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JAGWAR MA
Howlin

Sometimes, a band being unsure of who they want to be is definitely a good thing. So long as they can pull this off with confidence, they’re all set. Just ask Jagwar Ma. Their debut album in influenced by everything from the sort of psychedelia that their countrymen Tame Impala are proficient in, to 90s rave culture, the Madchester scene, and impressively focused dance-pop. It’s all over the place, broadly speaking, but it works extremely well. Jono Ma and Gabriel Winterfield came together over a passion for melody and experimental beats, and these things are essential parts of the Jagwar Ma sound. The duo find ways to keep things interesting even they’re at their most straightforward, and it’s this that makes Howlin such a fascinating album.

ARTIST: Jagwar Ma
TITLE: Howlin
LABEL: Marathon Artists
RELEASE DATE: June 10, 2013
TIME: 48:36 min.
WEB: https://www.facebook.com/JagwarMa
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 7.99$

01. What Love [03:54]
02. Uncertainty [04:03]
03. The Throw [06:44]
04. That Loneliness [02:52]
05. Come Save Me [05:15]
06. Four [06:32]
07. Let Her Go [02:57]
08. Man I Need [03:37]
09. Exercise [04:05]
10. Did You Have To? [02:59]
11. Backwards Berlin [05:38]

PREVIEW: Jagwar Ma – Exercise

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EMPIRE OF THE SUN
Ice On the Dune

Pretty weird duo Empire of the Sun (consisting of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore) arrived back in 2009 surrounded by industry hype and big promises and they didn’t fail to deliver one of the year’s strongest sleeper debuts and in turn gain themselves a cult following. Luckily for that loyal fanbase, their second outing Ice On the Dune picks up neatly from where they left us. Rather than more of the same, this is an expansion on what made their breakout so captivating, and for that they should clinch the wider appreciation they so very much deserve.

ARTIST: Empire of the Sun
TITLE: Ice On the Dunes
LABEL: Astralwerks
RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2013
TIME: 43:02 min.
WEB: http://empireofthesun.com/
PURCHASE: price – 10.00$

01. Lux [01:26]
02. DNA [03:55]
03. Alive [03:25]
04. Concert Pitch [03:41]
05. Ice On the Dune [03:26]
06. Awakening [03:46]
07. I’ll Be Around [04:31]
08. Old Favours [03:55]
09. Celebrate [03:19]
10. Surround Sound [03:18]
11. Disarm [03:52]
12. Keep a Watch [04:28]

PREVIEW: Empire of the Sun – Alive

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CAMERA OBSCURA
Desire Lines

Camera Obscura’s joy is always filtered through a smudged, foggy lens. It’s not that the Glaswegian indie-pop band is ashamed of the infectious melodies and girl-group harmonies that define its songs, or that they’re afraid to slather their compositions with rich string flourishes or upbeat percussion. It’s that they never allow themselves to get too excited or clear-eyed. And that’s not a bad thing. Said in another way, with so many retro and neo-soul acts crowding the scene, it’s always refreshing to hear the soft restraint in Tracyanne Campbell’s vocals filling your lazy morning. Desire Lines is here to do this.

ARTIST: Camera Obscura
TITLE: Desire Lines
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2013
TIME: 47:06 min.
WEB: http://www.camera-obscura.net/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Intro [00:31]
02. This Is Love (feels alright) [03:32]
03. Troublemaker [04:28]
04. William’s Heart [04:08]
05. New Year’s Resolution [05:36]
06. Do It Again [03:19]
07. Cri Du Coeur [04:14]
08. Every Weekday [04:11]
09. Fifth in Line to the Throne [04:11]
10. I Missed Your Party [04:28]
11. Break It to You Gently [03:49]
12. Desire Lines [04:22]

PREVIEW: Camera Obscura – Troublemaker

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THE VIOLET ARRAY
Pulling with the Tides

Ryan Carroll (Saturna, Ten Million Lights), Scott Barber and Erin McBride started playing music together in high school and their chemistry shows. Add Erin’s husband Mike Stone to the mix and the concoction is downright magical. Combining elements of dreamy shoegaze and 60′s surf-pop, The Violet Array create music that sounds both nostalgic and futuristic. With this Pulling with the Tides, The Violet Array have created a stunning masterpiece of lush harmonies, beautiful melodies and epic soundscapes. Close your eyes and you will breathe in the arid desert aire, feel the spray of the pounding surf and soar over deepest canyons. Open your ears, stare up at the stars through the eyes of The Violet Array and enjoy their sort of magic trick: stopping time right before yout heart disappears over the horizon, carrying you into believing a feeling can last forever.

