My breakdown of the Craig Kimbrel/Melvin Upton trade is up for Insiders, as are my (for entertainment purposes only) standings and awards predictions for 2015.
My apologies for the delay on this month’s playlist, but I was on the move most of last week and didn’t have much writing time. This list is heavy on tracks from albums that came out in March, which was a fertile month for new releases from major alternative acts.
Lord Huron – The World Ender. Lord Huron’s new album, Strange Trails
Of Montreal – Bassem Sabry. Of Montreal are actually of Athens, Georgia, and defy any easy characterization as their sound changes from album to album and sometimes from track to track. Their thirteenth album, Aureate Gloom
Purity Ring – stranger than earth. The Canadian duo’s second album, another eternity
Young Fathers – Shame. Winners of the 2014 Mercury Prize, Young Fathers will put out their second proper full-length, White Men Are Black Men Too
San Cisco – RUN. Their 2013 track “Awkward” was my #18 song of that year, and released a full-length album, Gracetown, early last month. The disc is solid with a number of upbeat, Aussie-pop gems, including this track and “Too Much Time Together,” yet another band leading the giant wave of great indie-pop acts from down under.
Modest Mouse – The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box. I was disappointed in Modest Mouse’s album, Strangers to Ourselves
Death Cab for Cutie – Ingenue. Death Cab’s latest album, Kintsugi
Of Monsters And Men – Crystals. The new album is due June 9th. I can’t wait, but I’m also concerned we might just get more of the same, the way Mumford & Sons underwhelmed with their second album.
Black Rivers – The Ship. The other two-thirds of Doves have formed their own group, and their sound is more like that of their original band than the solo work of singer/bassist Jimi Goodwin. The Williams brothers bring some electronic elements into their music, more than we ever got on any Doves album, but whichever brother is singing isn’t quite up to the task.
Courtney Barnett – Elevator Operator. I reviewed her amazing debut album last week, and this opening track is one of my favorites, both for the story she tells in the lyrics and the way the music announces the shift in her style to a heavier, more rock-base dsound.
Lower Dens – Société Anonyme. Pitchfork loved this album, Julia from Sirius XM loves this album, but I do not love this album. It’s pleasant but tame, too light on hooks. “To Die in L.A.,” the lead single, is its best track (with its most memorable riff); this song, the final track on the album, was my second favorite.
Tame Impala – Let It Happen. Good song, but really, Kevin, seven freaking minutes? Who do you think you are, Opeth?
Grimes – REALiTi (Demo). It doesn’t have The Drop of her dubstep hit from last year, “Go,” but Grimes seems to have learned how best to deploy her childlike soprano over the electronic eclectica of most of her discography. This song is a demo from her fourth album, which she has reportedly scrapped but might still release some day. She should, if this song is any indication of what it’s like.
Westkust – Swirl. Pitchfork comped Westkust to shoegaze, but the vocals are way too clear for that comparison to hold much water, and there’s more of a California tinge to their melancholy than the Oxonian sound of Swervedriver or Ride. The Swedish band’s debut album is due here in the U.S. in “early summer.”
Speedy Ortiz – The Graduates. I’ve reached the point where Speedy Ortiz could release a cover of John Cage’s “4’33″” and I’d put it on a playlist.
Joy Williams – Woman (Oh Mama). Williams was the singing half of The Civil Wars, and also the attractive half, but that group dissolved in apparent acrimony (you’d think the name would have tipped them off) last summer. Williams was a solo Christian contemporary artist before going alt-country in the Civil Wars, but this lead single from her album Venus is more like smart pop, a feminist anthem just waiting to be discovered.