After
last week's riches, it's hard not to feel a bit of a letdown. However, thanks to some early arrivals from
The Black Angels,
Lyrics Born and
Make Believe along with the new releases from
M83,
Black Francis,
The Child Ballads,
The Brian Jonestown Massacre and
The Kooks, it's still a better than average week for releases.
Playlist:
New Releases 04.15.08
Album:
The Black Angels - Directions to See a Ghost
The latest from Austin's
The Black Angels isn't actually due in stores for another month, but through the ingenuity of Drake fave label
Light in the Attic Records, you can go to participating stores and buy a pre-sale card for $12.99, which gives you a unique online code to
download tracks from LITA. Then, once May 13th arrives, you can go back to the store and pick up your deluxe embossed CD digipak release, with bonus CD EP of 4 unreleased tracks. It's a brilliant move on LITA's part, even knowing that this is The Black Angels last release on the label (they've since signed on with Interscope imprint Suretone). Because the virtual purchase also also buys you the CD,
Directions to See a Ghost should get a corresponding spike on Billboard it's first week. Still won't be top 40, mind you, but it's bound to get LITA a heatseeker notice, which is a good way for the Angels to leave the label that gave them their start. Enough about the delivery of
Directions -- how does it sound? Is saying it's
Passover pt. 2 a bad thing? It might be pure laziness on my part, but if you liked their debut, you're going to like this one as well. The hypnotic
Velvet Underground-meets-13th Floor Elevators sound is still on full display, should be enough to go on. If the one-two punch of openers
"You On The Run" and
"Doves" doesn't grab you, then try
"Mission District," which effortlessly transports you to the Bay Area's pyschedelic past.
Full Album Stream
Album:
Lyrics Born - Everywhere At Once
Listening to the Bay Area's
Lyrics Born won't get you any street cred, but who needs the street when planning a party. LB's funk grooves and good time party rap aren't the kind of joints that speak of a hard-knock life, but the good natured funk grooves are too infectious to worry about being 'authentic.' He's no
Young MC, though, as LB's got a full band behind him now, recalling some of
the Gap Band grooves along with party beats not unlike those that Afrika Bambaataa employed during his heyday. Hot tracks like
"Don't Change," "Hott 2 Deff" and
"I Like It, I Love It" will make many mixes in the coming summer, each proof in their own way that there's no shame in loving a little LB.
Full Album Stream from AOL
Album:
M83 - Saturdays=Youth
Frenchman Anthony Gonzalez (aka
M83) gives up some of the
My Bloody Valentine layered guitars for an ode to 80's synth acts like
Cocteau Twins and early
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (who fittingly enough, this week see the reissue of their great 1983 album
Dazzle Ships). The lush 80's soundscapes explore the themes of youth, so you have to forgive the lyrics at times, which sometimes seem like the scratchings from a Pee-Chee.
"Kim & Jessie" is pure 80's brilliance, capturing young lovers who have a secret hiding place, and
"Graveyard Girl" is a deliberate nod in the direction of the John Hughes' film
Pretty in Pink, even name dropping Molly Ringwald. Too bad this album wasn't done two years ago, as it would've been perfect for
Sofia Coppola's re-imagined Marie Antoinette, with it's rich new wave textures. It's an album that hits a bullseye on the target it's aiming for, but I can't help feeling that in a month or so I won't be as drawn to it's charms, unlike, say,
Pretty in Pink.
Free AOL Album Stream
More on the radar this week:
Make Believe - Going to the Bone Church (in Rhapsody a week early)
Black Francis - Svn FngersThe Child Ballads - Cheekbone Hollows (Pop. 1/2 Life) /
"Cheekbone Hollows" [mp3]The Kooks - Konk /
Free album stream from AOLThe Brian Jonestown Massacre - My Bloody UndergroundJoseph Arthur - Crazy Rain /
"Nothin 2 Hide [mp3]Does It Offend You, Yeah? - You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself IntoPhantom Planet - Raise the Dead /
Free album stream from AOLTristan Prettyman - Hello /
Free album stream from AOLJames McMurtry - Just Us KidsJordan Zevon - Insides Out /
Free album stream from AOLFrightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ FightThe Autumns - Fake Noise from a Box of Toys /
"Boys" "Killer in Drag" [mp3]
The Plastic Constellations - We Appreciate You /
"Stay That Way" [mp3]
Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Vol. 3 & 4: Air & EarthThe Gossip - Live In Liverpool /
"Yr Mangled Heart (Live)" [mp3]
ReissuesOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) - Dazzle Shipstags: music, album review, foals, man man, nick cave, wye oak, indie rock, new releases, rhapsody
