chico Dusty (review July 5, 2010)
43. Marnie Stern - Marnie Stern
44. Yeasayer - Oddblood (review February 9, 2010)
45. Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More (Ear on TV preview February 15, 2010)
46. Tyvek - Nothing Fits
47. The Roots - How I Got Over (review June 22, 2010)
48. The National - High Violet (review May 11, 2010)
49. Gorillaz - Plastic Beach
50. New Pornographers - Together (review 05/19/09)
Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record (review May 4, 2010)
Women - Public Strain
Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM (review February 13, 2010)
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Brutalist Bricks (review March 9, 2010)
Dum Dum Girls - I Will Be (review March 30, 2010)
Hot Chip - One Life Stand (review February 9, 2010)
Perfume Genius - Learning
Boston Spaceships - Our Cubehouse Still Rocks (review September 21, 2010)
Delorean - Subiza

Previously: Top 50 Albums from 2009, Top 50 Albums from 2008, Top 100 Albums from 2007, Top 100+ from 2006, Top 50 from 2005, Top 10 from 2004

Ear on TV: Week of 12.20.10: Beach House

Beach House perform on Conan, Monday December 20

With only a few more days until Christmas, it's both time for holiday music and to reflect upon the past 12 months with year-end lists. One album that keeps popping up at or near the top of every list this year is the latest from Beach House, Teen Dream, released all the way back in January. Tonight, the duo from Baltimore will be all too happy to remind us why that album is still stuck in our heads, with a performance on Conan.

While the band continues to tour in support of Teen Dream, they also just offered up a new song for the holiday season, "I Do Not Care for the Winter Sun," free to download from their site. It's a song that's quite appropriate for the shortest of days and darkest of nights* but expect the band to play something instead from the album (likely, the great "Norway").

*Tonight, in fact, is a lunar eclipse occurring on the longest night of the year, the first time this has happened in nearly 500 years.

Finally, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon gets into the holiday spirit with special holiday-themed musical performances from Jose Feliciano (Thursday) and Aaron Neville (Friday). Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad," which has become a classic in the holiday season, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year and the Roots will join in for a no doubt stirring rendition (queue the horns!). The Puerto Rican born Feliciano recently found his way to Daryl Hall's online show Live From Daryl's House to perform the classic:


Picks for the week
Monday, December 20
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Goo Goo Dolls (REPEAT)
E!: Chelsea Lately: Diddy-Dirty Money
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Brad
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Pink Martini
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Jimmy Eat World (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Xzibit
TBS: Conan: Beach House
Tuesday, December 21
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Social Distortion (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Sam Adams
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Alberta Cross (REPEAT)
PBS: Tavis Smiley: Patti Smith
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Bettye Lavette with the Ese Vatos
TBS: Conan: Los Lobos
Wednesday, December 22
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Brad (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
COMEDY CENTRAL: The Colbert Report: Patti Smith (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Sam Adams
NBC: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Whitney Cummings
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Jose Feliciano
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Walkmen (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: will.i.am
Thursday, December 23
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Aimee Mann
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Get Busy Committee
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Aaron Neville
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Kate Nash (REPEAT)
TBS: Lopez Tonight: Filter
TBS: Conan: Reggie Watts
Friday, December 24
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Darker My Love (REPEAT)
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Get Busy Committee
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Nas & Damian Marley (REPEAT)
PBS: Tavis Smiley: Johnny Mathis, Lyle Lovett
SYNDICATION: The Ellen DeGeneres Show: Sugarland
Saturday, December 25
BBCAMERICA: The Graham Norton Show: Ellie Goulding
PBS: Austin City Limits: Ben Harper and Relentless7 (REPEAT)

Now Downloading: New Releases 01.26.10

And on the fourth Tuesday of January, 2010, let it be known that the motherload hath officially dropped. I had this date circled some time ago thanks to new releases from Los Campesinos!, Beach House and Magnetic Fields, but there's also fine fare from the likes of Four Tet, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Retribution Gospel, Harvey Milk, Jaga Jazzist, Bettie Serveert, cars & trains and new EP from Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug under the moniker Moonface.

Playlist: New Releases 01.26.10

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Los Campesinos - Romance is Boring
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

I don't know about everyone else, but I think I have my early contender for album of the year. The hot mess that is Romance is Boring has a misnomer of a title. It's not the slightest bit boring, and yet has an underlying romantic notion throughout. According to the band, RiB is "about death and decay of the human body, sex, lost love, mental breakdown, football [ahem... soccer] and, ultimately, that there probably isn't a light at the end of the tunnel." That's a lot of ideas swirling about, but it all jells, much like the cornucopia of musical ideas that are brought together in this delicious post-punk package.

