Playlist: New Releases 03.02.10

Peter Gabriel – Scratch My Back
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When the tracklisting was revealed for Peter Gabriel’s covers project, a lot of jaws dropped. It always seemed like Gabriel was one to ignore trends, finding inspiration in the oddest of spaces. With covers of Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Radiohead and others, it turns out Peter Gabriel is more like Davids Bowie and Byrne (both covered here as well) and is in tune with the indie rock trends. Adding to the attraction of the track list is Gabriel’s refined voice and the orchestral arrangements, adding up to something that needs to be heard. At least once. I’m afraid, though, that this is not an album you can listen to a lot. Separately, the songs have a certain novelty factor, but after that wears off, they don’t beat the originals. Again, though, this is an album that needs to be heard.

Jaguar Love – Hologram Jams
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When this Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves union came up, you would’ve never expected this radical evolution to electro-punk. Of course, now that the Pretty Girls Make Graves element (Jay Clark) has been extracted from the equation, I guess anything is possible. Aside from the heavily effected guitars from Cody Votolato, the album is all electronically driven. Throw in the always recognizable vocals from Johnny Whitney and this is a freakishly good time. Just skip the bonus track. That’s no way to treat “Piece of My Heart.”

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Japanther – Rock n’ Roll Ice Cream / “Spread So Thin” [mp3]
Portugal. The Man – American Ghetto / “Dead Dog” [mp3]
The Ruby Suns – Fight Softly / Free AOL album stream / “Cranberry” [mp3]
Rogue Wave – Permalight / Free AOL album stream / “Good Morning” [mp3]
Citizen Cope – The Rainwater LP
Athlete – Black Swan / Free AOL album stream
Groove Armada – Black Light / Free AOL album stream
Shearwater – The Golden Archipelago
Shooter Jennings & Hierophant- Black Ribbons
Sarah Silverman – Songs of the Sarah Silverman Program: From Our rears to Your Ears! / Free AOL album stream
Raheem Devaughn – The Love & War Masterpeace
Yellow Swans – Going Places
Twin Tigers – Gray Waves / Free AOL album stream
Almost Alice / Free AOL album stream

REISSUES
Fela Kuti – Shakara / London Scene

Drake’s Take: New Releases 02.16.10

It’s a deeper week than last, but not as top heavy. I’ve been loving this new Field Music release, and the Freeway & Jake One joint is a charmer. Elsewhere, there’s the latest from Robert Pollard, Local Natives, Mumford & Sons, Adam Green, Tindersticks, Lightspeed Champion, Juliana Hatfield, The Art Museums and a special Preservation Hall Jazz Band benefit release featuring guest vocals from an eclectic collection of voices like Tom Waits, Jim James, Pete Seeger, Jason Isbell, Andrew Bird, Merle Haggard and more.

Playlist: New Releases 02.16.10

Measure, in musical terms, is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. With a band that’s as precise as Field Music, it seems appropriate that their title be so… um… precise as well. While the band thrives on precision, they build chaos around that proper BritPop sound, bleeding the edge. Field Music went on hiatus back in 2007, citing a boredom with the rock format of guitar/bass/drums, and set out to release projects on their own that broke away from their perceived constraints. As such, we got interesting releases from School of Language (David Brewis) and The Week That Was (Peter Brewis). Measure is like a hodge-podge collection of these different styles in one release, mixing the experimentation of the Brewis bros. projects, and the more straight ahead / XTC-influenced BritPop of the band prior. It makes for an initially disorienting ride, but I’ve yet to grow tired of it’s twists and turns. “Them That Do Nothing” sounds like it was written and Field Music had to reunite just to perform it (it’s that good), while “Let’s Write a Book” finds the band at it’s simplest (and, in this context, greatest). It’s a high-wire act all the way through, and at the end you may find yourself relieved that it’s over, but exhilarated all the same.

I have to confess I’m not a huge Freeway fan, but when word got out he had Jake One in tow for this latest release, I was definitely on board. There’s a reason that an instrumental version of the record had to be released as well, as the Seattle producer captures the essence of 70’s soul so well, the rap often sounds like it gets in the way.

