FEATURED NEW RELEASES


WEEK OF OCTOBER 09, 2007

Band of Horses
Cease to Begin (LP Too)

For a lot of reasons, Cease to Begin is the perfect title for this new record. Though they worked with producer Phil Ek again, as they did on Everything All the Time, much has changed for Band of Horses between the fairly recent then and now. Band members have come and gone, including Mat Brooke, who left to pursue other interests and his own band. Core members Ben Bridwell, Rob Hampton and Creighton Barrett moved from Seattle to Mt. Pleasant, SC, to be closer to their families. It’s also a great rock record.

Beirut
Flying Club Cup (LP Too)

The highly anticipated follow up to Gulag Orkestar does not disappoint. Recorded by Zach Condon with a full band, guest stars like Final Fantasy's Owen Pallet (who added lush string arrangements), and at a variety of locations, The Flying Club Cup is an expanse, glorious and enrapturing album which takes a nod towards the finest of France's musical culture.

Fiery Furnaces
Widow City (LP Too)

To sum up, the music on Widow City sounds lively, tuneful, simple/schematic, like a variety of previous records, with loud electric guitars, with very over-compressed bass guitars, drum-solo-having, Chamberlin-ized, and storytelling-ish.

Sunset Rubdown
Random Spirit Lover (LP Too)

"Beyond writing catchy tunes and packing them with whispers, mallets, harpsichord, and patches of cheapskate drum machines, [Spencer Krug's] an intriguing presence. Instead of bubbling along at one level, he roller coasters and raves, mixing nonsense with sharp observations and sadness with puns." -- Pitchfork

Eric Clapton
Complete Clapton (LP Too)

Extra Golden
Hera Ma Nono (LP Too)

Through it all, Hera Ma Nono shows that, while the defining element of Extra Golden may be its cross-cultural cooperation, styles like Rock and Benga are not quite as disparate as some may believe. Both arose from people cranking up electric guitars and singing melodic songs over propulsive rhythms in an attempt to entertain an audience. Though they may have to cross seas and petition governments just to play a few shows, the members of Extra Golden go about their work with a few simple goals in mind: to write songs that tell stories of life, love and loss; to praise people and places that are dear to their hearts; and, most of all, to create a sound that people of different backgrounds and generations can enjoy.

Jens Lekman
Night Falls Over Kortedala (LP...

Jens Lekman opens Night Falls Over Kortedala with the sure step of an artist in complete command of his creative self. Imbued with epic grandeur, "And I Remember Every Kiss" fades in with a melancholy timpani roll, a stirring string section and Jens crooning with every wistful bone in his body. After the first verse, the strings passionately swell into a wall of sound and - with one gravity-defying pass-through - Jens delivers his death blow to cynicism by declaring, "And I would never kiss anyone / Who doesn't burn me like the sun / And I remember every kiss like my first kiss;" illustrating just why many consider him one of the most important of the hopeful broken hearts coming of age in contemporary music. Like a modern day Chet Baker, Jens absolutely loves to sing about heartache.

Robert Wyatt
Comicopera

"It's really about the unpredictable mischief of real life - it's sort of chaotic our life. It's about humans and the things we turn to, and looking for fun and stimulus and meaning and stuff." Robert Wyatt