Tibi PuiuThis week’s stand out release is definitely “Here Lies Love”, the product of a unpredictable collaboration between David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, about the life of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos and her relationship with a servant from her childhood. It’s an immensely ambitious project, backed by an intricate concept and a guest list stretching for miles. If someone had the chance of sampling the record, I’d love to hear some…
New Music Monday: March 29
One of the most exiting releases of the season, The Dum Dum Girls’ “I Will Be”, is this week’s personal favorite out of the whole, rather modest, selection of records. Other recommends include Erykah Badu’s “New Amerykah, Part II: Return Of The Ankh”, Wooden Shjips’ “Vol. 2”, Angus & Julia Stone’s “Down The Way”, and Holly Golightly & the Brokeoffs’ “Medicine County”. [MP3] Dum Dum Girls – ‘Jail La La’ [MP3] Wooden Shjips – ‘Motorbike’…
New Music Monday: 15 March
The SXSW week almost always coincides with modest releases, but this year it can’t get any better. The highlight of the week is without a doubt Drive-by Truckers’ highly anticipated eight studio effort “The Big To-Do”, which according to Patterson Hood is “very much a rock album. Very melodic and more rocking than anything since disc 2 of Southern Rock Opera.” Should be very interesting, to say the least. The Emmett Malloy directed rockumentary “Under…
New Music Monday: 15 February
Every year at the SXSW fest, out of the slew of bands flocking in from all over the country, you can be sure there will be one or two acts that will definitely stand out as somewhere up there in the bands to watch of the respective year. For 2009 the crowd, and critics *cough, clear favorite were the Silver Lake five-piece Local Natives who will finally release their debut record “Gorilla Manor” this week….
New Music Monday: 25 January
This may actually be my favorite week of a month, that comes as a great closer to a dazzling cascade of new releases which kicked off the year. Those of you who’ve been reading my ramblings for the past weeks, and months even, will definitely know that my #1 of the week is Beach House’s soothing third record “Teen Dream.” Also out this week, “Realism”, The Magnetic Fields’ latest indie pop extravaganza of the scene…
New Music Monday: January 18
Editors are finally releasing their third album in the US, “In This Light and On This Evening,” after a pretty well received follow-up to 2007’s An End Has A Start in the UK. Surprisingly or not, Eels are back in 2010 with a new album, titled “End Times”, only a year after their previous extraordinary full length effort’s release, Hombre Lobo. One of our most anticipated records of 2010, Spoon’s “Transference” also sees its first,…
New Music Monday: January 11
I haven’t published a New Music Monday feature for almost two months now, but this week’s a good a time as any to revive it. First up is Vampire Weekend’s highly anticipated sophomore release “Contra,” which also got featured on our 15 Most Anticipated Releases of 2010 list. It has already gathered unanimous stellar reviews and sells like hot donuts down at iTunes, but your opinion shouldn’t be influenced by hype or whatnot, so head…
New Music Monday: October 19
Just only a few weeks after Sufjan Stevens released “Run Rabbit Run,” a re-worked string instrument based version of his 2001 electronic album “Enjoy Your Rabbit,” the talented singer/songwriter is at it again this week with yet another release, in the form of “The BQE” – a mixed-medium artistic exploration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The record contains the soundtrack to the live show Stevens put together back in 2007 as part of the project, accompanied…
New Music Monday: 12 October
Looks like it’s that time of the year when various holiday albums and compilations start to pop-out, much to the contempt of last minute present shoppers, retailers and record labels. This week alone, we’ve got new Christmas albums from Bob Dylan, David Archuleta and Connie Talbot coming out. One of the most interesting releases of the week is Baroness’ highly anticipated sophomore release “Blue Record.” The band’s debut, “Red Album,” was a stunning progressive metal…
New Music Monday: 28 September
“Black Gives Way to Blue,” Alice in Chains’ first record in 14 years, as well as the first following Layne Staley’s tragic death is out this week, making a lot of waves. Surprisingly or not, the record sounds very much like the Alice most of us came to know and love in the early ’90s, contrary to most die hard fans’ lamentations. It’s a hard rock album, although you’ll find quite a reasonable amount of…