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CLINIC
Free Reign II

So it’s confirmed: Clinic actually don’t give a shit about anyone. Why else would you release an album that’s almost exactly the same as your last one, except with the tracklist reversed? Well, yes. Let’s be honest: not exactly the same. There’s a bit of reverb and some minor dub influences, which are quite interesting. And again: let’s say we want to see the glass as half full. Maybe You’re a massive Clinic fan, but you missed the release of Free Reign last year and you also happen to be a big fan of simple dub effects: then just buy Free Reign II and be done with it. Or perhaps you’ve never heard of Clinic and you really don’t like simple dub effects, but you are a fan of ambient LSD-infused droning: then just buy Free Reign and be done with it. Clinic let the choice to you: what you really don’t need, whoever you are, is both albums.

ARTIST: Clinic
TITLE: Free Reign II
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2013
TIME: 44:28 min.
WEB: http://www.clinicvoot.org//
PURCHASE: price – $14.99

01. Sun and the Moon II [04:18]
02. You II [05:19]
03. King Kong II [03:12]
04. For the Season II [03:43]
05. Miss You II [05:35]
06. Cosmic Radiation II [02:54]
07. Seamless Boogie Woogie BBC2 10pm (RPT) II [03:35]
08. See-Saw II [05:34]
09. Misty II [06:04]
10. Done and Dusted II [04:14]

PREVIEW: Clinic – See-Saw II

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VILLAGERS
Awayland

From the very first seconds of Awayland, it takes you. A faint drone of organ, joined by eerie strings and a cascade of piano that collectively casts a Hitchcock movie shadow before a hushed voice asks, and then the music obliges by with a similar spectral sweep. Over the course of 11 varied, subtle, complex and plain gorgeous songs Villagers manage to defy any easy categorization of their influences or peers. You can hear fragments of David Axelrod, Jens Lekman, Robert Wyatt and Rufus Wainwright but you could equally add Paddy McAloon, Paul Simon and Randy Newman to the possible roots of this record. And its creator, Conor O’Brien, who played all the instruments on the album (except strings and french horn), is just as captivating in person. You can be sure that Villagers will be around for the long term.

ARTIST: Villagers
TITLE: Awayland
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: January 14, 2013
TIME: 63:40 min.
WEB: price – 25.87$

01. My Lighthouse [03:00]
02. Earthly Pleasure [04:10]
03. The Waves [05:01]
04. Judgement Call [03:23]
05. Nothing Arrived [03:46]
06. The Bell [05:09]
07. {Awayland} [02:35]
08. Passing A Message [03:00]
09. Grateful Song [04:25]
10. In A Newfound Land You Are Free [03:31]
11. Rhythm Composer [05:07]

12. Nothing Arrived (live at Attica) [03:34]
13. The Bell (live at Attica) [05:04]
14. My Lighthouse (live at Attica) [02:49]
15. Earthly Pleasure (live at Attica) [04:04]
16. The Waves (live at Attica)[05:02]

Villagers – The Waves

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CLINIC
Free Reign

Free Reign is Clinic‘s release their seventh album. They recorded and produced it themselves in their hometown of Liverpool and mixed it with the assistance of Daniel Lopatin (Oneohtrix Point Never). Free Reign is an extremely adapt title for a particularly bold and assured new transmission from planet Clinic. In the fifteen years since they began they have delivered an exquisite masterclass in fearless singularity. Free Reign neither turns its back on the sound of previous albums nor seeks to recreate them. They continue incorporating simple melodies with their trademark propulsive rhythms.

ARTIST: Clinic
TITLE: Free Reign
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: November 13, 2012
TIME: 39:42 min.
WEB: http://www.clinicvoot.org/
PURCHASE: http://www.amazon.com/

01. Misty [05:09]
02. Seesaw [05:28]
03. Seamless Boogie-Woogie (BBC2 10pm – rpt) [03:37]
04. Cosmic Radiation [02:55]
05. Miss You [05:40]
06. For the Season [03:48]
07. King Kong [03:14]
08. You [05:36]
09. Sun and the Moon [04:08]

Clinic – Misty

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ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
Centipede Hz

Centipede Hz, the 10th Animal Collective album, follows the widely celebrated 2009′s Merriweather Post Pavilion and it’s the first since 2007′s Strawberry Jam to feature all four original band members: Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin. As the album’s opening drum crashes and radio interference immediately make clear: Animal Collective have made their most widescreen and fully realized music to date. The album is a panoramic set of songs that shimmer with the confidence and wonder of Animal Collective‘s unique inner logic and the luminous warmth of their sound world.

