This week marks the first part of the avalanche of great releases this month, headlined by the two-headed monster that is Neon Bible, the sophomore effort from The Arcade Fire. Though I may not hold the same sentiment that my fellow writers may hold for the band, I really enjoyed listening to this album as it has this almost anthemic quality for the most part. It’s a great album and though it may not be the personal discovery for me that it may be for others, it’s still worth picking up for sure. For probably the best written review i’ve read of this album, do check out what Andy had to say here.
The album this week that i’ve been looking forward to the most is Air’s Pocket Symphony. There aren’t any break-out tracks here except maybe “Mer du Japon” that actually rises to moveable beat, but the rest of this album is definitely a laid back affair. Either way though, they could just slack off and bullshit something together and I’d probably love it. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel are just such masters of their craft now and it’s amazing to me listening to a lot of their music at how a lot are so similar but there’s just enough to make each unique to each other. From moody ambience to breathy pop, they strike the perfect balance for a great listening experience on a random lazy afternoon.
Not to be left in the cold, there are a number of other great releases that are worth looking into as you have Apostle of Hustle’s National Anthem of Nowhere, the U.S. release of Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys’ Candylion (which I love), electronic beat master Amon Tobin’s Foley Room and Rjd2’s The Third Hand. I wonder what Pablo thinks of this album though as it almost completely goes for a pop approach unlike anything i’ve ever heard from previous albums. I still think it sounds great despite what happened with DJ Shadow when taking a similar approach which was god awful.
What albums are you picking up today? Anything that I missed? Feel free to suggest anything that hasn’t been shown as I always manage to miss something.
!!! | Myth Takes
!!! | “Must Be The Moon”
Air | 
Albert Hammond Jr. | Yours To Keep
Albert Hammond Jr | “In Transit”
Amon Tobin | 
Apostle of Hustle | National Anthem Of Nowhere
Apostle of Hustle | “My Sword Hand’s Anger”
Arcade Fire | 
Bright Eyes | Four Winds EP
Bright Eyes | “Four Winds”
Gruff Rhys | 
Robyn Hitchcock | Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas
Robyn Hitchcock | “Adventure Rocket Ship”
Rjd2 | 
Son Volt | The Search
Son Volt | “Methamphetamine”
Son Volt | “Slow Hearse”
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[...] Original post by Paul and software by Elliott [...]
Quite a week for new releases. I’d also add Wolf & Cub. That record’s pretty rockin.
I’m kinda let down by thw new Bright Eyes. I think he’s overrated anyway, but I really thought It’s Wide Awake was his best effort to date. I’ll see what happens when his full-length comes out.
I think that Methamphetamine is my favorite of the new Son Volt album, but there’s so dang many of them I can’t be sure yet!
Good grabs, Paul!
~alt-gramma~
@ Speed of Dark
Well, since you asked, I actually am going to pick up the new RJD2 next week (I could only afford so much good stuff at a time), but I’ve listened to about half the tracks, and I think he’s moved in an interesting direction, and unlike Shadow, it’s one we should follow him in. He keeps the craft he applied to his hip-hop stuff and just channels it into this nice pop-rock-electro groove that I’ve found to be pretty catchy. I’ll have to say what I think after hearing the whole thing though!
Hi there,
For the new Amon Tobin album we’ve created an embeddable audio and video player. You can embed the player to stream audio and video directly from your site. There is also a chart on the page which will display the sites that are getting the most plays, so it promotes your site as well as the new Amon tracks!
http://www.ninjatune.net/amonplayer
SON VOLT is on TOUR! Buy tickets online at
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4/12 Mod Club Toronto, ONT
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5/6 Continental Club Houston, TX
5/8 The Parish @ House of Blues New Orleans, LA
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5/10 Workplay Birmingham, AL
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6/9 Wakarusa Festival Lawrence, KS
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6/12 Beachland Ballroom Cleveland, OH
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6/14 Groovin’ in the Garden Richmond, VA
6/16 Front Street Music Hall Wilmington, NC
8/22 Red Butte Garden Salt Lake City, UT
8/31 Strawberry Music Fest Yosemite, CA
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