Unlike many week’s this year, this would have to be one of the most insignificant in comparison as far as new music releases. There are simply no “big” releases this week as we’ve seen for other weeks over the past few months – like Radiohead, The Strokes, Panda Bear, Foo Fighters, The Decemberists, Bright Eyes, R.E.M., and so many others, which you can view and listen to from the Best New Releases page.
That said, there still are some definitely note-worthy releases, including The Head and The Heart, I’m From Barcelona, The High Llamas, Tuneyards, Head and American Babies. There are also releases we’re liking from bands that are new-to-us, including Heavenly States, O’Death, The Unthanks, American Babies, and more.
Tuneyards gets things really moving with the uplifting African music inspired track, “Bizness,” that takes you to another place. The relatively new band, Futurebirds, definitely got our attention with the excellent single, “Dirty D” from their debut, self-titled EP. Plus, a marginally known indie band, I’m From Barcelona, that we’ve liked for years, has a new album, as does the electro swirly-pop band The High Llmas. And Dengue Fever has the silly titled “Cement Slippers” from their new LP, which you can stream here.
20 Gigs of Free Space on Amazon Cloud: Click the album titles for any release you want to buy from Amazon, and you’ll get 20 free gigs of space on the new Amazon Cloud, meaning you’ll be able to access up to 20 gigs of your music from anywhere and with any device that can connect to the web.
“Bizness” – Tuneyards from Whokill
“Dirty D” – Futurebirds from Futurebirds EP
“Get In Line” – I’m From Barcelona from Forever Today
“Fly Baby, Fly” – The High Llamas from Talahomi Way
“Cement Slippers” – Dengue Fever from Cannibal Courtship
Although Record Store Day (last Saturday) is over, there’s still plenty of buzz that came from it, and in some cases, there were releases that were dropped – but in limited edition vinyl, for the most part – three day earlier than standard Tuesday release date that traditionally most new albums are issued on.
One of those was from the sort of new Seattle band, The Head and The Heart, who released their self-titled debut album this week. We’ve only heard a few songs from the band so far, including the tracks below.
“Lost in My Mind” – The Head and the Heart from The Head and the Heart
“Chasing A Ghost” (Chapel Session) – The Head and the Heart from The Head and the Heart
Also get “Lost In The Valley” from the band’s website for free.
On first listen, we kind of like their sound kind of, but it’s one of those things where we’re not sure yet. It could turn out to be a good album, or one that we forget about, especially compared to all of the other releases that have come out, and those still yet to drop. Pitchfork panned The Head and The Heart’s debut, slapping it with a 3.5 (out of 10) rating.
It’s not usual that a band on the Sub Pop roster is creamed by PF, but there it is. Then again, we really think it’s up to everyone to make their own decision. We’ll know by the number of times the songs are played and downloaded what songs IRC readers like the most, as is evident on the Top Ten Songs page.
Also, on Record Store Day, French Horn Rebellion, which The New York Times recently called “the next big thing”, streamed their debut album on MySpace, although it was officially available this week. There is a free sampler of the album available on their MySpace page for your email, and currently on sale via Amazon for only $7.99, which also gives you free access to all of your music on the Amazon Cloud, with a total of 20 gigs of space.
“This Moment” – The French Horn Rebellion from The Infinite Music of The French Horn Rebellion
This week’s other interesting new releases come from talented artists and bands that we – and imagine many of you – never heard of before and some of which we can say are now, at the least, on our radars, including talented indie bands Heavenly States and The Unthanks, the alternative folk and country rock influences of bands like O’Death and American Babies, and the post rock sounds of Rain Over St. Ambrose. Of course, we’re always interested to see what you guys think. Plus, don’t miss Quiet Parade and Bombino.
“Model Son” – Heavenly States from Oui Camera Oui
“Queen of Hearts” – The Unthanks from Last
“Bugs” – O’Death from Outside
“Dance All Night” – American Babies from Flawed Logic – (listen to album stream)
“DG Gold Paint” – Rose Over St. Ambrose from Rain Over St. Ambrose EP
“I Never Have Wanted Love Like That” – Quiet Parade from Please Come Home (We Hate It Here Without You)
“Tar Hani (My Love)” – Bombino from Agadez