Musicheads,
Sorry for the delay in the NMT post this week, but unfortunately, societal events occur on Tuesdays sometimes. What postponed this post was this year’s Mobbies Awards.
The Mobbies (Maryland’s Outstanding Blog Awards, and in particular, a reference to one of Baltimore’s older nicknames, Mobtown) were held this year at the Creative Alliance in Highlandtown right down the street from Patterson Park and involved over 400 nominees for 22 award categories. No, the Audiophile was not nominated (merely because of bad timing), so the event was attended as a spectator with a fellow Baltimore blogger friend (Charm City Thriftanista). Beforehand, we met up at Baltimore’s premier independent record store, The Sound Garden, which is where this week’s new music pickups have come from. And now onto just that.
As the year begins to come to a close, we will start to see the number of significant releases tail off until the year rolls over, especially once we pass Thanksgiving and get into full-blown holiday season. That being said, I believe the season is starting early and releases for the remainder of the year will be fairly low-key and uneventful. This week seems to mark the beginning of the slow down, with the biggest name releasing this week is the relatively unknown in the US, Jake Bugg, with Shangri La. This is Bugg’s 2nd album and happens to also be his 2nd album of this year (previously released his debut self-titled album Jake Bugg with it’s hit single Lightning Bolt). Also out this week was the much hyped The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Soundtrack and a strange duet live album with the creative married couple of musician Amanda Palmer and author Neil Gaiman. Why I say strange is because it is a live recording of an open session which includes both poetry reading (with commentary) and then little ditties performed by the couple and a few special guests. At almost 3 hours, An Evening With Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer is a whole lot of lovey-dovey banter between the couple with only short, sparse musical offerings.
So, as I said before, Jake Bugg was the headliner for this week’s new releases, so let’s review Shangri La shall we?
I’m not sure why more people don’t make the Bob Dylan comparisons when talking about this 19-year old, as this Brit sounds a whole lot like him vocally. His raw, nasally voice paired with straightforward, yet bluesy guitar and bass riffs mesh to form enjoyable rock & roll. Although his sound is far from original, his music is refreshing in this day & age of ever increasing electronically-influenced music. Although the album is not of the same caliber as his debut, there are a number of excellent tracks worth mentioning. Bugg is deeper on this album, showing a wider range of abilities especially with regards to his writing. The album starts off with a real kick of energy with two of the album’s singles in the first three tracks. The first of which is Slumville Sunrise, a high-energy blues rock track where Bugg portrays himself as a misfit in a city that, although he wants to leave, is still able to find beauty in when it is touched by the morning sun. That is quickly followed by the other single What Doesn’t Kill You, a simple yet powerful track built around the famous phrase by renowned psychologist Friedrich Nietzche. Up next comes a much more laid back and happy track Me And You. With a bouncy bass line and flighty, flowing guitar the track serves as an excellent positive song about escaping from and overcoming negativity. All Your Reasons is another quality track following along the same theme lyrically, and is enjoyable on the ears. Overall, the album is a quick 12 tracks with a solid mix of both fast and slow tracks, harder blues rock and more mellow country-folk rock. Be sure to check this out along with his debut album for an aural treat during those upcoming shopping trips during the hectic holiday season or while relaxing over a cup of coffee and a good read at your favorite coffeehouse.
Also, be sure to check out Blood Orange, who is in the post’s Now Playing section. Devonté Hynes, the man behind the name has put together a solid album of a pairing of soulful R&B and 80’s and 90’s influenced melodies. You may not recognize his name, but he recently split from his group Test Icicles and has written numerous songs that have been hits for some of your more well-known acts, like Florence & The Machine and The Chemical Brothers and even the recent single tracks for Solange (Losing You) and Sky Ferreira (Everything is Embarrassing). Be sure to check his album out.
And now, as always, here was everything acquired on this week’s New Music Tuesday run:
and don’t forget to follow on Facebook and on Twitter @AudiofileAkwitz at to get even more music updates that don’t make the posts.
-Akwitz
Now Playing: Blood Orange – Cupid Deluxe
Audiophile : Akwitz 