It's an eclectic mix of new releases this week, including some moody music out of the UK, led by trip-hop pioneer Tricky, whose latest album is, according to our Music Director, Don Yates, "his most focused effort in years" featuring the sounds he's most known for, i.e. "gloomy, mostly downtempo beats and haunting textures with a variety of (mostly female) guest vocalists paired with Tricky’s own bleak muttering vocals." Among the more notable guests is the ethereal voiced Antlers frontman Peter Silberman. Another brooding new album comes from fellow Brit artist Laura Marling, whose fourth LP "is a masterful set of dark, intimate folk-pop" that seems more conceptually composed than her previous efforts as it builds from sparse guitar work to lush orchestration that highlights Marling’s "husky, elastic vocals, spellbinding melodies and probing, sometimes cutting lyrics." More moody music comes from UK duo Mount Kimbie, whose second album develops their formerly sample-heavy sound by "fleshing out their moody post-dubstep sound with the addition of live instrumentation along with occasional vocals". And though Baltimore's quirky sound-makers Animal Collective occasionally tend toward some sunnier sounds, their new remix EP poses some interesting challenges to listener's, amplifying the sonic experimentations found on 2012's Centipede Hz.
Other interesting new releases this week come from sister duo CocoRosie, whose latest is "one of their most straightforward and song-oriented albums" yet in keeping with their previous work "combines eerie atmospheric textures and hip hop beats with quavering, child-like vocals and dark, sometimes disturbing lyrics"; from Argentine singer Natalia Clavier, a frequent vocalist with Thievery Corporation, whose second solo album features "a lush, groove-driven electro-pop sound inflected with R&B, rock, reggae and various Latin styles to accompany her sultry vocals"; from Malian guitarist (and son of the legendary Ali Farka Toure) Vieux Farka Toure, who "pays tribute to his strife-torn homeland with this gorgeous set of acoustic-oriented Malian blues, combining Toure’s fluid guitar work and raspy vocals with a variety of traditional West African instrumentation"; and California songwriter/producer Will Wiesenfeld, a.k.a. Baths, whose sophomore effort "finds him evolving his sound, adding a darker and more band-oriented approach to his unique mixture of post-modern pop and delicate beats."
There's much more waiting for you in record stores today, including the second album by Brooklyn-via-Austin indie-pop project Brazos, Woodsist Records' rockers Alex Bleeker and the Freaks, New Orleans trumpeter and singer (and Treme favorite) Kermit Ruffins, plus reissues of early albums by Damien Jurado and King Tuff, and a fascinating collection of "old-time" outsider music curated by Frank Fairfield. Sample these and more below before heading out to pick them up:
Animal Collective - New Town Burnout (Shabazz Palaces Remix)
Baths - Ironworks
On their dreamy fifth album, Scottish band Camera Obscura adds a local flavor by recording with Portland based producer (and former Seattleite) Tucker Martine. Our Music Director, Don Yates, calls Desire Lines "a beautifully crafted set of bittersweet, soul-tinged indie-pop, featuring a warm, lush …
Among all the new releases this week, it's hard to escape the one from Daft Punk. Their new album, Random Access Memories, is the first by the band in eight years. The 13-track record begins with a bang via its track "Give Life Back to Music", a funky, 70's-inspired song with trademark robot-style …
