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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 NATIONAL
Trouble Will Find Me

Trouble Will Find Me is The National‘s highly anticipated 6th album. Formed in 1999, the Ohio-raised, Brooklyn-based band consists of vocalist Matt Berninger fronting two pairs of brothers: Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), and Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). Trouble Will Find Me is the most self-assured collection of songs produced by The National in its 14-year career: it is a tribute to fully evolved artistic vision and (somewhat less mystically), to sleep deprivation. Trouble Will Find Me is both dark and melancholic, uplifting and quietly euphoric: another masterpiece from The National.

ARTIST: The National
TITLE: Trouble Will Find Me
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: May 21, 2013
TIME: 55:27 min.
WEB: http://www.americanmary.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. I Should Live in Salt [04:09]
02. Demons [03:33]
03. Don’t Swallow the Cap [04:47]
04. Fireproof [03:00]
05. Sea of Love [03:43]
06. Heavenfaced [04:25]
07. This Is the Last Time [04:45]
08. Graceless [04:37]
09. Slipped [04:26]
10. I Need My Girl [04:07]
11. Humilation [05:02]
12. Pink Rabbits [04:38]
13. Hard to Find [04:15]

PREVIEW: The National – Graceless

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DEERHUNTER
Monomania

On Monomania, Deerhunter have replaced the relatively straight lines of Halcyon Digest with something altogether more thorny. There’s a venom there, a feeling of genuine malice rising, a sense of arrival in a much darker place than before. This is Deerhunter digging hard into their punk roots, dragging their sound through the mud, then coming out the other side with dirty, smiling faces. Like much of their best material, Monomania has a strong sense of journey to it, pulling you by the hair around all its unexpected curves. It bears some aesthetic resemblance to the Weird Era Cont. material when they launch into the white-out section at the close, but mostly this is the type of reinvention that Deerhunter can always pull off while retaining a strong sense of their own identity.

ARTIST: Deerhunter
TITLE: Monomania
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2013
TIME: 43:37 min.
WEB: http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.it/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Neon Junkyard [02:53]
02. Leather Jacket II [03:11]
03. The Missing [03:42]
04. Pensacola [04:01]
05. Dream Captain [03:03]
06. Blue Agent [03:31]
07. T.H.M. [04:20]
08. Sleepwalking [03:10]
09. Back to the Middle [02:38]
10. Monomania [05:21]
11. Nitebike [04:18]
12. Punk (la vie antérieure) [03:29]

PREVIEW: Deerhunter – Sleepwalking

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GRIMES
Visions

Grimes is the moniker of Canadian producer, singer and artist Claire Boucher. She approaches music in a way that is both sensually pleasurable and exploratory: sonic experimentalism run through a ‘pop’ filter. The music is youthfully schizophrenic and searching, a voyage into the yet undefined territory of post-internet, re-spiritualized sound. Grimes strongly values a physical and communal experience of music (it’s danceability), experimental vocalization, and psychedelia. Grimes is self-indulgence, devastation and ecstasy: humanity, spirituality, escapism, identity, reality.

ARTIST: Grimes
TITLE: Visions
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: February 21, 2012
TIME: 43:49 min.
WEB: http://www.grimesmusic.com/
PURCHASE: price – 9.99$

01. Infinite ♡ Without Fulfillment (intro) [01:36]
02. Genesis [04:15]
03. Oblivion [04:12]
04. Eight [01:48]
05. Circumambient [03:43]
06. Vowels = Space and Time [04:21]
07. Visiting Statue [01:59]
08. Be a Body (侘寂) [04:20]
09. Colour of Moonlight (antiochus) [04:00]
10. Symphonia IX (my wait is u) [04:53]
11. Nightmusic [05:03]
12. Skin [06:09]
13. Know the Way (outro) [1:45]

Grimes – Genesis (ryan hemsworth remix)

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PURITY RING
Shrines

Shrines is the debut album by Purity Ring, a Halifax/Montreal-based duo comprised of Corin Roddick and Megan James. Purity Ring make lullabies for the club, drawing equally from airy 90′s R&B, lush dream-pop, and the powerful, bone-rattling immediacy of modern hip hop. Megan’s remarkable voice is at once ecstatic and ethereal, soaring joyfully through Corin’s carefully chopped beats, trembling synths, and skewed vocal samples.

ARTIST: Purity Ring
TITLE: Shrines
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2012
TIME: 38:15 min.
WEB: http://purityringsongs.com/
PURCHASE: http://www.amazon.com/

01. Crawlersout [03:10]
02. Fineshrine [03:30]
03. Ungirthed [02:49]
04. Amenamy [03:27]
05. Grandloves [04:33]
06. Cartographist [04:48]
07. Belispeak [02:59]
08. Saltkin [03:26]
09. Obedear [03:30]
10. Lofticries [04:00]
11. Shuck [02:09]

Purity Ring (feat. Danny Brown) – Belispeak

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ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
Mature Themes

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti enliven our summer with their new album, Mature Themes.
It’s the band’s second album for 4AD and the official follow-up to its 2010 breakthrough full-length, Before Today to which, sonically, it’s comparable: a sweet, crazy mixture of lo-fi synths and electro-poppy arcade jokes. A smart sonic carillon.

