The top two featured artists this week – Orca Team and Zulu Winter – are new to us, and probably most listeners. But they both have a sound that is fresh and exciting, and definitely worthy of being radar bands, if not bands to watch list – it’ll take more spins of their new albums to determine that, and to see what the response will be from listeners in the Top Ten Songs listing for this week (usually take three weeks on average to come out). Orca Team is a Seattle post-punk band that are fairly popular in the Emerald City, and at least for us, a new band from the Pacific Northwest that we’ll be keeping an ear out and eye on. Zulu Winter is a five-piece indie rock band from London who released their debut album, Language, after only one year together.
Fiona Apple released her first album in seven years this week. Plus, listen to notable singles from new releases by Orca Team, Glen Hansard, White Arrow, Hard Drugs, Zulu Winter, Sam Densmore, Fiona Apple, Blues Control, Can, Efren, and others.
“Ocean Ghost” – Orca Team from Restraint on HHBTM
“We Should Be Swimming “ – Zulu Winter from Language on Arts & Crafts
“Need You by My Side” – The Sun Parade from Yossis on Spirithouse Music
“Get Gone” – White Arrows from Fireworks of The Sea EP on Votiv Music
“Lo Hi” – Peaking Lights from Lucifer on Weird World / Mexican Summer
“Love Don’t Leave Me Waiting” – Glen Hansard from Rhythm and Repose on Anti-
“The Hardest Part” – Hard Drugs from Party Foreverer on The Storyboard Label
“She’s Going to Want You” – Sam Densmore from Ku-Thar’-Tik on Buddy Cat Music
“Secret Knowledge of Back Roads” – Silver Jews from Early Times on Drag City
The title of Fiona Apple‘s new album has to be one of the longest titles of the 2010’s – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do. It’s poetic and definitely not commercial friendly, if you will. We’d love to know how she came up with that title, and exactly what it means. Nevertheless, Apple’s new single, “Every Single Night,” is getting the attention one would expect from any new single by the talented artist, and already the long, mouthful of an album title, is being shortened to just The Idler Wheel.
“Every Single Night” – Fiona Apple from The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do on Epic Records
“Iron Pigs” – Blues Control from Valley Tangents on Drag City
Classic Rock Band Can Release Box Set, ‘The Lost Tapes
The band, Can, posthumously released a new album this week, The Lost Tapes, from their legendary krautrock sessions. The album is a compilation of songs that were left, of all places, in a cupboard in Can’s recording studio, all but forgotten until they were rediscovered, remastered and released. In all, the three CD box set includes dozens of unreleased tracks and demos recorded from 1968 until 1977. The song, “Millionenspiel,” has been released as the promotional single from the box set. A fan on YouTube wrote: “Can was so far ahead of its time that these songs will probably sound fresher than most music we have today.” If you’re a fan of classic, psychedelic rock, you can now listen to a piece of lost rock history rediscovered.
“Millionenspiel” – Can from The Lost Tapes on Mute
Track vis Swanfungus.com
“The Woods & The Wild” – Efren from Write & New Song on Slo Pro Records
“The Bear Eats Me” – Amanda Jo Williams from The Bear Eats Me on Requiemme Records
“Dream Baby Dream” (Suicides Cover) – Neneh Cherry & The Thing from The Cherry Thing on Smalltown Supersound
Bonus: “Dream Baby Dream” – Four Tet Remix
“Guitar Plume” – Portable Sunsets from Mercy on Magical Properties
“Unreal” – Craig Wedren from BABY on Nerveland Recordings