October 11 Album Releases, 2011

By: Scott Smith, Album Reviews Editor

A Radiohead release could be considered the biggest release of the year, let alone a given week. But TKOL Remixes 1234567, a series of reinterpretations of the band’s latest release, The King of Limbs. Ironically, the album that I personally criticized for being too short is packed with material from some of the electronic music worlds brightest rising stars including Caribou, and Jamie xx (of The XX.)

A similar endeavor was embarked upon for Caribou’s most recent album, Swim, and garnered fantastic results. Radiohead themselves seem to be overseeing, or at least, embracing the project as they always have in the past like their “Nude” remix contest from a few years back. This time their throwing a party featuring many of the DJ’s on the album and Thom Yorke himself will be spinning for the enjoyment of the lucky attendees.

The album is up and streaming right here and after listening to a few tracks, I can definitively say it’s a fun mix. Caribou made a boring song in “Little By Little” a raucous and bombastic track, but my favorite track was the remix of the new age Brazilian samba “Feral” by Lone, someone I’ve never heard of before this moment.

That’s the best part about these kind of releases: Discovering new artists--there are usually so many up and comers.

Strangely again, the second biggest release of the week might not even be a full-length album, but an EP. That may sound peculiar, especially if you aren’t familiar with the kind of work James Blake can produce on an extended play.

Blake, one of the biggest critical darlings of 2011, assaulted the web late last year with a three EPs, that revealed his large scope of abilities in recording techniques. Each EP was Blake in a specific mindset--a showcase of how well he could work within different genres to create something entirely his own. He’s now already being coined as the father of post-dubstep, a movement away from the grimy bass-rattling that has flooded our speakers over the past two years or so.

Blake’s newest EP, Enough Thunder, was met with the loftiest of expectations. Among the six tracks is a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.” Arguably Blake’s most quintessentially James Blake tune is his heartbreaking, drowning cover of Feist’s “Limit to Your Love,” so this only made the hype more unbearable. Luckily the beautiful piano ballad is a highlight.

To only up expectations and ‘indie cred’ of the work, Enough Thunder also includes “Fall Creek Boys Choir” featuring the only person critics are drooling over this year more than Blake: Bon Iver. Maybe I’m crazy, but Blake’s uninspired production on the track does nothing to aid Bon Iver’s layered, effectually smooth growling. Listen for yourself here, but I can only surmise this EP as a dud that got swallowed by its own hype.

Those are the biggies, but there are still some other releases that may tickle your fancy. The first release from Future Islands drops this week. They’ve received some buzz on the web recently, most likely because their name is Future Islands. Peter Gabriel still refuses to act like a normal human being, and that’s fine with me. The former Genesis front-man is releasing his own, orchestral, remix album of his own solo material.

Lastly though is a welcoming release from everyone’s favorite whistler, Andrew Bird. No it’s a not gorgeous homogeneous mixture of classical violin with contemporary music sensibilities (and of course, some whistling), it’s a soundtrack for the upcoming low budget black comedy/ drama Norman.

The film centers around Norman, a high school student who lost his mother and now must live with the reality of life's being just him and his stomach-cancer-ravaged father. Sounds like it’ll contain some of the great black, morbid humor I love (Louis C.K. is my hero) before switching to a heartfelt drama about growing up and living with what life deals you.

This sort of premise sounds tailor-made for Andrew Bird, a musician who can switch from the light and whimsical to dark and emotional as quick as a whistle (sorry for the pun, I’ve been trolling Reddit a lot lately.)

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for next week’s post, which should be spectacular with all the great albums coming out.

October 4 Album Releases, 2011

By: Carolyn Menyes, Interviews and Live Reviews Editor

We're back again dropping it like it's hot here at ACRN. New school year, new season, new music. So, let's see what Rocktober 4 has to offer in terms of album releases!

First up is Feist's fourth studio album, Metals. Homegirl has had a few hits in her day, including "1234" (as seen in all those commercials circa 2007) and "Mushaboom," which I think has been covered by just about every other indie musician out there. Metals' first single, "How Come You Never Go There," is a typical lady singer-songwriter jam with a sleepy feel. If October continues to be as gray as it has been thus far, and this single indicates the rest of the album's sound, I feel like it's a good fit for fall.