ARTIST: Ariel’s Pink Haunted Graffiti
TITLE: Mature Themes
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: August 21, 2012
TIME: 50:55 min.
WEB: http://www.4ad.com/artists/arielpinkshauntedgraffiti

01. Kinski Assassin [02:59]
02. Is This the Best Spot? [01:47]
03. Mature Themes [02:47]
04. Only in My Dreams [03:12]
05. Driftwood [04:22]
06. Early Birds of Babylon [05:16]
07. Schnitzel Boogie [04:35]
08. Symphony of the Nymph [04:35]
09. Pink Slime [02:11]
10. Farewell American Primitive [02:55]
11. Live It Up [04:03]
12. Nostradamus & Me [07:25]
13. Baby [04:48]

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Only in My Dreams

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TWIN SHADOW
Confess

Twin Shadow, the creative moniker of George Lewis Jr., presents his second album, Confess. Self-produced and with mixing duties handled by Michael H. Brauer (Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney), the 10-song set finds Lewis Jr. doing what he does best: remembering and reinventing, and fashioning a soundtrack which sounds refreshingly and distinctly modern.

ARTIST: Twin Shadow
TITLE: Confess
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: July 10, 2012
TIME: 43:07 min.
WEB: http://twinshadow.net/

01. Golden Light [04:38]
02. You Can Call Me On [03:31]
03. Five Seconds [04:20]
04. Run MY Heart [04:38]
05. The One [03:18]
06. Beg for the Night [03:42]
07. Patient [03:25]
08. When the Movie’s Over [03:58]
09. I Don’t Care [02:48]
10. Be Mine Tonight [08:49]

Twin Shadow – Five Seconds

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MARK LANEGAN BAND
Blues Funeral

What else do we need to say that hasn’t been alrealdy said about Mark Lanegan? It would be enough to enumerate the bands and artist he has sung with, such as Screaming Trees, Queens Of the Stone Age, The Twilight Singers, The Gutter Twins, Soulsavers and Isobel Campbell. Blues Funeral is the first Mark Lanegan Band album since 2004′s Bubblegum. It was recorded in Hollywood (California) by Alain Johannes at his 11ad studio. The music was played by Johannes himself and Jack Irons with appearances from Greg Dulli, Josh Homme and many others. Enjoy.

ARTIST: Mark Lanegan Band
TITLE: Blues Funeral
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2012
TIME: 56:00 min.
WEB: http://marklanegan.com/

01. The Gravedigger’s Song [03:46]
02. Bleeding Muddy Water [06:20]
03. Gray Goes Black [04:14]
04. St. Louis Elegy [04:37]
05. Riot in My House [03:56]
06. Ode to Sad Disco [06:27]
07. Phantasmagoria Blues [03:19]
08. Quiver Syndrome [04:06]
09. Harborview Hospital [04:34]
10. Leviathan [04:25]
11. Deep Black Vanishing Train [03:09]
12. Tiny Grain of Truth [07:07]

Mark Lanegan – The Gravedigger’s Song

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THE BIG PINK
Future This

The Big Pink represent far more than simply the duo behind the admittedly fantastic earworm single Dominos from their 2009 release A Brief History of Love. That album and Future This, their second full-length, places the band as one of the main representatives of the radical shift that the indie rock scene (and their label, 4AD, in particular) has taken over the last decade.

ARTIST: The Big Pink
TITLE: Future This
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: Jauary 17, 2012
TIME: 44:28 min.
WEB: http://musicfromthebigpink.com/

01. Stay Gold [03:37]
02. Hit the Ground (superman) [04:56]
03. Give It Up [04:50]
04. Morphine [03:24]
05. Ask Quietly [03:16]
06. What If [03:32]
07. Jump Music [04:38]
08. Lose Your Mind [04:09]
09. Future This [03:57]
10. 77 [04:42]

The Big Pink – Hit the Ground (superman) (king krule remix)

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ZOMBY
Dedication

Zomby is both a purist and a perfectionist: one of the most talented producers of a generation and someone capable of negotiating skilfully between genres, be it jungle, dubstep, rave, garage or whatever tag you want to put on it. Couple this with the numerous and incredible 12″s, EPs and remixes and it’s clear just why he’s built quite a heady reputation for himself. Dedication continues to put Zomby at a distance from his peers: by the time they’ve caught up, he’ll no doubt be somewhere else entirely.

ARTIST: Zomby
TITLE: Dedication
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: July 12, 2011
TIME: 35:41 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/zombyproductions

01. Witch Hunt [01:47]
02. Natalia’s Song [04:04]
03. Alothea [02:49]
04. Black Orchid [01:34]
05. Riding with Death [02:03]
06. Vortex [01:58]
07. Things Fall Apart [02:51]
08. Salamander [00:52]
09. Lucifer [00:57]
10. Digital Rain [03:29]
11. Vanquish [00:59]
12. A Devil Lay Here [02:52]
13. Florence [01:40]
14. Haunted [02:18]
15. Basquiat [02:16]
16. Mozaik [03:12]

Zomby – Basquiat

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ST. VINCENT
Strange Mercy

St. Vincent, the nom-de-stage of playful chanteuse and fearsome shredder Annie Clark, releases her second album for 4AD, Strange Mercy. The record showcases Clark’s gift for fusing the cerebral and the visceral, her melodically elegant arrangements packing hefty emotional punches: she reunited with producer John Congleton and recorded the album in her hometown of Dallas, TX. Strange Mercy finds St. Vincent redefining the idea of the guitar hero, utilizing the instrument as a pointillist artist might wield a brush.

