New Releases 02.21.12: Damien Jurado, Sleigh Bells, Archers of Loaf

Seattle Folk pioneer Damien Jurado releases Maraqopa this week.

Another week in the shortest month sees plenty of fine releases fall into our laps. From Damien Jurado's magnum opus to the sophomore release from the sugared razor blades of Sleigh Bells, it's not a bad week at all. There's also new releases from Lambchop, Grimes, Frankie Rose, Tindersticks, Perfume Genius, Cursive, Leland Sundries and a Deluxe Master reissue of 1995's great Vee Vee from the so-far-still-reunited Archers of Loaf.

Playlist: New Releases 02.21.12: Rhapsody / Spotify

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Damien Jurado - Maraqopa
Purchase [mp3] / Stream via Rhapsody / Stream via Spotify

After fifteen years of releasing folk in the (now) folk-heavy Pacific Northwest, Damien Jurado has experienced a rebirth of sorts, and like it is for many artists at the mature stage of their career, a lot of this second life is due to finding the right producer/collaborator/muse. In that, Jurado found Richard Swift, who helmed his magical 2010 release Saint Bartlett. They pair up again for the follow up, Maraqopa, expanding on the slight studio experimentation of Saint Bartlett. While the previous release had the benefit of surprise, Maraqopa raises the stakes, with Jurado and Swift now in lock step at the height of their talents. Just so there's no mistaking it, they open with psych-burner "Nothing is the News," effortlessly building guitars, keys and reverb-thick background vocals until you awake to find Commander Flashback from across the street has broken into your house and is trying to climb inside your computer speakers (your experience will vary, obviously, depending on your neighborhood). The next track, "Life Away From The Garden," brings with it the spectre of Christianity, a common theme of Jurado's throughout his career. The singer-songwriter confesses being influenced this time out from the Crescere free mix The End is Near: Jesus Music, Vol 1 & 2, and while religion does indeed permeate throughout, it's merely a launching point here for Jurado's confident songwriting. "Working Titles," another highlight, sees Jurado employing a Leonard Cohen trick of inventing another self to make pointed observations on his true self. "What's it like for you, in Washington?" his invented self asks of Jurado, moving from accusations and demands to a mild form of jealousy. Where Jurado in the past might have pointed out things aren't that great, he doesn't even need to answer to show that things are indeed pretty good where he's standing. While it's not an easy achievement to get Jurado to crack a smile, Maraqapo stands to suffice, as it induces plenty in it's nearly 37 minutes.

Download: "Nothing is the News" [mp3]
Download: "Museum of Flight" [mp3]

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Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror
Purchase [mp3] / Stream via Rhapsody or Spotify

When Sleigh Bell's debut Treats snuck up on listeners in 2010, the slash-and-dash nature of it's red-line production made it an album less about songs then the sound engineering of the thing. With their sophomore release, there's still the necessity to "crank it," but Reign of Terror is far more reliant on songcraft, for better and worse. It might have been easier to churn out a Treats II, but gone is the debut's element of surprise, and so guitarist Derek Miller and singer Alexis Krauss went about the business of rebuilding their sound. Don't get me wrong, nobody but Sleigh Bells could have created Reign, and that's a good thing. It's still pointy guitar metal, girl group vocals, cheerleader call and response backed by hip-hop inspired beats -- a niche they pretty much own. But it was evident on the first tracks released, "Born to Lose" and "Comeback Kid" -- predictably the album's highlights, that Krauss' pop sensibilities were moving to the forefront with Reign. While the results never quite reach the dizzying heights of their debut, that was going to be a tall order, and Reign is instead content to get you to turn it up and bang your head.

Free AOL Album Stream

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Archers of Loaf - Vee Vee (Deluxe Remaster)
Purchase [mp3] / Stream via Rhapsody or Spotify

The underground is overcrowded.
"Greatest of All Time"

Released in 1995 as the follow up to the much heralded and poppy Icky Mettle, Vee Vee was Archers of Loaf at the peak of their ferocity (look no further than the one-two punch of "Fabricoh" and "Nostalgia"). Fresh off the amazing and raw EP Vs the Greatest of All Time (which got inclusion in the Icky Mettle reissue last year), Archers went for an even more unpolished sound, bending guitars like Chapel Hill neighbors Polvo and even opting to open and close with wordless choruses ("Step Into the Light" and the whistle chorus of "Underachievers March and Fight Song"). Like with last year's Icky Mettle reissue, much of the magic lies in the second bonus disc: 4-track demos, remasters of fantastic b-sides like "Telepathic Traffic" and "Smoking Pot in the Hot City" along with a previously unreleased cover of John Coltrane's "Equinox" and a Red Sovine via Tom Waits cover of "(Big Joe And) Phantom 309" (from the Step Right Up Tom Waits tribute album). It's probably worth owning the physical copy of this as well, thanks to the brilliant new artwork re-imagined by graphic artist Jay Ryan -- necessary because the original work was lost by previous label, Alias Records.

