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ISLANDS
A Sleep & A Forgetting

It’s said that Phil Collins would never have left Genesis and ventured out on his own if his relationship with his first wife hadn’t crumbled. If Adele’s boyfriend hadn’t smashed her heart, her hit 21 may have never have made its way to the top of the charts. And Beck’s tear-jerking and game-changing Sea Change was recorded after he split with his girlfriend of nine years. For Islands frontman Nick Thorburn, the band’s latest album, A Sleep & A Forgetting, is about more than a breakup: it’s about completely losing a way of life and having to start all over again. He started writing it on Valentine’s Day last year after breaking up with his longtime partner, leaving his New York home and moving to Los Angeles: he started messing around and writing songs on a piano he found in his new abode, and a year later came Islands’ fourth record. But though the subject of A Sleep & A Forgetting is one of the most common human experiences, the album is not a generic tribute to a breakup: it’s an inspired look at the grieving human heart. And one of the best Islands records so far, to boot.

ARTIST: Islands
TITLE: A Sleep & A Forgetting
LABEL: ANTI / Epitaph
RELEASE DATE: February 10, 2012
TIME: 37:43 min.
WEB: http://islandsareforever.com/

01. In a Dream It Seemed Real [03:21]
02. This Is Not a Song [03:56]
03. Never Go Solo [04:45]
04. No Crying [03:05]
05. Hallways [02:54]
06. Can’t Feel My Face [02:46]
07. Lonely Love [03:40]
08. Oh Maria [04:08]
09. Cold Again [03:19]
10. Don’t Love You [03:20]
11. Same Thing [02:32]

Islands – Hallways

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SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS
Ghostory

Recorded in-between tours, Ghostory exemplifies a fervent progression of School of Seven Bells‘s growth as artists, preserving the common themes found on their last two releases but exposing them in different fashions: the familiar ethereal and enigmatic tones are omnipresent, surrounded by layers of influences from `80s pop, shoegaze and ambient electronic sounds. However, Ghostory comes with a story in mind: the tale of a young girl named Lafaye and the ghosts that surround her life. This album is truly School of Seven Bells‘ defining work, beautifully crafted and haunting, with the story of Lafaye permeating the psyche long after the music stops.

ARTIST: School of Seven Bells
TITLE: Ghostory
LABEL: Vagrant / Ghostly International
RELEASE DATE: February 28, 2012
TIME: 45:13 min.
WEB: http://sviib.com/

01. The Night [03:47]
02. Love Play [04:11]
03. Lafaye [04:14]
04. Low Times [06:32]
05. Reappear [04:10]
06. Show Me Love [04:44]
07. Scavenger [04:26]
08. White Wind [04:42]
09. When You Sing [08:34]

School of Seven Bells – Lafaye

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SHEARWATER
Animal Joy

Shearwater‘s Animal Joy is the first band’s album for Sub Pop. Led by Jonathan Meiburg, and featuring drummer Thor Harris, and bassist Kimberly Burke, Shearwater ditch the expansive approach of their recent records (particularly the epic trilogy of Palo Santo, Rook and The Golden Archipelago) to create a record that seems shockingly direct, immediate and intensely personal. Meiburg is no stranger to lush, crafted recordings, but this one sounds like no prior Shearwater incarnation.

ARTIST: Shearwater
TITLE: Animal Joy
LABEL: Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE: February 14, 2012
TIME: 43:10 min.
WEB: http://shearwatermusic.com/

01. Animal Life [03:38]
02. Breaking the Yearlings [03:08]
03. Dread Sovereign [03:51]
04. You As You Were [03:43]
05. Insolence [06:25]
06. Immaculate [02:26]
07. Open Your Houses (basilisk) [03:25]
08. Run the Banner Down [02:50]
09. Pushing the River [04:32]
10. Believing Makes It Easy [04:11]
11. Star of the Age [05:01]

Shearwater – Breaking the Yearlings

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SLOVE
Le Danse

Welcome to the addictive sound of Slove where the guitars purr and the synths glisten. Slove are a French band bridging the between addictive indie pop and electronica, and doing it successfully, may we add. They bring with them a talented gang of vocalists including Olivier Rocabois, Maik and Anne Laures and it makes for a pretty formidable mix. You may think you’d know what to find when you see the label “French dance music” but Slove take a sidestep away from what you’d expect.

