Passion Pit officially release today. White Rabbits release today. Mat Kearney releases today. This is just the beginning of a huge week. Huge.
Michael Angelakos' musings continue to draw attention. Not only was the Loose Change EP stellar, but with a five-man traveling band on salary, Passion Pit should be on everyone's calendar and in everyone's compact disc player, especially with the release of Manners.
Fort Nightly earned high honors in 2007 for White Rabbits. It has gently swept into indie-lovers' libraries as a favorite. With It's Frightening, perhaps even more music reviewers can start to see what has made the New York crew so astounding.
Tomorrow we will see Keane, The Helio Sequence and Mat Kearney, so the release of City of Black & White has us perusing the artist at an accelerated rate. For those who have previously heard Mat Kearney, he occasionally staggered into poetry during his music. The new album is heads above his previous work.
Female vocalists have the major role in this year's releases. Polly Scattergood and Alela Diane are phenomenal. Scattergood's playful singing and catchy accompanying instrumentals undoubtedly hit us a bit different than most singer/songwriters. For Alela Diane, the mass artist project of Headless Heroes carries the folk music pace this week while still harnessing the impressive singer's ability, much like that of Zooey Deschanel.
We've only hit the tip of the iceberg, so dig in and have a wonderful week!
MP3: Passion Pit - Smile Upon Me (buy)
MP3: Iron and Wine - Belated Promise Ring (buy)
MP3: Jarvis Cocker - Angela (buy)
MP3: White Rabbits - Kid On My Shoulders (buy)
Apostle of Hustle - Eats Darkness (Official) (MySpace)
Federico Aubele - Amatoria (Official) (MySpace)
Clues - Clues (Official) (MySpace)
CKY - Carver City (Official) (MySpace)
Drive A - Loss of Desire (Official) (MySpace)
Ear PWR - Super Animal Brother (Official) (MySpace)
Elfin Saddle - Ringing for the Begin Again (Official) (MySpace)
The Field - Yesterday & Today (Official) (MySpace)
Green Day - 21ST Century Breakdown (Official)
Headless Heroes - Silence of Love (Official) (MySpace)
Hedley - Never Too Late (Official) (MySpace)
Iron & Wine - Around the Well (Official) (MySpace)
Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications (Official) (MySpace)
Jason Lytle - Yours Truly (Official) (MySpace)
Jeffrey Lewis - 'Em Are I (Official) (MySpace)
Karate High School - Invaders (Official) (MySpace)
Kronos Quartet - Floodplain (Official) (MySpace)
Mat Kearney - City of Black & White (Official) (MySpace)
Miss Kittin & The Hacker - Two (Official) (MySpace)
Parachute - Losing Sleep (Official) (MySpace)
Passion Pit - Manners (Official) (MySpace)
Polly Scattergood - Polly Scattergood (MySpace)
Settle - At Home We Are Tourists (Official) (MySpace)
Tartufi - Nests of Waves & Wire (Official) (MySpace)
Tori Amos - Abnormally Attracted To Sin (Official) (MySpace)
John Vanderslice - Romanian Names (Official) (MySpace)
White Rabbits - It's Frightening (Official) (MySpace)
Another week is upon us as the summer nears closer and we are all gearing up to see our favorite bands play in the warm weather. Perhaps this week is the week you find your new favorite band?
First off, Maximo Park is out with their fourth album since forming in 2005. The release of their 2007 album, Our Earthly Pleasures, had their fan base grow at an alarming rate and Quicken The Heart should be no exception.
Does the name Andrew Kenny ring a bell? It should if you have ever listened to American Analog Set, since Kenny's vocals were the foundation of a group people still talk about fondly. After several years off of the music radar, Kenny is back - this time with The Wooden Birds and their album Magnolia. Very exciting stuff.
With the amount we cover Bloc Party, its safe to say we are quite antsy to listen to Intimacy Remixed, which actually came out yesterday. Bloc Party never seems to dull us with their vast amount of remixes to compliment some great artists and DJs who mixed them up.
One of the all-time kings of electonica, The Crystal Method, are back with their fourth studio album since 1997. Their latest release is called Divided by Night.
Lastly, if you're looking for some pop/punk, Crisis In Hollywood is out with Safe and Sound which was produced by Anthony Raneri of Bayside. Also along the heavier path are The Datsuns with Headstunts. Enjoy the new music this week!
MP3: Maximo Park - Roller Disco Dreams (buy)
MP3: The Wooden Birds - False Alarm (buy)
MP3: Hanne Hukkelberg - Midnight Sun Dream (buy)
MP3: Bloc Party - Ion Square (Bright Lights Don't Bore Me Yet Version)
Acid Mothers Temple - Lord of the Underground: Vishnu and the Magic Elixer (Official) (MySpace)
Banjo or Freakout - Upside Down 12" (Official) (MySpace)
Better Than Ezra - Paper Empire (Official) (MySpace)
Big Business - Mind The Drift (Official) (MySpace)
Bloc Party - Intimacy (Remixed) (Official) (MySpace)
Caethua - Village of the Damned (Official) (MySpace)
Cause Co-Motion! - Because Because Because 12" (Official) (MySpace)
Children - Hard Times Hanging At the End of the World (Official) (MySpace)
Crisis In Hollywood - Safe And Sound (Official) (MySpace)
Evanscapps - Last Time (Official) (MySpace)
George McConnell - Singles Only (Official) (MySpace)
Hanne Hukkelberg - Blood From a Stone (Official) (MySpace)
Jeremy Enigk - Ok Bear (Official) (MySpace)
Jim O'Rourke - I'm Happy, And I'm Singing, And A 1, 2, 3, 4 (Official) (MySpace)
Little Girls - Thrills 12" (Official) (MySpace)
Mark Kozelek - Lost Verses Live (Official) (MySpace)
Maximo Park - Quicken the Heat (Official) (MySpace)
Meanderthals - Desire Lines (Official) (MySpace)
Meat Puppets - Sewn Together (Official) (MySpace)
Mokira - Persona (Official) (MySpace)
Sebastien Tellier - Reworked by Strangelets 12" (Official) (MySpace)
SND - Atavism (Official) (MySpace)
Steve Earle - Townes (Official) (MySpace)
The Church - Untitled #23 (Official) (MySpace)
The Crystal Method - Divided by Night (Official) (MySpace)
The Datsuns - Headstunts (Official) (MySpace)
The Durutti Column - Love in the Time of Recession (Official) (MySpace)
The Wooden Birds - Magnolia (Official) (MySpace)
Torngat La Petite - Nicole (Official) (MySpace)
Trainwreck Riders - The Perch (Official) (MySpace)
Weinland - Breaks in the Sun (Official) (MySpace)
Wooden Shjips - Contact 12" (Official) (MySpace)
