Werewolf Diskdrive "Werewolf Diskdrive"
Look, the more you know about Werewolf Diskdrive, the more you are gonna love Werewolf Diskdrive. His origin is steeped in mystery (though you can learn more about it at http://werewolfdiskdrive.bigcartel.com/faq). But suffice it to say, Werewolf Diskdrive is a consciousness living in a disk drive at a store called Werewolf Diskdrive that recorded an album called Werewolf Diskdrive (with more than a little help from Eric Elbogen, of the now defunct band Say Hi). Most of the songs are about food or obsolete technology, and are a little bit rap, a little bit lo-fi pop, and a lot of fun. Imagine if Brother JT recorded a hip-hop album, and you are approaching the strange, strange world of Werewolf Diskdrive. Check out the ode to the basest of human desires, “Hamburgers & Hotdogs.”
Godspeed You! Black Emperor "Luciferian Towers (Constellation)"
It’s not easy to be a political, revolutionary band while also being an instrumental post-rock orchestra. Somehow, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have figured out how to do just that with their latest, Luciferian Towers (Constellation). Full of their “most melodic and powerfully positive-sounding music to date” (Pitchfork) LT also includes political screeds via liner notes and press releases demanding “An end to foreign invasions. An end to borders. The total dismantling of the prison-industrial complex. Healthcare, housing, food and water acknowledged as an inalienable human right.” Not an easy trick to be hauntingly beautiful and mad as hell, is it? Well GY!BE certainly pull it off here on their latest majestic, atmospheric release. Check out the first single from the album, the sprawling “Undoing A Luciferian Towers.”
Circuit des Yeux "Reaching For Indigo (Drag City)"
I am willing to tell anyone who will listen how much of a fan of Circuit Des Yeux I am. Her beguiling mix of theatrics, art-pop, sophisticated arrangements, and here disarming baritone vocals… I just can’t get enough. Seriously, I’m willing to go on and on about how I think shes today’s Annie Lennox. Ok, so I might not be so much fun at parties. But I’m built for writing blurbs! Reaching For Indigo is her latest album, and her first on Drag City. This time around, her sound is even more fleshed out, yet somehow also more sparse than the last time around. How’d she do that? She’s a goddamn magician, that’s how. Don’t make me bore you with my love of her sound, just check out the psych-folk Van Dyke Park meets Nico shuffle of “Black Fly.”
Colleen "A flame my love, a frequency (Thrill Jockey)"
Ever since Colleen started adding vocals to her music starting with her fourth album, it’s been nearly impossible to predict what she has up her French sleeves when word is released that a new album is forthcoming. A flame my love, a frequency (Thrill Jockey–and the lack of capitalization is her stylistic choice as well) finds Colleen at her most baroque sounding, but sounding Baroque via a Critter and Guitar synth run through a Moog delay (hey, if it ain’t Baroque, don’t fix it! Hiyooo!). Unique synth tones bubbling up and sounding somewhere between ‘70s documentary music a lá Jürgen Müller’s Science of the Sea and Wendy Carlos, mixed with Colleen’s hushed vocals. The whole thing is a heady rush of forward facing nostalgia. Check out the dizzying “Winter dawn” (again, capitalization (or lack thereof) is her stylistic choice. I don’t make the news, I just report it).