featured releases
(Drag City) 3CD & 3LP (!)
Wow. Little murmurs, a few web peeks & then BAM: three pieces of wax like THAT! It goes without saying that Joanna’s Ys quickly ascended the ranks of “modern classics” – it’s quietly grown & maintained an untarnished sense of purity & beauty over the last couple of years. The big question was; where does Joanna go from here? The answer has turned out to be even bigger. Have One On Me is a triple CD/LP affair & while it will take a few weeks to soak in all of its splendor, right off the bat with “Easy”, it’s a relief to hear some new tunes from Ms. Newsom. After a couple of rotations, it’s nice to hear some new arrangement ideas, with full accompaniment along on many tracks (including drums). Song lengths aren’t quite as daunting as Ys (even though they’re still 5 minutes +) & sonically the terrain is very familiar, with harp & other plucked instruments alongside piano & Newsom’s voice which seems to have made the same progressive leap from Ys that it made from The Milk-Eyed Mender. A worth of enjoyment awaits with Have One On Me – what a treat to have someone like Joanna Newsom making music in a time like this.
23 February 2010 by Chris Long
| Pop / Rock
(Constellation) CD & 2LP
Their legacy might stem from folky ensembles & collective idealism but the remnants of Godspeed! still got some gusto; Thee Silver Mount Zion sound inspired here, at one moment tapping well worn post-rock grandiosity, the next, busting out punked-up Fugazi-esque post-hardcore. Impassioned tunes & great structuring keeps Kollaps Tradixionales from falling under the “another post rock record” category, with riffs alongside the poetic bleakness that TSMZ execute so well. Kollaps Tradixionales‘ emotional arcs mirror the arduous, challenging, yet rewarding path that the Constellation collective has endured over the last 15 years.
Thee Silver Mount Zion is also on MySpace
17 February 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Avant-Garde, Pop / Rock
(Carpark) CD & LP
Toro Y Moi is producer Chaz Bundick’s solo dreamwave (or chillwave, WHATEVER!) endeavor that adds another quaint little album to the slowly building mountain of shoegaze miniatures that are seamlessly melding 80’s synthpop, post-electro &… well, Boards Of Canada songs (yeah, we said it). Much of Causers Of This sounds like Panda Bear if he went all super synthy & turned down the reverb. Tunes like “Thanks Vision” have that warbly tape vibe of Neon Indian & Washed Out, but still retain the structure of a catchy as hell modern pop tune.
soar through cyberspace to Toro Y Moi’s MySpace
17 February 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Electronic, Pop / Rock
CD & 2LP (Sub Pop)
A jump from Carpark to SubPop & the third dreamy installment from Victoria LeGrand & co’s Beach House project is here. There’s a slight bit more pep here, although the wisping melancholia is still abound, with LeGrande’s sinking, swooning vox doing that thing that worked so well on Devotion & their debut. A early contender for 2010 critics’ lists.
hang out with Beach House on MySpace
6 February 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Pop / Rock
CD & LP (XL)
Like, come on already. Stop being so bloody catchy! Vampire Weekend seem to be “guilty pleasure” for many a music fan these days… um, what is that all about? How about Vampire Weekend are really good. We’ve seriously played this album twice in the store & I’m already singing tunes from it. “Cousins” is the “A-Punk” of this record for sure & despite the slight misstep with the auto-tuned silliness, Contra is a great follow up to one of the best debut albums of the last couple years. Get over it, they’re good. Stop hating life so much. Enjoy yourself. Sing along to these tunes & not smile – I dare you.
stream the album at vampireweekend.com
9 January 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Pop / Rock
CD (local)
Out of nowhere this pops up. Well not really nowhere; My Lovely Son is a dude named Satnam, a loyal Ditch regular & as of late, one of our favourite new local artists. As My Lovely Son, he crafts painfully broken ballads that sit on clouds of reverb-drenched bliss. Amazing attention to production detail makes this stand out, but graceful, sinking hymns also posits My Lovely Son as a formidable songwriter in his own right. Think Mazzy Star meets Doves – dreamy & a bit of a downer, but rewarding & soothing at the same time. Check out the myspace.
My Lovely Son on MySpace
9 January 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Pop / Rock
CD (Acony)
Longtime musical partner of Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings stepped up with a bright spark at the end of 2009. A Friend Of A Friend was recorded in Nashville & continues along the musical lineage that Rawlings is best known for; old-timey folk, country & bluegrass, executed with brilliant musicianship. Having contributed work/production to Bright Eyes, Old Crow Medicine Show & of course Gillian Welch, Rawlings is a pillar in the true-grass roots scene that has nurtured so many of his cohorts & this record is a testament to his ability to bring all these elements together for a coherent album. Be sure to check the amazing 10 minute epic “Method Acting/Cortez The Killer”, a tune that beautifully bridges Bright Eyes & Neil Young. Gillian Welch features on half of the album’s cuts.
Dave Rawlings page
9 January 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Pop / Rock
CD & LP (BlakRoc)
The Black Keys collab with a whole slew of proper MCs… from a distance, this definitely didn’t have “obviously awesome” written all over it. But after having Dangermouse produce Attack & Release, the Black Keys seem to have a tasteful sense of what works within the dangerous confines of the “ROCK vs. RAP” cagematch. BlakRoc is pleasantly thumping, with a great balance of classic 90’s-era cats spitting flows over some well-crafted arrangements from the amazing blues-rock duo. Rza, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Jim Jones & others are framed with tracks that tap 60’s soul & 70’s rock (the type of shit that was sampled to death during the era that most of these MCs were dominant), with the occasional croon from Dan Auerbach adding that spice. And so yeh, this works.
BlakRoc on MySpace
9 January 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Hip-Hop, Pop / Rock
CD & LP (Domino)
What a 2009 for these dudes. The post-??Post Pavillion?? aftermath has been kind to AC. “My Girls” was basically song of the year & people all over from Billy Bragg to Modeselektor have championed the deft balance of psychedelia, pop & weirdness that Panda Bear & co. seem to have mastered. Fall Be Kind is, well, nothing new at this point, but we don’t hear anyone complaining about that. It seems that people still can’t get enough of tunes like “What Would I Want? Sky”, another soaring, anthemesque Beach Boyish workout.
Can they do no wrong?
Animal Collective on MySpace
8 January 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Pop / Rock
CD (Stones Throw)
29 year old Michigan native Mayer Hawthorne aka Drew Cohen has been honing his chops throughout California, settling in L.A. as DJ Haircut over the last few years. His sample-heavy style of funky soul production caught the ear of Peanut Butter Wolf, who commissioned an album from the fresh face. A Strange Arrangement draws heavily from those that Cohen admires; Smokey Robinson, Curtis Mayfield & most notably, Stevie Wonder. The uplifting, half-light-hearted vibes of these artists are felt throughout, with deft attention to the vintage funk/soul sound that has been popularized recently by artists like Sharon Jones & the like, although Mayer Hawthorne is a more pop & soft-soul than hard-hitting funk. Fresh.
Mayer Hawthorne on MySpace
8 January 2010 by Jeremy Robinson
| Jazz / Soul / Funk, Pop / Rock
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