The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. Having trouble keeping up with all the new music? Need some music suggestions? Then the Music Wrap-Up is for you. And please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.
The already short release list this month was further hampered by my being unable to obtain several of them as well. It's been a busy month for me, so some of my write-ups may be slightly less informed than normal as I'll be writing based on the songs I could find on YouTube instead of the whole album. It's not ideal, but it'll have to do. The playlist may be much smaller, but there were some really good releases. Enjoy!
Tracks
#1 - Tragic Girl
#2 - Getting Up and Leaving
I'm one of the many people that have given a resounding, "Meh" to new Weezer albums ever since The Green Album. Nothing has really captured my interest like The Blue Album and Pinkerton did, but I won't run around yelling about how much they suck like many do. To each his own. Still, a reissue of Pinkerton with a ton of bonus content has managed to excite me again. I haven't gotten around to picking it up, but these songs someone put up on YouTube sound pretty damn good.
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#3 - I Walked
#4 - Too Much
I haven't taken the time to really get into Sufjan Stevens, but what I've heard I thought was pretty good. He's from Michigan, so I kind of have to like him. Well, I guess not because I certainly don't like ICP or Kid Rock. This release is much more electronic than past, I believe. I haven't been able to actually pick up the whole album yet, but what I've heard sounds like really good music to listen to while writing or editing, and I always love having that.
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#5 - Laughing Hieroglyphic
#6 - Heather in the Hospital
I suppose I was under the impression that an Avey Tare album would be very close to one of those two. While it isn't worlds apart, it is much slower, and a more surreal experience than what Panda Bear put out. It has very few pop hooks or beats that the average listener can latch onto like in more recent Animal Collective albums. So I approached it with the completely wrong mindset.
Read the full review here.
Tracks
#7 - This is Not a Pipe
#8 - Felix and Adelita
Franz Nicolay is the fantastically-mustachioed multi-instrumentalist from both The World/Inferno Friendship Society and The Hold Steady. He actually left The Hold Steady just before their last release, I imagine to concentrate on his solo work. It's more folksy than the bands he's known for. I wasn't crazy about Major General -- his first solo release -- but this one interests me a lot more. The songs I found YouTube are really good, and I'm eager to hear the whole thing. Just need to actually pick it up.
Tracks
#9 - A Breath Clad in Happiness
#10 - Light and Solitude
Most post-rock bands are content to keep their music lyric-less. Envy, however, scream along to the grandeur sound. Apparently they used to be a screamo band -- something that doesn't appeal to me at all -- before they transitioned to the post-rock sound they have now. Bands that scream go back and forth with me. It's very easy for that to turn me off, but it really fits well with their music and it isn't a deep, throaty scream that gets under my skin.
Tracks
#11 - Write About Love
#12 - Sunday's Pretty Icons
On what some call their eighth studio album (compilations and unused movie soundtracks notwithstanding), Glasgow indie icons Belle & Sebastian do what they do best: Write About Love. The fact that that's also the title of the record should come as a surprise to no one.
The collection of love songs, sweet, saucy and stinging, sounds a far cry different from the band's initial recordings in the mid-90s, though not as far off as the bluesy brass on their last LP, 2006's The Life Pursuit. Overall, it almost feels like a step back for a band whose sound has been evolving steadily over the last decade and a half, from timid, understated twee to bold, poppy, get-up-and-dance anthems.
There's just too much "Mornington Crescent" and not enough "Step Into My Office, Baby," though up-beat entries like "I Didn't See It Coming," "I Want The World to Stop," and the title track sort of make up for the album's lackluster other half. Despite the hit-or-miss nature of each individual track, Write About Love is still a worthy entry in Belle & Sebastian's expansive catalogue, and besides, their live show is better than ever these days.
Also out this month:
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus
None More Black - Icons
Sainte Catherines - Fire Works
Less Than Jake - TV/EP
Coming out next month:
Brian Eno - Small Craft on a Milk Sea - 2nd
Matt and Kim - Sidewalks - 2nd
Elvis Costello - National Ransom - 2nd
Weezer - Death to False Metal - 2nd
Smoke or Fire - The Speakeasy - 9th
Left Rights - Bad Choices Made Easy - 9th
GWAR - Bloody Pit of Horror - 9th
Tallest Man on Earth - Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird - 9th
Japandroids - Heavenward Grand Prix 7" - 16th
The Russian Futurists - The Weight's on the Wheel - 16th
The Methadones - Self-Titled - 16th
The Queers - Back to the Basement - 16th
NoFX/Spits - Split 7" - 23rd
Did I miss something great this month, or am I missing something possibly great next month? Let me know in the comments or shoot an email to CerebralPop [at] gmail [dot] com.
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2 comments:
Thumbs up to Age of Adz and Pinkerton, they're both fantastic.
New Japandroids next month! Sick
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