New Music Tuesdays – Anniversary Edition

Musicheads,

This week marked the 2nd anniversary of The Audiophile’s inception.  Yes, this site started the day before Valentine’s Day back in 2013.  Well, a lot has changed since then, personally, professionally and musically.  One thing hasn’t changed though, New Music Tuesdays.  So let’s get that started!  2015 is still off to a fairly slow start, but I feel like with a number of headline-making releases due out in March, 2015 will really be turning on the afterburners soon. Well, before we hope for tomorrow, let’s appreciate today, and this week’s new music to grab your ears’ attention.

We start this week with a new album from Junip frontman Jose Gonzalez simply titled Vestiges & Claws.

The Argentinian Swede follows a familiar vein with the new album.  Recently off the critically praised tracks for the blockbuster remake of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty which included the breakout tracks Step Out and Stay Alive,  Jose Gonzalez went a little more reserved and more Junip-esque with his latest batch of music. Sticking to his guns with a blend of acoustic folk and bossa nova, Gonzalez has quietly put together a quality album.  Led by the single Leaf Off / The Cave, the 10-track album relies heavily on the South American guitar style as its staple sound.

What Will is another quality track (and probably was the inspiration for the album title) with a simple, yet mesmerizing guitar riff and clever lyrics.  Lastly I want to draw attention to the close-out track Open Book, which uses a vocal harmony throughout to create a hauntingly intimate song.   If you are a fan of Junip and indoor, rainy day coffee shop music, you will want to get your hands on Vestiges & Claws.

 

Next up, we have the sophomore album from Utah arena rockers Imagine Dragons with their album Smoke + Mirrors.

The sophomore slump is a real thing, and it’s surprising how many bands truly undergo this type of disappointment after such a meteoric rise from a début.  Imagine Dragons hit the ground running in 2012 and their album  Night Visions was a massive success.  The sound was new and they had put all their blood, sweat and tears into the crafting of their début album. Three years later, it appears that either the massive success has gotten to the band, or they were a one-and-done act, with only enough music to create that one good album.  Following years of touring and fans worldwide, the band seems to have rested on its successful formula of anthem-friendly arena rock.  Once again, this is another much-trodden path.  Take major acts such as Mumford & Sons and Coldplay and look at their discography and you can spot where the band went from a creative powerhouse to crafting a crowd-pleasing album.  Well using words straight from the lead single off the album “I let you down tonight” is an accurate description of the new album.  Sophomore slump achieved.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like it’s a horrid hodgepodge of music, it just lacks passion.  Tracks like the singles I Bet My Life, Shots and Gold are pop enough to get radio airplay and be used for ad campaigns, but they are just that, formulaic pop lacking true emotion.  That was one thing Night Visions never lacked, emotion.  Other than that, the album is over-produced and has a lot of strange and unnecessary sound effects built-in to the music that add very little value.  While the first half of the album is jam-packed with the singles and arena-friendly songs, the second half of the album features more heartfelt and personal songs.  There are really only three songs out of the thirteen that I feel good talking about.  The first of which is Polaroid. Polaroid is one of the more redeeming tracks on the album, and will probably never see any airplay unfortunately.  That track is the closest to the passion felt on the first album. The other two tracks I would like to highlight are It Comes Back To You and Dream.  Outside of these tracks however, the album lacks zest and the gusto to make it truly impactful.

Finally today, the last of the recurring major music festivals in the US released its lineup. The 2015 Firefly Music Festival in Dover, DE lineup officially announced today, almost three weeks after a lineup leaked which entailed pretty much the entire thing and the world was left guessing if it was the actual lineup.  Well, now we know:

Lastly, it seems like you can’t escape Modest Mouse these days with new music everywhere and their first album in over eight years coming out in just a few weeks, not that I’m complaining.  Well, it seems like every other week now for the past month we have gotten a new track ahead of the album release, and this week is no exception.  Be sure to give a listen to their latest release The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box.

