New Music: The Men - Ex Dreams

Last year's Leave Home from Brooklyn pysch/noise-rockers The Men was one of the year's most exhilirating releases; it charted at #11 on KILAS' top 20 albums of the year, but it passed under a lot of people's radars. On the strength of Ex-Dreams, however, Open Your Heart, The Men's forthcoming album, will suffer no such problems; it has the sound of a band about to make the big time.

Listen to it here. Open Your Heart comes out 5th March on Sacred Bones.

New Of Montreal album Paralytic Stalks streaming now!

The ever-prolific wonder project of Kevin Barne's deranged mind Of Montreal are back with a new album Paralytic Stalks, out on Ferbuary 6th in the U.K., and its available to stream in full on Spin's website (the link below includes a full song-by-song guide from Barnes). Expect a review here very soon, but darn me if Ye Renew The Plaintiff isn't the most brilliant thing they've come up with since The Past Is A Grotesque Animal from 2007's Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer.

Paralytic Stalks - listen here

Forthcoming Releases - March 2011

An interesting mix of releases this month. R.E.M look to pull themselves out of their post-Automatic For The People slump by continuing on from the good work of 2008's Accelerate. Another band with a lot to prove is The Strokes; album #4 is called Angles and is out on the 21st. Let's just hope it's as spiky as its title suggests, and doesn't fall flat like their last record. Elbow follow up on their Mercury Prize-winning The Seldom Seen Kid; first single Neat Little Rows reassuringly suggests that it's business as usual for the Mancunians. And whilst it's already out there for those who want it, Radiohead's The King Of Limbs gets an official physical release on the 28th. But who knows; by then we might be listening to a whole new set of Radiohead songs released out of the blue.

7/02
Elbow: Build A Rocket Boys! (Fiction)
R.E.M.: Collapse Into Now (Warner Bros)
Kurt Vile: Smoke Ring For My Halo (Matador)
Parts & Labor: Constant Future (Jagjaguwar)
Rainbow Arabia: Boys & Diamonds (Kompakt)
Those Dancing Days: Daydreams & Nightmares (Wichita)

14/02
Dodos: No Color (French Kiss)
J Mascis: Several Shades Of Why (Sub Pop)

21/02
The Strokes: Angles (RCA)

28/02
Broken Bells: Meyrin Fields EP (Columbia)
Dirty Beaches: Badlands (Zoo)
Micachu & The Shapes and the London Sinfonietta : Chopped And Screwed (Rough Trade)
The Mountain Goats: All Eternals Deck (Merge)
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: Belong (Slumberland)
Radiohead: The King Of Limbs (XL)
Secret Cities: Strange Hearts (Western Vinyl)

New Radiohead Album The King Of Limbs available THIS Saturday

Radiohead have trumped convention yet again with the announcement of their new record The King Of Limbs. Described as the "World's First Newspaper Album", it can pre-ordered now from this website; the digital form becomes available to download on Saturday 19th, whilst the physical copy will be shipped on the 9th May and will comprise:

• Two clear 10" vinyl records in a purpose-built record sleeve.
• A compact disc.
• Many large sheets of artwork, 625 tiny pieces of artwork and a full-colour piece of oxo-degradeable plastic to hold it all together.
• Shipping is included in the prices shown.
• One lucky owner of the digital version of The King Of Limbs, purchased from the website, will receive a signed 2 track 12" vinyl.

The full Newspaper album package (including the MP3 digital version) is priced at £30; the digital version can be upgraded to WAV form for an extra £3. For those who prefer functionality over collectability, the digital version can be purchased alone in 320kbps MP3 or WAV form for £6 and £9 respectively.

Exciting news indeed, and after In Rainbows we can fully expect an album with the substance to match its genius premise.

New Gang Gang Dance album on the way

Saint Dymphna, the 2008 album from NY-based tropical experimentalists Gang Gang Dance was one of the most dazzling albums of the last decade. Seamlessly tying together post-punk, dubstep, grime and even 80's pop with worldly beats and complex rhythms, it's hard to think of an album in recent times which covered more sonic ground whilst sounding utterly cohesive. Not to mention one which got you listening to Tinchy Stryder.

