Say Hi "Diamonds & Donuts"
(trying my hardest to resist the urge to write “Say hi to the new Say Hi album). So, uh… please… (don’t do it) uh… welcome the new… I’m sorry Eric! I can’t do it! Please, everyone, say hi to the new Say Hi album! (whew. I feel so much better now). Diamonds & Donuts is as much fun as one can have listening to an indie-pop, quirky danceable rock album. Eric Elbogen’s Say Hi project is as close to a genre unto itself as any artist recording music today. Fun. Electro. Generally concept-y in album release. Fun visuals. Really, it is it’s own thing. As is evidenced by the A-1 fun song of the year, the earworm “Lookachu.”
Destroyer "Have We Met? (Merge)"
Remember back 20 years ago when Y2K was gonna destroy all technology? (Looking back over the last few years, would that have been the worst thing?). Well, while the rest of us were hanging out by ATMs at the time in hopes that money would just come flying out of them when the clocks turned over, Dan Bejar was writing what has eventually become Have We Met? (Merge). Originally started then, and aping the then-appropriate sounds of Air, Björk, and Massive Attack, the idea was eventually scrapped. Well, here it is 20 years later and the album has finally been finished. The whole thing is mysterious (as all the best Destroyer albums are) with the sound landing somewhere between his normal output, and the sounds described mere moments ago by yours truly mixed with something of a lounge-y approach. Check out the ethereal “Crimson Tide.”
Torres "Silver Tongue (Merge)"
We’ve been fans of the enchanting music of Torres for a few years now-and are thrilled she is back with her 3rd full-length album. Silver Tongue (Merge) is a heady mixture of swirling synths, hidden guitars, AOR drums, Torres’ poetic, present vocals, and the perils of drinking mercury. Ok, I made up the last one (get it? silver tongue?). But don’t let my dumb joke turn you off to this stunner of an album. Instead, allow yourself to be stunned by this stunner. Start with the first song on the album “Good Scare” and go from there!
youbet "Compare & Desire (Ba Da Bing!)"
Trippy, sunny, and fun. Three words that describe very little during the gloomy east coast winters. Except! Compare & Desire (Ba Da Bing), the new album from Youbet. Imagine a world where Cate LeBon was a member of early Foxygen. Things change operatically and weave in and out of 60s hippie rock, angular indie changes, and surprising quirk bombs. Happy and disturbing, this is an album that contains multitudes (like the best candy bars). Check out the first single “Bite.”