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To cap off their excellent 2009, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart have released the Higher Than The Stars EP which features four brand-spanking-new songs. The EP finds the band going in a decidedly more hi-fi direction and reveals a new influence for them: New Order. For the most part, the band still sounds like "Belle & Sebastian gone fuzzy" (as my friend astutely labeled them), but "Higher Than The Stars" provides a dazzling new synth-wrinkle in their sound.
My review of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' spellbinding show at Radio City Music Hall is up now for your reading pleasure at PopMatters. If you weren't there, here's a little taste of what you missed:
Full disclosure: I've never been a serious Flaming Lips fan. I mean, I dig The Soft Bulletin and "Do You Realize??" as much as the next guy (ok, maybe not THAT guy), but I've never been tempted to drop the "L word" when it comes to the Flaming Lips. That said, the band's new album, Embryonic, has me put in full-on evangelical mode. I fucking LOVE this album. Embryonic is dark, bracing music. It's claustrophobic, bass-driven, full of raw nerves and crackling with energy. When Wayne Coyne told interviewers that the band's new music was some amalgam of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Joy Division, I figured he was full of the worst kind of shit. Turns out he wasn't - the yolk is on my face. While Wayne's reference points are somewhat accurate, Embryonic mostly recalls the scabrous, intergalactic psych of Pink Floyd's The Piper At The Gates of Dawn and the prismatic krautrock of Can's Tago Mago. Speaking of which, "Convinced of the Hex" cops it's wicked rhythm from Can's "Mushroom" and rides it into the sun. The guitar and keyboards aren't played so much so as plucked and stabbed at - emitting feedback flares and booming squelches in the process. On the first listen, it may sound like a chaotic mind-fuck, but, by the fifth listen, it will be lodged in your brain and your hips will be helpless to resist it's voodoo groove.
High Places quietly snuck out a new single for Halloween, but it's not attached to any larger release. The most surprising thing about this holiday treat is that it's probably their best song to date. At the very least, it's the most accomplished song they've released. Fittingly, the production is a thick, ominous swirl. There are also instruments new to High Places: bassoon and guitar. However, they've been smeared to the point that they blend seamlessly into the band's sound-world.
The song's eeire, black & white video was directed by the band (and presumably under the influence of The Knife).
I've been anxiously awaiting Yeasayer's follow-up to 2007's All Hour Cymbals. So, a new Yeasayer song is a glorious way to start my Friday. "Ambling Alp" is our first taste of their sophomore album, Odd Blood, and it's definitely something new for the band. "Ambling" is a perfect adjective for the song - it's a slithery thing formed from jittery electronics and a woozy calypso groove. Sonically, it's more related to "Tightrope" than anything from All Hours Cymbals. Based on the several new songs I heard Yeasayer perform this summer ("Ambling Alp" among them), I have no doubt Odd Blood is going to be a new and thrilling beast.
The video for No Age's "Losing Feeling" was done by feature film director Gil Kenan (Monster House, City of Ember) and features two adorable, stop-motion mice - one from the field, one from the city - who get into some shenanigans. Make sure you watch until the end.
My review of Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson's Summer of Fear is up on PopMatters. If you missed my post on the album's first single, "The Sound", check it out here.
When I last posted about Local Natives, the band did not have a record label or release date for their debut album, Gorilla Manor. It looks like things are starting to change: the guys have secured a deal with the UK's legendary Rough Trade Records, and their debut will be released on 11/02 - over there. I can only assume a U.S. deal/release is pending. Anyways, I'm really here to talk about "Airplanes" - a song I've been listening to compulsively for weeks. It begins with the band letting out some feral moans not unlike the Wild Things. This intro is incidental to the actual song, but it's a cute, charming way of letting you know "this is a song about a broken heart." As far as heartbreak songs go, "Airplanes" is pretty upbeat with its mix of Beatlesque pomp and the Fleet Foxes' soaring chamber-folk. If you're not singing along to the rousing chorus of "I love it all so much/I call: I want you back!" by the end of the song, you may need to check yourself for a pulse.