Now, I'm not of the punky persuasion and consequently not the most qualified to discuss these next three albums. But! those who are will be quite pleased with what this week has to offer.

Mayday Parade are releasing their eponymous third album, New Found Glory are performing some Radiosurgery and The Misfits are coming out with their seventh record, The Devil's Rain. (That last one has such a delightful pun; let's just appreciate that for a moment.)

I listened to the lead single, "Oh Well, Oh Well," off of Mayday Parade, and it seems like a technically solid pop-punk record. Bands and songs like these always remind me of those dudes who wore Etnies and carried around their skateboards when I was in the seventh grade, and I bet this album will please their demographic. Let's shred, guys! (And make fun of that grunge girl. Sigh, middle school is rough.)

According to an impressively thorough Wikipedia article on Radiosurgery, the latest New Found Glory took a page from Adele's success book and wrote a record based on "lyrics [that] were directly inspired by events in the bands personal lives, after one member suffered a long-term relationship break-up." But, I guess maybe that's just music in general. Heart break = best inspiration.

And like I said, I'm not the biggest fan of this genre, but all this music sounds the same to me. I honestly thought New Found Glory sang "Sugar, We're Going Down," and when I started playing the title track off Radiosurgery, my dear roommate swore it was Simple Plan. Am I being offensive? Probably. But, whatever. This is nothing we haven't heard before. Let's be creative and original for once, pop-punkers of the world!

Even though I tend to lump them in the same category as Mayday Parade and NFG, The Misfits single "Land of the Dead" off The Devil's Rain is refreshingly different from the last two bands I discussed. And I know fans of this band are intense and won't care about what some Bright Eyes fan has to say about it. But, it's spooky and hardcore and it makes me want to hide in a corner. So, it seems like it's effective.

Mutemath is also releasing their third record, Odd Soul, this week. I listened to the title track (there's a trend to my research, if you can't tell), and it's little bluesy, a teeny electo and even a smidge sexy. I am more comfortable with this music. I'll most likely check this disc out more in depth here soon.

For all those socially-conscious girls (who may or may not dig girls) out there, Indigo Girls are releasing their fourteenth studio album, Beauty Queen Sister. Let's go to Lilith Fair, ladies! We can make a difference.

Finally, and most comedic, Erasure are releasing an album, Tomorrow's World. They did that song that's in Robot Unicorn Attack, and that's all you need to know.

So, sorry to punk fans out there, but you wounded my spirit when I was 12, and I will not forgive you (or your music).

Until next time, if they let me do this again, it's been real.

May 31 Album Releases

Here we go again, kiddos! May has been an excellent month for album releases so far. From Okkervil River to Lady Gaga to Fleet Foxes, this fifth month has been nothing short of spectacular. And, once again, we have a lovely and interesting week for new music.

The biggest release this week, at least in my humble opinion, is Death Cab For Cutie's seventh studio album, Codes and Keys. Like any other stereotypical indie chick, I've had a serious musical crush on these guys since I was 14, so I'm obviously pretty stoked for this. Since their last release, Narrow Stairs, lead singer/lyricist Ben Gibbard has found sobriety and married the adorable Zooey Deschanel, so it'll certainly be interesting to see how this reflects on his music, if at all. I know I'm excited!

My Morning Jacket also releases Circuital this week. I'm not too terribly familiar with My Morning Jacket, but their latest album has gotten high marks so far from several music publications, including SPIN. While a lot of bands just start to phone it in after a few albums, these high marks seem to show that these guys are still working hard. Also, Jim James, the lead singer of MMJ, keeps company with Conor Oberst and M.Ward as a part of the supergroup Monsters of Folk, so if his music is good enough for these guys, it's good enough for me.