ARTIST: Slove
TITLE: Le Danse
LABEL: Pschent
RELEASE DATE: November 28, 2011
TIME: 47:08 min.
WEB: http://plaisirdefrance.net/artistes/slove

01. Le Danse [04:58]
02. Do We Need [05:46]
03. The Brightest [06:10]
04. Flash [04:49]
05. Noisy Neige [04:28]
06. DMGM [01:24]
07. My Pop [04:50]
08. Carte Postale [06:14]
09. Find Out [03:29]
10. If Only I Had [05:00]

Slove – Flash

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SOAP & SKIN
Narrow

21 year old Anja Plaschg, better known as Soap & Skin releases her new mini-album, Narrow: the follow-up to her 2009 debut Lovetune for Vacuum contains eight new entirely self-produced and played tracks from Anja herself.

ARTIST: Soap & Skin
TITLE: Narrow
LABEL: PIAS
RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2012
TIME: 29:06 min.
WEB: http://soapandskin.com/

01. Vater [05:38]
02. Voyage Voyage [05:16]
03. Deathmental [04:47]
04. Cradlesong [02:14]
05. Wonder [03:14]
06. Lost [01:58]
07. Boat Turns Toward the Port [03:03]
08. Big Hand Nails Down [02:56]

Soap & Skin – Wonder

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SLEIGH BELLS
Reign of Terror

Brand new release from the Brooklyn duo consisting of Derek E. Miller (songwriter, guitarist, producer) and Alexis Krauss (vocals). Sleigh Bells‘ unique sound is likely the result of Miller and Krauss’s contrasting musical backgrounds: Miller was formerly the guitarist for the post-hardcore band Poison The Well and Krauss was a member of the teen pop group RubyBlue as a teenager. Guess what it could come out, then listen to Reign of Terror.

ARTIST: Sleigh Bells
TITLE: Reign of Terror
LABEL: Mom & Pop
RELEASE DATE: February 21, 2012
TIME: 36:30 min.
WEB: http://reignofterror.tv/

01. True Shred Guitar [02:20]
02. Born to Lose [03:53]
03. Crush [03:20]
04. End of the Line [03:38]
05. Leader of the Pack [02:43]
06. Comeback Kid [03:01]
07. Demons [03:04]
08. Road to Hell [03:22]
09. You Lost Me [04:31]
10. Never Say Die [03:40]
11. D.O.A. [02:58]

Sleigh Bells – Comeback Kid

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THE TWILIGHT SAD
No One Can Ever Know

As made clear already by widely-spread preview track Kill It In The Morning and first single Sick, The Twilight Sad‘s third full-length, No One Can Ever Know, marks a sonic shift for the band: freshly inspired by a listening diet of Cabaret Voltaire, Can, Liars, Magazine, Autechre, and Public Image Limited, the band turn to a dark, synth-heavy sound for No One Can Ever Know. The resulting LP shares thematic and sonic space with the most innovative offerings from Depeche Mode, The Cure, or even Nine Inch Nails.

ARTIST: The Twilight Sad
TITLE: No One Can Ever Know
LABEL: Fat Cat
RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2012
TIME: 44:18 min.
WEB: http://www.thetwilightsad.com/

01. Alphabet [04:27]
02. Dead City [06:26]
03. Sick [04:24]
04. Don’t Move [04:20]
05. Nil [05:19]
06. Don’t Look At Me [04:09]
07. Not Sleeping [05:11]
08. Another Bed [04:39]
09. Kill It in the Morning [05:53]

The Twilight Sad – Another Bed

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WE HAVE BAND
Ternion

If prizes could be awarded for sheer variety of sonic scope, We Have Band would nab every one going. For the dynamic two lads ‘n’ a lass trio, their sophomore effort Ternion plays out as a mish-mash of clever indie ingenuity, electronica and synth-pop. But even that doesn’t do them justice, because, frankly speaking, just so much is going on in every track: like a zoo of assorted instruments let loose, Ternion’s disparate elements are free to play to their own devices.