Free AOL Album Stream

Best part may just be the packaging:

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Robert Pollard – We All Got out of the Army
Tindersticks – Falling Down a Mountain
Lightspeed Champion – Life is Sweet! Nice to Meet You
Preservation Hall Jazz Band – Preservation: An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program / Free AOL album stream
Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
Jason Faulkner – I’m OK… You’re OK (AOL Album stream)
The Art Museums – Rough Frame EP
Juliana Hatfield – Peace & Love
Adam Green – Minor Love / Free AOL album stream / “What Makes Him Act So Bad”, “Castles and Tassels” [mp3]
Blue Brain – Soft Power / Free AOL album stream / “Ten By Ten” [mp3]
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor / “Sun Hands” [mp3]
The Seven Fields of Aphelion – Periphery
Dum Dum Girls – Jail La La
Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin – Dear Companion / Free AOL album stream / “Something, Somewhere, Sometime” [mp3]
Smoking Popes – It’s Been a Long Day / Free AOL album stream
Son Lux – Weapons EP / “Weapons V” [mp3]
Scanners – Submarine / Free AOL album stream
Mark Matos & Os Beaches – Words of the Knife
Backyard Tire Fire – Good to Be
My Name is Khan

REISSUES
Fela Kuti – Open & Close/Afrodisiac
Fela Kuti – Roforofo Fight/The Fela Singles
Fela Kuti – Koola Lobitos 64-68/The ‘69 L.A. Sessions

Drake’s Take: New Releases 02.09.10

February can be the cruelest of months, even with its brevity. One week you’d swear it was Spring, the next week, you’re spitting icicles. The release schedule kind of feels like that as well. To wit, we’re (mostly) blessed this week with new releases from Hot Chip, Yeasayer and the influential Gil Scott-Heron’s first in 28 years. There’s also notable new joints from The Watson Twins, Panthu Du Prince, Kath Bloom, Massive Attack and also staging a comeback, Sade.

Playlist: New Releases 02.09.10

With their fourth release, Hot Chip seem to have matured and realized they’re romantics at heart. One Life Stand is an awfully serious album in comparison to prior releases, its fuller, richer and their most consistent affair. If it doesn’t attract as much attention, it’s only because they don’t have a killer track like “Over and Over,” or “Ready For the Floor.” Instead, it’s a collection of great songs that are closely related to each other, a thematic collection. The title track is the closest thing to a hit here, while the rest are content to just be good-to-great, a contentment that washes over the album lyrically as well. If Hot Chip are indeed content, at least they’re resting their laurels at a nice peak.

Free AOL album stream

When Brooklyn’s Yeasayer came out of nowhere in 2007 with their Eastern-tinged debut All Hour Cymbals, they didn’t seem so much polarizing as just part of the scene with fellow artists Animal Collective and Dirty Projectors. After hearing their follow-up Odd Blood, that debut almost seems like an elaborate set up now. Even the opening track here, “Children,” sets us off in all kinds of wrong directions, with its industrial edge and weird vocal treatment, as the rest of the album really aims to please far more than freak us out. Between the pugilistic fantasy of “Ambling Alp,” the bouncy “Rome” and an oddly romantic “O.N.E.,” Yeasayer manage to please as well as remain as just strange enough in it’s embrace of world rhythms to avoid a saccharin existence. As I mentioned in a previous post, Security-era Peter Gabriel is a good comparison here, mixing romanticism, pop and African polyrhythms. While it’s bound to confound early fans, I feel like Odd Blood, with time, will win them all back in the before they’re through.

Free AOL Album Stream
Download: “Ambling Alp” [mp3]

REISSUES
Buzzcocks – Another Music in a Different Kitchen

Drake’s Take: New Releases 02.02.10

New release post-Grammys week is always a crapshoot. Most labels avoid it like the plague, as it’s the week award winners see sales bumps, but there are enough music fans out there (namely, me) who don’t give a rat’s ass about who won a Grammy. For those of us, there are some scraps like the new release from (the band formerly known as The Muslims) The Soft Pack and the latest from Dead Moon offshoot Pierced Arrows. This week also sees new releases from The Album Leaf, Midlake, We Are Wolves, The Brunettes and the soundtrack to Shutter Island.

Playlist: New Releases 02.02.10

The name ‘The Muslims’ was never really going to work for this San Diego surf-punk outfit, especially with this album they’ve released under their new name, The Soft Pack. Songs like “C’Mon,” “Answer to Yourself,” “Pull Out” and “Parasites” seem targeted for a larger audience than the grimier tracks they released under their former, less marketable name. Singer Mark Lamkin, who at times sounds an awful like Sam Roberts, delivers his lines as straight-forward as the reverb-soaked guitars, and if it’s welcoming that they sound a little like the Strokes at times, it’s because it’s been awhile since there was some straight ahead indie rock to root for.

Saw them open for Phoenix recently and dug their set, even if your ears had to squint to hear it through the nightmare acoustics of the Showbox SODO location. Look forward to them headlining on their own next time they come through.

Free AOL album stream
Download: “Answer to Yourself” [mp3]

Pierced Arrows – Descending Shadows
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

When frontman Fred Cole broke-up Dead Moon after nearly 20 years together, most knew it wouldn’t be too long before he, and wife Toody, were back on the horse. Pierced Arrows was formed shortly after, and this, their sophomore release has moments that rank with the best that Cole has recorded in his 46 years performing. Cole is 61-years old now, though, and his voice sometimes sounds like a fragment of what it was. Between that and the often sloppy execution, it can feel too amateurish at times (even for Dead Moon), but highlights like “Buried Alive” and Tonight’s the Night ferocity of “Let it Rain” more than make up for it.

