Urban Outfitters
Charlotte Gainsbourg 5:55 permalinkBecause/ViceBuy It: Insound This is the album we wrote in our minds the last time the dentist knocked us out with the special gas. We also met the cloud people that day, explored the hypnotically repetitive acoustic guitar riff cavern, and saw the synthesizer fairies - who were really the guys in Air - which is funny because they wrote all the music for this album too. http://www.myspace.com/charlottegainsbourg
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Montag Going Places permalinkCarparkBuy It: Insound On Going Places, Montag tosses aside the clichés that have come to signify so many recent electronic releases (cascading sheets of clicks, pro-tooled blip pastiches, programmy stuttering). Opting for a more organic set of sounds, he stitches a warm heart into the center of what is sometimes a chilly genre. http://www.myspace.com/montagmontag
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Feist The Reminder permalinkInterscopeBuy It: Insound Oh Leslie Feist, how you make us sway! How you knock us out with your soft, Bjork’ish/Cat Power’ish uppercut of a voice, your soft guitar strum, sneaky banjo plucks and piano rain. And even better: with “1234” you delivered us the song of the summer.
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Arctic Monkeys Favourite Worst Nightmare permalinkDominoBuy It: Insound Equal parts sarcasm, piss, vinegar, and pub lust, the Artic Monkeys sophomore release finds them straining their taut, punky pacing almost to the breaking point. But rather than running their songs into the ground, they wrap the frenetic core in a skittering, bubbling bottom that makes you want to unleash your best high-speed James Brown moves. http://www.myspace.com/arcticmonkeys
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Wilco Sky Blue Sky permalinkNonesuchBuy It: Insound With an effortless grace, Jeff Tweedy and Co. come back around full circle to revisit the alt-country sweet spot they strayed from over their past two releases. Guitarist Nels Cline channels the very best Crazy Horse phrasings, and the rest of the band lets go of the kite string, letting the songs open up and take flight.
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Jarvis Cocker Jarvis permalinkRough TradeAs the reigning elder statesman of (Brit) pop, Jarvis Cocker doesn’t disappoint on his first solo effort, which sucker punches idle members of society, government and all the young pretties playing what passes for pop these days. With a nod to Elvis Costello - no stranger to a snarky barb - he tells the masses exactly where to stuff it.
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JDH and Dave P Go Commando Vol. 2 permalinkDefend MusicBuy It: Insound If you can’t get to New York for JDH and Dave P’s Fixed parties, never fear: help has arrived in the form of their Go Commando mix. Electro, techno, house, and indie get put in the blender to make an extremely tasty dancefloor substitute. http://www.myspace.com/davidpianka
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Au Revoir Simone The Bird Of Music permalinkOur Secret Record CompanySometimes we wish a bird would swoop down, pick us up, and drop us off in a field in New Zealand, or somewhere else really green with fresh fruit and ponies and rainbows everywhere. Other times we crank up the Au Revoir Simone, lean back into the bean bag and let their dreamy synth pop do the job instead. http://www.myspace.com/aurevoirsimone
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El-P I'll Sleep When You're Dead permalinkDefinitive JuxLike a man/robot whose prescient engineering helped it survive the apocalypse, El-P stumbles through the jagged rubble of a bombed-out Brooklyn. He chronicles the darkness and despair of the aftermath via a battery of verbsnounsphrasesandclauses. He anchors his verses to futuristic mechanized beats—his only defense against entropy. http://www.myspace.com/elproducto
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The Horrors Strange House permalinkStolen TransmissionBuy It: Insound The Horrors drunk-on-embalming-fluid rave-ups are sorta like that scene in A Clockwork Orange where the gang is driving the Durango 95 like a bat out of hell through the English countryside. They’re veering toward disaster, but somehow they make it out alive. This is ghoulish, neo-Victorian, high-haired, tight-panted goth-punk for dungeon dwellers. http://www.myspace.com/thehorrors
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Grinderman Grinderman permalinkAnti-Nick Cave dusts off the memories of his previous band The Bad Seeds, fires up the muscle car, and jets off to find the last dive bar in the middle of the soulless desert. Here, he makes music that sounds like it was dipped in rocket fuel and set on fire. Pleading, dark and mysterious blues for the one you love, and the one you love to hate.
