by: Sam Farzin
Angelo Spencer Et Les Hauts Sommets - Angelo Spencer Et Les Hauts Sommets [K]
This rules! Kimya Dawson's husband and his band of outsiders write music for a non-existant spaghetti western of THE MIND. bring your six-shooters to this ennio morricone lovefest.
Jaga Jazzist - One-Armed Bandit [Ninja Tune]
Norwegian jazz arkestra throw breakbeats, big band, soundtracks, and prog into a blender and shred endlessly.
Various Artists - The Minimal Wave Tapes Volume 1 [Stones Throw]
A compilation of underground minimal electronica from the 80s. New wave without the bells and whistles.
You Say Party! We Say Die! - XXXX [Paper Bag]
The label on this cites that this group has opened for Pretty Girls Make Graves, which is a notable reference seeing as how this group shares a lot of stylistic similarities with that group. Scrappy girl-fronted post-punk pop with dance energy.
Phantogram - Eyelid Movies [Barsuk]
Really dreamy pop but less like clairecords and more like an RPMier Beach House? Without relying as much on a throwback kitsch of fuzz.
Past Lives - Tapestry Of Webs [Suicide Squeeze]
The phoenix that rised from the death of the Blood Brothers. Kind of like a funkier, mature, and less glass-shards-in-your-ear Blood Brothers. It must be annoying to break up and start a new band and have everyone discuss your new band in the frame of reference of your old band. But, oh well. This is great, in any case.
Field Music - Measure [Memphis Industries]
A classy, pristine British pop-rock record. Period.
Lightspeed Champion - Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You. [Domino]
A jumble of styles and approaches color this holistically classy pop record. Yes, again.
My Robot Friend - Soft-Core [Double Feature]
Super fun / unironic synth-based dance music. Like if Kraftwerk was a nerdy high schooler who liked to build light suits to dance in (which is what "Howard Robot" does).
Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now! - Fixin' The Charts [Cooking Vinyl]
Eddie Argos of the indelible ART BRUT here teams with a member of LA band THE BLOOD ARM to create songs that function as responses to other popular songs; i.e. "Billie's Genes."
PUNK
Overnight Lows - City Of Rotten Eyes [Goner]
This is a great garage punk rock record on the always great garage rocknpunk label Goner.
EXPERIMENTAL
Warning Light - Further On [Stickfigure]
All synth-based drones. Like a doomier and less momentous Fuck Buttons. I dig this a lot!
Lid EMBA - Terminal Muse: Red [Stickfigure]
Also a drone-y project, but with more textures i.e. drums, sudden sonic shifts, etc. Quite a bit different from Warning Light.
JAZZ
Mick Rossi - Songs From The Broken Land [Orange Mountain]
Sometimes Philip Glass Ensemble member tackles a variety of approaches to standards, producing nice, short pieces of prepared and un-prepared piano.
FOLK / COUNTRY
Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore - Dear Companion [Sub Pop]
REALLY nice-sounding record of very good folk music by these two fellows who apparently met by seeing each others MySpace Music pages. Excellent harmonies and no air or pretension or kitsch.
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