The lyrics alone could provide a month's worth of tweets/facebook updates, while the dual guitar action provides a cacophony of sound that moves between deftly between jarring and orgasmic release. "There Are Listed Buildings" and "Straight In At 101" are brilliant guitar pop, and, well.. the rest is just so great I can't be bothered to single one out. RiB isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea, I realize, but I firmly believe even the musically timid will appreciate this release with patience, as the initial chaos opens itself up nicely with repeat listens. Los Campesinos! are really hitting their stride now, and with their already prolific pace and growth as artists, it's entirely possible that RiB will be topped this year by their next album. One can dream...

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Beach House - Teen Dream
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

On the other side of the coin is Beach House's third release, Teen Dream. No exhilerating highs or noisy moments here, instead just dreamy comfort in the lush vocals of vocalist Victoria Legrand. With TD, their Sub Pop debut, the Baltimore duo have merely polished their already lush sound by upgrading their recording studio. Some of the intimacy of their first two records (Beach House, Devotion), maybe lost in the move, but they more than make up for it in sweet ear candy.

AOL Album Stream
Download: "Norway" [mp3]

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
The Magnetic Fields - Realism
Four Tet - There is Love in You
Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM / Free AOL album stream
Retribution Gospel - 2 / Free AOL album stream / "Hide It Away" [mp3]
Harvey Milk - Harvey Milk
Moonface - Dreamland EP: Marimba And Sh*t-Drums
Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit
Bettie Serveert - Pharmacy of Love
cars & trains - the roots, the leaves / Free AOL album stream / "Intimidated By Silence" [mp3]
AFCGT - AFCGT / Free AOL album stream / "Two Legged Dog" [mp3]
Thavius Beck - Dialogue
Oh No Ono - Eggs / "Helplessly Young", "Internet Warrior" [mp3]
Erland and the Carnival - Erland and the Carnival
Steve Kilbey & Martin Kennedy - Unseen Music/Unheard Music / Free AOL album stream
Patty Griffin - Downtown Church
Fucked Up - Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009
Tindersticks - Falling Down a Mountain
Mondo Drag - New Rituals
Joe Firstman - El Porto
Good Shoes - No Hope, No Future
Never Shout Never - What is Love?
Soweto Gospel - Grace
REISSUES
Animal Collective - Campire Songs
David Bowie - A Reality Tour / Free AOL album stream

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

Ear on TV: Week of 01.18.10: Spoon Sends Off Conan

Breaking up is hard to do. Just ask Conan O'Brien and NBC, or, better yet, the band Spoon. The Britt Daniel-led quartet has written a lot of songs on the subject, including a good chunk of their latest release, Transference, which is out this week. So it's appropriate that the band plays what might be Conan's last hurrah on The Tonight Show Tuesday* night, part of the host's send-off week.

*At the time of publish, Tuesday night was the last scheduled night for The Tonight Show. NBC is expected to make an official announcement today on as to the details of the talk show's future, with O'Brien's departure all but set for this week.

As a follow up to their biggest selling album, 2007's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference will probably confuse a few of those new fans as it's Spoon in the raw, with a couple of the songs even remaining in demo form and only a few others that recall the band at their catchiest. The band will likely be playing one of those songs, "Written in Reverse," Tuesday night on The Tonight Show, and if you look at the song through the right lens, you could pretend it's about NBC's Jeff Zucker: "No nothing was planned / You just can't help yourself / Some people are so easily shuffled and dealt." (Of course, they've written the ultimate vindictive song about a corporate glad hander with "The Agony of Laffitte," blistering written about A&R man Ron Laffitte, then with Elektra, featuring the lyric, "It's like I knew two of you, man / The one before and after we shook hands.")

Meanwhile, Spectacle's second season is winding down, when it seems it had just begun. The final two episodes are an edited down version of the four-hour love fest Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello put on last year at the famous Apollo Theater. The two spent so much time talking and playing the music they love, that there was just no way to edit all the magic down to one hour. At one point, Spingsteen posits "The greatest rock ’n’ roll musicians are desperate men," but the only thing desperate on this night was the need to hear more from these two legends of rock.



Finally, the Baltimore dream pop duo Beach House make their network television debut on Fallon Friday night, performing their lead single "Norway" in support of their third full length release, Teen Dream (out January 26, 2010). Awareness of the band has risen on the heels of singer Victoria Legrand's collaboration with Grizzly Bear and participation in the soundtrack to Twilight Saga: New Moon, but the majestic sound that is Teen Dream should make a splash all its own.

