Releases of July, 2011:
WHEN SAINTS GO MACHINE
Konkylie
No Comments
as heard on radiospin on July 29th, 2011
under album, electronic, experimental, indie, preview, recommended
After making their debut in January 2011 with the Fail Forever EP, When Saints Go Machine began prepping the release of their proper full-length debut. The album, Konkylie (or “conch shell” in Danish), features the Danish quartet flaunting their energetic blend of post punk, dance, and electronic music. It all makes for something that’s equally fun and contemplative, as heard on lead single Add Ends.
ARTIST: When Saints Go Machine
TITLE: Konkylie
LABEL: !K7
RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2011
TIME: 41:34 min.
WEB: http://whensaintsgomachine.blogspot.com/
01. Konkylie [04:07]
02. Church and Law [04:48]
03. Parix [03:29]
04. Chestnut [03:31]
05. The Same Scissors [03:59]
06. Jets [03:11]
07. Kelly [03:37]
08. On the Move [03:18]
09. Whoever Made You Stand Still [02:56]
10. Terminal One [03:21]
11. Add Ends [05:17]
When Saints Go Machine – Add Ends
get it here.
ARCTIC MONKEYS
Suck It and See
Suck It and See, Arctic Monkeys fourth album, features 12 songs produced by James Ford at the legendary Sound City Studios in Los Angeles. With Suck It and See the band perfectly mesh their hard and soft sides. The album is lyrically their most verbose since their record-breaking debut Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. From shimmering opener She’s Thunderstorms to the brilliantly buoyant Black Treacle through to perfect closer That’s Where You’re Wrong, Alex Turner brings an articulate melodic swagger to the proceedings.
Welcome back.
ARTIST: Arctic Monkeys
TITLE: Suck It and See
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: July 7, 2011
TIME: 40:09 min.
WEB: http://arcticmonkeys.com/
01. She’s Thunderstorms [03:55]
02. Black Treacle [03:35]
03. Brick By Brick [02:59]
04. The Hellcat Spangled Shalalala [03:00]
05. Don’t Sit Down ’cause I Moved Your Chair [03:04]
06. Library Pictures [02:22]
07. All My Own Stunts [03:52]
08. Reckless Serenade [02:43]
09. Piledriver Waltz [03:24]
10. Love Is A Laserquest [03:12]
11. Suck It and See [03:46]
12. That’s Where You’re Wrong [04:17]
Arctic Monkeys – Suck It and See
get it here.
FINK
Perfect Darkness
No Comments
as heard on radiospin on July 27th, 2011
under album, electronic, experimental, folk, indie, preview, recommended, songwriting
Recorded and mixed by producer Billy Bush, Perfect Darkness is a smouldering, pulsating, and purposeful book of songs. From its emotion-rousing, self-titled opener, to the darkly cinematic Fear Is Like Fire and the uplifting nostalgia of album closer Berlin Sunrise, this Fink‘s fifth studio album bristles with tense passion and hypnotic charm. It is in two words: bewitching and addictive.
ARTIST: Fink
TITLE: Perfect Darkness
LABEL: Ninja Tune
RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2011
TIME: 46:57 min.
WEB: http://www.finkworld.co.uk/
01. Perfect Darkness [06:39]
02. Fear Is Like Fire [03:58]
03. Yesterday Was Hard On All of Us [04:55]
04. Honesty [04:33]
05. Wheels [03:04]
06. Warm Shadow [05:47]
07. Save It For Somebody Else [03:49]
08. Who Says? [05:04]
09. Foot in the Door [05:03]
10. Berlin Sunrise [04:04]
get it here.
COM TRUISE
Galactic Melt
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as heard on radiospin on July 26th, 2011
under album, electronic, experimental, preview, recommended
2011 release from Com Truise, one of the many pseudonyms of New Jersey designer and musician Seth Haley. After his well-received Cyanide Sisters EP, a grip of remixes for artists like Twin Shadow, Neon Indian, and Daft Punk, and a few floating mp3s, Galactic Melt finally enters your brainspaces. And what an appropriate title it bears! Haley envisioned Galactic Melt as a sort of film score, from the mind, chronicling the lift and death of Com Truise, the world’s first synthetic/robotic astronaut, from his creation and life on earth to his subsequent mission to a newly discovered galaxy called Wave 1. Eventually, Truise becomes one with his newfound cosmos, like Pinocchio becoming a real boy, but in the nether regions of imaginary space.
ARTIST: Com Truise
TITLE: Galactic Melt
LABEL: Ghostly International
RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2011
TIME: 53:07 min.
