Category Archives: New Releases

Twin Shadow’s “Five Seconds”

Posted on May 1, 2012 by | 2 Comments

I <3 the 80s. (Photo courtesy of brandondorf.tumblr.com)

Despite the moniker, Twin Shadow doesn’t like being in the shadows for very long. Less than two years after releasing full debut Forget, George Lewis Jr., the man behind the Brooklyn-based 80s revival project, is back with Confess set to be released on 4AD in July.

If Forget could have been the throwback soundtrack to Emilio Estevez’ life circa The Breakfast Club, we can expect Confess to be the Kevin Bacon counterpart if the Baconator lost his way to the taping of Footloose and ran shirtless through the set of Flashdance. Our first preview, “Five Seconds” is uninhibited with Lewis Jr. loosening up from his reserved approach to their first album to unleash choral yells and that delicious electric guitar that had been somewhat muted on his debut. Stealing a few lessons from Michael Sembello’s “Maniac,” the lead singer builds off a catchy chorus: “Five seconds in your heart/Straight to the heart/I can’t get to your heart” before jamming away for 4 minutes deserved of air punches and athletic tape.

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Purity Ring’s “Obedear”

Posted on April 24, 2012 by | 2 Comments

Purity Ring quietly supplied the world with a taste of their much anticipated full-length release, Shrines, late Monday night. “Obedear” is as rhythmically infectious and stunningly crafted as any track the pair have released to date. The lush, lingering atmospheres, rapid claps and snares and maddeningly addictive beeps form a perfect playground for Megan James’s entrancing vocals. All signs point to this record being a massive summer debut.

Shrines is set to be released on July 24th via 4AD/Last Gang.

Purity Ring – Obedear (download)

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Aesop Rock’s “Zero Dark Thirty”

Posted on April 10, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The last time we saw Ian Bavitz, aka Aesop Rock, he was tearing apart a giant dinosaur piñata on-stage in San Francisco backed by Kimya Dawson and big Rob Sonic. That was over a year ago when the New York transplant (now living in San Francisco) was at a career inflection point, promoting his collaboration work instead of the vicious solo efforts that made him infamous on Def Jux.

Five years since his last album, None Shall Pass, Aesop Rock is back, this time with Skelethon. There’s a new label (Rhymesayers) and a few new faces (notably, Dawson). But, the core remains the same. On “Zero Dark Thirty,” Bavitz it at his breathless best, flowing over a scratchy alien beat while rhyming words that have no business fitting together (see: “plunging necklines” and “hungry enzymes”). With little room for a chorus, Aesop Rock–so familiar to sharing the spotlight over the last half decade–is back to being the one and only focus. About time.

Skelethon is out on Rhymesayers on July 10.

Aesop Rock- Zero Dark Thirty (download)

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The Shins’ “Port of Morrow”

Posted on April 9, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Are you going to Morrow today? (Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org)

The Shins definitely ran the risk of finding their style dated and copied since their last album five years ago. Or since their indie hit album Chutes Too Narrow four years before that. Or even since their debut way back in 2001. It has been eleven years since Oh, Inverted World, but rather than adapting to survive, The Shins have built a style for themselves that has so far proved timeless. As they sing on their new album, Port of Morrow, “a creature of habit has no real protection,” but maybe they don’t need any. The new release is not breaking news for the frontier of musical originality, but it still sounds fantastic even in the landscape of music in 2012.

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Grey Television’s “HLF TME”

Posted on April 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The other day, I was engaged in a deep conversation with Charlie and few German friends regarding the best arists that have come out Europe’s biggest country. For the two of us, our contributions to the conversation were painfully miniscule, conveying a typical American ignorance. Our list? Kraftwerk, Rammstein and that girl behind “99 Luftballoons”(Also, did you know that Lou Bega is German?).

Was it ignorance? Barring “Mambo No. 5″ and Bach, Germany has been frightfully bare of musical contributions given its sizable populous. It’s the opposite of the Scandinavia and things that are created in Deutschland tend to stay there.

Grey Television is hoping to break that mold.

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