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

The 2013 Mercury Prize

Musicheads,

The Mercury Music Prize 2013 shortlist has been recently announced. For those of you who do not know, the Mercury Prize is a prestigious UK award equivalent to a best new music Grammy award for an artist or band that released music that year.  Last year’s winner was Alt-J and you’ve seen how they’ve been everywhere this year.  Here is the short list of notable nominees for this year’s award, which will be given out in a few short weeks on Wednesday, October 30th:

http://www.mercuryprize.com/aoty/shortlist.php?Year=2013

In case you don’t feel like visiting the actual site, here is this year’s shortlist:

• Arctic Monkeys – AM
• David Bowie – The Next Day
• Disclosure – Settle
• Foals – Holy Fire
• Jake Bugg – Jake Bugg
• James Blake – Overgrown
• Jon Hopkins – Immunity
• Laura Marling – Once I Was An Eagle
• Laura Mvula – Sing To the Moon
• Rudimental – Home
• Savages – Silence Yourself
• Villagers – {Awayland}

I’ve also created a Spotify Playlist for your listening ease in case you want to take a listen to all these albums if you have yet to hear them: 2013 Mercury Prize Shortlist

There are a bundle of good choices here to choose from, as well as some noticeable snubs.  London Grammar’s debut album If You Wait was noticeably left off this list, as well as the newest album from Noah And The Whale, Heart Of Nowhere.

Just as well, the shortlist this year is comprised of a varied number of artists from different genres; ranging from the soulful electronic sounds of James Blake, to the Brit rockers Arctic Monkeys, to the all-girl punk group Savages, to the return of the long lost David Bowie with a much more introspective and reinvented sound more appropriate with his age.  All of these acts deserve to be on display on the shortlist for this year’s prize, however there should be some clear favorites in the bunch.  If I were to be on the selection team for this years award, there would have to be three artists of the 12-group shortlist that would be front-runners.  While many Brits will be clamoring to say The Arctic Monkeys have this year’s album of the year, I beg to differ.  Personally I believe this should be a three-horse race between female post-punkers Savages with lead singer Jehnny Beth, jam-rock group Foals, and dance DJ duo Disclosure.

While there has also been a lot of hype around the latest release from James Blake, his sound has not been reinvented nor is it new on the scene.  Also on the short-list is the single-heavy album from dance quartet Rudimental.  Some surprises (aka long shots) for the list were both of the Laura’s.  Laura Marling’s 4th album and Laura Mvula’s debut both offer diversity among the already varied nominees, but are far from the breakout album of the year within an already strong group of talented artists.

So what makes the three I listed above better than the rest?  I will start with Disclosure.  

This DJ duo has put together a strong dance album for their debut release, packed with different beats, tempos and strong vocal pairings.  One such track is Help Me Lose My Mind which happens to also be the closeout track on the album.  This track features the previously mentioned 2013 Mercury Prize snub London Grammar in a chic and modern track that utilizes spacey sounds that is both calming but still able to be danced to.  The duo don’t need a feature to keep the music bumping though, just take the track F For You for instance.  The duo maintains the spacey synth but tops it off with a groovy beat and simple, yet catchy vocals.  These fellas offer a creative dance album that stands apart from all of this year’s numerous dance releases.

Next up, Savages.  

This group, led by Jehnny Beth, have brought with them a fresh take on the post-punk environment.  Utilizing fast tempo, bass heavy, driving guitar riffs, the girls have created a noise-laden album which is unique to this year’s list.  To tell you the truth, punk usually is not my cup of tea, but Jehnny and the gang really do it for me with this one.  Too many of these tracks have that catchy rhythm that make them hard to forget.  From Shut Up to Husbands to the album’s lead single She Will you can’t help but enjoying these tracks for both their smart lyrics, Jehnny’s vocal yelping and the rampant pace set by the guitar and bass.  From the overall intensity of the album you can also tell that the band must have an almost violent and incredibly electric and intense stage show not to be missed.  Not only did this album break onto the scene in 2013, it broke out in a genre that is not overwhelmingly popular or culturally hip in today’s music scene.

Last, but definitely not least is the latest release from Foals.

The band’s third album offers what the two previous albums lacked, a diverse and strong lineup of songs throughout the entire album.  With emotionally intense tracks like Late Night and Bad Habit which also hit doubly hard when paired with the intense music videos that accompany them:

and

Not only does the band invest emotionally in their music, but they also have been known to jam out hard, both onstage and in the studio.  The album opens with the track Prelude which is an obvious build-up song but also shows off their psychedelic, often experimental math rock  (yes, this is a real thing) inspired roots.  Having been to their live show, the band’s lead singer Yannis Philippakis is a highly energetic performer who has no problem entering the crowd on multiple occassions during a show equipped with either microphone or guitar, drawing the crowd into the show even further.  The band was also able to create a number of lively dance-rock tracks on the album as well, including two singles Inhaler and My Number which have oft received airplay.  This complete album has truly shown off the progression of the band’s sound and maturity of the group as a whole and is well-deserving of recognition.  Whether they take this year’s crown is yet to be seen, but they would be my pick.

Guess the only thing left to do now is wait until October 30th to see who is this year’s winner, but until then let’s all just enjoy the music.

Until then, Rock on!

-Akwitz

Now Playing: 2013 Mercury Prize Shortlist