ARTIST: Animal Collective
TITLE: Centipede Hz
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: September 4, 2012
TIME: 53:38 min.
WEB: http://animalcollective.org/
PURCHASE: http://www.amazon.com/

01. Moonjock [05:05]
02. Today’s Supernatural [04:15]
03. Rosie Oh [02:56]
04. Applesauce [05:35]
05. Wilde Eyed [05:00]
06. Father Time [04:34]
07. New Town Burnout [06:02]
08. Monkey Riches [06:46]
09. Mercury Man [04:19]
10. Pulleys [03:30]
11. Amanita [05:36]

Animal Collective – Today’s Supernatural

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DIRTY PROJECTORS
Swing Lo Magellan

On Dirty Projectors sixth album, Swing Lo Magellan, songwriter and leader David Longstreth shows he really doesn’t know how to do the same thing twice. Where prior Dirty Projectors albums investigated 20th-century orchestration, west African guitar music and complex contrapuntal techniques in human voices, Swing Lo Magellan is a leap forward again: it’s an album of songs, an album of songwriting and it has both the handmade intimacy of a love letter and the widescreen grandeur of a blockbuster, and if that sounds like a paradox, it’s because it was until now.

ARTIST: Dirty Projectors
TITLE: Swing Lo Magellan
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: July 10, 2012
TIME: 42:07 min.
WEB: http://dirtyprojectors.net/

01. Offspring Are Blank [04:01]
02. About to Die [03:59]
03. Guns Has No Trigger [03:24]
04. Swing Lo Magellan [02:38]
05. Just from Chevron [04:07]
06. Dance for You [03:24]
07. Maybe That Was It [03:57]
08. Impregnable Question [02:43]
09. See What She’s Seeing [03:40]
10. The Socialistes [03:49]
11. Unto Caesar [03:38]
12. Irresponsible Tune [02:49]

Dirty Projectors – Guns Has No Trigger

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HOT CHIP
In Our Heads

In Our Heads is the 5th album from English quintet Hot Chip. It’s eleven stellar tracks of hyper-infectious pop, fizzing percussion and addictive bass line. Well, yes: there is even a gorgeous ballad or two, but that’s a secret.

ARTIST: Hot Chip
TITLE: In Our Heads
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2012
TIME: 56:54 min.
WEB: http://hotchip.co.uk/

01. Motion Sickness [05:18]
02. How Do You Do [04:44]
03. Don’t Deny Your Heart [04:32]
04. Look At Where We Are [04:00]
05. These Chains [04:15]
06. Night and Day [04:31]
07. Flutes [07:05]
08. Now There Is Nothing [04:00]
09. Ends Of the Earth [05:40]
10. Let Me Be Him [07:40]
11. Always Been Your Love [05:09]

Hot Chip – Night and Day (erol sebadosh mix)

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AUSTRA
Feel It Break

On Feel It Break, co-founder and lead singer Katie Stelmanis, drummer Maya Postepski and bassist Dorian Wolf have crafted a stark, danceable masterpiece suitable for both ritual incantations and clubs; an album hearkening back to the seedier side of new wave but still deeply rooted in Stelmanis’s classical and operatic upbringing- think the dirty alleys and after-hours clubs dreamed up by Japan and Soft Cell. Written primarily by Stelmanis and mixed by Damian Taylor (Björk, The Prodigy, U.N.K.L.E.).

ARTIST: Austra
TITLE: Feel It Break
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2011
TIME: 47:18 min.
WEB: http://www.austramusic.com/

01. Darken Her Horse [05:21]
02. Lose It [04:30]
03. The Future [04:03]
04. Beat and the Pulse [04:56]
05. Spellwork [05:10]
06. The Choke [04:12]
07. Hate Crime [04:02]
08. The Villain [04:06]
09. Shoot the Water [03:23]
10. The Noise [03:32]
11. The Beast [04:03]

Austra – Beat and the Pulse

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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

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JUNIOR BOYS
It’s All True

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]

Junior Boys – EP

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WILD BEASTS
Smother

Wild Beasts release their third full length, entitled Smother. Their 2009 album Two Dancers was critically acclaimed and even earned them a nomination in the prestigious Mercury Awards. A year and a half later, Smother reveals a much more mature band. They’ve kept their distinct sound intact: oscillating falsetto and baritone vocals, lyrical wit, and a penchant for seedier topics. However, this album incorporates rich electronic textures and a subtlety of melody not heard in their earlier work.
Wild Beasts fans will not be disappointed.

