The Wheel's Still In Spin

New Releases – 7 July 2009

After taking a vacation last week, it took a little while to catch up to the new releases. Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Bowerbirds – Upper Air | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Northern Lights” (mp3)
This album has a strong resemblance to Bowerbirds’ debut release, Hymns for a Dark Horse. But Upper Air sounds fuller without fleshing out the sound too much. There is more instrumental diversity on this new release, but each song still displays a great modern folk quality. This album masterfully adds the perfectly slight amount of production to the band’s minimal folk sound.

Lushlife – Cassette City | CD MP3
Download “Bottle Rocket” (mp3)
Best known for his mixing of Kanye West’s The College Dropout with The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, Lushlife has offered a diverse and meticulously remarkable new hip-hop album. Cassette City has a foundation of classic hip-hop, but it uses an eclectic amount of samples and styles. It takes the energy and lyricism of ‘90s rap and adds beats and instrumentations that are built upon chamber pop references.

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Hometowns | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Don’t Haunt This Place” (mp3)
Download “Frank, AB” (mp3)
After this Toronto album ended up self-releasing this album, they have signed with Saddle Creek Records, which gives The Rural Albert Advantage’s debut a proper release. This is a high energy, indie pop album. These catchy songs mix acoustic guitar and keyboards with rapid percussion.

Son Volt – American Central Dust | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Down to the Wire” (mp3)
The new Son Volt album matches Jay Farrar’s subdued drawl with the bands’ classic, straightforward Americana rock instrumentation. The songs are primarily supported with guitars, pianos, and the occasional organ. There are no tricks to the album’s production, but like most of Farrar’s albums, this batch of songs stands up on its own.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 30 June 2009

There is a short list of releases this week, which leads to a short list of recommended album. Here is The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new release.

All Smiles – Oh For the Getting and Not Letting Go | MP3
Download “Our Final Roles As Birds” (mp3)
All Smiles is Jim Fairchild’s band. This is the band’s second release since Fairchild’s previous band, Grandaddy, broke up and the first that is being self-released. Like 2007’s Ten Readings of a Warning, the music has a shimmering indie pop that fans of Grandaddy should appreciate.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 23 June 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

The Bats – The Guilty Office | CD MP3
Download “Countersign” (mp3)
Download “Castle Lights” (mp3)
This album, the New Zealand band’s seventh in twenty-some years, is an indie pop record. The guitars are the prominent instrument, but with the spacious jangle of Luna or the mellower, pop side of the Velvet Underground.

Michael Dean Damron & Thee Loyal Bastards – Father’s Day | CD
Michael Dean Damron was best known as the man behind the moniker I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch in the House. For his third post-SOB album, Damron offers a handful of covers – Drag The River, Thin Lizzy, and Townes Van Zant. As with his previous releases, his southern rock sound is best when there’s a dark tone to match the gruff vocals.

Deer Tick – Born on Flag Day | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Easy” (mp3)
This is a strong album from a rock band that draws equally from country and indie roots. The four-piece band plays guitar driven country rock with John MacCauley’s raspy drawl leading the charge.

Dinosaur Jr. – Farm | CD Deluxe CD Vinyl MP3
Download “I Want You to Know” (mp3)
As the second release since reuniting, Farm proves that the original members can still offer the same energetic intensity as they did over twenty years ago. The band can still capture the bombastic and catchy alternative rock sound that made their earlier albums memorable – from Mascis’s crunched and distorted guitar to Murph’s crisply thumping drums, from Barlow’s solid bass to Mascis’s subdued vocals.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 16 June 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Among the Oak & Ash – Among the Oak & Ash | CD Vinyl MP3
Of the 12 songs on this album, 2 are original compositions. The remaining tracks are traditional folk songs. The band makes these songs their own with modern indie folk production. However, it is the pairing of Josh Joplin and Garrison Starr’s vocals that carries this album, especially on the tracks on which they both sing lead with each singer panned hard to a different speaker.

The Builders and the Butchers – Salvation is a Deep Dark Well | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Golden and Green” (mp3)
Download “Barcelona” (mp3)
Each member of this Portland band is originally from Alaska. Salvation is a Deep Dark Well is produced by the Decemberists’ Chris Funk. The album upholds the rousing and gritty elements of the band’s concerts while borrowing some production qualities similar to the Decemberists’ brand of lyrical based chamber folk.

Phil Lee – So Long, It’s Been Good To Know You | CD MP3
Download “25 Mexicans” (mp3)
This countrified album, Lee has a weathered voice that sounds like a tender version of Jason Ringenberg of Jason and the Scorchers. The songs are well written and the production is never overdone.

Rock Plaza Central – …At the Moment of our Most Needing | CD MP3 MP3
Download “(Don’t You Believe the Words of) Handsome Men” (mp3)
Rock Plaza Central’s last album, 2006’s Are We Not Horses?, was one of my favorite albums of 2006. Chris Eaton, the creative crux of the band, has written two novels. His albums consist of a broad narrative. This album was inspired by a William Faulkner novel and contains an eclectic chamber folk sound.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 9 June 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Mos Def – The Ecstatic | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Life in Marvelous Times” (mp3) from RCRD LBL
Download “Quiet Dog” (mp3) from RCRD LBL
Download “Casa Bey” (mp3) from RCRD LBL
This album is an example of what a good hip-hop/rap album should be. There are a few guest spots, but they’re logical (Talib Kweli) and worthy (Slick Rick). The lyrics are political and poetic. It has a conscience, message, and deliberate purpose. The production is original and unrepetitive. The tracks are supported by uniquely appealing beats.

