New Music Tuesdays – March’s Madness Edition

Musicheads,

We are four weeks into March and the music just keeps coming.  While most of the US spent this past weekend fretting over basketball brackets, the music industry was scheduling music delivery for today.  Am I complaining? Heck no!  This week marked my biggest haul of the year so far, with 7 albums purchased (5 of which released this week).  I felt the urge to buy everything that came out this week, and that’s a great thing to say for the music industry.  Well, who needs a long introduction, let’s just get into the music already, right?

We start with what has to be the album of the week, and a definite Album Of The Year contender, Courtney Barnett’s début full-length LP, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit.

The Australian songstress is just that.  Exploding on the scene in 2013 and releasing a double EP last year, her first official LP hits with as much ferocity as the previous releases.  Courtney has already become known for her deadpan storyteller delivery and her imaginative, self-deprecating lyrics.  Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit follows in the same footsteps in terms of writing style and maintains that fuzzy garage-styled aesthetic sound.  The album is an enjoyment to listen to and features the lead single Pedestrian At Best.

There is much more than just that track however.  I thoroughly enjoyed An Illustration Of Loneliness (Sleepless In New York) and the track Depreston is getting a lot of airplay which will probably result in it being named the second single (if not already).

The entire album is a work of master craftsmanship for something that has been termed “slacker rock”.  Courtney is far from lazy on the album and apparently was the talk of the town this past week at SXSW.  I also can’t pass up the opportunity to talk about a song on the album named Debbie Downer.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/debbie-downer/n11825

When you pen a song and name it after a familiar trope that spurned a hilariously over-the-top SNL skit, how can you not succeed?  The most ironic part of the track is that it is quite the uplifting and happy song, completely counter-intuitive to its title.  It’s simple things like this that show off Courtney Barnett’s wit and clever songwriting.  She doesn’t utilize complicated licks or even instrumental solos, but prefers simple transitions and easily replicated riffs to aid the listener in honing in on the important parts of her music, the words.  In perfect contradiction to my previous sentence, I also enjoyed the track Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go To The Party, which sure enough, has a small (yet still there) guitar solo in it.  Discover the rest of the album for yourself, I can assure you, it won’t be a waste of your time.

 

Next on the list today is another début full-length album.  This one comes from Big Data with their album 2.0.

Yes, that is in fact the album cover pictured above.  The début features the tracks you no doubt have more than likely heard on major radio by now, Dangerous (feat. Joywave) and possibly even The Business Of Emotion (feat. White Sea).

There is much more to this album however.  The electro-pop producer intended to capture a humans vs. technology theme on the album, and he pretty much succeeded.  Loaded with features, including the likes of Jamie Liddell, Rivers Cuomo (of Weezer), Kimbra, Twin Shadow, Bear Hands, and even Jenn Wasner (of Flock Of Dimes and Wye Oak) each track has a unique feel to it.  The underlying connection however is the supporting instrumentation, put together by Harvard grad and primary creative lead for the group Alan Wilkis.  The lone track not including a feature is the track Big Dater and is a effects-laden track, computerized bass-heavy track which even includes a bridge featuring the original internet dial-up sound (remember those AOL disks anyone?)

 

Next, we’ve got the “next big thing” in the terms of the potential of following in the footsteps of a Phillip Phillips or Vance Joy type musical character (although Spotify wants to tie him to Foy Vance, Ed Sheeran and Ben Howard), Mr. James Bay.  His début album out this week is Chaos And The Calm.

His foot-stomping début features the lead single Hold Back The River which has (as of  03.24.2015) over 41 million streams on Spotify already.  Based on those numbers, if you have yet to hear him on radio, you aren’t listening.

The album is much more than just that single track however.  The opening track Craving is a high-energy heartfelt track that gives the listener an immediate example of what to expect on the entire album.  Let It Go (no it’s not a Frozen cover) was the buzz track from his EP of the same name that truly broke the English boy onto the scene.

The boy really has some pipes on him, and just enough rasp to add a bit of sex appeal.  Meanwhile, tracks like If You Ever Want To Be In Love and When We Were On Fire add a wholesome and happy summer vibe to the album.  The album ranges from softer, soulful ballads like Move Together and Scars to the upbeat romps like Best Fake Smile and .  The album is folk/country pop through and through.  It’s been produced in a way that it is easily digested by the mass audiences that you can hear in similar music from the likes of Ed Sheeran and Kid Rock.  Is this a bad thing?  Yes and no.  James Bay is talented, without a doubt, and it is a bit of a shame that he has been shaped into this pop mold, but you can tell his live show has to be top-notch.  He sings with too much raw emotion not to perform well live.  Outside of the out-and-out singles from the album (which are stellar), my next favorite track is probably Collide.  It has that classic Rhythm & Blues feel to it with the keys that takes you back to all the great original rockers.  This album is definitely a Summer album and going to get a lot more spins as the weather heats up and more time is spent outdoors.

Lastly, we’ve got the physical release from everyone’s favorite kooky Icelandic lady, Björk with her album Vulnicura.