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Panthers The Trick permalinkViceBuy It: Insound Pit Sabbath, Hawkwind, Pink Floyd, St. Vitus and Jesus Lizard against one another in a no-holds barred cage match. Add a few Dobermans, some nitro-glycerin, and perhaps the ghost of Cliff Burton. Now let ‘em go at it. That sound you’re hearing? That’s Panthers. http://www.myspace.com/panthers
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Patti Smith Twelve permalinkColumbiaBuy It: Insound With her comeback trail still warm, and well-deserved Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction notch cut into her belt, Patti Smith toasts her influences and contemporaries with this collection of twelve covers. The iconic (Hendrix, The Beatles, Dylan), and the off-beat (Tears For Fears, Nirvana) soar, glide and get guided back to earth by the poet’s graceful hand. http://www.myspace.com/pattismith
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Klaxons
Myths Of The Near Future permalinkGeffenBuy It: Insound Klaxons are magick. At least that’s what their Greek mythology-cum-Alistair Crowley lyrics would have you believe. But what they really are is an incendiary party band. The air raid siren wind-ups, bass bombs and fuzzy anthems will have you soaked through two t-shirts just listening to their cd on your couch. Do yourself a favor: get focused and get to a club as these guys definitely spark dance riots when they play live. http://www.myspace.com/klaxons
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Myth Takes permalinkWarpBuy It: Insound From the first notes of Myth Takes, it feels like you’re racing around the inside of a video game - lungs on fire, heartbeat maxed - while trying to madly outrun a faceless, gun-wielding assailant; or maybe you’re The Pacman, navigating the Melon board’s sharp right angles, gobbling up power pellets and evading those brazen ghosts. Whatever it is, it’s a pleasant and increasingly tight funk frenzy, (something) akin to a post-punk JBs or a latter day, lysergic-tinged, “Fear of Music” era Talking Heads - which ain’t a bad thing, if you ask us. http://www.myspace.com/chkchkchk
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Dr. Dog
We All Belong permalinkPark The VanDr. Dog play ramshackle music that sounds like it was cobbled together with wires, a few rusty nails, and a rubber band or two. It’s a scruffy and loose mosaic of The Beatles, The Band, the sing-song harmonies of the Beach Boys, and the bitter-sweetness of Graham Nash. The rustic americana they trade in is achingly nostalgic, but that doesn’t disqualify it from being rock. It’s rewrites the past but doesn’t erase it all from the blackboard.
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The Ponys
Turn The Lights Out permalinkMatadorThese guys take long, hearty swallows from the majestic dream-pop chalice that My Bloody Valentine and The Jesus and Mary Chain filled to the brim decades ago. Dishing out a ferocious wall of sound that’s heavy on the fuzz, phase and reverb and short on any au courant dancepunk affectations, this album is shoe-gazer as in “I just pounded a bottle of Robitussin.” You’re gonna need to duct tape a pillow to your head to after wrestling this beast. http://www.myspace.com/theponys
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Fujiya & Miyagi
Transparent Things permalinkDD & BCBuy It: Insound Cue up Transparent Things. Put on a pair of headphones. Now, lay down and stare at the ceiling, or take a walk down a quiet side street. Let the rubbery bass bottom end, the circular morse code of the guitar, and the click-clack of the drums repeat their mantra until they take hold of your dance chakra. Let go. You’re deep in Fujiya and Miyagi territory now: a whispery, dubby cloudland where transcendent and meditative electro-funk is orchestrated (with a wink and a nod) by 3 British guys pretending to be a Japanese duo. http://www.myspace.com/fujiyaandmiyagi
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LCD Soundsystem
Sound Of Silver permalinkCapitolBuy It: Insound Though his musical influences are legion, James Murphy wears his respect for a choice few (Bowie/Talking Heads/Eno) on his sleeve. The magic on this album happens from behind the mixing board - with a twist of the knobs, analog somehow becomes digital, icy programming gets a tube amp’s warmth, punk begets funk and disco morphs into pop. The music never veers too far away from the snarky wit and mock ennui we’re accustomed to, but a personal, dare we say emotional, layer is added to the mix that fuels the fire of this fully realized dance/rock hybrid. http://www.myspace.com/lcdsoundsystem
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Amy Winehouse
Back To Black permalinkUniversal RepublicBuy It: Insound With her bouffant just slightly askew, and a chip on her shoulder she’s just daring you to knock off, this feisty and tattooed Brit’s latest release channels Billie Holiday’s woozy grace and the infectious, up-tempo harmonies of 60s girl groups like the Shangri-Las. From her whisky soaked vocals to her tales of debauchery to the impeccable Stax meets Motown production (thank you Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi), you won’t be able to get the nightclub’s smoke out of your clothes after listening to this. A stone classic. http://www.myspace.com/amywinehouse
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