And this year they're back with a new album Eye Contact, their first LP on the venerable 4AD label. Pencilled in for a UK release on May 9th, it ties in perfectly with their appearance just a few days later at the Animal Collective-compiled ATP festival in Minehead.

Here's a reminder on why Florence saw fit to steal from them:

Forthcoming Releases - February 2011

After a solid opening month to the year, February has it's fair share of high-profile releases. PJ Harvey returns with Let England Shake, whilst Mogwai stake their claim to Album Title Of The Year with seventh LP Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will. Then there's the matter of that debut LP from part dubstep maestro/part crooner James Blake, hot off the heels of last year's varied set of EPs. The jury is already out on whether this one lives up to the hype.

07/02

Akron/Family: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT (Dead Oceans)

Earth, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 (Southern Lord)

James Blake: James Blake (R&S)

14/02

Asobi Seksu: Fluorescence (Polyvinyl)

Bright Eyes: The People's Key (Saddle Creek)

Mogwai: Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will (Rock Action)

PJ Harvey: Let England Shake (Island)

Yuck: Yuck (Fat Possum)

  

21/02

Six Organs of Admittance: Asleep on the Floodplain (Drag City)

28/02

Lykke Li: Wounded Rhymes (LL)

The Rural Alberta Advantage: Departing (Paper Bag)

Listen to the Esben & The Witch debut here!

Violet Cries, the debut record from hotly tipped Brighton trio Esben & The Witch comes out on Matador Records next Monday, but you can listen to it in full here. It's a bit of a stonker too; hyped-british-band-in-actually-rather-good album shocker!

Listen to the new Wire album now!

Post-punk stalwarts Wire are back this month with a new album Red Barked Tree, out on the 11th on their own Pink Flag label. It's possibly their most accessible set of songs to date, an amalgamation of much of their previous styles, with nudges in new directions too. Expect to see a review here soon, but in the meantime you can stream the album in full on the Guardian's website:

Wire - Red Barked Tree

The band will be on tour during the early part of February, with an additional date in London to mark the album's release.

Jan 11th: London, Rough Trade (East)

Feb 1st: Brighton, Komedia
Feb 2nd: London, Scala
Feb 3rd: Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
Feb 4th: Manchester, Roadhouse
Feb 5th: Dublin, Academy 2
Feb 8th: Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire
Feb 9th: Glasgow, King Tuts
Feb 10th: Bristol, The Fleece

Forthcoming Releases - January 2011

A Happy New Year to you all. Now we've come through Christmas and the endless compilations and Greatest Hits, it's time once again to turn attention towards new releases. January actually sees some relatively high-profile releases, including new releases from post-punk legends Wire and Gang Of Four (in the case of the latter, their first release of new material in 16 years). The month builds up nicely, and takes us into a packed February.

10/01
British Sea Power: Valhalla Dancehall (Rough Trade)
Ducktails: Ducktails III: Arcade Dynamics (Woodsist)
Tape Deck Mountain: Secret Surf EP (Lefse)
Wire: Red Barked Tree (Pink Flag)

17/01
The Decemberists: The King Is Dead (Capitol)
Smith Westerns: Dye It Blonde (Fat Possum)

24/01
Deerhoof: Deerhoof vs Evil (Polyvinyl)
Destroyer: Kaputt (Merge)
Gang of Four: Content (Yep Roc)
Iron & Wine: Kiss Each Other Clean (Warner Bros)
The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar (Canvasback/Atlantic)
Sic Alps: Napa Asylum (Drag City)
Sonic Youth: SYR9 - Simon Werner a Disparu soundtrack (SYR)

Forthcoming Releases - November

The release schedule is showing clear signs of slowing down as we head towards Xmas and those Album of the Year listings, not to mention all those Best Of... compilations and the X Factor single (shudder).