ARTIST: The Violet Array
TITLE: Pulling with the Tides
LABEL: self-released
RELEASE DATE: December 12, 2012
TIME: 56:39 min.
WEB: http://www.thevioletarray.com/
PURCHASE: price – 8.99$

01. Icicle Melts [04:25]
02. Kona [05:02]
03. The Longing and the Waiting [03:02]
04. Hungry for Your Touch [04:39]
05. The Golden Wave [05:41]
06. Death Valley Daydream [04:19]
07. Reunion [05:26]
08. Ride the Wave [00:45]
09. The Wound Runs Deep [03:45]
10. In Green [04:06]
11. Sideways 8 [05:56]
12. One with the Ocean [04:46]
13. Sunshine Slowdown [04:52]

PREVIEW: The Violet Array – Kona

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GOLD & YOUTH
Beyond Wilderness

Hailing from Vancouver, the four-piece group, Gold & Youth, have kicked off their career with Beyond Wilderness and from the hearing of things, it becomes apparent that the hype and acclaim was, and is, all rightfully beheld. The album had a healthy host of talent working behind the scenes: starting from the production by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, New Pornographers, Destroyer), to the mixing by Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Interpol, Grizzly Bear) and Damian Taylor (Björk, Robyn, Arcade Fire). With such creative powerhouses backing this project, it would seem that Beyond Wilderness would be a recipe for success, and in the end, it certainly is.

ARTIST: Gold & Youth
TITLE: Beyond Wilderness
LABEL: Arts & Crafts
RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013
TIME: 43:18 min.
WEB: http://goldandyouth.tumblr.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.49$

01. City of Quartz [04:45]
02. Little Wild Love [04:09]
03. Quarters [04:16]
04. Tan Lines [02:55]
05. Cut Lip [03:31]
06. Jewel [04:33]
07. Come to Admire [04:11]
08. Daylight Colours [03:40]
09. Young Blood [03:27]
10. Palm Villas [03:15]
11. Time to Kill [04:36]

PREVIEW: Gold & Youth – Cut Lip

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RS VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #160
SUUNS – 2020

ARTIST: Suuns
TITLE: 2020
ALBUM: Images du Futur
WEB: YouTube

directed by Sabrina Rattè

IAMAMIWHOAMI
Bounty

iamamiwhoami is a daughter of the internet. So we guess we should thank the internet. But that’s a long-boring matter. Let’s jump to the conclusions by listening to this new Bounty, which, actually, isn’t so new. Bounty is the prologue to last year’s Kin, and brings together in one place/object the previously released multimedia series that had surfaced before Kin was released as iamamiwhoami’s first album proper. Between 2010 and 2012, beneath a cloak of anonymity and all kinds of mystery, iamamiwhoami released what could best be described as music videos onto YouTube. Anticipation built as a debut album came ever closer to a release, and an equal amount of frustration brewed as it was continually pushed back. Eventually, Kin was released: an album of previously unreleased material, well received by just about everybody. That’s it: in a few words, Bounty is a sort of official release for what came before. The music, then. It’s unmistakably Scandinavian: think of Fever Ray, and then track several shades paler, less oppressive and prettier. iamamiwhoami is just as weird, but it’s a different weirdness. Bounty is wonderfully idiosyncratic: the whole thing holds together in an indefinable way that ultimately comes down to iamamiwhoami sounding far more like themselves than anybody else. But the music, even if truly able to stand for itself, in this case maybe isn’t enough: Bounty is an album designed for listenwatching. So listenwatch.

ARTIST: iamamiwhoami
TITLE: Bounty
LABEL: To Whom It May Concern
RELEASE DATE: June 3, 2013
TIME: 43:09 min.
WEB: http://towhomitmayconcern.cc/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 8.91$

01. B [03:31]
02. O [06:39]
03. U-1 [02:41]
04. U-2 [03:43]
05. N [04:37]
06. T [04:41]
07. Y [06:39]
08. ; John [06:41]
09. Clump [04:27]

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RS VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #159
THE SOFT MOON – Insides

