Vol. 5 Issue 62 December 2010
OMG it's holiday crunch time! Chanukah kicks it off this month with 8 crazy nights, and we have 8 great new albums to share with you. Coincidence or intelligent design? Get into the groove with Bag Raiders or Syl Johnson as you light the menorah. Or maybe you need some stocking-stuffers? Give your brother the new albums from Apex Manor and Adam Stephens and then "borrow" them on Christmas morning. Be it with eggnog or latkes, let's get into the holiday spirit and this month's update!
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Current Releases
- Click to see:
- Merge
- Modular
- DFA
- Saddle-Creek
Merge
mergerecords.com
Apex Manor
"The Year Of Magical Drinking"
After The Broken West broke up, Ross Flournoy moved to the suburbs where he found himself drinking with the neighborhood gardeners and having a difficult time writing songs, until he found out about a song writing contest on NPR. He had 48-hours to write and record a song at home, and well, that song, aptly title “Under the Gun,” turned out great. It also opened the floodgates, as 10 songs and three studios later his newly minted band, Apex Manor, has recorded their debut, The Year of Magical Drinking (Merge). Full of off-kilter, heartfelt pop, big loud guitar and catchy choruses, this was obviously a labor of love for Ross and the rest of the boys in the band. Proof? Check out the standout track, “I Know These Waters Well.” Or as my friend Dan said on Facebook (oh Privacy Rules): “don’t know what kind of music you like, but if you have any fondness for Big Star, the Replacements, Teenage Fanclub, or Wilco, all I ask is that you listen to this song by Apex Manor once.” That should be all it takes. It is that good.
Modular
modularpeople.com
Bag Raiders
"Bag Raiders"
Australia’s Bag Raiders have taken a break from remixing everyone from Kid Sister to Cut Copy to record their much-anticipated self-titled debut (Modular). Everything you could want from a dance album is here (except, of course, instructions on how to dance, which BRM’s office dwellers could certainly use...).With big bass and sing-alongs galore, this disc is sure to get ‘em sweaty. Any jam on here will certainly get you to shake yo’ rump, but give the first single, “Shooting Stars,” a spin.
DFA
dfarecords.com/main/
Woolfy
"Looking Glass"
Ever since Woolfy got in bed with DFA Records, we at BRM have been silently freaking out about the electro-pop possibilities awaiting our ears. This single comes from their first joint venture, If You Know What’s Good For You (2009). “Looking Glass” is a song that really travels. In one moment you’re listening to the synthetic ambiance of slow techno, and in the next you’re listening to the driving beat of a hip-hop loop. Top it all off with Woolfy’s ‘90s-ish alt-rock vocals and stunning lyrics, and you’ve got one hell of a song. Oh yeah, did I mention that Canyons have done their own awesomely heady mix of “Looking Glass,” and it’s on this record too? Well, now I did, so what are you waiting for?
Saddle-Creek
saddle-creek.com
Adam Haworth Stephens
"We Live On Cliffs"
Folk-alt rocker Adam Haworth Stephens has already earned serious street cred as the lead singer and songwriter of San Fran’s Two Gallants, so he’s a favorite of critics and Saddle Creek and Bank Robber and… well, pretty much anyone who hears his bright, poetic and deeply personal tracks. His solo debut, We Live On Cliffs, peels yet another layer out from between Stephens and his regular audience and welcomes new listeners with the warmth that only Cali-born folk can generate. Kick back and enjoy a raspy Frisco voice backed by lazy strings in “The Cities That You’ve Burned” or by soulful organs in “Second Mind.” He backs himself on piano on several tracks, including the slow and wonderful “With Vengeance Come.” Check out “Heights of Diamond.”
- Click to see:
- Dead Oceans
- Jagjaguwar
- Thrill Jockey
- Numero Group
Dead Oceans
deadoceans.com
John Vanderslice
"White Wilderness"
John Vanderslice is known as something of a perfectionist. He generally labors over every note in the studio long after recording is done, tweaking everything so it’s just so. Well, his newest album, White Wilderness (Dead Oceans) is nothing like that. He recorded it in three days (woah!) with a sort of an avant-garde classical group that call themselves Magik*Magik Orchestra. All recordings were done live (double woah!) with no overdubs or tweaks to be heard (or not heard as it were.) Things worked out great, as Mr. Vanderslice’s project turned out beautifully. It is a sophisticated pop masterpiece. Check out the stellar opening track “Sea Salt.”
Jagjaguwar
jagjaguwar.com/
Lia Ices
"Grown Unknown"
Lia Ices has a masterpiece on her hands in the shape of her new album, Grown Unknown (Jagjaguwar). A sort of an avant-garde pop affair (chamber pop?), songs vary from being simply Lia’s gorgeous voice and piano or guitar, to the lushest of arrangements accenting her compositions (Van Dyke Parks should be worried). Lovingly placed claps, reverb soaked back-up vocals, strings and winds, there isn’t one misstep on the whole thing. But it’s Lia’s voice that is the main attraction. Her breathy cooing, country crooning, her emphatic yelps are all the stars. And to make matters more gorgeous, she has a duet with Justin Vernon from Bon Iver (it’s like him and Jimmy James from MMJ are having a guest vocal contest). Sit back and enjoy “Daphne.”
Thrill Jockey
thrilljockey.com
Phil Manley
"Life Coach"
When I first listened to Phil Manley’s sole debut Life Coach (Thrill Jockey) I was shocked. I know Phil mostly from his work with Trans-Am and The Fucking Champs. Neither of those bands sound at all like each other, but I suppose I expected his solo stuff to sound like one of them. I guess it sounds a little bit like Trans-Am, in that there are keyboards involved. But mostly is sounds like the tremendous electronic music that was being made in Germany in the ‘70s by bands like Nue! And Harmonia (both fav’s of mine!) Needless to say (but I am gonna say it anyway) I loved this album! Wanna love it too? Then check out “Commercial Potential,” a creepy, spaced-out jam if ever there was one!
Numero Group
numerogroup.com
Syl Johnson
"Complete Mythology"
Until listening to Numero’s fantastic box set spanning Syl Johnson’s career, Complete Mythology (Numero), I was only sort of peripherally aware of the man. Sure I might of heard a song somewhere along the line, but mostly I just knew him as a notoriously difficult man to interview, always changing his own mythology (he is the self-proclaimed illegitimate son of blues legend Robert Johnson after all). After listening to the box set, I am disappointed in us as a country. Here we had this soul singer whose career spans 5 decades, who is just as funky as James Brown, just as soulful as Al Green (Syl was on Hi Records for a while, and recorded with the Hi Records house band, same one Rev. Green recorded with) and yet he is largely unknown. Here’s to hoping this collection does something to reverse this problem. You can help by listening to what should have been a number one classic, “Take Me Back.”