 

Monday 1st November

Andrew Bird - Useless Creatures (Fat Possum)
Brian Eno: Small Craft on a Milk Sea (Warp)
Elliott Smith: Introduction to...Elliott Smith (Kill Rock Stars)

Monday 8th November

The Concretes - WYWH (Friendly Fire)
Earth - A Bureaucratic Desire for Extra Capsular Extractions (Southern Lord)
Gary War - Police Water EP (Sacred Bones)
Haight Ashbury - Here In The Golden Rays (Lime Records)
Weezer - Pinkerton (re-release)/Death To False Metal (Commercial Marketing/Geffen)

Monday 15th November

Japandroids - Heavenward Grand Prix 7" (Polyvinyl)
Stereolab - Not Music (Drag City)

New album, new label for Deerhoof

It's been more than two years since the last Deerhoof record Offend Maggie appeared, which in Deerhoof terms is eons, but the wait is almost over. The fantastically titled Deerhoof vs. Evil is out on January 25th and they've jumped ship from Kill Rock Stars over to Polyvinyl (although the album will still be released through ATP Recordings on our shores). The album is self-recorded, mixed and mastered, and includes a cover of an instrumental from the soundtrack of a greek movie. Polyvinyl describe the record as "The musical equivalent of hormones raging out of control, it explodes out of the speakers with its gawky triumph and inflamed sentimentality". Sounds suitably barmy and loveable. Track-listing is below. Click on the link to download first single The Merry Barracks; it sounds especially awesome through headphones.

01 Qui Dorm, Només Somia
02 Behold a Marvel in the Darkness
03 The Merry Barracks
04 No One Asked to Dance
05 Let's Dance the Jet
06 Super Duper Rescue Heads!
07 Must Fight Current
08 Secret Mobilization
09 Hey I Can
10 C'Moon
11 I Did Crimes for You
12 Almost Everyone, Almost Always

The safe bet is Deerhoof will be victorious.

Forthcoming Releases: October

Whilst not quite as jam-packed with goodies as last month, the release schedule for October looks pretty healthy. The glittering highlight has to be The Age Of Adz, Sufjan Steven's second release in as many months (I should think so too after making us wait 5 years for a proper follow-up to Illinois). Avey Tare also pre-empts his AC cohort Panda Bear with his first proper solo release Down There, though he has some way to go to match Panda Bear's 2007 masterpiece Person Pitch; the squelchy but somewhat slight first cut Lucky 1 is available to download here.

04/09
British Sea Power: Zeus EP (Rough Trade)
Clinic: Bubblegum (Domino)
PS I Love You: Meet Me At The Muster Station (Paper Bag)

11/09
Anthony & The Johnsons: Swanlight (Rough Trade)
Belle & Sebastian: Belle & Sebastian Write About Love (Matador)
Sufjan Stevens: The Age of Adz (Asthmatic Kitty)
The Walkmen: Lisbon (Fat Possum)
Zola Jesus: Valousia EP (Sacred Bones)

18/09
Marnie Stern: Marnie Stern (Kill Rock Stars)
A Sunny Day In Glasgow: Autumn, Again (self-released)
Mount Eerie: Song Islands Vol.2 (P.W. Elverum & Sun, ltd.)

25/09
Avey Tare: Down There (Paw Tracks)
The Octopus Project: Hexadecagon (Peek-A-Boo)

Stream new Deerhunter album Halycon Digest in its entirety

Yes, Deerhunter's hotly anticipated new album Halycon Digest is just around the corner (out on 4AD next Monday), but for the impatient among you, it's available to stream in full here.

Look out for a review of Halycon Digest on these pages next week.

September - it's the new Christmas!

This time of year always seems to bring up a crop of high quality releases, and this year is certainly no exception. We've already had the outstanding new Working For A Nuclear Free City record, and that's just the tip of the iceberg - check out this list of lovelies (UK release dates). Look out for reviews of a selection of these titles on these very pages.

07/09
The Thermals: Personal Life (Kill Rock Stars)
Working For A Nuclear Free City: Jojo Burger Tempest (Melodic)
 
13/09
Black Mountain: Wilderness Heart (Jagjaguwar)
Blonde Redhead: Penny Sparkle (4AD)
Crocodiles: Sleep Forever (Fat Possum)
Grinderman: Grinderman 2 (Mute)
Interpol: Interpol (Matador)
Les Savy Fav: Root For Ruin (physical release) (Wichita)
Of Montreal: False Priest (Polyvinyl)
The Walkmen: Lisbon (Fat Possum)
World's End Girlfriend: Seven Idiots (Virgin-Babylon)

20/09
Abe Vigoda: Crush (Post Present Medium)

27/09
Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest (4AD)
No Age: Everything in Between (Sub-Pop)