New Music Monday: 19 January

Animal Collective

It’s been a while since we’ve written a NMM post, mainly because the end and beginning of December, respectively January, have always been very blunt and poor in terms of releases. Things are shaping up again though, and this week we’ve got a few interesting artists, with some equally interesting new material.

First up are the more or less justly hyped Animal Collective and their latest record, Merryweather Post Pavilion, that finally gets officially releases in the states (I’m say officially because everybody knows how to use a torrent. You know what I mean). Anyway, we’ve talked about it in pretty much detail, so there’s no need to talk anymore about it. Listen it, if you haven’t already (don’t be a fool). If you downloaded it before and like it, consider buying it. You’ll help out the band more than you can think, and this goes for every artist out there.

One of our most anticipated 2009 album, “The Empyrean“, by the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar master John Frusciante is also getting out this week. His passed albums are packed with a lot diverse music, which describe a set of mixed emotions from despair to ecstasy, to love, to hate and so on. He’s been through a lot of psychical stages in his life, that’s for certain, and he’s really matured as an artist too, with a lot more focused approach, although a bit less technical on the guitar side. I for one am really curious to hear what’s he’s been up, musically, and have a lot of expectations.

Songwriter extraordinaire, Andrew Bird, is back with “Noble Beast,” his forth studio effort. So far the reviews have been, as always actually, highly favorable and its already been hailed as one of the year’s top 10. I’ve only sampled two of his tracks, that he released online, “Oh No” and “Carrion Suite,” but it’s for me at the moment to deny any praises. His mellow, soothing acoustics have always hit the spot for me and put me in the zone. So, yeah, this is one really keep an eye on.

Oh, Bon Iver‘s small, four track EP, “Blood Bank,” is also out this week, so be sure to check it out as well, if you enjoyed last year’s “For Emma, Forever Ago.” It’s sounds pretty much the same, without sound the same. Hard to explain. I guess it’s only his signature playing in the mist.

Other notable releases includes new stuff from the likes of Carl Newman, Antony and The Johnsons or Matt York.

Animal Collective: Merryweather Post Pavilion

John Frusciante: The Empyrean