This week's "chunks of new music" list presents exciting new releases from talent, some known and some soon-to-be-known.
With the spring/summer concert season kicking in to high-gear, festivals from South by Southwest to Sasquatch! are starting to confirm lineups which place top acts alongside the showcase artists you are all about to become familiar and (dare I say!?) fall in love with.
A typical byproduct of this onslaught of concert bookings is an array of new music from bands that polish up their best songs, release albums and EPs, and start promoting and booking shows like the world may end tomorrow. If indeed we were facing an apocalypse, these are the new releases from bands that I would likely be listening to as the sky is falling:
Family of the Year, Through the Trees (EP)
Pound for pound the most amazing EP I have seen from a group to date. If this is any indication of the music that lays ahead for this young Silver Lake, CA crew, then there is just no stopping them. Playful post-indie folk tunes with casual cussing and narratives about childhood memories? You can't go wrong! Their music is simply joyous, and quite frankly pioneering of a sound that I expect to hear a lot more of in the next phase of the music industry. Bonus: at their live show the band offers a just representation of their studio work. Not an easy feat. Auto-tune schmato-tune I say! Bring on folk 2.0!
Listen to:
Broken Bells, Broken Bells
Danger Mouse and the Shins had a baby. Broken Bells the atmospheric collaboration from Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) and Shins front man James Mercer. Though I doubt there was nearly as much acid-educed production to this collaboration as it may seem, the end result on this self-titled debut is indie-rock's call to 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's adventurous, melodic and comes complete with an interactive "universe" website which deserves a heeded warning: "do not attempt to operate this awesome website under the influence of heavy drugs (you may never leave your computer again)."
Listen to:
Portugal. The Man, American Ghetto
A caution to members of PETA, Portugal. The Man's new song "The Dead Dog" is not meant to be taken literally. What you can take literally from it though is how seriously these Alaska natives have stepped up their game on their latest effort, American Ghetto. Not to mention that I hear more buzz about this group than what Miley Cyrus would look like with her shirt off. This album is exquisitely fun to listen to, and Portugal. The Man is keeping the torch alive for progressive-indie fans.
Listen to:
Frightened Rabbit, The Winter of Mixed Drinks
My first thought on this album was, "does a Winter of Mixed Drinks mean a Spring Hangover?" So typical of a Scottish band!
Not to worry though, the only thing toxic about this release is it's infectious and melodic song composition. The song "Swim Until You Can't See Land" is more than just a clever insult in the vein of "go take a long walk off a short pier," it's full of sweeping tones and backup vocals. It's the type of song that would be great as the soundtrack to a dream. Floating high above the ground in harmonic excellence. Vocally, front man Scott Hutchinson may draw comparison to a more subtle Modest Mouse sound, but it is certainly in this subtlety that Frightened Rabbit separates themselves from any comparisons.
Listen to:
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Go see more concerts: Visit my JamBase calendar to see whose coming and what shows you can spot me at.