The next few releases just scream moody middle-schooler to me. First up in this category is Eddie Vedder's Ukulele Songs. I was way too into grunge back when I was 13, so that part of me is always pretty stoked for something new from Vedder, no matter how disappointing new Pearl Jam albums may be. His last solo venture, the Into The Wild soundtrack was a huge success, so this ukulele thing may end up being less weird than it sounds. I also YouTube'd one of the tracks, "Longing to Belong," and the whole thing has an essence of sadness and beauty to it, and of course, Vedder's stellar and standout voice is in the mix, so that's worth the price of admission on its own.

Second up in this moody middle school category is The Melvins 11th live album, Sugar Daddy. Now, I'm not going to pretend to know more about these guys than I do, but I do know that Kurt Cobain was a huge fan and knew these guys pretty well, which impressed me about when I was 12. I also know that they've been around for nearly 30 years, which is nuts. And if they're still touring after being together that long, kudos! They must be doing something right.

Flogging Molly's Speed of Darkness also comes out this Tuesday, which probably has that jerky punk kid I knew in the 7th grade pretty excited. (I still hate you for making fun of my Ataris shirt, by the way.)

And every middle school girl from the '80s has to be excited for Jordan Knight's Unfinished.

So, with a few little indie jams and a lot of things that remind me of those miserably awkward years from 11 to 14, I bid you adieu. Happy listening!

--Carolyn Menyes, Interviews/Live Reviews Editor

May 17 Album Releases

I’ve always felt that May is a good month for album releases. Maybe it’s the feeling of listening to new music right as school is winding down, or maybe it’s because music tends to be more exciting as the weather gets warmer. Whatever the case, May 17 does not disappoint.

First, we have the hotly anticipated Rome album from super-producer Danger Mouse and composer Daniele Luppi, which will be released via Capitol. Those two brought together a handful of retired Italian musicians that worked on some of the most influential westerns from the '50s and '60s. After that they added Jack White and Norah Jones’s vocals to the mix, creating an all-new kind of spaghetti-western soundtrack. Personally, I think anything Danger Mouse touches is gold, so I definitely trust this to be a fantastic album.

Next we have Scottish group Glasvegas releasing its sophomore effort, EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK \\\ on Columbia. I adore the band’s self-titled debut, and I’m hoping for more of the same colossal-sounding rock from the group. European reviews have been pretty favorable and Pitchfork hates it. Both of those are to be expected. If the album is as good as the first, I suppose I can forgive Glasvegas’s caps lock obsession.

Kidz Bop Sings Monster Ballads. “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” by a bunch of pre-adolescents? Yes please!

Moby will release his tenth album, Destroyed, on Mute. I’ve never really listened to Moby, but know his material. From what I can tell from reviews, this wouldn’t be one to start with, as it’s probably going to be more of an album for the obsessive Moby followers of the world.

Either way, ten albums is an impressive feat. There aren’t too many musicians out there who have made it that far, but now we can say that Moby is one of them. Gotta give props to one of the most successful names in electronic rock.

One of the albums I’m most excited for is Let’s Wrestle’s second record, Nursing Home, which will be released on Merge. I first heard of this British group when Cage The Elephant covered the spectacularly-titled “My Arms Don’t Bend That Way, Damn It!” in an acoustic performance for Rolling Stone. While Nursing Home doesn’t have any song with quite the same instantly incredible title, I’m sure it will offer some of the same raw power as the first. Plus, there is a song called “There’s A Rockstar In My Room,” which reminds me of the title of a children’s picture book or something.

There are, of course, plenty of other releases to sink your teeth into this week, including Mercury Rev, Miracle Fortress, and Ben Harper (who was last seen working with Dhani Harrison and Joseph Arthur in Fistful of Mercy).

So get out there and pick up some new music. It’s springtime, which in my mind means that your brain is yearning for something fresh.

--Chris Dobstaff, News Editor

April 26 Album Releases

And now it's time once again to run down the list of albums dropping this week across the world. Get excited!