ARTIST: We Have Band
TITLE: Ternion
LABEL: Naïve
RELEASE DATE: February 28, 2012
TIME: 84:35 min.
WEB: http://www.wehaveband.com/

01. Shift [04:38]
02. After All [04:13]
03. Where Are You People? [03:50]
04. Visionary [04:59]
05. What’s Mine, What’s Yours [04:11]
06. Steel in the Groove [05:00]
07. Tired of Running [04:38]
08. Watertight [04:00]
09. Rivers of Blood [03:12]
10. Pressure On [04:57]
11. Ternion Aside [26:57]

12. Shift (acoustic) [03:56]
13. After All (acoustic) [03:19]
14. What’s Mine, What’s Yours (acoustic) [03:35]
15. Watertight (acoustic) [03:10]

We Have Band – Where Are You People? (walls remix)

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #94
as seen on radioSpin

ARTIST: OK GO
TITLE: Needing/Getting
ALBUM: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky
WEB: YouTube

directed by Brian L. Perkins & Damian Kulash Jr.

VAGUE-À-BONDE
Involution / Evolution

Involution/Evolution is the debut album of Vague-à-Bonde (a.k.a. Nicole Alicia Brenny, former member of Waxx Maxx). Involution/Evolution was written and produced by Nicole herself entirely in her own bedroom, but that doesn’t mean any lo-fi attitude. The album is beyond doubt a professional product: by the end, what we hear here is an intelligent and brilliant songwriter that showcases her range of talents in 8 tracks that fall somewhere between Fleetwood Mac and K-Pop, the ethereal and the corporal. And, considering she is an independent artist self-releasing her first full-length, it is quiet a feat.

ARTIST: Vague-à-Bonde
TITLE: Involution/Evolution
LABEL: self-released
RELEASE DATE: February 22, 2012
TIME: 32:04 min.
WEB: http://vagueabonde.tumblr.com/

01. Voices [03:09]
02. Best Nights [04:23]
03. Ghosts [03:06]
04. MV [03:57]
05. Pop [04:23]
06. 1221 [03:53]
07. Something [03:58]
08. Sky [05:15]

Vague-à-Bonde – MV

removed by request

HUMAN TETRIS
Happy Way in the Maze of Rebirth

Someone said, almost a year ago, they could be nothing more than a russian-Interpol-clone, but now Muscovites Human Tetris are ready to take off with their personal path. Today, after a string of excellent live acts in Russia, the group presents (together with an European tour) their debut album Happy Way In the Maze of Rebirth: a solid record, able to reach their own recognizable sound, albeit becoming a par with the engine mount. Nothing new, but extremely enjoyable anyway.

ARTIST: Human Tetris
TITLE: Happy Way in the Maze of Rebirth
LABEL: self-released
RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2012
TIME: 42:08 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/humantetrismoscow

01. Morning [02:04]
02. Summer in Crimea [04:24]
03. Cold Wind [05:22]
04. Angel [04:58]
05. Insanity [04:18]
06. Sailor [04:38]
07. Dreamland [04:37]
08. Spread Your Wings [03:37]
09. Silver Tears [04:50]
10. Brotherhood [02:50]

Human Tetris – Angel

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TENNIS
Young & Old

Brand new release from the Denver-based indie-pop band Tennis, made up of husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley. For this album, guitarist Riley, vocalist Moore and drummer James Barone headed to Nashville to work with The Black Keys‘ Patrick Carney.

ARTIST: Tennis
TITLE: Young & Old
LABEL: Fat Possum
RELEASE DATE: February 14, 2012
TIME: 33:05 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/tennisinc

01. It All Feels the Same [03:23]
02. Origins [03:28]
03. My Better Self [03:45]
04. Traveling [03:02]
05. Petition [03:12]
06. Robin [03:05]
07. High Road [03:03]
08. Dreaming [03:15]
09. Take Me to Heaven [03:25]
10. Never to Part [03:27]

Tennis – My Better Self

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VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #93
as seen on radioSpin

ARTIST: The Rural Alberta Advantage
TITLE: Tornado 87
ALBUM: Departing
WEB: Vimeo

directed by Scott Cudmore