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

• Jose Gonzalez – Vestiges & Claws
• Imagine Dragons – Smoke + Mirrors

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

Spotify Playlists:

• New Music Tuesdays 2015

-Akwitz

Now Playing:  Modest Mouse – The Ground Walks, With Time In A Box

‘New Music Tuesdays’ – 12.17.13 Edition

Musicheads, It seems like this year’s December release schedule has been slower than usual, and so there is really nothing of note to talk about coming out this week.  The only thing that is of note this week is the soundtrack to the upcoming film The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, which is bolstered by some very strong artist support from the likes of Jose Gonzalez (of  Junip), Of Monsters & Men, Rogue Wave, Jack Johnson, David Bowie and Junip.  The soundtrack itself is comprised mostly of covers, but there are a few original tracks that were written specifically for the movie as well. Judging by the artist lineup, you can tell it is a very introspective and somber soundtrack, but it does have its moments of soaring positivity and incredibly motivating.  This is especially true with the track that is featured in the trailer, Step Out. Oh yeah, and then there was that “surprise” self-titled release by Beyoncé which took the internet by storm over this past weekend.   While the album is far from top notch, it still broke a record in terms of first week international sales (moving over 800,00 units) primarily due to two factors: the shock and awe factor of the “unexpected” release that caused a frenzy of press and publicity, and second, because she is one half of the music world’s “hottest” power couple and there are sooo many blind followers of anything that comes from that duo that they will by whatever shill is spit out by them.  I am not saying that Beyoncé’s album isn’t worth mentioning, but it is far from her best music or worth the publicity it has so far received. So besides these two articles of new music, very little of note released this week.  That being said, I used this week to catch up on a few older albums that I wanted to add to my collection.  I will leave you with two new pieces of music released by Tears For Fears this week.  The first is another cover done by the group, this time of Baltimore’s own Animal Collective. The second is a cover of Tears For Fears by Matthew Dear with the help of Tegan & Sara.  Both can be found on Spotify as well. And now, as always, here was everything acquired on this New Release Tuesday:

• LCD Soundsystem – Sound Of Silver
• Duologue – Song & Dance

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

-Akwitz

Now Playing:  Tears For Fears – My Girls (Animal Collective Cover)

Matthew Dear feat. Tegan and Sara – Pale Shelter (Tears For Fears Cover)

‘New Music Tuesdays’ – 12.10.13 Edition

Musicheads,

So as you may (or may not) have noticed, I missed a NMT post for last week.

Well, I was traveling for work in Indiana, so music shopping was not a possibility, nor was writing.  In reality however, there was nothing to write about.  An incredibly weak release list last week headlined by a new Britney Spears album and not much else.

This week was pretty much the same story, with new releases by Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) and R. Kelly.  Let’s just say, I didn’t pick up either.

What I did do today though was pick up a couple of albums I had missed from the past that needed to be added to my personal library.  Those artists included the first two albums from Northwest band Band Of Horses, and the debut full-length album from New Yorkers Lucius that was released earlier this year. Because these aren’t new albums, I’m not gonna go into detail reviewing them, but I do want to mention a couple of tracks worth checking out if you haven’t heard them by now.

Seattle band Band of Horses have been around since 2004 and signed with local label Sub Pop Records, who have a tremendous history and artist repertoire all themselves (see their roster here: http://www.subpop.com/artists)

The band’s debut album was released in 2006 under the name Everything All The Time.  This album had one incredibly explosive hit single that helped skyrocket the band’s name into the ears of listeners everywhere, The Funeral.

From there, their recognition has grown in leaps and bounds, with their third album Infinite Arms being their most successful album, peaking at number 7 in the US charts in 2010.

Cease To Begin was the group’s sophomore album released in 2007.  This album builds upon the good foundation set by the band’s first album.  This album includes solid tracks No One’s Gonna Love You, Is There A Ghost, The General Specific and Detlef Schrempf.  Be sure to take a listen to the entire album though, as these fellas have an excellent Rock base that they create all of their music from.

Lucius on the other hand, are from the complete other side of the tracks.  East Coasters through and through, the group with dual female vocalists utilize a heavy synth-pop influenced sound.  The band’s debut album was released in mid-October on Mom+Pop Records (another quality independent label as well; see artist list: http://www.momandpopmusic.com/artists/) includes some very catchy tracks and it’s all packaged within a very suggestive album cover.

Be sure to check out the whole album, but especially don’t pass over the two singles Turn It Around and Go Home.  Both are very strong and catchy tracks that make you wanna get up and dance.  The group has the ability to be more mellow though, often turning away from the heavier synth sounds and handing the lead over to acoustic guitar.  Be sure to check out the whole album, it’s an enjoyable listen!

I will now leave you listening to a much requested track that was just recently released to the internet this week that has been featured in the trailer for the upcoming film starring Ben Stiller The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.  The track is by Jose Gonzalez, who is one half of the Swedish folk-rock band Junip. 

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

• Band Of Horses – Everything All The Time
• Band Of Horses – Cease To Begin
• Lucius – Wildewoman

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

-Akwitz

Now Playing: Jose Gonzalez – Step Out