Alexandra Streliski "Inscape (Secret City)"
If there is a more sensitive, cinematic pianist than Alexandra Stréliski working today, please let me know about it-because her latest is one gorgeous collection of neoclassical pieces and I’d gladly listen to as much of it as the universe is willing to allow. Inscape (Secret City) is full of the kind of music that has made her in-demand on screens both big and little, her work finding its way most famously into Dallas Buyers Club (and most recently in Sharp Objects). If you are a viewer of either, then you know she knows her way around some emotional heft. Check out the haunting “Changing Winds.”
Greg Farley "Taker Easy (RTP)"
You know who Greg Farley is, right? Why, he’s the fiddle player for The Felice Brothers! Except when he’s not, of course. Take, for instance, right now, on his debut solo LP Taker Easy. Unlike the Bros., Greg’s music is plugged in. Messy americana rock, for when Springsteen isn’t working class enough for you. These are songs about working at the Quarry, about contemplating car purchases, about love lost and love found. A little War On Drugs, a little Mellencamp, and a lot Farley. Check out the dusty shuffle of “Make It Out.”
Kero Kero Bonito "Time ‘n’ Place (Polyvinyl)"
Oh boy. Get ready to have a blast listening to Kero Kero Bonito. Time ‘n’ Place certainly isn’t the first recording of the London-based band, but its the first one for our buds at Polyvinyl. Mixing their love of J-Pop, K-Pop (sorry L), video game music, heavy metal, noise, and everything in between, their sound is a bubbly, beguiling mixture that couldn’t sound more current if it tried. Vacillating between teen-pop and Deerhoof-esque weirdness isn’t an easy task, and the band does both (sometimes in the same song, sometimes at the same time!) effortlessly. Check out the lead-off track “Outside.”
The Restorations "LP5000 (Tiny Engines)"
You know the Restorations right? Anthemic heartland rock-and-roll replete with mile-wide riffs, psychedelic chooglin’, and so, so many guitars. Got the picture? Well now you should hear the music – from LP500000 the Restorations are a band on a mission – to rock as the everything around you falls apart. Glance at your phone and you mumble, ‘I hope he dies’/Yeah, I hope he dies, too” they sing on “Eye” and you hope they get over their hate of Kermit the frog (that is who it is about, right?). On “Non-believer” they tackle the age ol’ aging and rocking with lines like “can’t be doing this stupid shit no more”, but for the love of god, restorations have a lot of stupid shit to do-like keeping the rock alive. Check out the awesome anti-generification “Remains.”