Album Streaming at Vice Records
Download: “Let It Rain” [mp3] / “Paranoia” [mp3]

REISSUES
The Units – History of the Units: The Early Years 1977-1983
Attitude Adjustment – The Collection

Drake’s Take: New Releases 01.26.10

And on the fourth Tuesday of January, 2010, let it be known that the motherload hath officially dropped. I had this date circled some time ago thanks to new releases from Los Campesinos!, Beach House and Magnetic Fields, but there’s also fine fare from the likes of Four Tet, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Retribution Gospel, Harvey Milk, Jaga Jazzist, Bettie Serveert and cars & trains.

Playlist: New Releases 01.26.10

I don’t know about everyone else, but I think I have my early contender for album of the year. The hot mess that is Romance is Boring has a misnomer of a title. It’s not the slightest bit boring, and yet has an underlying romantic notion throughout. According to the band, RiB is “about death and decay of the human body, sex, lost love, mental breakdown, football [ahem... soccer] and, ultimately, that there probably isn’t a light at the end of the tunnel.” That’s a lot of ideas swirling about, but it all jells, much like the cornucopia of musical ideas that are brought together in this delicious post-punk package.

The lyrics alone could provide a month’s worth of tweets/facebook updates, while the dual guitar action provides a cacophony of sound that moves between deftly between jarring and orgasmic release. “There Are Listed Buildings” and “Straight In At 101″ are brilliant guitar pop, and, well.. the rest is just so great I can’t be bothered to single one out. RiB isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, I realize, but I firmly believe even the musically timid will appreciate this release with patience, as the initial chaos opens itself up nicely with repeat listens. Los Campesinos! are really hitting their stride now, and with their already prolific pace and growth as artists, it’s entirely possible that RiB will be topped this year by their next album. One can dream…

On the other side of the coin is Beach House’s third release, Teen Dream. No exhilerating highs or noisy moments here, instead just dreamy comfort in the lush vocals of vocalist Victoria Legrand. With TD, their Sub Pop debut, the Baltimore duo have merely polished their already lush sound by upgrading their recording studio. Some of the intimacy of their first two records (Beach House, Devotion), maybe lost in the move, but they more than make up for it in sweet ear candy.

AOL Album Stream
Download: “Norway” [mp3]

REISSUES
Animal Collective – Campire Songs
David Bowie – A Reality Tour / Free AOL album stream

Drake’s Take: New Releases 01.19.10

It’s another decent week for new releases in this first month of 2010, with the much anticipated latest from Drake fave Spoon (is every post this week going to feature Spoon? Perhaps). Other notable releases include new ones from Supergrass offshoot The Hotrats (profiled here), Eels, Surfer Blood, Josephine Foster, Barton Carroll, RJD2, Vulture Whale, Editors, the soundtrack to Crazy Heart, a vintage live Elvis Costello disc and the comedic stylings of Aziz Ansari.

Playlist: New Releases 01.19.10

Coming off their most commercial effort to date in Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Transference feels like a retreat back to basics, going all the way back to Drake Tungsten, Britt Daniel’s now defunct alter ego/solo lo-fi project. A Series of Sneaks, Spoon’s only major label release from 1998, is the album I’d compare it to, as its collection of rough sketches hint at something great and rely in the listener to finish. The album is Spoon in its rawest form, with nearly half the album remaining in demo form, which works well with a common Spoon theme of break-up. It’s the sound of a heart refusing to break, yet breaking all the same. Lead single “Written in Reverse” has Daniel writing himself out of a relationship, which is an act both of defiance and depression. Similarly, another standout track, “Is Love Forever?”, juxtaposes parental love with that of “some ex-girlfriend, call her Heather.” Since the album title is defined as a “redirection of feelings and desires towards a new object,” if Daniel is using the album (and, in turn, us) as part of his psychotherapy, slap a beard on me and call me Sigmund Freud.

AOL Album Stream

In the (fabulous) spirit of David Bowie’s Pin Ups comes this great collection of covers from bands that have inspired Supergrass‘ Gaz Coombes and Danny Goffey. The Oxford lads play it mostly straight on the selections, only re-imagining Beastie Boys‘ “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party),” while the production of Nigel Godrich (Radiohead) unfortunately keeps it from getting too raucous. But you can still hear the glee in their rendering of Bowie’s “Queen Bitch,” and Elvis Costello’s “Pump it Up.” And just about any cover of The Kinks’ “Big Sky” (I miss you Flop) is sure to please, in my book.