Download: "Harnessed in Slums" [mp3]

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More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Grimes - Visions / "Oblivion" [mp3]
Lambchop - Mr. M / "If Not I'll Just Die," "Gone Tomorrow" [mp3]
Frankie Rose - Interstellar
Tindersticks - The Something Rain
Cursive - I Am Gemini / Free AOL Album Stream
Perfume Genius - Put Your Back N 2 It / "All Waters," "Hood" [mp3]
Leland Sundries - The Foundry EP / Free AOL Album Stream / "Apparition" [mp3]
Josh Ritter - Bringing in the Darlings
Galactic - Carnivale Electricos
Kevn Kinney & The Golden Palominos - A Good Country Mile / Free AOL Album Stream
Terry Malts - Killing Time / "Nauseous" [mp3]
Speech Debelle - Freedom of Speech
My Best Friend - In Ghostlike Fading

tags: music, album review, damien jurado, archers of loaf, sleigh bells, indie rock, new releases

Anticipated Releases Before the 2012 Apocalypse

James Mercer and The Shins to release Port Of Morrow on March 20, their first album in six years.

Now that we've had our first real viable candidate for arbitrary year-end lists, it's time to look at some other releases on the near horizon that hold that kind of potential. Since the world is supposed to end in May or something, we won't look beyond* that. Joining the excellent Cloud Nothings' Attack On Memory are anticipated releases from The Shins, Dirty Projectors, Sleigh Bells, Sharon Van Etten, Damien Jurado, Justin Townes Earl and more.

*Releases dates and titles are in flux that far into the future anyway, right?

Guided By Voices - Let's Go Eat the Factory (Jan 17) / Class Clown Spots A UFO (May 22)
The classic lineup of Guided By Voices proved that there's more than just bit of nostalgia driving the reunion along -- there's genuine enthusiasm towards making new records, as evidenced by the recently released Let's Go Eat the Factory (Spotify). While that album was good and not necessarily reaching levels high enough to make this list on its own, the fact that the experience has led to another album due in May (Class Clown Spots A UFO), makes this twofer scenario already one of 2012's great stories.

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Leonard Cohen Old Ideas (January 31)
The Lord Byron Of Rock ‘n’ Roll seems to be letting go of erotic despair and taking a more direct lyrical route to induce a 'sigh.' Old Ideas (Spotify) is the best the artist has released since Reagan-era I'm Your Man, and that's pretty high praise. Cohen's baritone has gotten even deeper and his lyrical wit has followed suit. Could be that rare instant classic akin to Bob Dylan's Time Out of Mind.

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Sharon Van Etten - Tramp (Feb 7)
Sharon Van Etten has grown with every release, and her stature has grown with every appearance she's made on other artist releases. Her third album -- her first on Jagjaguwar records -- has her teaming up with The National's Aaron Dessner as producer, and features guest appearances from the likes of Beirut's Zach Condon and Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner, making it easily one of our most anticipated albums of early 2012.
Already streaming on Spotify and NPR First Listen.

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Sleigh Bells Reign Of Terror (Feb 21)
Derek Miller's guitars are still larger than life and singer Alexis Krauss vocals' sticky sweet, but the dial has consciously been turned down a bit on the decibel meter. Miller confessed the "in the red" clipping of their amazing debut (Treats) turned him off a bit. While the two singles released thus far ("Born to Lose," "Comeback Kid") do indeed keep in the green, they've sacrificed none of what made their debut such a... um... treat.

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Damien Jurado - Maraqopa (Feb 21)
The somber uncle of the Pacific NW's Folk scene reunites with producer/musician Richard Swift to follow up 2010's revelatory Saint Bartlett. Maraqopa builds on that release's atmospherics, taking the sound to dark and mysterious places further into the foggy thicket of Jurado and Swift's imagination. Be sure to leave a trail of breadcrumbs, sweet children.

Download: "Nothing is the News" / "Museum of Flight" [mp3] (via Secretly Canadian)

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The Shins - Port Of Morrow (Mar 20)
Speaking of Richard Swift, he now plays keyboards with the James Mercer Players, otherwise known as The Shins. It's been several years since Wincing the Night Away came out (2007), their Sub Pop swan song, but Mercer hasn't been slacking. The success of his Broken Bells project with Danger Mouse is some of the cause of fans having to endure this wait, but Mercer has been working on the album the whole time. First single "Simple Song" suggests that he's comfortable with the band's new home on Columbia Records (via his own imprint, Aural Apothecary Records) and that Port of Morrow will be an even bigger seller.