ARTIST: St. Vincent
TITLE: Strange Mercy
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2011
TIME: 40:58 min.
WEB: http://www.ilovestvincent.com/

01. Chloe in the Afternoon [02:56]
02. Cruel [03:35]
03. Cheerleader [03:29]
04. Surgeon [04:25]
05. Nothern Lights [03:34]
06. Strange Mercy [04:29]
07. Neutered Fruit [04:13]
08. Champagne Year [03:29]
09. Dilettante [04:04]
10. Hysterical Strength [03:16]
11. Year of the Tiger [03:28]

St. Vincent – Cheerleader

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GANG GANG DANCE
Eye Contact

Eye Contact, Gang Gang Dance‘s first album for 4AD, was recorded in an old church converted to a recording studio in upstate New York, with a myriad of chimes, drums and good vibrations. Chris Coady was behind the board to capture the impromptu jam sessions as well as the structured songs the band had on hand when they started, while Alex Epton aka XXXchange, focused on vocals with Lizzi . When combined, we have the cleanest, freshest and most focused Gang Gang Record we can remember.

ARTIST: Gang Gang Dance
TITLE: Eye Contact
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2011
TIME: 47:25 min.
WEB: http://www.ganggangdance.com/

01. Glass Jar [11:22]
02. ∞ [01:03]
03. Adult Goth [06:16]
04. Chinese High [05:13]
05. Mindkilla [05:17]
06. ∞ ∞ [01:34]
07. Romance Layers [04:25]
08. Sacer [05:40]
09. ∞ ∞ ∞ [01:25]
10. Thru and Thru [05:40]

Gang Gang Dance - Mindkilla

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DEERHUNTER Halcyon Digest

Halcyon Digest is Deerhunter‘s fourth album and their first to be released on 4AD worldwide. The album was recorded in at Chase Park Transduction Studios in Deerhunter‘s hometown of Athens, GA with the band self-producing and Ben Allen enlisted to mix it (he also worked on Animal Collective‘s Merriweather Post Pavillion).

ARTIST: Deerhunter
TITLE: Halcyon Digest
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: September 28, 2010
TIME: 46:03 min.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/deerhunter

01. Earthquake [05:00]
02. Don’t Cry [02:49]
03. Revival [02:14]
04. Sailing [05:00]
05. Memory Boy [02:09]
06. Desire Lines [06:44]
07. Basement Scene [03:41]
08. Helicopter [04:58]
09. Fountain Stairs [02:38]
10. Coronado [03:19]
11. He Would Have Laughed [07:29]

Deerhunter - Helicopter

BLONDE REDHEAD Penny Sparkle

Penny Sparkle is the eighth album from the Italian twins and Japanese songstress that make up Blonde Redhead. The album was recorded in the band’s hometown of New York City, as well as in Stockholm, Sweden. Blonde Redhead recruited Van Rivers & the Subliminal Kid to produce the album. They also enlisted legendary producer Alan Moulder (he produced My Bloody Valentine‘s Loveless) to mix the album, as they did for 2007′s 23.

ARTIST: Blonde Redhead
TITLE: Penny Sparkle
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: September 14, 2010
TIME: 44:00 min.
WEB: http://www.blonde-redhead.com/

01. Here Sometimes [04:43]
02. Not Getting There [02:46]
03. Will There Be Stars [04:27]
04. My Plants Are Dead [04:18]
05. Love Or Prison [06:13]
06. Oslo [03:54]
07. Penny Sparkle [04:34]
08. Everything Is Wrong [02:49]
09. Black Guitar [05:20]
10. Spain [04:56]

Blonde Redhead – Here Sometimes

THE NATIONALHigh Violet

High Violet, the new full-length record by The National, is a nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set of songs that find the band at the height of their collaborative powers. The music is wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. Berninger‘s singing wild, half-broken, sly evokes a feeling of being haunted, by love, by paranoia, by something just out of reach. High Violet may be The National‘s most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate.

ARTIST: The National
TITLE: High Violet
LABEL: 4AD
RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2010
TIME: 47:40 min.
WEB: http://www.americanmary.com/

01. Terrible Love [04:40]
02. Sorrow [03:25]
03. Anyone’s Ghost [02:54]
04. Little Faith [04:37]
05. Afraid of Everyone [04:19]
06. Bloodbuzz Ohio [04:36]
07. Lemonworld [03:24]
08. Runaway [05:34]
09. Conversation 16 [04:19]
10. England [05:40]
11. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks [04:12]

The National – Bloodbuzz Ohio