2011 3rd Quarter

Fave releases from quarter 3 of the year:

The War on Drugs - Slave Ambient

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy

Lydie Loveless - Indestructible Machine

Wilco - The Whole Love

Blood Orange - Coastal Grooves

I Break Horses - Hearts

Washed Out - Within and Without

Memory Tapes - Player Piano

Glen Campbell - Ghost on the Canvas

Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lenses Alien

Liam Finn - Fomo



Post Edited (09-25-11 19:14)

War on Drugs - Slave Ambient
Jackson Brown and Tom Petty astonish the medical community by having a kid who then grows up to be a shoegazer. (Indie community also notices).

St. Vincent - Strange Mercy
This is a chick who thrives on early Bowie or what? Wait a second...this is pretty off-kilter if you think about it. Actually it's not at all what it sounded like at first. It's bizarre. No, wait, since it's catchy I'll call it quirky. No...wait...

Glen Campbell - Ghost on the Canvas
Will be perplexed when he finds the timing wheels on the indie cred machine have suddenly clicked into place on his career. Hopefully credited for the effort, aside from the Westerberg connect and not the pity thang.

Wilco - The Whole Love
The studio's not important for this band anymore. But this effort is more than the usual; several keepers.

Girls - Father Son Holy Ghost
A likely year-end pick. Love how the seemingly straight-ahead has hints of Starflyer 59, House of Love, Frank-&-Walters, etc. Can battle it out with Cymbals Eat Guitars as the current flag bearers of indie nation.

Wild Flag
You already know what they'll sound like, so you check the songs, production, & blend of musicianship. Win.

Howling Bells - Loudest Engine
Moving on from the misstep 2nd LP by moving back. Some choice cuts here.



Post Edited (09-26-11 06:45)

Is this two consecutive Glen Campbell recommendations? Did I miss something? Did Glenn freakin Capmpell become hip all of a sudden a la Johnny Cash?



Post Edited (09-26-11 11:36)

Campbell's new album is really good. His previous one got a lot of attention and was okay, but it was a pretty obvious attempt at trying to grab that late-career/Johnny Cash-sings-the-songs-of-them-youngsters style comeback magic.

This one still has the "old guy meets the hipsters" thing going on, but feels much more personal. And it helps that the "hipsters" whose work is mined - Westerberg, Isaak, Pollard, even Billy Corgan - are old farts themselves who grew up on Glen Campbell music.

And sure, there's the backstory that colors the whole project (this is Campbell's final album before he retires due to advancing Alzheimers) and normally I try to resist that sort of window dressing - I could give a shit if Bon Iver recorded his album in a hunting cabin in the woods in the winter, for instance - but I defy anyone to listen to Campbell's version of "Hold On Hope" with dry eyes knowing what he's going through. This album is all about sentimentality and saying goodbye and is designed specifically to put a lump in the throat, and for me anyway it works like gangbusters.

The cynic in me acknowledges that I'm being manipulated to a certain extent, but the Midwestern country boy in me doesn't give a damn, because even with the blatant heartstring-tugging it's a heartfelt, well-crafted benediction to a long career that has had its definite highs and lows. The sentimentality is well-earned, but more importantly, it's not the main story - it's just a damn good album all around.



Post Edited (09-26-11 11:02)

In addition to the many worthies already mentioned:

Paradise - Slow Club
A substantial improvement on their debut. Here's the video for "Two Cousins"...

Pajama Club - Pajama Club
This is much better than I'd expected/feared. Way to go, old married people! [reviewedmusic.com]

I need to check it out. Ghost on the Canvas is my favorite song from Paul's anarchaic mp3 releasing period (that he seems stuck in.)

Q3
Love! : Era Extrana, Within and Without, Bon Iver, Freaking Out EP

I haven't bothered picking up the Memory Tapes album... not sure why. This is Our Life is an awesome song sounding like the Bee Gees playing Power Pop.

I haven't really liked the one song off the new Big Troubles album...and now Pitchfork blasted it confirming my suspicions...

2 major bright spots to come:

M83. Ive listened to this at a friends house several times and it is awesome. Like Bon Iver, there is some major Peter Gabriel influence which you would never guess from their last one.

Real Estate. Ducktails 3 certainly will make my top 5. Between the 2 Matthew Modanile is making some good stuff.

> And it helps that the "hipsters" whose work is mined — Westerberg, Isaak, Pollard, even Billy
> Corgan — are old farts themselves who grew up on Glen Campbell music.

Man, if Corgan knew someone was calling him an "old fart," I wonder how he'd respond. Would he write a scathing riposte? Or would he whimper and cry? Or both?

Haven't been too active truth be told but am digging Era Extraña by Neon Indian and Dark Magic by The Sand Pebbles whom I've just discovered are probably the only band in the world to have five members born in five different decades, from the ’50s to the ’90s.

This War On Drugs record IS a very nice record. Thanks for the recommendations guys. I find it almost indistinguishable from a Kurt Vile record, however. If you munged these songs onto Smoke Rings For My Halo, I wouldnt notice the slightest disconnect. When I check the liner notes: sure enough Kurt Vile plays on the record!

kurt vile record....

You should probably check, then, the J mascis/Kurt Vile release
Several Shades
[www.youtube.com]

"Is this two consecutive Glen Campbell recommendations? "
Not sure if I'd recommend it unless yr a fan, but I think it's noteworthy outside the normal confines.

Gold-Bears - Are You Falling in Love?*
What if Ted Leo joined the Wedding Present and covered Best Coast with the Reids and Shields producing? What if they sped the master until all objects had halos? What if they worshiped the Cure, were winsome like Smithereens and were the upcoming labelmates of buds Pains of Being?

Malkmus - Mirror Traffic
Stephen has a thorn
Tweezing it causes a groove
We then benefit

Buffalo Tom - Skins
The reunion album was good but this one revisits the classic sound. Several new classics for fans of the Tom.

Gold Leaves - Ornament
Sure this is a Fleet Foxes clone, but it's better than their new one, so there. Listen to track 8 and tell me that's not McCulloch.

White Denim
The Denim add a guitarist and go prog! Not a lot of catchy hooks but complex, lyrically improved, and crafted. Will really appeal to certain fans whom will never experience exposure, sadly.


*edit::I'm not sure if it invalidates my earlier impression but today it sounds more like BoyRacer vs. Flying Saucer Attack



Post Edited (10-01-11 00:15)

> ... am digging Era Extraña by Neon Indian ... from the ’50s to the ’90s.

So, Aitch, it sounds like you've probably been groovin' on another new album by another hot group. Let's see, what's the band called ... damn, it's right on the tip of my tongue ...

Oh yeah! â¦É³Ò¿ÃÕ â¦É³ÒÊÔ¹¤éÒ¿ÃÕ â»ÃâÁ·ÊÔ¹¤éÒ¿ÃÕ, the new one by ŧ»ÃСÒÈ¿ÃÕ !

Always the taste-maker, aren't ya Aitch.

"Always the taste-maker, aren't ya Aitch."
Comes with the territory when you hang out with johnythai.

I'm not sure what quarter this is, but the King Creosote & Jon Hopkins record is pretty remarkable. For those who like the moody, atmospheric, beautiful stuff. (I imagine the Besnard Lakes people would find something here to love. . . )