Playlist: Picks for the week
Monday, January 18
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Really Doe (REPEAT)
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Charlotte Gainsbourg was late scratch, instead The Heavy (backed by the Dap Kings horns)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: Steve Jones
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Cold War Kids
NBC: The Jay Leno Show: Ringo Starr with Ben Harper
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Cribs
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Weezer (REPEAT)
Tuesday, January 19
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Swell Season
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Suffocation
NBC: Late Night With Conan O'Brien: Spoon
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: The Mountain Goats
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: The Xx (REPEAT)
Wednesday, January 20
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Pearl
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: James Taylor and Carole King
FUEL: The Daily Habit: The Growlers
IFC: Dinner With the Band: Owen Pallett/Final Fantasy (REPEAT)
SUNDANCE: Spectacle: Elvis Costello With...: Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen (Part 1)
Thursday, January 21
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: Blind Boys of Alabama with Lou Reed
FUEL: The Daily Habit: Suicide Silence
Friday, January 22
ALL NETWORKS: Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief: Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, U2's Bono and the Edge, Coldplay, Keith Urban, Stevie Wonder, Mary J. Blige, Shakira, Sting, John Legend
ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live: Heartless Bastards
CBS: Late Show With David Letterman: The Heavy (bumped up to Monday)
CBS: Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson: The Hotrats
FOX: Lopez Tonight: Omarion
NBC: Late Night With Jimmy Fallon: Beach House
NBC: Last Call With Carson Daly: Gossip (REPEAT)
Saturday, January 23
NBC: Saturday Night Live: Rihanna (REPEAT)
PBS: Austin City Limits: The Avett Brothers, Heartless Bastards

Now Downloading: New Releases 02.26.08

After last week, this week would pale in comparison, if not for the strong sophomore release by Beach House, and an album documenting Rocket From the Crypt's final show. These albums are the perfect pair to go with the pain-killers (Beach House) and Icy Hot patches (Rocket From the Crypt) that I'm employing to get me through some recent back pain. Getting old's a bitch. Other releases of note include the latest from Ghostland Observatory, The Hands, Earth, and one from the Robert Pollard offshoot Psycho & the Birds.

Playlist: New Releases 02.26.08

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Album: Beach House - Devotion

As I sit chewing on pain-killers, the hazy sounds of Beach House's sophomore release sort of meld into one sort of eerie epic drama. It's a feeling that's cranked up some deep depression that I didn't realize was there, and it's a tad frightening. I've held off writing about it, hoping that once I was closer to pain free (my back recently went out) I'd be free of this association with the Devotion, but even off pain-killers, I still find myself wearing a Moody Moose button. Is it the drugs, or have Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally created something that powerful? Only time will tell in this head, but in the meantime, I prescribe taking "Turtle Island" and "You Came To Me" and then call me in the morning.

Free album stream from AOL

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Album: Rocket From The Crypt - RIP

Back in the early 90's, San Diego swami John Reis was saving rock and roll from the trenches as Speedo in the outfit Rocket from the Crypt. Like Robert Pollard with Guided By Voices, Reis is a dynamic frontman who commands the stage, utilizing rock attitudes from a bygone era -- Pollard had The Who and The Rolling Stones, while Reis (as Speedo) took on Jerry Lee Lewis and the Big Bopper for his stage inspiration. Both GBV and RTFC served as the more accessible fronts for their enterprise, and so it's fitting that both bands ended at roughly the same time. R.I.P. documents RTFC's last performance on Halloween night, 2005, and it was released prior as part of a DVD package nearly two years ago, but the justifiable demand for the CD's separate release has it finally seeing the light of day. It's the perfect collection of songs of the band, all their live favorites, with songs primarily focusing on the band at it's creative peak, from 1992-1996. That's the legendary Circa: Now! to their major label debut, Scream, Dracula Scream, plus all the singles in between. It was a good time to rock, even if radio mostly ignored it at the time.

Free album stream from AOL

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Album: Ghostland Observatory - Robotique Majestique

The Austin-based electro-rock duo Ghostland Observatory have always been a fantastic live band, which immediately is a hindrance to any album they release. Can it live up to their live show. The easy answer here is no, but the sexed up 80's analog synth-based rhythms I hear beg to be seen and there's something to be said for that, even if it's the cart pulling the horse. Great tracks like "Heavy Heart" and "Dancing on My Grave" don't miss a guitar at all, but the album as a whole can start to tire on the ears, given the similarity in sounds explored, including lead singer Behrens' vocals, which sound a lot like The Mars Volta's Cedric Bixler-Zavala this time out.

Free album stream from AOL
Download: "Heavy Heart" [mp3]

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Streaming for free on AOL a week early:
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Hands

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More on the radar this week
The Hands - The Hands / Free album stream from AOL
Earth - The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull
Psycho & The Birds - We've Moved
Pete Rock - NY's Finest / Free album stream from AOL
Erykah Badu - New Amerykah
Goldfrapp - Seventh Tree / Free album stream from AOL
Tift Merritt - Another Country / Free album stream from AOL
The Dirt Bombs - We Have You Surrounded
Punch Brothers - Punch
Tommy Guerrero - Return Of The Bastard
Son Lux - At War With Walls and Mazes
Fink - Distance and Time
Shawty Lo - Units In The City
Sara Melson - Dirty Mind
Ludo - You're Awful, I Love You
Stax Does The Beatles

tags: music, album review, rftc, beach house, ghostland observatory, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody