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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 moment 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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DAFT PUNK
Random Access Memories

Daft Punk‘s Random Access Memories was one of the most anticipated albums of not only the year, but maybe even ever. This of course begged the question: does it live up to the hype? The best saying for this is the good old “aim low and you’ll never be disappointed,” which, albeit somewhat demotivational, does allow for a “better than expected” result. The French duo were being very ambitious by creating such a buzz, but can we expect any less from Daft Punk? Maybe not. For everywhere Random Access Memories lacks, there is an equally smooth and velvety groove to combat it. Unfortunately, this creates a very inconsistent album that has too many lull moments for it to be an overall winner in disco music history. The whole album is layered with 70′s funk, reminiscent of those fuzzy guitar solos and sweet licks we all grew up on and this makes it an extremely fun and upbeat type of record that has been filled to the brink with A-list cameos (please see Pharrell Williams, Julian Casablancas, Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder and so on). So, in the end, Daft Punk have delivered an exceptionally well marketed album, which unfortunately has an overall lacklustre feel. It is definitely worth a spin, but worth two spins? It’s up to you.

ARTIST: Daft Punk
TITLE: Random Access Memories
LABEL: Columbia
RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2013
TIME: 1:14:35 min.
WEB: http://www.daftpunk.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Give Life Back to Music [04:34]
02. The Game of Love [05:22]
03. Giorgio by Moroder [09:05]
04. Within [03:49]
05. Instant Crush [05:38]
06. Lose Yourself to Dance [05:54]
07. Touch [08:19]
08. Get Lucky [06:10]
09. Beyond [04:50]
10. Motherboard [05:42]
11. Fragments of Time [04:40]
12. Doin’ It Right [04:11]
13. Contact [06:21]

PREVIEW: Daft Punk (feat. Julian Casablancas) – Instant Crush

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!!! (CHK CHK CHK)
THR!!!ER

Famous for their high-energy live shows and relentless touring schedule, !!! (pronounced Chk Chk Chk) have really focused their efforts on crafting an album with tighter song structures, and the results are stunning. The album, is titled THR!!!ER and was produced by Jim Eno, the drummer from Spoon. Like many people, Jim was a fan of !!!‘s live show, but he felt that they too often tried to capture these performances in the studio. Instead of trying to chase this feeling, Jim encouraged them to create a different type of excitement by using weirder sounds, inventing new dynamics within each song and introducing unexpected changes.
Something more honest, more interesting, more fun than ever before.

ARTIST: !!! (Chk Chk Chk)
TITLE: THR!!!ER
LABEL: Warp
RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2013
TIME: 34:53 min.
WEB: http://www.chkchkchk.net/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Even When the Water’s Cold [03:48]
02. Get That Rhythm Right [05:06]
03. One Girl / One Boy [04:04]
04. Fine Fine Fine [03:54]
05. Slyd [04:15]
06. Californyeah [04:34]
07. Except Death [04:37]
08. Careful [05:37]
09. Station (meet me at) [03:55]

PREVIEW: !!! (chk chk chk) – Fine Fine Fine

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YOUNG GALAXY
Ultramarine

Ultramarine is the name and colour of Young Galaxy‘s 4th LP, the first album they have made away from Montreal, across the sea, all together. Like 2011‘s Shapeshifting, Ultramarine was made with electronic producer Dan Lissvik, but this time it was made in Göteborg, Sweden at Lissvik’s own studio. This time five musicians stood in a room with Lissvik, playing their instruments: this time every song was sung by co-founder Catherine McCandless, with eyes on a blue horizon. These are ten tracks of shining, glimmering electronic pop-songs that scatter across the dance floor, swim through headphones, ringing out like a cold new summer. A modern record, beautifully now, and in a way more direct than anything Young Galaxy have ever made. This band has always loved pop music: here they lean into this love, finding lyrics that speak more to the beat than to intimate autobiography.

ARTIST: Young Galaxy
TITLE: Monomania
LABEL: Paper Bag
RELEASE DATE: April 23, 2013
TIME: 39:54 min.
WEB: http://younggalaxy.com/
PURCHASE: price – 11.99$

01. Pretty Boy [03:56]
02. Fall For You [04:24]
03. New Summer [04:13]
04. Fever [02:58]
05. Hard to Tell [04:38]
06. What We Want [03:57]
07. Out the Gate Backwards [04:10]
08. In Fire [04:29]
09. Privileged Poor [03:14]
10. Sleepwalk with Me [03:55]

PREVIEW: Young Galaxy – Fever

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KAT PARSONS
It Matters to Me

Kat Parsons comes to the end of her trilogy releasing the final installment of her three-part EP series (following the previous Talk to Me and Oh!), each showcasing a distinct image and sound. Again, with this It Matters to Me, Kat Parsons brings her multifaceted personality and talent to the forefront, highlighting her writing style and singer/songwriter sound akin to a modern Carole King. Because pop is always a serious matter, even when it’s so sweet.

ARTIST: Kat Parsons
TITLE: It Matters to Me
LABEL: self-released
RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2013
TIME: 16:00 min.
WEB: http://www.katparsons.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 4.96$

01. I’ll Be Here [04:23]
02. It Matters to Me [02:47]
03. I Won’t Ask [03:28]
04. Harder than This [02:34]
05. One Day [04:12]

PREVIEW: Kat Parsons – It Matters to Me

removed by request

RS VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #151
LAVA LAVA LOVE – Both

ARTIST: Lava Lava Love
TITLE: Both
ALBUM: Au Printemps
WEB: YouTube

directed by Stefano Piccardo

RS VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #150
VAGUE-À-BONDE – Evolved

ARTIST: Vague-à-Bonde
TITLE: Evolved
ALBUM: 222
WEB: YouTube

directed by Charlie Gerszewski

VAGUE-À-BONDE
222

You, RS reader, should know: Vague-à-Bonde is Nicole Brenny: a 24 year old French Language scholar turned producer, songwriter and musician who released her debut album Involution/Evolution nearly a year ago. Driven by the need to challenge herself beyond academia, Nicole used her awkward post-college years to teach herself production, all about analog synths and how to arrange and write songs: she quit most of her normal jobs and spent the majority of her time working on music & traveling throughout North America. So now the time has come for 222, a 5 song EP that catches the traveler at a moment of repose between journeys: these are deeply reflective tracks, digging through the past with an eye to the future, a moment of preparation & planning before the next journey begins. You can only enjoy this future-retro electro-pop ( but always lost into its strong roots made by earthy analog synths and live instrumentation) and then start again.
To nowhere, just like a Vague-à-Bonde.

ARTIST: Vague-à-Bonde
TITLE: 222
LABEL: self-released
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
TIME: 20:16 min.
WEB: http://vagueabonde.tumblr.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 4.95$

01. Broke [04:49]
02. Evolved [03:51]
03. Our Love [04:01]
04. BP! [03:23]
05. New Pop [04:12]

PREVIEW: Vague-à-Bonde – Our Love

removed by request

THE VEILS
Time Stays, We Go

The fourth studio-album by The Veils offers ten new great songs by the alternative rock band. Time Stays, We Go follows on from the band’s third album release Sun Gangs, released back in 2009, which seemed to offer a new slant to the band. It seems that the coming and going of band members hasn’t drastically affected the sound of The Veils’ music, with the tracks on the album sounding pretty much as good as anything else the band have produced thus far. Time Stays, We Go is a strong album, and can easily be called one of the best albums The Veils’ have produced up to now, if not at least on par with their previous work.

ARTIST: The Veils
TITLE: Time Stays, We Go
LABEL: Rough Trade
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2013
TIME: 40:30 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/cocorosie
PURCHASE: price – 22.00£

01. Through the Deep, Dark Wood [03:07]
02. Train with No Name [04:39]
03. Candy Apple Red [04:09]
04. Dancing with the Tornado [03:44]
05. The Pearl [03:57]
06. Sign of Your Love [04:29]
07. Turn from the Rain [03:33]
08. Birds [04:30]
09. Another Night On Earth [03:55]
10. Out from the Valley & Into the Stars [04:27]

PREVIEW: The Veils – The Pearl

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COCOROSIE
Tales of a Grass Widow

Everybody’s favourite wyrd sisters CocoRosie are set to return to earthly shores this year with Tales of a Grass Widow. The record is the 5th studio album from Bianca (Coco) and Sierra (Rosie) Casady, and the American duo this time around choses ad the leading theme the transformative ecstasy in the face of harmful neglect told through their trade-mark avant-folkish language. Right. Makes sense. Maybe.

ARTIST: CocoRosie
TITLE: Tales of a Grass Widow
LABEL: City Slang
RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2013
TIME: 60:03 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/cocorosie
PURCHASE: price – 13.88$

01. After the Afterlife [03:04]
02. Tears For Animals [05:19]
03. Child Bride [04:19]
04. Broken Chariot [02:15]
05. End of Time [03:20]
06. Harmelss Monster [03:08]
07. Gravediggers [05:26]
08. Far Away [04:37]
09. Roots of My Hair [05:58]
10. Villain [04:19]
11. Poison [18:18]

PREVIEW: CocoRosie – Child Bride

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RS VIDEO OF THE WEEK – #149
FLORENCE & THE MACHINE – Spectrum

ARTIST: Florence & the Machine
TITLE: Spectrum
ALBUM: Ceremonials
WEB: YouTube

directed by David La Chapelle & John Byrne

THE STROKES
Comedown Machine

The Strokes are back with their poppiest album yet, indulging the 80s synth-pop of Casablancas’s 2009 solo effort and underpinning it with the band’s familiar garage-rock hallmarks. That’s why you won’t find lots of indie clichés on Comedown Machine, but only a surprisingly playful clutch of tracks that could happily sit on a Kitsuné Maison compilation and still keep pace. The Strokes will never get back the raw magic of Is This It? but, with Comedown Machine, they’ve cast a different spell entirely: one that’s almost joyful.

ARTIST: The Strokes
TITLE: Comedown Machine
LABEL: RCA
RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2013
TIME: 39:55 min.
WEB: http://www.thestrokes.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Tap Out [03:42]
02. All the Time [03:01]
03. One Way Trigger [04:02]
04. Welcome to Japan [03:51]
05. 80′s Comedown Machine [04:59]
06. 50 50 [02:43]
07. Slow Animals [04:21]
08. Partners In Crime [03:22]
09. Chances [03:37]
10. Happy Ending [02:52]
11. Call It Fate Call It Karma [03:25]

PREVIEW: The Strokes – 50 50

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PAPERFANGS
Past Perfect

Featuring charming keyboard-based dream-pop tunes with evident craftsmanship and interesting textures, Past Perfect by Finland’s Paperfangs is a debut LP worthy of note. The tones are remarkably clear (of course, it is Scandinavian pop) and warm, with plenty of vibrato. The vocals are conversational and intimate, with a male voice taking the lead and the female voice adding depth by softly chiming in from time to time. About as perfect for late night headphones listening.

ARTIST: Paperfangs
TITLE: Past Perfect
LABEL: Soliti
RELEASE DATE: February 22, 2013
TIME: 34:14 min.
WEB: http://paperfangs.tumblr.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 6.90$

01. In Age [02:46]
02. Bathe in Glory [03:19]
03. Selfless [03:44]
04. This Power [03:26]
05. Repeat [03:28]
06. Darkling, I Listen [03:38]
07. Widow’s Song [04:00]
08. Avenue of Splendours [04:09]
09. All Girls Are Grey [03:09]
10. His Famous Last Painting [02:42]

PREVIEW: Paperfangs – Selfless

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SUEDE
Bloodsports

It’s been ten years since we heard the familiar sounds of Brett Anderson’s powerful and stirring vocals, and this promises to be an album that’s been worth waiting over a decade for. Bloodsports it’s a story about lust, about the chase, about the endless carnal game of love.
So will Suede live up to their melodic, dramatic and historical past? That’s the hope.