REISSUES
Nouvelle Vague – Nouvelle Vague
Bob Log III – School Bus

Drake’s Take: New Releases 12.08.09 – 12.15.09

Here it is, nearly the end of the year and Animal Collective has released a superb EP, reminding us that they started 2009 off right as well. Other than that, there’s the blues/hip-hop collaboration Blakroc. Beyond that… it’s a holiday dumping ground, for the most part.

Playlist: New Releases 12.08.09 to 12.15.09

Leave it to Animal Collective to start and end the year with two of the best releases of 2009. Fall Be Kind almost seems like a reminder to all that Merriweather Post Pavilion released back in January was pretty damn good, and here’s a brilliant EP released during the “garbage time” of the holiday season. “Gaze” is fine enough, but “What Would I Want? Sky” starts off like an AC jam but turns on a dime to become what sounds like a long lost hit for the Beta Band. There’s no throwaways here, making it, perhaps, even harder for them to follow up MPP, given the bar they’ve set. (I wouldn’t bet against them.)

REISSUES
Cloud Cult – They Live on the Sun / Aurora Borealis
Spiritualized – Ladies & Gentlemen, We are Floating in Space (Bonus Tracks)
Paul Weller – Paul Weller

Playlist: Top 50 albums of the 2000s

1. The Wrens – The Meadowlands
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

My top album of the decade is likely not even in many others’ top ten, but I have to stand by The Meadowlands as my pick. The Wrens are notoriously uncompromising, which lead to their showdown with Alan Meltzer time after Secaucus (1996), but the seven year wait was well worth it. Up to that point, The Wrens‘ noise rock was merely exhilarating, but then songwriters Charles Bissell and Kevin Whelen added heartbreaking to the mix and the result is devastating. The overarching theme throughout is failure, but the album is anything but.

Considering this is their only album they released this decade (their motto is ‘Keeping folks waiting…since 1989′), perhaps their long awaiting follow up will top the next decade. They have to finish the album first, of course.

2. Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

Wilco’s last album with the late Jay Bennett was a war. Much of the conflict both in the recording and with the record label was captured in the great documentary I’m Trying to Break Your Heart. By the time the album finally got a proper release, 9/11 happened, adding serious levity to a song like “Ashes of American Flags” and more. And the release still holds up to this day, while should be noted that no other Wilco (Bennett-less) follow up makes this list.

3. Spoon – Kill the Moonlight
Stream / Purchase [mp3]

With Kill the Moonlight, Britt Daniel and drummer/producer Jim Eno peeled away the layers and boiled the Spoon sound down for a minimalist feel. It’s an approach that served them well on this release.

4. Radiohead – Kid A
5. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
6. Arcade Fire – Funeral
7. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
8. Sigur Rós – Ágætis Byrjun
9. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca
10. Modest Mouse – The Moon & Antarctica
11. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavilion
12. The National – Boxer
13. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
14. The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday
15. Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest
16. Radiohead In Rainbows
17. Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand
18. Spoon – Girls Can Tell
19. Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker
20. Outkast – Stankonia
21. Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
22. The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America
23. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
24. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
25. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary
26. Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
27. The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
28. Daft Punk – Discovery
29. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells
30. The Strokes – Is This It
31. M.I.A. Arular
32. Scott Walker – The Drift
33. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
34. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
35. Jay-Z – The Blueprint
36. Broken Social Scene – You Forgot It in People
37. Future of the Left – Travels With Myself and Another
38. Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies
39. Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
40. Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy
41. The Knife – Silent Shout
42. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
43. The National – Alligator
44. Madvillian – Madvilliany
45. Animal Collective – Feels
46. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
47. Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
48. The Shins – Chutes Too Narrow
49. Fiery Furnaces – Blueberry Boat
50. Elliott Smith – Figure 8

More in no particular order after the jump.

Portishead – Third
Mclusky – Mclusky Do Dallas
Deerhunter – Microcastle
The White Stripes – Elephant
Burial – Untrue
Fugazi – The Argument
Kanye West – Late Registration
Iron & Wine – The Creek Drank the Cradle
Sufjan Stevens – Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lakes State
Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
Neko Case – Blacklisted
Interpol – Turn on the Bright Lights
Queens of the Stone Age – Songs for the Deaf
Joanna Newsom – The Milk-Eyed Mender
Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
No Age – Nouns
Justin Timberlake – FutureSex/LoveSounds
The Shins – Oh, Inverted World
Antony & the Johnsons – I Am a Bird Now
Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
Joanna Newsom – Ys
The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree
Califone – Roots and Crowns
Yo La Tengo – And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out
Battles – Mirrored
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists – Hearts of Oak
Sleater-Kinney – One Beat
The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema
My Morning Jacket – Z
Andrew Bird – Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
Hot Chip – The Warning
The Microphones – The Glow, Pt. 2
Phoenix – It’s Never Been Like That
M.I.A. – Kala
Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury
Radiohead – Amnesiac
Beck – Sea Change
The Postal Service – Give Up
The Walkmen – Bows and Arrows
Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
Devendra Banhart – Rejoicing in the Hands
My Morning Jacket – It Still Moves
Hercules and Love Affair – Hercules and Love Affair
Low – Things We Lost in the Fire
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever to Tell
The Streets – Original Pirate Material
Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Kanye West – Graduation
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

Drake’s Take: New Releases 12.01.09

This week, since there’s little to celebrate this week in new releases, I thought I’d look at a couple recent releases that either slipped through the cracks (Real Estate) or didn’t get a traditional release date (Friday Mile).

