Hibou "Something Familiar (Barsuk)"
The dreamy shoegaze bedroom pop of Hibou is back on the follow-up to the beloved self-titled debut from 2015. That debut led to a string of coveted opening gigs for Phantogram, Metric, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. This meant that Peter Michel needed a band. Seeing as how the debut was recorded by himself in a walk-in closet, that wasn’t gonna work on stage. For Something Familiar (Barsuk), the new album, he brought the touring band into an honest to goodness recording studio (closet be damned), Chris Walla’s Hall Of Justice studios, and worked with an outside producer, Dylan Wall. So besides recording the album as an actual band, Peter also challenged himself to go a little deeper with the lyrics this time around. The result is most excellent. Imagine if Quincy Jones produced an album by the aforementioned Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and your starting to get the idea behind this soulful, blissfully pop-y combo of futuristic leaning pop grounded in the ‘80s. Check out the positively Virgin Suicides-esque Air-ness of “Fall Into.”
Titus Andronicus "A Productive Cough (Merge)"
Hey look, I know I’m not the most popular guy, but on Facebook I have 35,000 friends (ALL REAL and oddly very opinionated with terrible english grammer), and well… only ONE got tickets to see Bruce Springsteen on Broadway? So how would I’d advise all 34,999 of the rest of my FB Friends (i’m look at you Svetlana), to drown their sorrows? Well until Titus Andronicus lead man Patrick Stickles gets a broadway show (we can get that to happen right?), dig into A Productive Cough. Patrick has put together eight tunes that sound like a fun night at your local tavern with your mates after pounding several whiskeys. So until we can get “TITUS ON BROADWAY” jam out to “the most fun you’ll have with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone” – Playbill Magazine” and check out “Number One (In New York).”
Tracey Thorn "Record (Merge)"
I’ve never read an album described as having come after someone’s “mid-life” and while they are “embarking on a whole new no fucks given phase of life.” (Tracy’s words). But then again, I’ve never heard anything quite like Tracey Thorn’s new record Record (Merge). Forgive me as I try to restrain myself from writing a “who’s on first” bit here with the record being called Record. It would probably involve the band The Band as well… oh well… Tracy refers to the tunes here as “nine feminist bangers” and she’s not wrong. The tunes here are synth-driven, bouncy, and all under 3-minutes (which I think is the definition of “bangers”, right?”) If you were a fan of Tracey’s work in Marine Girls, or from Everything But The Girl, or just a fan of slick, artful pop music, then Record is for you. It’s like Annie Lennox, late-era Talking Heads, and Liz Lemon all met in a bar and recorded this great record… er… Record. Check out the funky “Sister.”
Tangents "Stents + Arteries (Temporary Residence)"
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a BRM employee in possession of Tangents tunes, must be in want of even more Tangents tunes. Such is the plight of a fan of a new band right? Especially when said new band is so singular in their sound that nothing else will fill that void. When Tangents debut came out on Temporary Residence, we all fell in love. Stateless was the kind of thing that stops you in your tracks. Described (by us) as “glitch jazz,” their sound is a combination of seemingly processed drumming and ambient, free-ish jazz. It’s astounding. But what are we supposed to do with just one album? We’ve listened to it a million times! Well, here we have Stents + Arteries (Temporary Residence), a new EP (!!!) from Tangents, and consider it an appetite whetter as they have a new LP coming later this year. Until then, check out “Arteries” like a million times.