Here are a few of this week’s new releases that The Wheel’s Still In Spin highly recommends:
The Black Angels – Directions To See A Ghost | Amazon CD
Download “Doves” (mp3) from KEXP
This band takes its name from the Velvet Underground song “The Black Angel’s Death Song.” The music holds true to the sonic qualities of its namesake, from the tom pounding of the drums to the melodic drone of the fuzzy guitars. Vocalist Alex Mass sounds like Jim Morrison on some of the songs. Ultimately, this band summons the sound of ‘60s psychedelic rock.
Dosh – Wolves And Wishes | Amazon CD
Download “If You Want To, You Have To” (mp3)
Multi-instrumentalist Martin Dosh is a member of Andrew Bird’s band. For his fourth solo album, Dosh creates an organic sounding electro-folk album. The album is full of guest appearances by Bird, Will Oldham and many more, but Wolves And Wishes is much more hypnotic and groove oriented than the work released by these artists.
Plantlife – Time Traveller | Amazon CD
This album has a distinctive ‘70s soul free to it. But it also mixes hip hop, funk, rock, and R&B. The album has an old school feel to it, but with modern energy and production. The opening track, “Time Traveller,” begins by stating “I was there when it all began/ I made the whole planet rock with Afrika Bam/ I had Melle Mel’s back when he was by the edge/ I used to wear them big suits with the Talking Heads” and goes on to declare being a part of most major moments in music history from telling “ACDC to come Back In Black” to telling “John Lennon he should leave the Beatles” and from being “with James Brown when he said it live” to “When Dre came along with the bag of chronic/ Then we all got high and made the Supersonic/ Yeah, a little different from the gangsta rap/ But I was with him and Snoop when they made all that.”
Pomegranates – Everything Is Alive | Amazon CD
Download “Whom/Who” (mp3)
Download “Thunder Meadow” (mp3)
This Cincinnati band calls their music “experimental pop.” This album sounds like Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot mixed with Modest Mouse’s The Moon & The Antarctic. Songs like “Whom/Who” and “In The Kitchen” show the Pomegranates’ upbeat, syncopated style, while melodies like the one employed on “Late Night Television” highlight the pop aspects of the band. But the song “Desert Hymn” keeps haunting its way into my head with the simple, clean guitar strumming backing by eerily ghostlike tones. In the liner notes to the album, the band describes how they recorded the album in four days and mixed it down in two. They “didn’t use any pitch correction or metronome, which added a bit to the flavor of the album.” The outcome is a true and honest rock and roll album that sounds fresh and unique on each track.
The Submarines – Honeysuckle Weeks | Amazon CD
Download “You, Me, & The Bourgeoisie” (mp3)
Married couple Jack Dragonetti and Blake Hazard shared lead roles in this band. The album volleys between a minimalist production and orchestra production. It is full of catchy melodies and diverse instrumentation. The band tours as a three-piece with a drummer added to the duo. I can’t imagine how these songs could be duplicated live as they are on this album since this release sounds much bigger than a three-piece band.
After the jump, see a list of more new releases from this week.
Other releases from 13 May 2008:
10 Years – Division | Amazon CD
Abysmal Dawn – Programmed To Consume | Amazon CD
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O. – Recurring Dream And Apocalypse Of Darkness | Amazon CD
Peter Adams – I Awoke With Planets In My Face | Pay What You Want
Architects – Vice | Amazon CD
Joseph Arthur – Vagabond Skies | Amazon CD
The Bellrays – Hard, Sweet, Sticky | Amazon CD
Biomusique – The 10,000 Steps | Amazon CD
Boondox – Krimson Creek | Amazon CD
Botticellis – Old Home Movies | Amazon CD
Foxy Brown – Brooklyn’s Don Diva | Amazon CD
T-Bone Burnett – Tooth Of Crime | Amazon CD
Ryan Cabrera – The Moon Under Water | Amazon CD
Cherish – The Truth | Amazon CD
Coldworker – Rotting Paradise | Amazon CD
Warrel Dane – Praises To The War Machine | Amazon CD
The Daysleepers – Drowned In A Sea Of Sound | Amazon CD
Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs | Amazon CD
Deicide – Till Death Do Us Part | Amazon CD
The Dirtball – Crook County | Amazon CD
Dokken – Lightning Strikes Again | Amazon CD
Duffy – Rockferry | Amazon CD
Emmure – The Respect Issue | Amazon CD
Filter – Anthems For The Damned | Amazon CD
Bill Frisell – History, Mystery | Amazon CD
Tobias Froberg – Turn Heads | Amazon CD
Ghost Of The Russian Empire – The Mammoth | Amazon CD
Giraffe Running – Giraffe Running | Amazon CD
Daniel Marcellus Givens – Egress | Amazon CD
Grails – Take Refuge In Clean Living | Amazon CD
Hail Of Bullets – Of Frost And War | Amazon CD
House Of Fire – House Of Fire | Amazon CD
Instruments – Dark Smaland | Amazon CD
Emmanuel Jal – WARchild | Amazon CD
JW Jones – Bluelisted | Amazon CD
Kaia – Godmakesmonkeys | Amazon CD
Karelia – Restless | Amazon CD
Kidz In The Hall – The In Crowd | Amazon CD
Fern Knight – Fern Knight | Amazon CD
Lau Nau – Nukkuu | Amazon CD
Local H – 12 Angry Months | Amazon CD
Moe Pope And Headnodic Are Megaphone | Amazon CD
Max Minelli – Remedy | Amazon CD
Modey Lemon – Season Of Sweets | Amazon CD
Jason Mraz – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things | Amazon CD
The Myriad – With Arrows, With Poise | Amazon CD
The Old 97’s – Blame It On Gravity | Amazon CD
Matthew Parmenter – Horror Express | Amazon CD
Pendulum – In Silico | Amazon CD
The Presets – Apocalypso | Amazon CD
Quiet Village – Silent Movie | Amazon CD
Patti Rothberg – Double Standards | Amazon CD
Safetysuit – Life Left To Go | Amazon CD
The Michael Schenker Group – In The Midst Of Beauty | Amazon CD
Skybombers – Take Me To Town | Amazon CD
Dallas Smith & The Boys From Shiloh – Return To Possum Holler | Amazon CD
Stick To Your Guns – Comes From The Heart | Amazon CD
Stray From The Path – Villians | Amazon CD
Keith Sweat – Just Me | CD
The T4 Project – Story-Based Concept Album | Amazon CD
Take The Crown – Relapse React | Amazon CD
Teitur – The Singer | Amazon CD
Under The Flood – The Witness | Amazon CD
Vetiver – Thing Of The Past | Amazon CD
Peter Walker – Echo Of My Soul | Amazon CD
We Are Scientists – Brain Thrust Mastery | Amazon CD
Devon Williams – Carefree | Amazon CD
Back to The Wheel's Still In Spin Mainpage.
Comments