Playlist: New Releases 12.01.09

When one thinks of New Jersey and rock bands, inevitably the names Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi come up. The Garden State’s Real Estate have little to do with that legacy, but a certain band from Hoboken does come to mind in hearing their laid back collage of pop sounds. Their self-titled debut starts out with a Byrds-like vibe and ride that jangly reverb and delay for the length of the release. The sixties-vibe could get droll if not for the occasional left-turns to keep you interested. It’s a fine debut that begs to see just which exit this band takes next.

My neighborhood of Ballard is no Brooklyn as far as bands go, but it seems like something is happening here. There’s the alt-country sound of The Maldives, the self-proclaimed King of Ballard rapper Grynch, and the boy-girl sweet pop of Friday Mile (who feature their own self-proclaimed Mayor of Ballard in drummer Chad Clibborn). Without sounding derivative, Friday Mile most closely resembles The Swell Season, and not just because of the boy/girl harmonies from songwriter/guitarist Jace Krause and keyboardist Hannah Williams. Good Luck Studio, their first full length on a label (Timber Carnival Records), leads off with the Cold War Kids-like “Handle It” and ends with a wink to The Beatles with “Even I.” In between, aside from a minor lull in the middle, the album hits the target on its aim to satisfy the listener’s sweet tooth. Highlights include the infectious “Lives of Strangers,” the R.E.M.ish “FYI and the mysterious “Westerfield.”

Disclaimer: Friday Mile are friends and neighbors of mine. Since I usually refrain from writing about the near and dear in this space, that should say something.

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Daniel, Fred & Julie – Daniel, Fred & Julie / “Runner” [mp3]
Manu Chao – Baionarena
The Bravery – Stir the Blood
Up in the Air: Music From the Motion Picture / Free AOL Album Stream
Natural Elements – 1999: 10 Year Anniversary

REISSUES
Lifter Puller – Slips Backwards / Free AOL Stream
Lifter Puller – S/T / Free AOL Stream
Lifter Puller – Half Dead And Dynamite (Deluxe Edition) / Free AOL Stream
Lifter Puller – The Entertainment And Arts EP (Deluxe Edition) / Free AOL Stream
Lifter Puller – Fiestas & Fiascos (Deluxe Edition) / Free AOL Stream

Drake’s Take: New Releases 11.24.09

Another week, another short list of new releases filled primarily with gift-giving in mind. Wading through the wasteland of late year releases can bring a few plums, and this week sees Tom Waits‘ third live disc and a special reissue of a Drake fave from ‘94 (Jawbox). Elsewhere there’s a new one from Tahiti 80, a compilation from Daptone Records and a live collection from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.

Playlist: New Releases 11.24.09

Tom Waits’ live shows have always been an event, so it’s no surprise that this live collection is so eventful. Casual fans will no doubt be dumbfounded by the lack of songs they recognize, but this collection more than captures the essence of last year’s carny-barker-as-tour that Waits put on. Bonus second disc is an edited together collection of the best of Waits’ between songs banter. Plenty of highs and lows that sound much better after a cocktail or two.

“Glitter and Doom Live” (2 CD) is on for $7.99 right now at Amazon.com. -ed.

DC’s Jawbox put out several great albums on Dischord before jumping to the majors, a move which garnered them more than a few ’sellout’ cries. But their major label debut was anything but selling out, instead an uncompromising and fiery statement. It’s been out of print for some time, so it’s reissue is a welcome affair. More than back in print, though, For Your Own Special Sweetheart gets packaged up with some great b-sides and even a sharp new cover. But that’s not all. Singer/guitarist J. Robbins always lamented that the album was missing a little bottom end, so super-producer Bob Weston was brought in to ‘lower the boom,’ as it were, and the result is amazing. FYOSS had plenty of oomph before, but now it hits even harder. And that’s saying something. The album is released today, but Jawbox will be celebrating it in a couple weeks, with a special appearance on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon. Can’t wait to hear them rip through “Savory”…

Free AOL album stream

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Tahiti 80 – Activity Center
Daptone Gold
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – The Live Anthology
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – The ‘One’ EP
Brett Anderson – The Slow Attack
The Brian Jonestown Massacre – The ‘One’ EP
Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
The Princess and the Frog OST
Miles Davis – The Complete Columbia Album Collection / Free AOL Album Stream

Drake’s Take: New Releases 11.17.09

We’re headlong into gift-giving season, so feel free to make your year-end list, as it’s no mans land as far as quality releases. That being said, there are a couple albums that provide more than stocking fodder. The Led Zep/Queens of the Stone Age/Foo Fighters supergroup Them Crooked Vultures doesn’t disappoint, and Macca’s got a live album that aims to please. Elsewhere, it’s mostly meh in new releases — tis the season for reissues.

