With so many high-profile albums out this week (and this month for that matter), it once again makes for an increasingly difficult task of figuring out what to spend your hard-earned cash on. First off is Broken Bells, the highly anticipated collaboration between James Mercer, lead singer and guitarist of The Shins, and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton. I’ve yet to hear this one myself, but there’s more than enough reason to give this one a shot just solely on the talent involved alone.
There are also some new albums from the likes of The Knife, Gorillaz, The Besnard Lakes, jj, Jason Collett, Ted Leo, and a bunch more just too numerous to mention. Though, personally I’m excited about two albums in particular — one being The Morning Benders’Big Echo and a debut solo effort from former Beulah frontman Miles Kurosky.
As usual, let us know what you’re exciting about this week, as there is more than enough to satisfy any music fan.
When I first heard Summer Camp’s “Ghost Train” via GvB last year, I couldn’t help but love this infectious track — coming off as innocent as can be, with that dreamy chorus that was stuck in my head for weeks. The only problem was I knew absolutely nothing about them, as they followed that awful trend of being one of those mysterious bands that no one knew absolutely nothing about. It’s something I hope is not followed in 2010, because it quickly killed any interest I had in them…well, at least until I saw this video over the weekend.
The video that was released, according to Stereogum, borrows scenes from the 1969 X-rated film Last Summer. There also seems to finally be some information in regards to the band, which is the creation of a London-based duo Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey. There also seems to be a 7″ in the works via Moshi Moshi that is currently available for pre-order. That seems to be about it, but I honestly don’t feel like digging anything else about them. Though, you can read all of that bloated NME hype from last year if you wish!
Summer Cats are set to release a brand new 7″ as a follow up to what I considered my go-to record of choice last summer, Songs For Tuesdays, next week on the 16th. As you would expect, both tracks remain true to the formula of being deliciously catchy indiepop while neither run over two and a half minutes long in length — which in part packs the songs with plenty of memorable hooks, courtesy of vocalist Scott Stevens.
In the coming months, you can catch the Melbourne-based band here in the US, as they’re set to hit the major cities along with stops at SXSW and Slumberland’s 20th anniversary shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles (Go Sailor reunion!).
If there’s one thing that instantly grabs my attention now as far as music goes, it’s the sound of a catchy pop song. It seems I lack the patience now for anything slow-moving, or melancholy — which is kind of ironic now, as that was the sort of thing that I would primarily listen to a handful of years ago.
Anyways, while digging around in my inbox this morning, I came across this gem from this Los-Angeles based duo of Jesse Kivel (frontman of Princeton) and Zinzi Edmundson that go by the moniker of Kisses. Definitely not the greatest choice as far as band names go, but the music definitely caught my attention almost immediately. The single “Bermuda” comes across as a disco-pop mishmash of Jens Lekman, The Sounds of Arrows and maybe some Cut Copy. It’s that kind of irresistible synth-laden pop that makes it nearly impossible to shy away from and deny.
Not much else to report as far as a proper date on a full-length, but the single for “Bermuda” is due out on April 27th, with the duo set to make numerous appearances this year at SXSW. I expect you’ll be hearing this track a lot more in the days and weeks to come.
It looks like 2010 is unofficially being taken over by Swedes, thanks to Swedish label Labrador, who already released one album earlier this week from Sambassadeur, and are set to release new albums from The Radio Dept. and Club 8 in the coming months. Unless you completely despise Swedish pop (if so, what’s wrong with you?!), than you can only react with absolute delight over this news.
Club 8, a band I discovered in 2007 with their lovely album The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming, are a duo comprised of Johan Angergård (also member of The Legends and Acid House Kings, along with serving as label chief of Labrador) and Karolina Komstedt. You can read a bit more about them in my older post here, but their brand of indiepop counted for one of the many reasons that I completely fell in love with the genre to begin with.
They recently released a new single, which seems to be heavily influenced by what seems to be the current trend of Afrobeat and high-life sounds. Despite my apprehension, the song actually works really well and comes off as a very fun and upbeat tune. Not sure if this is indicative of the entire record, but I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough as Club 8’s 7th album entitled The People’s Record is due out on May 12th.
I’m probably the last person to mention Broken Social Scene’s long-awaited return to the music world, but it’s such exciting news that I honestly don’t care if I am or not. Thinking back on things, their debut, You Forgot in In People was a catalyst for being one of the main influences for almost everything I listen to now. This along with their self-titled follow-up, which proved that they could easily outdo themselves with a far superior effort.
And just how far has the band’s reach gone as far as my record collection goes? There are at least 20 or so albums that have some vague connection to BSS, whether it be side-projects or bands like Stars, Metric, and Do Make Say Think.
Finally, after a lengthy hiatus, the mega group is set to release a brand new album titled Forgiveness Rock Record, which will be released in May. The band will feature the core group of members including Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman, Sam Goldberg and Lisa Lobsinger. Of course, the usual guests you would expect to accompany a BSS record will also be making an appearance (Feist, Amy Millan, Emily Haines, Jason Collett, etc.).
Our first taste of the forthcoming record comes in this free, downloadable track called “World Sick” — which is basically an equivalent of nearly seven minutes of epic bliss. Still, this isn’t too much of a stretch for BSS, as it has all the trademark sounds you would want from them. But sometimes, a little familiarity is exactly what is needed.
Sorry for the lack of updates the past few weeks, as I felt I needed a little break from the blog. Considering it’s only March (seriously, it’s already March!), it may seem odd that I would already need some time away, but hey, it happens!
With that being said, the first thing to scratch off the list upon updating is catching up with the album releases from the past weeks, including this week as well. And as you notice, there’s a ridiculous amount of releases that made their way down the pipe — almost too many to mention. So in an attempt to get this out as quickly as possible, I’ll let you guys recommend what’s worthy of dropping down some cash for.
With so many high-profile albums out this week (and this month for that matter), it once again makes for an increasingly difficult task of figuring out what to spend your hard-earned cash on. First off is Broken Bells, the highly anticipated collaboration between James Mercer, lead singer and guitarist of The Shins, and Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton. I’ve yet to hear this one myself, but there’s more than enough reason to give this one a shot just solely on the talent involved alone.
Sorry for the lack of updates the past few weeks, as I felt I needed a little break from the blog. Considering it’s only March (seriously, it’s already March!), it may seem odd that I would already need some time away, but hey, it happens!
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