We'll begin with Dancer Equired!, the new disc from Columbus lo-fi trio Times New Viking. The band has played in Athens numerous times, most recently at 2011's Blackoutfest at The Union. The record's out on Merge Records, the band's first with the label. Merge is cool, right? Well, they've certainly had a good year-or-so. So I'd say TNV is in rather good hands. The new album is said to have a cleaner production style in comparison to past releases. Is this true or false? Get your hands on Dancer Equired! and find out for yourself!

Steve Earle's T-Bone Burnett-produced fourteenth album, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive, comes out on New West Records. The album, which gets its title from a classic Hank Williams tune, has already been reviewed on ACRN.com by our own Jacob Betzner.

Personally, I can't say I've ever listened to Earle, but two things are leading me to figure that this shall change soon. First of all, the aforementioned review was not only positive, but the album described seemed to contain a flurry of characteristics that generally equal success in my eyes -- notably country and bluegrass. In addition, I saw Earle's son, Justin Townes Earle, open for the Decemberists last Saturday in Columbus, and he was superb. Therefore, I can only imagine that his father is just as great, if not better.

Bowling for Soup release Fishin' for Woos, the band's eleventh record. lol.

The guys and gal of Airborne Toxic Event are hoping to repeat the success of their 2008 self-titled debut with All At Once, released through Island Records. Will Mikel Jossett's story-songs of love and loss resonate again this time around? Lead single "Changing" has already climbed to No. 10 on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart, so they're doing something right. Frankly, if they can match the epic-ness of "Sometime Around Midnight," I'll be satisfied.

Post-rock instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky return to the world stage with Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, their first effort since 2007's All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone. At first, admittedly brief glance, the album might look like an E.P., what with its only containing six tracks. However, don't be fooled -- only one song, "Trembling Hands," dips below seven minutes long. So be prepared for some 45-minute-long instrumental weirdness. I'm sure, as with the band's last record, things will be dazzling.

Also releasing new music this week include British house duo Dirty Vegas, Liverpool's The Wombats, and folk-country royalty Emmylou Harris. It's a good week, so get out there and buy some music this week. Your record stores thank you.

--Kevin Rutherford, Editorial Director

April 19 Album Releases

You’re okay in my book, Tuesday April 19. You’ve got a solid four bands releasing albums that I’m familiar with. So thank you. Thank you for not making me feel too ignorant.

Seriously though, who are all these people?

Anyway, w h o K i l l from tUnE-yArDs has been handed on over to the public. Merrill Garbus, the mastermind behind it all, has tweaked her genius so that this definitely sounds different from Bird Brains (2009) though it’s just as odd. Clearly, sistergirl is kind of weird, lyrically and vocally. I remember, after having listening the song a decent amount of times, the moment I actually heard the words to the song “Lion” off of Bird Brains. "Something, something, not important, something…. while my brother and all his friends whip out their tiny teenage cocks.”

Whoahahahoooo!

Kidding, though. Every word Garbus is saying is important, even though it’s difficult to comprehend at times…er….all…the time.

On W h o K i l l, lots of words and sayings we’ve heard before are used, and so things sound familiar, but seem queer nonetheless.

She sings like she’s talking, then sings like she’s singing, then sings like she’s a dude, the sings like she’s a baby, the sings like she’s angry, and sings like she’s an animal, and it is these dynamics that make tUnE-yArDs so special.

At this point, I prefer Bird Brains to W h o K i l l, though, and maybe that’s because Bird Brains is easier to type.

Besides being so mysterious that I’m mad about it, Gorillaz has always been a…band (?) I appreciate. The Fall, their latest 15 songs release, is work of electronica art. Not a whole lot of singing is going on, but the beats speak for themselves. I’d like to dance to these songs, if I may, by myself or with other people.

Hip-hop and rap is becoming a genre that a lot of people deem Indie like these days. Typically it’s with the hipster-like rappers, Odd Future Wolf Gang, Kanye West and Common, that people in this category (shame on me for putting people in categories) take a liking to.

I feel like Dr. Dre is probably not one of those rappers. He is a guilty pleasure. And he’s getting old, too.

Apparently his Detox is “The most anticipated Hip Hop album ever.” That’s a bold statement that is probably…not very true. It just sounds like any other rap album, honestly.