Playlist: New Releases 11.17.09

The debut from this heavy metal supergroup is a near perfect sum of it’s parts. Featuring a dream team rhythm section of Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones TCV builds the songs on fat bass & drum grooves, and while some of Josh Hommes’ guitar work is pulled out of a LedZep trick bag, thankfully nobody is going to confuse him with Robert Plant. That’s what keeps this effort from sounding like a tired tribute and instead something inspired by the real thing. Essentially, it’s in the same vein as Homme’s Queens of the Stone Age classic Songs for the Deaf (which featured Grohl on the drums), but with a bit more Zep worship – especially the atmospherics of In Through the Out Door, which contains some of John Paul Jones’ best work. At its core, Them Crooked Vultures is really just cheap thrills, but sometimes that’s all you need.

In someone else’s hands, the set list for Paul McCartney’s concert in New York (CitiField) might seem like pandering. Ok, there is a bit of pandering, but there’s a time and a place for it, and we’re all kind of Beatles hungry again, right? Macca only performs a couple songs from this decade (23 of the 33 are from Beatles era), sprinkling them in the first disc w/ songs from both Wings and Beatles, leaving the second disc entirely to Beatles faves. His enthusiasm for the material is such that they all feel like new songs again. For a bit, anyway.

REISSUES
David Bowie – Space Oddity: 40th Anniversary Edition
The Fall – Hex Enduction Hour: Deluxe Edition
The Blood Brothers – Burn, Piano Island, Burn [Bonus Track Version]
The Blood Brothers – Crimes [Bonus Track Version]
The Blood Brothers – Young Machetes [Bonus Track Version]
The Blood Brothers – March On Electric Children
RJD2 – Since We Last Spoke: Deluxe Edition
RJD2 – The Horror: Deluxe Edition
John Entwistle – Rigor Mortis Sets In

Drake’s Take: New Releases 11.10.09

Another week closer to the holidays, and even more gift-oriented releases — this week featuring live (Robyn Hitchcock) and greatest hits (Snow Patrol) collections. There were a few new releases as well, from The Cribs (featuring Johnny Marr), Asobi Seksu, Wale, Grant-Lee Phillips, Caroline Herring, Ray Davies, Pants Yell! and Echo & the Bunnymen.

Playlist: New Releases 11.10.09

Robyn Hitchock lovingly recreates the beloved album I Often Dream of Trains live for a lucky New York crowd. Joined by multi-instrumentalists Timo Keegan and Terry Edwards, Hitchcock gives the eccentric material a more mature edge, reinterpreting the material for mid-afternoon tea (with a dash of Monty Python zaniness, just so you remember who it is we’re listening to here). There’s a DVD as well, the content of which debuted on Sundance back in June, you can check out some video clips from the concert film after the jump.

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
The Cribs – Ignore the Ignorant
Asobi Seksu – Rewolf
Wale – Attention Deficit
Caroline Herring – Golden Apples of the Sun / “Tales of the Islander” [mp3]
Ray Davies – The Kinks Choral Collection / Free AOL Album Stream
Grant-Lee Phillips – Ladies’ Love Oracle
Pants Yell! – Received Pronunciation / “Cold Hands” [mp3]
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez – Xenophanes / Free AOL Album Stream
Echo and the Bunnymen – The Fountain
Snow Patrol – Up to Now
The Jackson 5 – I Want You Back! Unreleased Masters
The Jackson 5 – 1967
Tori Amos – Midwinter Graces

Drake’s Take: New Releases 11.03.09

We’ve officially moved into the gift-oriented release schedule, filled with deluxe reissues, box sets and other compilation/soundtracks to help (trick?) the average schmo get a gift for the music lover in their life. There’s a couple gift choices from the archives of Nirvana, soundtracks from Fantastic Mr Fox, Glee, NCIS and Aqua Teen Hunger Force — which is actually a X-mas album, and my fave of the bunch. Of the few new releases, there’s ones from Julian Casablancas, Weezer, Molina & Johnson and Girls in Trouble.