Sonic Youth – The Eternal | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Scared Trickster” (mp3)
This album is full of a combination of what makes Sonic Youth great. There are succinct tracks of alternative rock anthems. There are some brash punk songs. There are also some longer songs that delve into the experimental noise.

Kathryn Williams and Neill MacColl – Two | CD MP3
Download “Come with Me” (mp3)
This folk-based album is both intimate and smoothly surreal. There is minimal production or instrumentation added to the songs. The duo relies on the miraculous pairing of their voices, the deceptive simple musical performances, and traditional folk melodies.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

New Releases – 2 June 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Ryan Bingham & Dead Horses – Roadhouse Sun | CD Vinyl MP3
This album opens with three tracks of Ryan Adams styled Dylanesque roots rock. It mixes in some songs with Southern rock flares. Interspersed in it all are a couple tunes, like “Bluebird,” which elucidates the Southwestern territory from which this dusty voiced singer-songwriter comes.

Eels – Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire | CD MP3
Download “Fresh Blood” (mp3)
For the seventh album as Eels, Mark Oliver Everett and company mix garage rock and lushly euphonic indie pop. The album alternates between those two styles and always presents catchy songs.

Hoots & Hellmouth – The Holy Open Secret | CD MP3
Download “Known for Possession” (mp3)
This three-piece roots-based band is from Philadelphia. They have bluegrass instrumentation and three-part harmonies, but they also play a foot-stomping version of indie folk. This is a batch of catchy songs with a perfectly stylized production.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

Noah and the Whale – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down

Original Release Date: 16 September 2008 (Cherrytree Records)

Download “5 Years Time” (mp3)
Download “2 Bodies 1 Heart” (mp3)

As I walked to the first class of my second semester, International Sign Language 101, I had my ear buds in place. I was lost in my own world. In the five minutes it took to walk across campus, I began listening to the newest obsession on my iPod – Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down by Noah and the Whale.

The album opens with the wavering tone of a harmonium and the fade in of a distant sounding, face paced acoustic guitar riff. After a few finger snaps in beat, the atmospheric introductory music cuts away and Charlie Fink’s voice and guitar are front and center. “2 Atoms in a Molecule” begins with Fink retelling a dream of love. He imagines he and his lover “were inseparably entwined/ Like a piece of rope made out of two pieces of vine.” The full band kicks in and the singer awakes from his dream. He is alone. He laments about the pangs of love. And he asks, “If love is just a game, then how come it’s no fun?/ If love is juts a game, how come I’ve never won?”

I listened to these lyrical lines of lamentation about love and entered the classroom. I removed each ear bud and took a seat near the back of the room, where I usually sat on the first day of class. About two minutes before class began, in walked this woman with shoulder-length, coiled, raven hair. But this beautiful stranger was not the average unknown acquaintance. My crush for her began during my third week on campus.

I had noticed her in the dining hall. A couple times a week, we both ate a few meals at the same time. The first time I saw her, she appeared as an unattainable, attractive woman. From afar, I fantasized about her, but never had the courage to actually speak to her.

New Releases – 26 May 2009

Here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases.

Black Moth Super Rainbow – Eating Us | CD MP3
Download “Born On a Day the Sun Didn’t Rise” (mp3)
This experimental pop band melds a batch of analog instruments into a unique sound. They equally utilize analog synths and acoustic guitars to give the sound a combination of electronic and folk moods. And all of it veiled with a psychedelic pop catchiness. Eating Us is even more engaging than their previous full-length album, 2007’s Dandelion Gum.

Grizzly Bear – Veckatimest | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “Two Weeks” (mp3)
Download “Cheerleader” (mp3)
It’s been three years since the last proper Grizzly Bear full-length album. In 2007 they released a 10-track EP of covers and reworked songs entitled Friend. Now, with the release of Veckatimest, the band shows how their chamber folk sound gets more engaging with each release.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix | CD Vinyl MP3
Download “1901” (mp3)
For their fourth studio album, this French band has created another indie rock composition. A few notable singles have carried some of the band’s previous releases. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix definitely has some strong singles – “Lisztomania” and “1901,” for example – but the whole album flows well and also works as a cohesive project.

Shrag – Shrag | CD MP3
Download “Long Term Monster” (mp3)
Download “Forty Five 45s” (mp3)
This debut album collects songs that were released in the UK as singles and adds a few new tracks. For those of us in the States, this is the first time we’ve heard most of these tracks. The five-piece band has a pop punk sound that is influenced by riot grrrl.

After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.

Remebering Jay Bennett (1963-2009)

“I’m still waiting for songs to be written/ Songs that you’ll never hear” – “Drinking On Your Dime” from The Palace at 4am (Part 1) (Jay Bennett & Edward Burch)

Download “It Hurts” from The Palace 1919

I knew Jay Bennett through his music. My introduction to him was through Wilco. When Jay performed, he put his full heart into his energetic performances. He was known for his impassioned presence and versatile musical expertise on stage. Beyond the live shows, he was known for his studio production and engineering skills.

Today I am listening to my Wilco and Jay Bennett CDs, watching old documentaries and performances taped from TV shows, and remembering a man whose musical output has profoundly effected, inspired, and awed me.

Concert Etiquette: If You Don’t Want to Go to a Concert, Please Don’t Go

This sounds like an asinine request, but I genuinely plead with everyone who reads this blog to never go to a concert that you really don’t want to go to. That sounds too simple, but a Disgruntled Dude recently wrecked a concert experience for me.