Spring is in the air and with it comes a bounty of new releases proliferating on record store shelves, and you’re not going to want to wait until Record Store Day (on April 17) to pick these up!
Jónsi debuts his solo project with Go, a collection of nine songs he wrote over the years performing with Sigur Ros. Residing somewhere between the epic dynamism of his band and the ambient beauty of the album he did with his partner, Alex Somers (Jónsi & Alex), the new album is spirited, eclectic and no less epically adventurous -- and which perhaps surprisingly to Sigur Ros fans even contains some lyrics in English!
A long-time favorite of KEXP listeners, Sharon Jones returns with The Dap-Kings and another knockout album. And Sharon also appears on the new project by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, who together compose two discs worth of songs presenting Imelda Marcos meditating on events in her life, in effort to “bring a ‘story’ and a kind of theater to the disco.” A wide range of vocalists include Steve Earle, Nellie McKay, Cyndi Lauper, Santigold, Alice Russell, and many others.
Other worthwhile new releases include Dr. Dog‘s sixth studio album, Shame Shame; a debut from Jon Lawler, aka Jon Fratelli’s swaggering side project Codeine Velvet Club, composed with cabaret artist Lou Hickey; and the fourth effort by experimental folk band Tunng, full of joyful sing-alongs and a kitchen sink approach to instrumentation with banjos, brass, electronics, and whatever else the 15 or so collective can find. If you want plunge deeper into the dance hall, check out the latest from two NY area groups, Javelin and The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt!, both on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label (he seems to have an electronic empire this week, no?). And Seattle represents with the latest from The Sight Below and Jenn Ghetto’s S.
There really are too many to mention this week, so check out Largehearted Boy’s list for more and dig in to the samples below:
Awesome Color - Transparent (MP3)
from Massa Hypnos on Ecstatic Peace
Black Prairie - Red Rocking Chair (MP3)
from Feast of the Hunters’ Moon on Sugar Hill Records
David Byrne & Fatboy Slim - Please Don’t
from Here Lies Love on Todomundo/Nonesuch Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEBDDPhwYeE
Civil Twilight - Letters from the Sky
from Civil Twilight on Wind-Up Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Wa7dFR09vU
Judson Claiborne - Song for Dreaming (MP3)
from Time & Temperature on La Société Expéditionnaire
The Classic Crime - Vagabonds Trailer
from Vagabonds on Tooth and Nail Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgKA0yBhknU
Codeine Velvet Club - Hollywood (MP3)
from Codeine Velvet Club on Dangerbird Records
Common Loon - Dinosaur vs Early Man (MP3)
from The Long Dream of Birds on Hidden Agenda
Communist Daughter - Not the Kid (MP3)
from Soundtrack To The End on Grain Belt Records
Amy Cook - Saltwater (MP3)
from Let the Light In on Roothouse Entertainment
The Dø - At Last (MP3)
from A Mouthful on Six Degrees Records
Dr. Dog - Stranger (MP3)
from Shame, Shame on Anti-
GBH - Kids Get Down (MP3)
from Perfume and Piss on Hellcat Records
Growing - Short Circuit
from Pumps on Vice Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrpO1yOOmCo
Hacienda - I Keep Waiting (MP3)
from Big Red & Barbacoa on Alive Records
Harlem - Gay Human Bones (MP3)
from Hippies on Matador Records
Hypernova - Fairytales
from Through the Chaos on Narnack Records
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_sxsKBVJDE
Javelin - Vibrationz (MP3)
from No Más on Luaka Bop
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way (MP3)
from I Learned The Hard Way on Daptone Records
Jónsi - Go Do
from Go on XL Recordings
The Library Is on Fire - Vanessa’s Theater of Peace (MP3)
from Magic Windows, Magic Nights on Fill in the Blank Records
Look Mexico - You Stay. I Go. No Following
from To Bed to Battle on Phantom Domestic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bgLGtlrBaA
Laura Marling - Devil’s Spoke
from I Speak Because I Can on Virgin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QirL0HXnyS4
Mi Ami - Latin Lover (MP3)
from Steal Your Face on Thrill Jockey
Monster Movie - The World Collapsed (MP3)
from Everyone Is A Ghost on Graveface Records
Nice Nice - One Hit (MP3)
from Extra Wow on Warp Records
Patrick Park - You’ll Get Over (MP3)
from Come What Will on Badman Recording Co
Red Sparrowes - Giving Birth to Imagined Saviors (MP3)
from The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer on Sargent House
S - Save You (MP3)
from I’m Not As Good At It As You on Own Records
Shark Speed - Killing Kind (MP3)
from Education (self-released)
The Sight Below - Fervent (MP3)
from It All Falls Apart on Ghostly International
The Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt! - Ride Frindship (MP3)
from Have the Best Day of Your Life! on Luaka Bop
True Womanhood - The Monk (MP3)
from Basement Membranes on Environmental Aesthetics
Tunng - Don’t Look Down or Back (MP3)
from Then We Saw Land on Thrill Jockey
Under Byen - Alt Er Tabt
from Alt Er Tabt on Paper Bag Records
