January Music Wrap-Up

The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. The songs are for sampling purposes only. Artists or labels notify me with any complaints and I will remove the song as soon as possible. Please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.

Hooray! The Music Wrap-Up makes a triumphant return in the new year. Still, it's going to have to be different from the old ones. I used to be able to pick out specific songs that I enjoyed most from each CD, upload them to a file hosting site, and embed players. Doing this was in no way giving access for people to pirate these tracks -- I even dealt with a record label that didn't ask me to take them down -- yet the file hosting site still banned me for breaking their rules, even for local bands that had given me permission. So I'm stuck to searching through YouTube videos for embedding. Not ideal, but it'll have to do.

January is hardly bursting at the seems with great new music, but there are definitely some gems. A new Vampire Weekend and Spoon CD for one, as well as some other solid releases. Plus, I've thrown in some earlier releases since I didn't do a wrap-up in November or December. So, without further ado, let's get into the music shall we?

Vampire Weekend - Contra

It's easy to hate these guys. Just look at them! They look like the snobby rich kids from every single college movie that we are clearly meant to despise. Still, there is no denying that they put out great music. Maybe a lot of stupid people like it, but it's good stuff. I don't feel ashamed jumping on the bandwagon.

Hit the jump for songs and the rest of the releases...




White Sky


Horchata


Spoon - Transference

I've never been very gaga for Spoon. They're a good band, but still fall in the 'meh' category for me. I certainly don't hate them, but I'm not counting the days to new releases. Transference is much more stripped down then past Spoon albums, to the point that it has a sort of minimalist rock feel. Maybe they could make that a new genre. Minimalist Rock. Who am I kidding? It probably already exists.

Written in Reverse


Feral Children - Brand New Blood

Strangely enough, I found out about this band from some random person messaging me on myspace at least 2 years ago with something like, "Hey! I noticed you're friends with Animal Collective and Modest Mouse. I know a band that is like those two bands!"

While that is an apt enough comparison (one that isn't clearly evident on this song, however), it doesn't really get to the point that Feral Children are MUCH weirder then those two bands.

Castrato


Eels - End Times

I think I listened to the Eels once, quite awhile ago, and they never really caught my attention. This CD, however, was played again immediately after finishing it. I don't want to under-sell it by posting only the more upbeat songs, because there are some really heartbreaking songs on this album. So here's one of each.

Gone Man


The Beginning


Final Fantasy - Heartland

Not the video game. This is the solo project of Owen Pallet, the violinist for Arcade Fire. I don't think any of his stuff is amazing, like most solo releases, but it's certainly interesting to listen to. And some of it is kind of beautiful, though I don't think he has that great of a voice.

E is for Estrangement


Lewis Takes Action


Them Crooked Vultures

Finally, we've got Them Crooked Vultures. The term supergroup gets thrown around a lot, but Josh Hommes from Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters, and John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin is a pretty ridiculous combination. My favorite part of this band is Grohl's drumming. It is right up front and drives the songs.

No One Loves Me & Neither Do I


Elephants