ARTIST: The Soft Moon
TITLE: Insides
ALBUM: Zeros
WEB: YouTube

directed by Jacqueline Castel

ADAM GREEN & BINKI SHAPIRO
Adam Green & Binki Shapiro

With deceptively pretty arrangements that echo filigreed late-sixties folk-pop and an easygoing rapport between singers, this duets collaboration between Adam Green and Binki Shapiro takes just one listen to enchant. Both artists are notable figures among indie-pop fans, cherished for their off-kilter sensibility (him) and elegantly quirky style (her). Green came onto the New York City anti-folk scene with his band The Moldy Peaches, enjoying belated mainstream success via their song on the Grammy-winning soundtrack to the hit film, Juno. Shapiro is recognized by her video collaborations with Beck, and her presence in Little Joy, a, breezy Brazilian-accented Los Angeles trio formed with Fabrizio Moretti of (The Strokes) and Rodrigo Amarante of (Los Hermanos). Adam Green & Binki Shapiro‘s self-titled debut album features sweetly melancholic lyrics, candidly addressing betrayal and incipient heartbreak, yet encased in the most gentle and melodic of vocals.

ARTIST: Adam Green & Binki Shapiro
TITLE: Adam Green & Binki Shapiro
LABEL: Rounder
RELEASE DATE: January 29, 2013
TIME: 27:34 min.
WEB: http://www.trickysite.com/
PURCHASE: price – 8.99$

01. Casanova [02:49]
02. Don’t Ask For More [02:56]
03. Here I Am [03:29]
04. I Never Found Out [02:14]
05. If You Want Me To [02:23]
06. Just to Make Me Feel Good [03:19]
07. Nighttime Stopped Bleeding [02:39]
08. Pity Love [02:49]
09. Pleasantries [02:06]
10. What’s the Reward [02:50]

PREVIEW: Adam Green & Binki Shapiro – Casanova

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CITY AND COLOUR
The Hurry and the Harm

City and Colour is the recording alias for Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green, who was also the guitarist and vocalist of the post-hardcore band Alexisonfire. The name City and Colour comes from his own name: Dallas, a city, and Green, a colour. The Hurry and the Harm is his 4th studio album, following the 2010′s acclaimed Little Hell, and it looks to be continuing in the direction of growth for the Canadian multi-tasker: his voice is as ethereal as ever, but this time around is complimented by some even slicker instrumentation and another great step in confidence as far as the songwriting is concerned. The Hurry and the Harm should prove a great entering point and feels like the culmination of everything Green went out to do with City and Colour. Should prove hard to top.

ARTIST: City and Colour
TITLE: The Hurry and the Harm
LABEL: 10 Spot / Cooking Vinyl
RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2013
TIME: 50:52 min.
WEB: http://www.cityandcolour.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.49$

01. The Hurry and the Harm [04:23]
02. Harder Than Stone [04:26]
03. Of Space and Time [03:33]
04. The Lonely Life [04:34]
05. Paradise [03:38]
06. Commentators [03:35]
07. Thirst [03:27]
08. Two Coins [05:32]
09. Take Care [03:38]
10. Ladies and Gentlemen [04:05]
11. The Golden State [05:18]
12. Death’s Song [04:43]

PREVIEW: City and Colour – Thirst

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RS VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #158
PVT – Vertigo

ARTIST: PVT
TITLE: Vertigo
ALBUM: Homosapien
WEB: YouTube

directed by Clemens Habicht

ASCETIC:
Self Initiation

Exploring themes of union and dissociation, impossibly forgotten moments, process become form, here’s the latest work from Melbourne-based Ascetic:. Drawn from a collective obsession with fringe philosophy and post-new-age consciousness, Self Initiation evokes the moods & spaces of 4AD’s early roster (Swans, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins), with a nod to contemporaries The Soft Moon, Factory Floor and Portishead. Thick pulsing rhythms erupt into glorious, cascading conclusion: from narcissistic rants, to sickly crooned anthems. Recorded, mixed & mastered at Birdland by Lindsay Gravina & Rob Long (HTRK, New War, Rowland S. Howard, Hungry Ghosts), a strictly personal way to make the past collapse into now.

ARTIST: Ascetic:
TITLE: Self Initiation
LABEL: OSCL
RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2013
TIME: 46:25 min.
WEB: http://www.ascetic.com.au/
PURCHASE: special offer – NAME YOUR PRICE

01. Pharmacy [05:20]
02. We Are Not All Dead [05:16]
03. I Burn [03:28]
04. Religion [04:30]
05. Trankasham [05:02]
06. Before the Storm [06:02]
07. Uroboros (up from eden) [05:37]
08. A Day in the Fields [05:31]
09. Silver Circle [05:39]

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WILD NOTHING
Empty Estate

Jack Tatum‘s gleaming nocturnal synth-pop as Wild Nothing produced not only an incredible string of recordings, but also spearheaded a micro-movement of indie-level dream pop more rooted in the ’80s synth reflections of acts like Echo & the Bunnymen or Aztec Camera than the mumbly fractalized bedroom productions coming from chillwave circles.
Empty Estate, follow-up EP to the critically acclaimed Nocturne, sets itself apart by exploring different absent-minded stylistic detours on almost every track. You know, Wild Nothing has always worn his sensitive songwriter’s influences on his sleeve. That’s why Empty Estate finally seems a thoroughly pleasant but unexpected long walk on a summer evening, with Tatum stopping for a moment to say hello to all his various different inclinations for a second before moving on.