WEB: http://comtruise.com/
01. Terminal [01:47]
02. VHS Sex [04:25]
03. Cathode Girls [04:37]
04. Air Cal [04:33]
05. Flightwave [05:05]
06. Hyperlips [04:54]
07. Brokendate [05:08]
08. Glawio [05:07]
09. Ether Drift [04:21]
10. Futurewolrd [03:10]
get it here.
YUKSEK
Living On the Edge of Time
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as heard on radiospin on July 25th, 2011
under album, electronic, pop, preview, recommended, rock
By the time you’re a few numbers into this second album from Reims artist/producer Yuksek (aka Pierre-Alexandre Busson), several reference points will have sprung to mind (mainly fellow French electro acts Phoenix and Daft Punk but also The Knife and even Duran Duran). Familiarity doesn’t breed contempt, however, because Yuksek blitzes these ingredients into his own yummy concoction. Living On the Edge of Time sharpens the poppy songwriting hooks he revealed on his 2009 debut, Away From the Sea, with snappy stand-outs. These tracks apparently reflect Yuksek’s transient life on the road but they’re catchy enough to shake our asses: surely one of the best and underrated producers kicking around.
ARTIST: Yuksek
TITLE: Living On the Edge of Time
LABEL: Polydor / Universal
RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2011
TIME: 44:44 min.
WEB: http://yuksekmusic.tumblr.com/
01. Always On the Run [03:38]
02. White Keys [03:21]
03. Off the Wall [03:22]
04. On a Train [03:59]
05. Say a Word [03:05]
06. To See You Smile [03:05]
07. The Edge [05:50]
08. Fireworks [04:21]
09. 9-Miracle [04:05]
10. You Should Talk [04:00]
11. Dead or Alive [05:07]
get it here.
AA.VV.
Newermind (a tribute to nevermind)
No Comments
as heard on radiospin on July 22nd, 2011
under best of, compilation, cover, preview, recommended, rock, tribute
Although Nirvana has been over for fifteen years, their popularity is about to get another jolt. Spin Magazine has released Newermind, a free covers album to Nirvana’s breakthrough album, Nevermind, released in September of 1991, already 20 years ago. The album features performances by Charles Bradley, Telekinesis, JEFF the Brotherhood, Titus Andronicus, Foxy Shazam, Surfer Blood, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Midnight Juggernauts and also Meat Puppets and the The Vaselines: a real short circuit this one, being Nirvana the first band to cover them. Don’t be afraid of your tears.
ARTIST: AA.VV.
TITLE: Newermind (a tribute to nevermind)
LABEL: Spin Magazine
RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2011
TIME: 48:01 min.
WEB: http://www.spin.com/
01. MEAT PUPPETS – Smells Like Teen Spirits [04:54]
02. BUTCH WALKER & THE BLACK WIDOWS – In Bloom [03:25]
03. MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS – Come As You Are [03:48]
04. TITUS ANDRONICUS – Breed [02:59]
05. THE VASELINES – Lithium [03:59]
06. AMANDA PALMER – Polly [03:05]
07. SURFER BLOOD – Territorial Pissing [02:18]
08. FOXY SHAZMAN – Drain You (live) [04:04]
09. JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD – Loung Act [03:05]
10. CHARLES BRADLEY & THE MENAHAN STREET BAND – Stay Away [03:14]
11. TELEKINESIS – On A Plain [03:07]
12. JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD – Something in the Way [04:12]
13. EMA – Endless Nameless [05:24]
get it here.
DESTROYER
Kaputt
Dan Bejar started Destroyer as a solo home-recording project in the early to mid-nineties. Destroyer‘s two recent limited edition 12-inches, Bay of Pigs and Archer on the Beach, were lauded by critics and sold out in the first month of release and that’s because Bejer is a songwriter of the highest order. Kaputt is his ninth album.
ARTIST: Destroyer
TITLE: Kaputt
LABEL: Merge
RELEASE DATE: January 25, 2011
TIME: 50:09 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/destroyer
01. Chinatown [03:49]
02. Blue Eyes [04:07]
03. Savage Night at the Opera [04:24]
04. Suicide Demo for Kara Walker [08:26]
05. Poor in Love [03:26]
06. Kaputt [06:18]
07. Downtown [03:52]
08. Song for America [04:29]
09. Bay of Pigs [11:18]
get it here.
ALVA NOTO & RYUICHI SAKAMOTO
Summvs
2 Comments
as heard on radiospin on July 20th, 2011
under album, ambient, electronic, experimental, IDM, instrumental, preview, recommended
Summvs is the fifth and purportedly final collaborative album from the dream-team of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto). Since 2002 the two musicians have fused their disciplines near-faultlessly, with Sakamoto’s evocative piano-based compositions melting effortlessly into Nicolai’s skillful digital rhythms and cautious manipulations. Each album has brought the duo slightly closer together, and Summvs (the title an amalgamation of the words summa and versus) sees their work reach critical mass.