Playlist: New Releases 11.03.09

If the gussying up a deluxe edition of an album made for just $600 seems a bit like a gratuitous cash grab, nobody will blame you. But Bleach’s place in the the canon of rock is unquestionable, namely as a blueprint for what was to come, but also as a raw document of Kurt Cobain’s talent, before Dave Grohl was added on drums. Remastering the album tracks added some punch, but the real jewel here are the live tracks, also pre-Grohl, from a performance in Portland in February of 1990, where the songs are brought to life.

Download: “Scoff” [mp3]
Download: “About a Girl” [mp3]

Speaking of live tracks, this document of their 1992 set (Live at Reading is Nirvana at their peak, and at their most jovial. The band headlined a lineup that included Nick Cave, The Beastie Boys, and NW friends Mudhoney, Screaming Trees & the Melvins. But it was Nirvana everyone came to see, and they didn’t disappoint, from the moment Cobain is wheeled out in a hospital gown, to the closing feedback, the entire set is electrifying, the way we all should try and remember them. (This is the Nirvana album to get of the two, by the way.)

It’s been three years since The Strokes disappointing First Impressions of Earth, and this solo release from the band’s frontman does little to change our belief that the band’s best days are behind them.

I haven’t heard the album yet, but this quote seems like the weakest endorsement of a record I’ve heard in a long time:

REISSUES
Devo – Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! [Deluxe Remastered Edition]
Devo – Freedom of Choice [Deluxe Remastered Edition]
Cold Cave – Love Comes Close [Deluxe Remastered Edition] / Free AOL Album Stream / “Life Magazine” [mp3]

We’re quickly approaching the point of no return as far as significant releases go, before the tide turns to that of gift-oriented, so we have to savor what morsels are thrown our way. This week that means the latest from The Swell Season, Devendra Banhart, Tegan & Sara, Wolfmother, Gemma Ray, Broadcast And The Focus Group, Boat, a live release from R.E.M., a compilation from The Breakaways and deluxe reissues of U2’s The Unforgettable Fire and James Brown’s Live at the Garden: The Expanded Edition.

Playlist: New Releases 10.27.09

As wrong as it is, it’s hard not to think of this album as a sequel to Once, where Glenn Hansard and Marketa Irglova have broken up and are putting it to song. Of course The Swell Season existed before Once, with many of the songs from their debut ending up in the film, so this technically is a follow up to that release, but for the vast majority of the record buying public, Once is the starting point. I’m not sure what Hansard & Irglova are thinking putting their Van Morrison impersonations front and center (opening songs “Low Rising” and “Feeling The Pull”). The rest of the album has worked wonders as a sincerity tonic, cleansing my palate of all the irony and sarcasm in indie rock that are part of my usual diet, and for that I am grateful.

The transition from folk to minimalist new wave pop is almost complete for Tegan and Sara, with this their sixth album, Sainthood. Their past two releases both signaled the change, but the subject matter was a little dark on So Jealous and The Con. Here, there’s a lighter feel to go with the witty banter the sisters showcase during their live set, and it just feels a bit more relaxed, confident… and yes, fun. And when your opening single is titled “Hell,” that’s saying something.

More on the radar (and in the mp3 player) this week:
Devendra Banhart – What Will Be
Wolfmother – Cosmic Egg
Gemma Ray – Lights Out Zoltar
R.E.M. – Live at the Olympia
Broadcast And The Focus Group – Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age
Yo Gabba Gabba: Music Is Awesome
Boat – Setting the Paces / “Lately (I’ve Been On My Back)” [mp3]
The Breakaways – Walking Out on Love: The Lost Sessions
Junk Culture – West Coast / “West Coast” [mp3]
Los Lobos – Los Lobos Goes Disney
Deleted Waveform Gatherings – Ghost, She Said
The Mother Hips – Pacific Dust
Chet – Chelsea Silver, Please Come Home
Chuck Prophet – ¡Let Freedom Ring!
Del McCoury – Family Circle
Gov’t Mule – By a Thread
Awesome New Republic – Hearts
I Love You – Bell Ord Forrest / “The Colloquialism Is Simply ‘Gas’” [mp3]

REISSUES
U2 – The Unforgettable Fire (Deluxe
Reissue)
James Brown Live at the Garden: The Expanded Edition

Drake’s Take: New Releases 10.20.09

Like last week, those who’d already made their top albums list for the year (or decade, eh, P4k?) are out of luck, as another couple releases can slide right in. First one being Logos from Atlas Sound (Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox) and another being the latest from the UK duo F*ck Buttons. Other new releases of note come from Flight of the Conchords, Russian Circle, Spiral Stairs, El Perro Del Mar, Alec Ounsworth (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), Maps and soundtracks from Sufjan Stevens (from a musical production), Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard, and the much anticipated New Moon soundtrack.