ARTIST: Wild Nothing
TITLE: Empty Estate
LABEL: Captured Tracks
RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013
TIME: 28:47 min.
WEB: http://www.wildnothingmusic.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 5.99$

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THESE NEW PURITANS
Field of Reeds

Brand new album from These New Puritans. In a way, it was completely unexpected. Pigeonholed as promising but limited indie rock types, These New Puritans decided to break down these barriers with their second album: released back in 2010, Hidden was a torrent of ideas, a stunning mixture of free jazz and left field rock, all delivered with an orchestral sweep. Since then, the band have played some very special live shows before heading back into the studio. And now Field of Reeds is born: a new path of flared and dilated indie-rock, inspired songwriting and, of course, nothing taken for granted.

ARTIST: These New Puritans
TITLE: Field of Reeds
LABEL: Infectious
RELEASE DATE: June 10, 2013
TIME: 53:13 min.
WEB: http://www.thesenewpuritans.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. The Way I Do [03:03]
02. Fragment Two [04:35]
03. The Light in Your Name [06:05]
04. V (island song) [09:18]
05. Spiral [06:05]
06. Organ Eternal [05:03]
07. Nothing Else [07:51]
08. Dream [04:16]
09. Field of Reeds [06:27]

PREVIEW: These New Puritans – Fragment Two

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THE BLACK ANGELS
Indigo Meadow

Indigo Meadow marks The Black Angels’ 4th full-length release, following 2010′s acclaimed Phosphene Dream. Once again the Austin-based band proves themselves the undisputed avatars of contemporary psychedelic rock, simultaneously exalting the genre’s kaleidoscopic past as they thrust it further into the future. Now a four-piece ably supported behind the board by producer/mixer John Congleton (David Byrne, St. Vincent, Explosions in the Sky, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah) the band have brought new focus to their wide-ranging song craft, the righteous riffs and dogmatic drones gaining increased power as they fuel a more expansive emotional terrain. A 21st century trip as transcendent as any in the canon, Indigo Meadow masterfully affirms The Black Angels full-throttle commitment to the psychedelic ethos of creativity, community and boundless experimentation.

ARTIST: The Black Angels
TITLE: Indigo Meadow
LABEL: Blue Horizon Ventures
RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2013
TIME: 45:49 min.
WEB: http://theblackangels.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 8.99$

01. Indigo Meadow [02:49]
02. Evil Things [03:44]
03. Don’t Play with Guns [03:43]
04. Holland [04:02]
05. The Day [02:37]
06. Love Me Forever [03:10]
07. Always Maybe [04:08]
08. War On Holiday [02:35]
09. Broken Soldier [03:36]
10. I Hear Colors (chromaesthesia) [04:03]
11. Twisted Light [03:21]
12. You’re Mine [03:40]
13. Black Isn’t Black [04:21]

PREVIEW: The Black Angels – The Day

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SAVAGES
Silence Yourself

Inspiration, not innovation, is what you should look for in Savages. You should take this four-girls London-based band, with their furious, high-velocity update of Joy Division, Simple Minds, British Sea Power, The Smashing Pumpkins, Einsturzende Neubauten, Bauhaus, The Birthday Party, Suede and so on over a thousand pallid boys who’ve managed, somehow, to divine an original sound at the end of post-modernism. Why? Because Silence Yourself is the manifestation of a formidable spirit, a sense that everything they do is done with great purity of intent, and a brilliant sex, life and death album of a kind rarely seen these days.

ARTIST: Savages
TITLE: Silence Yourself
LABEL: Matador
RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2013
TIME: 38:39 min.
WEB: http://savagesband.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Shut Up [04:48]
02. I Am Here [03:20]
03. City’s Full [03:27]
04. Strife [03:57]
05. Waiting For A Sign [05:25]
06. Dead Nature [02:06]
07. She Will [03:27]
08. No Face [03:35]
09. Hit Me [01:41]
10. Husbands [02:50]
11. Marshal Dear [04:03]

PREVIEW: Savages – Husbands

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