Flat Worms "Into The Iris EP (Drag City)"
I know not everyone is a fan of the kind of blurb that says things like “this band sounds like if Conway Twitty paired up with Kool & The Gang and they released an album of Harry Chapin covers”. I know, it can be kind of reductive. But, it’s helpful shorthand and the point of these blurbs (besides the attempts at “jokes”) is to get you to listen to these amazing songs. So if they work in that regard, then more power to them, right? Case in point? This stellar EP from LA band Flat Worms. It wasn’t far into Into The Iris EP (Drag City) before I exclaimed to myself “oh wow, this sounds like if Ian Curtis was in Sonic Youth.” If that tickles your fancy as much as I imagine it does, then get excited and check out “Surreal New Year.”
Ernest Ernie & The Sincerities "Sincerely Yours: Greatest Hits Vol. 2"
Ernest Ernie & The Sincerities are here, bringing you sincerely great tunes with the sincerely titled Sincerely Yours: Greatest Hits Vol. 2. Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Will I be lost if I didn’t listen to the first volume?” Nope! Doesn’t exist! The title is a bit tongue in cheek. Now I know what you are thinking again. “But you said the record was sincere and the title was too!” My answer to that is-gimme a break. I’m just trying to write a few simple “jokes” and convince you to check out this stellar slice of retro-fueled soul. If you’ve never had the extreme pleasure of hearing EE and this mighty horn-fueled Sincerities, then this is the time to correct that. Check out the high-soaring “Flying” or the anti-gentrification stomp of “Fun City.”
ENDON "Boy Meets Girl (Thrill Jockey)"
If you love Thrill Jockey because they aren’t afraid to release scream filled metal strangeness, then you are here for this ENDON record Boy Meets Girl. Impossibly fuzzed guitars, screeching art-noise, and more screaming than you can… I dunno… shake a screaming stick at? That makes no sense. Sorry. But if you too like “disparate influences such as horrorcore, Dick Dale, Joe Meek and the Dead Kennedys” then get ready to add an ENDON t-shirt to the drawer of t-shirts that spark joy. Check out the Mr. Bungle-esque syncopation and quick changes of “Doubts As A Source.”
Yann Tiersen "All (Mute)"
If you’ve somehow made it to 2019 without knowing what to expect from a new Yann Tiersen album, then shame on you. All (Mute) is the latest collection of unbelievably beautiful pieces. That’s right, I called them pieces, not songs. So you know it’s serious. Somewhere between classical music and more artistic electronic releases, this record continues along the path of his last release, writing songs about our connection to nature. Also, this is the first time he recorded an album at his newly built studio The Eskal, “built in an abandoned discotheque on the island of Ushant.” And that, friends, is the most Yann Tiersen sentence ever written. Check out the piano beauty of “Tempelhof.”