The Smith Westerns' self-titled debut has been on heavy rotation at casa de cephalopod for a couple months now, and I've been eager to hear more from this band of Chicago teenagers. Taken from a forthcoming 7" on Fat Possum, "Imagine, Pt. 3" shows these guys are already coming out of the garage and spreading their studio wings. While the T. Rex fixation of the debut is still firmly in place, "Imagine, Pt. 3" sounds like George Martin dragged Mr. Bolan down to Abbey Road studios for a weekend.
If you haven't already heard the supremely excellent "Be My Girl" from the aforementioned debut, grab it here.
I am very much a "seasonal listener" which means I like listening to music that corresponds to the current season. Sometimes, the connection is entirely logical (i.e. Beach Boys = summer) and, other times, it is entirely personal/nostalgic (i.e. none of your business). Fall/autumn is my favorite season, and, therefore, "fall music" tends to be my favorite music. Courtesy of New Zealand's finest, Surf City, I have a fantastic new fall jam for you. Title aside, "Autumn" really does conjure up those brisk fall days filled with multi-hued leaves and pumpkin-flavored everything. It sorta sounds like Pavement and Animal Collective collaborating on a gritty shoegaze track. Surf City's debut LP isn't due until early next year, but this track has me expecting very good things.
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson (who I will refer to as MBAR from now on) just released his Saddle Creek debut Summer of Fear. The title refers to a summer, a few years ago, that MBAR spent homeless, heartbroken and addicted to drugs. The album’s first single, “The Sound”, is one of many redemption songs on the album. The guitar’s stinging leads and silver curlicues are textbook Tom Verlaine, and MBAR’s vocals take on a raw, bluesy howl eerily akin to TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone (who actually produced Summer of Fear). After hearing MBAR bellow “Why would I try to hang on to anyone else?/It’s a hard enough time trying to hang on to myself,” you know this is a guy who isn’t just kicking drugs - he’s kicking himself.
Sweden's Kristian Matsson (better known as The Tallest Man On Earth) recently recorded a Daytrotter session and, like many who have gone before him, he made the most of his visit. First of all, he performed a lovely, banjofied cover of Bob Dylan's "I Want You", but that's just the icing on the cake. He also performed 3 songs from his debut LP, Shallow Grave, with alternate instrumentation. It may not sound like much, but considering that each of the songs was originally recorded on just an acoustic guitar or banjo, their tone/feel alters considerably when performed on piano ("I Won't Be Found") or electric guitar ("This Wind").
The ridiculously-named-but-totally-awesome London duo Fuck Buttons is returning to bombard our senses with their mighty sophomore album Tarot Sport. When I say "bombard our senses", I mean that Fuck Buttons' music leaves me stricken with the most wonderful case of synesthesia, and I can only assume I'm not the only one. For what is essentially instrumental noise music, Fuck Buttons compose some highly evocative stuff. Tarot Sport is unrelentingly epic, danceable and euphoric. While this edited single version of "Surf Solar" is a perfectly fine appetizer, it's nowhere near as mind-blowing as the full 10 minute version. "Surf Solar" and the rest of Tarot Sport could accurately be described as a continued exploration of Street Horrrsing's "Bright Tomorrow." Every song on Tarot Sport is driven by a pounding 4/4 beat and awash in heavenly white noise and undulating layers of synth that alternately twinkle and pulse. This music doesn't just make me see colors - I'm seeing whole damn movies. If anyone ever makes a film of the Silver Surfer hanging ten off of a massive solar flare, your soundtrack is ready.
To cap off their excellent 2009, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart have released the Higher Than The Stars EP which features four brand-spanking-new songs. The EP finds the band going in a decidedly more hi-fi direction and reveals a new influence for them: New Order. For the most part, the band still sounds like "Belle & Sebastian gone fuzzy" (as my friend astutely labeled them), but "Higher Than The Stars" provides a dazzling new synth-wrinkle in their sound.