Playlist: New Releases 10.20.09

In his first release as Atlas Sound, Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See But Cannot Feel, Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox sounded like we’d interrupted a private moment in his bedroom. With this second release, Cox has taken us out of the bedroom and into… the living room, I guess. Regardless, it’s a great album of found sounds and pop wonders wrapped head-to-toe in guaze, like a pop rock mummy. The standout track is the collaboration with Animal Collective’s Noah “Panda Bear” Lennox, “Walkabout,” which samples the Dovers’ “What Am I Going to Do”. Elsewhere, when Cox buries his vocals, it feels like Deerhunter’s more shoe-gaze-y moments, but somehow more artful in it’s presentation. With an album like Logos, it’s going to be hard for Cox us to convince us that Atlas Sound is a side project anymore.

While the first season of Flight of the Conchords was a cultural breakout* as far as comedies go, it was the second season where those kiwis Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement figured out how to better marry the songs and the story lines on the screen. As such, this second album is more of a soundtrack than the first, leaning more on your remembering the visuals and story context than the first.

*I say cultural breakout in that while viewer numbers wasn’t great for even pay cable standards, the few that saw it talked about it endlessly.

In that spirit, to celebrate the release of I Told You I Was Freaky (or, the practical title not chosen, Flight of the Conchords: Music from the Second Season of the Television Series) here’s a track by track breakdown of each song on the album (with videos after the jump). If anything, it reminds of how hungry we are for them to get back in a room with co-creator James Bobin and crank out a third season.

1. “I Got Hurt Feelings” / Purchase mp3
From episode 2.03 (“The Tough Brets”)
The obligatory return of Hiphopopotamus and Rhymenoceros has some fun with the tradition of rappers’ dissing each other, turning it on it’s ear with a “Sticks and Stones” sentimentality.

2. “Sugalumps” / Download: “Sugalumps” [mp3]
From episode 2.02 (“A New Cup”)
Probably the funniest episode of the season is a domino of tragedy – Bret buying a used cup for $2.79 leads to Jemaine turning to prostitution. Oh, and two great songs, this one and “You Don’t Have to be a Prostitute” (#10). Obvious parody of the unfortunate “My Humps.” (See Drake’s post on song and episode from January.)

3. “We’re Both in Love With a Sexy Lady”
From episode 2.06 (“Love Is a Weapon of Choice”)
Brett & Jemaine both fall for the same lazy-eyed dog owner (Kristen Wiig). Great parody of R. Kelly.

4. “I Told You I Was Freaky”
From episode 2.09 (“Wingmen”)
Title track plays homage to the band Empire of the Sun, which features Aussie Luke Steele, formerly of The Sleepy Jackson (who get obscure homage in track #12). Also bits of MGMT, Electric Six and even Beck.

5. “Demon Woman”
From episode 2.07 (“Prime Minister”)
Mary Lynn Rajskub plays the psychotic Karen, inspiration for the song. Cliff Richard was (and still is) a huge star in the UK and his song “Devil Woman” seems an obvious reference here, even if obscure to us Yanks.

6. “Rambling Through The Avenues Of Time”
From episode 2.09 (“Wingmen”)
A silly song that sounds a lot like Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” but may also be an homage to Peter Sarstedt’s “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” recently revived for Wes Anderson’s short film Hotel Chevalier (the prolugue to The Darjeeling Limited).

7. “Fashion is Danger”
From episode 2.08 (“New Zealand Town”)
Gets its visual inspiration from the music video for Visage’s “Fade to Grey”, and audio from David Bowie’s “Fashion.” Dig the Babylon 5 get-up.

8. “Petrov, Yelyena and Me”
From episode 2.10 (“Evicted”)
Of all the songs on the album, this one feels the most shoe-horned into the storyline, much like “Bowie Song” from season one. And like that song, it gets a fantastical video, making it worth the ’stretch.’

9. “Too Many Dicks (On the Dancefloor)”
From episode 2.05 (“Unnatural Love”)
Michel Gondry directs the episode, and his music video background shines through.

10. “You Don’t Have To Be A Prostitute”
From episode 2.02 (“A New Cup”)
See #2, “Sugalumps.”

11. “Friends”
From episode 2.04 (“Murray Takes It to the Next Level”)
Jim Gaffigan guests in the episode and music segment as Murray’s friend Jim.

12. “Carol Brown”
From episode 2.05 (“Unnatural Love”) / See Drake’s post from February
Easily the best FOTC penned song from either season, this one is reminiscent of the band The Sleepy Jackson, a band from Australia, which works nicely with the context of Jemaine accidentally sleeping with an Australian and dealing with the consequences.

Watch all 14 FOTC videos after the jump.

REISSUES
Pylon – Chomp More / “Beep” [mp3]
Black Dynamite (Original Motion Picture Score)
The Cult – Love (Expanded Edition)

Flight of The Conchords Season 2 Music Videos

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