Incoming!
A slow new release week thankfully augmented with shipments arriving from New Zealand and Australia. We’ve got new albums from Ganglians (think Panda Bear Jr.), Stone Breath, Legends, Sleepy Sun and Among the Oak & Ash; new EPs from Robin Guthrie (Cocteau Twins dude), Spectrum (Spacemen 3 dude) and The Mary Onettes; plus a special offer on the debut 2008 mini-album from New Zealand’s hottest young band Surf City, which is catchy to say the least.
Speaking of NZ and the Land(s) Down Under, we’ve got the new David Kilgour (The Clean) album, The Clean’s recent live effort, plus cool discoveries like Luke Buda, White Swan Black Swan (Mazzy Star meets The Triffids), Grand Prix and Don McGlashan, all on Arch Hill Recs. Mmmm, kiwis. On the finally restocked front: WPGU fave and Pygmalion performer Joe Pug‘s EP (new album coming soon) and the expanded, deluxe re-issue of Aussie 80s outfit Died Pretty’s 1986 debut Free Dirt, which is effing timeless guitar-n-organ pop-rock bombast. Buffalo Tom must’ve loved these guys.
Wax On:
Awaiting your turntable’s stylus are 12″ offerings from Grizzly Bear and Animal Collective; LPs from Ganglians, Windy & Carl, T.I.T.S (San Fran doom-psych chicks), Sleepy Sun and Headdress; and 45s from Vibes, Blank Dogs and Cheap Time. More on the way, phono freaks should follow on Twitter to make sure you’re not missing nuthin’: http://twitter.com/parasolmo
Label News:
Parasol Records has inked local duo You & Yourn (The Artist Formerly Known As Casados) and will be releasing their new album, It Would Make Things Worse, locally this summer and nationwide this fall. Parasol Label Group twitters here: http://twitter.com/parasollg
Rocking Our World:
Still with the Mott the Hoople (“Thunderbuck Ram” anyone?), but getting all blissed out and jangly with David Kilgour’s latest, Falling Debris. Dude plays guitar and sings for The Clean off and on and here continues on a brilliant solo career, paired up with Kiwi poet laureate Sam Hunt. Hunt supplies the lyrics and Kilgour the voice and tunes, backed breezily by his band, The Heavy Eights. There’s a hint of Dylan, of Lloyd Cole and even some Go-Betweens déjà vu. An excellent addition to Kilgour’s previous solo work, 100% dreamy folk-pop.
The Top Tenner (because we like to publish every week opposed to every fiscal quarter):
1. Horse’s Ha, The “Of The Cathmawr Yards” (A Hidden Agenda Record)
2. Dinosaur Jr. “Farm” (Jagjaguwar)
3. Emeralds “Solar Bridge” (Weird Forest)
4. Nadja “Numbness” (Happy Prince)
5. Windy & Carl “Instrumentals for the Broken Hearted” (Blue Flea)
6. caUSE co-MOTION “Because Because Because” (Slumberland)
7. Zola Jesus “Soeur Sewer” (Sacred Bones)
8. Kites/Earth Crown “Split” (Night People)
9. Blue Mountain Eagle “S-T” (Fallout)
10. Iceburn Collective “Power of the Lion” (Southern Lord)