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Justin Townes Earle - Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now (Mar 27)
With this next release, prefacing mention of JTE with "son of Steve" will no longer be necessary. As JTE grows with each release, Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now sees the artist's sound moving away from Nashville towards Memphis, with the addition of that city's traditional Soul sound. Throw in some folk and a bit of Americana and you have a highly anticipated release.

Download: "Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now" [mp3] (via Rolling Stone)

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Dirty Projectors - TBA (Spring 2012)
Since they were responsible for the best album of 2009 in Bitte Orca, it only stands to reason that their follow up would be on this list. Not much is known about it -- album title is TBA as is the release date -- but the fact that it's impending is enough for us. Whatever David Longstreth and crew throws at us is guaranteed to get hyped, digested, analyzed and reported.

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Santigold - Master of My Make Believe (Spring 2012)
A lot has happened in the world of diva pop since Santi White released her debut under the moniker Santogold. For one, she's now Santigold thanks to a lawsuit, and Lady Gaga has stormed the landscape like some wardrobe-obsessed Godzilla. The first single ("Big Mouth") from Santigold's anticipated Master of My Make Believe seems to tackle both of these items. As a date in time, TBA cannot come soon enough.

Download: "Big Mouth" [mp3] (via Santigold.com)

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Assuming that we survive the Mayan Calendar, we're theoretically excited about these releases coming down the pipe... but until there's titles and release dates, we're treating them as hypothetical (I'm looking at you, The Wrens!).
The Wrens - Putting a Wrens release down here is akin to Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown... but reports are they've got enough for two albums' worth. So we'll know by 2014 how they'll proceed.
Fiona Apple - See directly above and add Jon Brion plus some label indifference.
The Xx - They've been in the studio working on their sophomore follow up, which has many excited.
Phoenix - France's pop juggernauts have been writing and recording since last year and are reportedly moving into a more experimental direction, relating to some of their work on Sofia Coppola's Somewhere soundtrack, for whatever that's worth.

Bonus: We have two huge ATL reunions with an ATL follow up cherry on top:
Outkast - Out of the frying pan (Jive Records) and into the fire (Epic Records), Andre 3000 and Big Boi are back together.
Goodie Mob - Cee-Lo, K-Mo, Khujo and Big Gipp reunited recently to perform at the 2011 Soul Train Awards.
Janelle Monae - The diminutive diva is said to be releasing TWO albums in 2012 along with a film.

Love's fault

Three little words... that's all it takes from Ryan to unite he and Taylor for the next four years at Berkley. Love and school... a theme that Bloc Party's album (A Weekend in the City,) touches on with their song "I Still Remember," which recounts what could have been:

And our love could have soared
Over playgrounds and rooftops
Every park bench screams your name
I kept your tie

The twist here, of course, is that the fleeting encounter is between two school boys, a storyline that's still fringe territory here in the states. The song might be their best chance at a hit here the US (see video,) and it will be interesting to see how it translates. Elsewhere, Rogue Wave sucks the life out of the classic Pixies "Debaser," making it palatable for Taylor's birthday party and Damien Jurado solemly asks "would you change your last name to mine?" on the song "What Are the Chances."

Back to themes, throughout the episode there is a constant reminder of impending doom. In response to the constant predictions of an earthquake, Taylor and Summer tempt fate by wishing that "the big one" would just happen already, and Seth and Summer go to an art/film exhibit featuring a plethora of reminders that little by little, the earth is being destroyed.

Seth: "Let's go rent An Inconvenient Truth, I want to count how many times Al Gore looks solemnly out of an airplane window"
Summer: "Do not make fun of Al Gore!"

And when the real earthquake hits, it makes Grey's Anatomy's little ferry incident look like a shriner parade. Only two episodes left, which it looks like they'll at least need to deal with the quake's aftermath. I can guarantee you I'll work 'aftershock' into next week's post.

Playlist: The O.C. - Episode 414
1. "I Still Remember" - Bloc Party - Taylor and Summer discuss Taylor's birthday and college plans while shopping
2. "Broken In All The Right Places" - i am jen - Summer visits Ryan at work to talk to him about Taylor's birthday
3. "Debaser" - Rogue Wave - Taylor's birthday party, when she first arrives
4. "What Were The Chances" - Damien Jurado - Taylor's birthday cake is presented
5. "The Sad Song" - Fredo Viola - The end of the episode as night falls on Newport

Previously: Combien du temps? (Episode 4.13)

tags: music, television, soundtrack, the oc, bloc party, pixies, rogue wave, inconvenient truth, indie rock, rhapsody