The album featured two images (shown above) with the first one being the official album cover, and the latter being the cover sleeve.  After the album leaked online more than a month ahead of the official release, Björk released it online for purchase, but refused to post it publicly on Spotify for streaming purposes.  The album itself features the lead single and kickoff track Stonemilker.  The track features a full orchestra and utilizes classical volume transitions to add a level of depth that is too often forgotten about in the new music of today.  The album features only 9 tracks, but the album comes in at just under an hour in length (0:58) with all but two songs being 6 minutes or longer.  In reality, a majority of the album is orchestral based, and this is personally a welcome change of pace to listen to in today’s Indie/Electronic/Underground/Pop/Rock environment.  I also thoroughly enjoyed the tracks Lionsong, Family, Atom Song (which is the only track on the album which features additional vocalists) and Black Lake. If you can find them online, I strongly urge you to listen to them.

Björk is definitely not for everyone, and I did not really take a liking to her music until relatively recently, but if you do quirky, complexly comprised musical structures outside of your standard 4/4 meter, you could definitely find joy in this album.

At this time, I will skip over the other albums I picked up today, but that is not because they are not worth mentioning.  Each of the remaining purchases from today is worth more than one listen and could easily make the end-of-the-year Best Of… lists.  Also, in an apparent oversight, I missed out on picking up the new album from Washington all-girl group Chastity Belt but did listen to it today on Spotify and it is definitely worth a listen as well.

Finally, I will leave you with a track that will be featured on the upcoming new album from the Brooklyn-based band San Fermin which, from the sound of the single, may go in a vastly different direction than their début album.

And now, as always, here was everything acquired on this New Release Tuesday:

• Courtney Barnett – Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit
• Big Data – 2.0
• Björk – Vulnicura
• James Bay – Chaos And The Calm
• Laura Marling – Short Movie
• Tobias Jesso Jr. – Goon
• Twin Shadow – Eclipse

and be sure to follow on Facebook and on Twitter @AudiofileAkwitz to get even more music updates that don’t make the posts.

Spotify Playlists:

• New Music Tuesdays 2015

-Akwitz

Now Playing: San Fermin – Jackrabbit

Audiophile Concert Series – Sylvan Esso w/ Flock Of Dimes @ The 8×10

Musicheads,

This past Thursday I got to enjoy the musical selections of Flock Of Dimes and Sylvan Esso.

Some of you may not realize, but this was actually quite the powerhouse show for such a small venue.  The 8×10 unofficially sells out at 350 tickets even with a mezzanine section.  The being said, the two bands slated for the evening are far and away, up-and-coming acts.  Flock Of Dimes is the solo project of Jenn Wasner, a Baltimore native who might be more popularly known for being one half of the band Wye Oak.  Her opening for the up-and-coming North Carolina duo Sylvan Esso was a fabulous surprise and quite enjoyable.

The one-woman show was quite the enjoyable opener, getting the crowd ready for an electronic heavy night.  Jenn warmed the crowd up in the only way she knows how, by rocking out.  I do want to preface the rest of this post however that I was unfortunately less than sober for a multitude of reasons and therefore my recollections are less than crystal clear.  She started with just a keyboard, synthesizer and her voice but quickly moved on to playing her guitar as well (as seen above). While I couldn’t tell you what tracks Jenn played or in what order (simply because I don’t know Flock Of Dimes‘ discography), she did treat the crowd to (This Is Why) I Can’t Wear White:

She concluded her set after roughly 30 minutes and shortly thereafter the headliners were welcomed onstage.

This was a fantastic show, sober or not.  Amelia and Nick kicked it off right away and continuously pumped energy into the crowd.  For an album as sedated as Sylvan Esso is, it was surprising how mobile and high-energy the duo was on stage.  Amelia was continuously moving and dancing and manipulating her body (as captured below) as they proceeded through their début album’s material.

Playing hit singles Hey Mami, Coffee and Play It Right enlivened the crowd while the other tracks performed packed equally as much punch.  The crowd enjoyed every track and the energy throughout was fantastic for a Thursday night.  Despite a relatively small venue, the band did not hold anything back.  As I said earlier, Amelia danced the entire performance and the group knew exactly when to incorporate the crowd for vocal assistance (and to the crowd’s credit, to much success).

The intimate venue may have been a pass through for the duo on their way to a larger show, but the crowd was ultimately appreciative and the band reciprocated the feeling.  Sylvan Esso may be a band on the rise, but they know and realize each show has meaning and value for the fans and affects the celerity and precipice associated with their rise.  It’s good to see that they acknowledge the truth of their situation and own every single performance.  That being said, their set list was on point, pairing the highs and lows of their album in a manner that best suited the show.  They ultimately chose to close their set with their highest energy track, (and coincidentally my favorite  track off their album) Play It Right, and the crowd could not have been more pleased.  This transitioned smoothly into Come Down, a track which is aptly named and also happens to be the final track on the album and functions as a fade out track.

Ultimately, my less than sober Thursday evening spent at the tiny Baltimore venue on Cross Street in Federal Hill was a major success.  While I would have hoped to remember more clearly the entire performance of both acts on the night without assistance, I was lucky enough to capture a lot of it on video to recreate the memories.  I paid dearly at work on Friday, but the show and the evening made it all worthwhile.

Expect another show review soon as RAC is slated for this same weekend…

Instagram: @AudiophileAkwitz

More of my photos from the night: Sylvan Esso w/ Flock Of Nickels @ The 8×10

 

–Akwitz

Now Playing: Sylvan Esso – Play It Right