ARTIST: Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto
TITLE: Summvs
LABEL: Raster Norton
RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2011
TIME: 56:11 min.
WEB: http://www.alvanoto.com/
01. Microon I [03:04]
02. Reverso [06:57]
03. Halo [07:10]
04. Microon II [02:38]
05. Pionier IOO [05:46]
06. Ionoscan [04:08]
07. By This River [04:08]
08. Naono [11:20]
09. Microon III [03:00]
10. By This River / Phantom [08:30]
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto – Ionoscan
get it here.
THE HORRORS
Skying
When they first skulked into the limelight in 2007, The Horrors did not appear to be built to last. Even fans of their scabrous, 60s-inflected debut, Strange House, imagined that, having made their grand nihilist statement, the amusingly named fivesome (Faris Rotter, Spider Webb, Tomethy Furse, Joshua Von Grimm and Coffin Joe) would probably eke out the remainder of their 20s coiling leads in recording studios and resenting the tea order. This was an art-goth-noise outfit born out of time, who seemed destined only to be the butt of obscure pub quiz jokes. And yet, Skying, The Horrors‘ unlikely third album, may well be remembered as one of the feelgood albums of the summer, an endpoint steeped in irony, considering the band’s fetish for all things crepuscular.
ARTIST: The Horrors
TITLE: Skying
LABEL: XL
RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2011
TIME: 53:52 min.
WEB: http://www.thehorrors.co.uk/
01. Changing the Rain [04:31]
02. You Said [04:46]
03. I Can See Through You [04:17]
04. Endless Blue [05:10]
05. Dive In [04:51]
06. Still Life [05:21]
07. Wild Eyes [04:04]
08. Moving Further Away [08:34]
09. Monica Gems [04:28]
10. Oceans Burning [07:50]
removed by request
JUNIOR BOYS
It’s All True
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as heard on radiospin on July 18th, 2011
under album, electronic, pop, preview, recommended
You know something’s different from the minute you put the needle on the record (you still do that, right? don’t you? ok, take it as a metaphor): the insistent tempo and playfully production of the Junior Boys‘ fourth album has a crisp refreshing bounce. As the album progresses the songs showcase just how great a singer Jeremy Greenspan has become. After one spin of the album you come to realize Junior Boys have become a formidable production and arrangement team. Is it maybe a dream? No, It’s All True.
ARTIST: Junior Boys
TITLE: It’s All True
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2011
TIME: 51:30 min.
WEB: http://juniorboys.net/
01. Itchy Fingers [04:39]
02. Playtime [06:42]
03. You’ll Improve Me [05:54]
04. A Truly Happy Ending [04:02]
05. The Reservoir [04:10]
06. Second Chance [05:35]
07. Kick the Can [05:31]
08. EP [05:42]
09. Banana Ripple [09:15]
get it here.
SPINELESS LAUGH
REpeche DEmixed
2 Comments
as heard on radiospin on July 1st, 2011
under best of, electronic, mix, preview, recommended, remix
Here we are with a very special release by Spineless Laugh, in order to keep your ears working during this short-early-summer break. REpeche DEmixed is a brand new studio mix of the best Depeche Mode remixes, taken from their latest collection Remixes 2 (81-11). More than one hour of DM non-stop music re-worked by the best artists of the scene: enjoy, and don’t fear the heat!
ARTIST: Depeche Mode remixed by AA.VV & mixed by Spineless Laugh
TITLE: REpeche DEmixed
LABEL: Spineless Media / Reprise
RELEASE DATE: Jul 1, 2011
TIME: 76:18 min.
WEB: http://spineless.official.fm/
01. Intro (spineless laugh digital trip mix) [@00:00]
02. Personal Jesus (alec metric remix edit) [@02:52]
03. Never Let Me Down Again (digitalism remix) [@06:18]
04. John the Revelator (U.N.K.L.E. reconstruction) [@10:37]
05. Dream On (bushwacka tough guy mix) [@15:24]
06. A Pain That I’m Used To (jacques lu cont remix) [@20:00]
07. A Question of Time (joebot presents “radio face” remix) [@26:48]
08. In Chains (tigerskin’s no sleep remix) [@32:13]
09. I Feel You (helmet at the helm mix) [@37:54]
10. Lilian (chab vocal remix edit) [@42:23]
11. Ghost (le weekend remix) [@47:38]
12. World in My Eyes (dub in my eyes version) [@55:27]
13. Suffer Well (M83 remix) [@61:24]
14. I Want It All (roland m. dill remix) [@64:40]
15. Behind the Wheel (vince clarke remix) [@70:13]
Depeche Mode remix mixed by Spineless Laugh – REpeche DEmixed (promo mix)
get it here.