ARTIST: Suede
TITLE: Bloodsports
LABEL: Suede Ltd.
RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2013
TIME: 39:50 min.
WEB: http://www.suede.co.uk/
PURCHASE: price – $9.99

01. Barriers [03:42]
02. Snowblind [04:04]
03. It Starts and Ends With You [03:52]
04. Sabotage [03:45]
05. Fot the Strangers [04:12]
06. Hit Me [04:04]
07. Sometimes I Feel I’ll Float Away [04:04]
08. What Are You Not Telling Me [03:12]
09. Always [04:43]
10. Faultlines [04:04]

PREVIEW: Suede – Sabotage

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LAVA LAVA LOVE
Au Printemps

All things considered, this record it’s a matter of pop. But, think about it, pop is a matter of cooking. Then this record is a matter of cooking. First of all, the right ingredients: melodies, influences, sounds and fuzzy guitars, interweaving vocals, addictive choruses. Last but not least, the right doses: and here we enter a field called talent. A field where Lava Lava Love always feel comfortable. The band shakes everything together and provide us 12 catchy tracks ready to eat. Well, to listen, we mean. Put aside the zombies of their full-length debut and everything that could smell like “indie”, Lava Lava Love usher into spring in advance and, with this Au Printemps, they build the perfect place where almost everything (from Abba to The Smashing Pumpkins, from The Beatles to Foo Fighters, from Madonna to R.E.M. while winkling to every bubble that could float in that melting pot called “power-pop of the 90s”) can coexist. Pastel colors, tweeting birdies and blooming flowers: better times are yet to come, but you can already start smiling.

ARTIST: Lava Lava Love
TITLE: Au Printemps
LABEL: The Prisoner
RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2013
TIME: 30:37 min.
WEB: http://lavalavalove.tumblr.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – NAME YOUR PRICE

01. Both [02:55]
02. Before You Were Born [02:31]
03. (your heart) Beating the Wrong Time [01:59]
04. Don’t Try to Get in my Life [01:52]
05. It Snows in Hell [02:41]
06. All the Children Want Their Milk [02:11]
07. Right Time [02:41]
08. The Light at the End of the Tunnel [03:23]
09. I Hate the Summer [02:41]
10. Annie Serena Malahus [01:53]
09. Worth the Lie [02:47]
10. Another Love Song [03:03]

PREVIEW: Lava Lava Love – Both

removed by request

PASCAL PINON
Twosomeness

Still a four-piece when they recorded their self-titled debut album (although the band name always indicated that these two twins from Reykjavík were in fact the heads of the operation – Pasqual Pinon was a two-headed Mexican, a sideshow attraction in the early 1900s), Pascal Pinon is now, with this Twosomeness, essentially comprised of Jófrídur and Ásthildur, with occasional help by Kristín (and then there’s also casual member Sylvía). Together they have created a many-layered soundtrack to growing up on a volcanic island in the Atlantic: a small world of its own, with all its marvels an all its Good and Bad Things.
A DIY Icelandic tiny dream.

ARTIST: Pascal Pinon
TITLE: Twosomeness
LABEL: Morr Music
RELEASE DATE: February 5, 2013
TIME: 37:13 min.
WEB: http://pascalpinon.com/
PURCHASE: special offer – ONLY 8.99$

01. Ekki Vanmeta [03:17]
02. Þerney (one thing) [03:37]
03. Somewhere [03:10]
04. Evgeny Kissin [03:15]
05. When I Can’t Sleep [03:42]
06. Annar Logi [00:47]
07. Kertið [02:51]
08. Sumarmál [03:44]
09. Bloom [03:55]
10. Fernando [03:17]
11. Good and Bad Things [02:29]
12. Rifrildi [03:09]

PREVIEW: Pascal Pinon – Þerney (one thing)

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