ARTIST: Wild Beasts
TITLE: Smother
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2011
TIME: 42:09 min.
WEB: http://www.wild-beasts.co.uk/

01. Lion’s Share [04:15]
02. Bed of Nails [04:18]
03. Deeper [03:01]
04. Loop the Loop [04:07]
05. Plaything [04:21]
06. Invisible [02:59]
07. Albatross [03:13]
08. Reach a Bit Further [03:37]
09. Burning [04:45]
10. End Come Too Soon [07:33]

Wild Beasts - Lion’s Share

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THE KILLS
Blood Pressure

The Kills, UK/US duo of Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart, release Blood Pressures, the highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed third album, Midnight Boom. This album keeps their basic sound intact searing guitars, driving rhythms and sexually charged lyrical savvy. The 11 tracks on Blood Pressures find The Kills embracing a fuller sound: there is heavier instrumentation and layered, huge-sounding harmonies with Jamie and Alison uniting in their trademark singsong vocal style over tom heavy primitive beats.

ARTIST: The Kills
TITLE: Blood Pressures
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: April 5, 2011
TIME: 42:00 min.
WEB: http://www.thekills.tv/

01. Future Starts Now [04:05]
02. Satellite [04:13]
03. Heart Is A Beating Drum [04:20]
04. Nail in My Coffin [03:33]
05. Wild Charms [01:15]
06. DNA [04:29]
07. Baby Says [04:29]
08. The Last Goodbye [03:42]
09. Damned If She Do [03:53]
10. You Don’t Own the Road [03:23]
11. Post and Pans [04:35]

The Kills - DNA

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TRICKY Mixed Race

Mixed Race is a passionate album. Musically Tricky‘s production work takes influences from UK, Jamaica, the US, North Africa and French music. The album is an intense lyrical journey with temptation, reflection, mischief and misbehavior. There’s a wealth of knowledge distilled within the music as Tricky approaches twenty years of recording. “Every album is a learning experience and this is concentrated music, there’s no dilution” he said of his new collection, “I’ve spent my life going between cultures; Mixed Race is about that in a very direct way”.

ARTIST: Tricky
TITLE: Mixed Race
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: October 05, 2010
TIME: 29:17 min.
WEB: http://www.trickysite.com/

01. Every Day [02:25]
02. Kingston Logic [02:43]
03. Early Bird [03:29]
04. Ghetto Stars [03:27]
05. Hakim [02:44]
06. Come to Me [03:55]
07. Murder Weapon [02:58]
08. Time to Dance [02:24]
09. Really Real [02:47]
10. Bristol to London [02:25]

Tricky – Really Real

CLINIC Bubblegum

Bubblegum, the mind-blowing sixth album from Clinic, is exactly 40 minutes long. Usually, long-players by this most extraordinary British band clock in at a clipped half-hour: that makes an extra 33% of murky psychedelic/punk excellence. But there’s a little more to it than that: this one comes from another planet, baby. Bubblegum is a different bag of butternut squash. On one listen, it feels instantly warmer, lusher, less uptight: it glows like dusk in a balmy Indian Summer.

ARTIST: Clinic
TITLE: Bubblegum
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: October 05, 2010
TIME: 39:43 min.
WEB: http://www.clinicvoot.org/

01. I’m Aware [02:58]
02. Bubblegum [02:35]
03. Baby [03:59]
04. Lion Tamer [02:59]
05. Linda [02:43]
06. Milk and Honey [03:12]
07. Radiostory [02:12]
08. Forever (demis’ blues) [03:11]
09. Another Way of Giving [03:15]
10. Evelyn [03:50]
11. Un Astronauta En Cielo [02:14]
12. Freemason Waltz [03:27]
13. Orangutan [03:00]

Clinic – I’m Aware

DIRTY PROJECTORS & BJÖRK Mount Wittenberg Orca

Björk and Dirty Projectors aren’t known for informality. They move freely, but within obsessively constructed worlds. They make the questionable choices lesser artists would be afraid to, and they do it on their own clock. But their reputation for being anal-retentive and self-contained is one of the reasons Mount Wittenberg Orca (a recording of a song cycle performed last May for Housing Works, a charity and chain of upmarket thrift stores in New York) is so refreshing. Dave Longstreth, the brain and foreman of Dirty Projectors, wrote the songs in less than a month, and the group rehearsed together for only a week. The songs were mostly recorded live and in the same room and the result is 20 minutes of music that sounds more dressed-down than anything Björk or Dirty Projectors have put out before.

ARTIST: Dirty Projectors & Björk
TITLE: Mount Wittenberg Orca
LABEL: Domino
RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2010
TIME: 21:20 min.
WEB: http://www.mountwittenbergorca.com/

01. Ocean [02:09]
02. On and Ever Onward [02:01]
03. When the World Comes to an End [03:08]
04. Beautiful Mother [02:16]
05. Sharing Orb [02:48]
06. No Embrace [04:14]
07. All We Are [04:44]

Dirty Projectors & Björk – All We Are