There are so many people in I’m From Barcelona. It seems like too many for a band, and just enough for an orchestral ensemble. But it doesn’t sound like too many people, so either they’re doing it right, or not using their human tools to the fullest.

Lyrically, I’m From Barcelona’s Forever Today is not too commendable. They’re kinda cheesy, and simple in a sort of juvenile way. I think these songs would be good inspiration for children.

Musically, it’s definitely happy tunes for happy times. And that’s just fine. I’m not sure if I would seek Forever Today out and listen to it, and I definitely wouldn’t pay for it. But I think a lot of other people would, so that’s good.

Don’t take all this from me, though. Check out ACRN.com to see some more legitimate and detailed reviews.

--Hannah Cook, Managing Editor

April 5 Album Releases

April 5 is a fairly decent day for music releases, in theory. It depends on what you're into. If you're into big releases with humongous top 40 potential and singles born to preside over every Billboard chart imaginable... stay tuned for next week, because the Foo Fighters have something for you. But if that ain't your bag, baby (and if you're reading this blog or even on this site, I'm guessing that's the case), then this week will be quite ok. Let's dive in, shall we?

One of the major releases this week is Robbie Robertson's How to Become Clairvoyant. For those of you who are like, "Deeeerp, who is he?" -- GTFO PLZ. Robertson, who in his earlier days was the guitarist and main songwriter of The Band, marks this releases as his fifth solo album overall since 1987. It features a slew of guest stars, including Trent Reznor, Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Robert Randolph and many more. It even includes Taylor Goldsmith, whose band Dawes is performing as Robertson's backing band on the singer/guitarist's live performances supporting the record. If these names aren't enough to at least have a listen, check your pulse.

Speaking of old men from old bands, Ray Davies releases See My Friends today in the U.S. The record came out last year in the U.K., and I listened to it then. Let's just say that the songs you expect to be done well --"Better Things" with Bruce Springsteen, "Days/This Time Tomorrow" with Mumford & Sons, "A Long Way From Home" with Lucinda Williams and the 88 -- are quite good. And, conversely, the tunes you'd expect to be not-so-great don't disappoint. Or they do disappoint. Ah, you know what I mean. What I'm saying is: listen to Davies and Metallica's cover of "You Really Got Me" if you need a good laugh. It was okay when they performed it at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame 25th Anniversary concert, but this is just sad.

The Kills also have a new record out, the follow-up to 2008's Midnight Boom. Blood Pressures is more than a worthy successor; as I said in my review of the album on ACRN.com, the new album "not only dominates its predecessor, but kicks it in the ass quite a few times for good measure." If you were turned off by the more poppy Midnight Boom (I sure was, and I love pop music/want to marry Taio Cruz more than one man should), do consider Midnight Boom's delectable return to the garage-blues rock that gave the duo its fame. Sure, both Allison Mosshart has The Dead Weather now too, but I'd wager that this album even blows both of that band's records out of the water. Truly, this album will not disappoint.

Plenty of other releases abound here and there. The Raveonettes, a Velvet Underground-influenced Danish rock group, release fifth album Raven in the Grave, while Jefferson Airplane spinoff Hot Tuna release their first new album in over 20 years -- Steady As She Goes. New York synthpop act Cold Cave also puts out Cherish the Light Years today on Matador Records. As they're a band ACRN does tend to play, you should certainly check them out.

Beyond these laudable releases, Jim "We Fly High" Jones -- yeah, remember him? -- puts out Capo, his first record since 2009's Pray IV Reign. Hollywood Undead also (unfortunately) returns with American Tragedy, which is quite the telling album title, if you ask me. Of course, if first single "Hear Me Now" is any indication, the L.A. rap-rock crew are going in a more mainstream rock direction (think pre-Minutes to Midnight Linkin Park), which given debut Swan Songs, might not be a bad thing altogether. Will I listen? Most likely. Because I dig pain.

Be sure to check out ACRN.com this week for a plethora of reviews of new music, including some reviews of albums I've mentioned!

--Kevin Rutherford, Managing Editor