We’re back from the Fourth of July holiday and there is much to catch up on. Firstly, last week’s collection of new album releases – the first set of new releases for the second half of 2013. (We’ll be posting this week’s new indie releases in the next few days). Historically, record labels hold back many releases during a week that has a major holiday, especially one as busy as The Fourth of July. Because it is also the height of the summer season, many people, even the most ardent music enthusiasts among us, are naturally extra busy with the Fourth of July holiday and other summertime activities like outdoor recreation, vacations, and most importantly last week, celebrating American independence with red, white and blue fireworks, parties, concerts, barbecues, and parades.
That said, there are still releases from last week that you should know about and that run the gamut from must-have releases to new-to-us artists that are just beginning to get the recognition they deserve. Some of you may be aware that we usually do not bother including releases that we don’t recommend. Why waste precious time reviewing something we don’t enjoy when there is already so much amazing music to post? The love of music is a never-ending tale of new discoveries, especially with the musical universe ever-expanding.
The lead for the week in review goes to the new album, Whirlpool, from U.K. shoegaze band A Grave With No Name and the tantalizing single, “Aurora.” The single is comprised of a driving beat, rumbling bass, sharp but infrequent guitar riffs, grinding synths and hushed vocals. It’s this signature sound that has feed the band’s popularity since their 2010 debut, Mountain Debris, and which has resulted in a dedicated network of fans in the U.S., the U.K. and Europe. In fact, A Grave With No Name are regularly cited when music geeks are referring to the shoegaze, or ‘nu-gaze’, revival of recent years. Other bands that fit the bill include The xx, Banjo or Freakout, Atlas Sound and The Big Pink, to name just a few of the more popular artists of the genre.
Drawing from influences such as The Microphones, My Bloody Valentine and Guided By Voices, AGWNN’s sophomore album has been warmly welcomed by fans, bloggers and critics. Founder of AGWNN, Alexander Shields, wrote on the band’s official Facebook page that AGWNN “mine their own distinctive vein of haunted, freaked art rock, tracing delicate fissures in the emotional radiography of loss and longing to spellbinding effect.” It’s hard to disagree with that after listening to Whirlpool, and the band’s previous releases, all of which are available to stream via A Grave With No Name’s Spotify profile.
“Aurora” – A Grave With No Name from Whirlpool on Lefse Records
England’s Legendary Post-Punk Band The Fall Celebrate A Remarkable Milestone
The album release that stands out the most aside from AGWNN is the latest LP release from The Fall – the legendary post-punk rockers’ 30th album release – Re-Mit. It’s a solid return to form considering the band’s 29th release, 2011’s Ersatz GB, was not as highly regarded, which even the band ‘s frontman, Mark Smith, acknowledged was “not very good.” Re-Mit‘s lead single is the mini rock drama track, “Hittite Man.” The perfect follow-up to The Fall is a new gritty R&B single, “Dirt In The Ground,” from Portland indie rock band, The Builders and The Butchers (“one day soon/you’ll be the dirt in the ground”), a band that IRC originally tagged as a ‘band to watch’ back in 2010.
Singer/songwriter and musician Grant Olney‘s new album, Hypnosis for Happiness, features the mellow acoustic single, “Not From Body,” that, like so many songs in all forms of music, is ultimately about love. With this release, Olney has established himself as a songwriter worthy of the praise he has been receiving recently. Changing things up quite a bit is the next single, “Around The Block,” from Pretty Lights‘ self-released album, A Color Map of the Sun, is a compelling track that has a strong foundation of R&B mixed with funk and then infused with elements of hip-hop and injections of rock, not the least with predictably accomplished guest vocals by Talib Kweli. There are so many moving parts and styles wrapped up in this one song that it’s almost impossible to categorize it. That said, Pretty Lights, have built their following on never falling prey to mediocrity.
“Hittite Man” – The Fall from Re-Mit on Cherry Red
“Dirt in the Ground” – The Builders and the Butchers from Western Medicine on Badman Records
“Not From Body” – Grant Olney from Hypnosis for Happiness (self-released)
“Around The Block” – Pretty Lights with Talib Kweli from A Color Map of the Sun (self-released)
Beginning Of A New Era: The Garifuna Collective from Belize
Danny Michael fills the gap left by the late Andy Palacio on the latest album from the Belize-based institution, The Garifuna Collective. Instrumentally, the band continues to explore and expand, combining African-influenced beats, hypnotic chants and much more, via the Soundcloud album samples in the stream from Blackbirds Are Dancing Over Me – one of two new works released by the band this week. The second is the new release, Ayo, featuring the worldly single, “Ubou,” aka, “the world.” Fans of The Garifuna Collective should be encouraged that the remaining band members have not forgot Palacio’s contribution, but they are also moving forward to continue the work that they say Palacio would have wanted them to.
“Blackbirds Are Dancing Over Me” – Danny Michel with The Garifuna Collective from Black Birds Are Dancing Over Me on Stonetree / Cumbancha
“Ubóu (The World)” – The Garifuna Collective from Ayó on Stonetree / Cumbancha
New Works from Brit Artists Zomby and TRAAMS
Other albums of interest from last week’s batch of new releases include the third album from British producer Zomby whose new LP, With Love, is trodden in dark, textured soundscapes driven by heavy beats, ominous synths, and a blend of genres that include hip-hop, drum ‘n’ bass, dubstep and rock. Following right behind are fellow Brits known as TRAAMS‘ and their newest album that includes the terrific single, “Low.” The single represents the Chichester trio’s ability to break out of the box and create melodic hooks where guitars fall silent and drums prevail and interweaving peaks and valleys of volume and distortion controls to give the track a unique garage rock sound that sets them a bit apart from their peers.
“With Love” – Zomby from With Love on 4AD
“Low” – TRAAMS from Ladders EP on FatCat Records
Fresh Releases from The Toxic Avengers and Shortcircles
To close out our review of last week’s releases are the lead singles from new albums by The Toxic Avengers and Shortcircles. The former artist’s single is available only as a .WAV file, and will still play in any supported browser. These tracks placement at the end of this review is in no way reflective of their individual achievements; in fact, the quick listens we’ve had to other songs on both artists’ albums indicate that there could be a number of tracks that were released as singles, which is almost always a sign that the albums are worth further listening. Who needs television when there is so much great music to listen to.
“Romance & Cigarettes” – The Toxic Avenger from Romance & Cigarettes EP on Roy Music
“All I Can Be For You” – Shortcircles from Between Waves on Plug Research Music