Tell Us About 2012 Releases

[wmgaretjax]

after only one listen of the new(est) one... I think i like clear moon better, but they are both spectacular.

[TallGuyCM]

I had never listened to Antibalas before putting on a few songs from their new one today. Most of the time I thought I was listening to Fela Kuti, they sound extremely similar. But these guys do that sound very well, I dig.

[pancakespancakes]

I have been listening to Elverum non stop in 2012. Somehow it took me this long to realize how tremendously awesome every single one of his albums are. The new ones both sound great, but I think they will take many more listens to sink in.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

Mono's For My Parents is stunning, as expected.

[iammrcandyman]

Eprom's Metahuman LP has been growing on me for a while now.

http://www.xlr8r.com/news/2012/06/li...s-metahuman-lp

[IceyHotshot]

Few things:

Mark Lewis & Jeff Witscher (aka Rene Hell) - Gait Analysis is a really solid noise album released on CD-R. Probably the first noise album I've heard that has clicked with me in such a deep level.

Oren Ambarchi - Sagittarian Domain - okay, everyone knows I'm a big fan of this guy. His newest comes out in a couple weeks but the LP showed up on my doorstep a couple nights ago. Since then I've listened to it 7 times. It's similar to Knots off Audience of One in that it's a 30+ minute long track, and tension builds throughout. But while Knots still had hallmarks of Ambarchi's earlier work, you won't really find anything resembling Grapes from the Estate or Suspension here. It features a repetitive, jammy, kind of krautrocky rhythm, with other distortion/"noise" coming in and out through the piece. Ends with a nice outro of violin, viola, and cello. Wasn't really sure how I felt about it initially, but I think the fact that everytime it's done I want to listen again right away says a lot.

I also got another new Ambarchi record (yeah, the guy doesn't stop) - his collaboration with Crys Cole and Keith Rowe titled "Black Plume". This is more experimental than the above; more on the musique concrete side. Fairly quite drones with "incidental" noise, the album is, like Ambarchi's releases with O'Rourke and Haino, a recording of a live improvised set. This has its moments, but by and large I don't really "get" it, but it's pleasant enough.

[cutterbutter]

Liking the new Bob Mould record. It'll be an excellent companion along to Copper Blue come october at the el rey.

[Gribbz]

Absolutely loving Pink by Four Tet.

[Pea]

Absolutely loving Pink by Four Tet.

No shit. I'm only half way through my first listen and I'm already in love with it. GREAT album.

[knytt]

Peace on Earth is damn beautiful. Thirded on the Four Tet love.

Edit: Can't wait for the supporting tour, he was awesome at FYF last year.

[Gribbz]

I thought that last Four Tet track sounded familiar:

Can't wait for the supporting tour, he was awesome as FYF last year.

No kidding. My favorite set of the festival.

EDIT* I wish Tycho, Four Tet, Bonobo, and Flying Lotus would all go on tour together. Or play back to back to back to back at Coachella.

[Yablonowitz]

Not sure what I think of the new Divine Fits. There are some really quality moments (mostly involving Britt) but from first blush, the middle part of the record falls short. Will keep listening.

Falls short of what?

[knytt]

No kidding. My favorite set of the festival.

EDIT* I wish Tycho, Four Tet, Bonobo, and Flying Lotus would all go on tour together. Or play back to back to back to back at Coachella.

+ Gold Panda and it'd be perfect. I'd pay good money for that.

Falls short of what?

Falls short of the beginning and end of the album.

[Yablonowitz]

Falls short of the beginning and end of the album.

agx-063_1z.jpg

[knytt]

Did you even read my post? I said both "I didn't know what to think of it" and "At first blush," not "This is my conclusion on the album." I'm sure I'll enjoy the middle plenty when I listen to it more.

501407glasses.jpg

[TomAz]

[Yablonowitz]

Did you even read my post? I said both "I didn't know what to think of it" and "At first blush," not "This is my conclusion on the album." I'm sure I'll enjoy the middle plenty when I listen to it more.

Attachment 7980

Look at how upset you're getting! Grouch down, bubs. But, seriously, look into that ear wax removal system. It's surprisingly effective.

[knytt]

Not upset, but I appreciate the phrase "Grouch down." I think I'll have to add it to my lexicon.

More importantly, I'm sure the parts I'm not too keen on will translate wonderfully live.

[nosurprises12]

Peace on Earth is damn beautiful. Thirded on the Four Tet love.

Yeah, "Peace for Earth" is definitely my favorite of the two new tracks. My first listen felt a bit odd, in the sense that 6 of the 8 tracks on the album have already been released over the past year or so and it kinda weird to hear them sequenced together, but I have a feeling it will end up in my Top 20 regardless because these songs are all just so damn good.

Lately I can't seem to get enough of Putrifiers II by Thee Oh Sees - their ability to consistently release interesting and engaging music at the rate they have over the past couple years is truly astounding. This one finds a nice middle ground between the shorter, lo-fi tracks of Castlemania and the krautrock jams on Carrion Crawler/The Dream, and might represent a good place to start if you haven't had a chance to listen to their recent output.

[BlackSwan]

Finally got a chance to listen to the entire Yeasayer album a couple times. I was a little let down at first, but it's quite a grower, and I feel positively about most tracks on the album at this point. There are these moments where the synth melodies in some of the tracks feel a bit derivative. The synth at the beginning of 'Damaged Goods' reminds me of Justice, and the synth during the chorus of 'Devil and the Deed' reminds me of Daft Punk, but their affinity for simple melodies may be the source of that. Either way, great album, and I'm psyched to see Yeasayer live again.

[Pea]

Finally got a chance to listen to the entire Yeasayer album a couple times. I was a little let down at first, but it's quite a grower, and I feel positively about most tracks on the album at this point. There are these moments where the synth melodies in some of the tracks feel a bit derivative. The synth at the beginning of 'Damaged Goods' reminds me of Justice, and the synth during the chorus of 'Devil and the Deed' reminds me of Daft Punk, but their affinity for simple melodies may be the source of that. Either way, great album, and I'm psyched to see Yeasayer live again.

But it only got a 5.4 on Pitchfork. Surely you're confused.

[rage patton]

I am really surprised more people haven't been talking about the new Yeasayer. I too, thought it was OK on first listen... but I absolutely love it now. It is the definition of a "grower." It still don't think it is as strong as their debut, but it is a much more solid album than Odd Blood.

Did it really only get a 5.4 from Pitchfork? Wow. What is Pitchfork's beef with Yeasayer?

[GeezrRckr]

It's not that good....and def nowhere near the quality of Odd Blood.

Why do you keep pumping this release so much....did you get a hand job under the table or something when you interviewed them? Give it a rest already...fux sake.

[icedKeg]

a pump for a pump

[Gribbz]

How's the new Mono?

[rage patton]

It's not that good....and def nowhere near the quality of Odd Blood.

Why do you keep pumping this release so much....did you get a hand job under the table or something when you interviewed them? Give it a rest already...fux sake.

Pumping it? I think I have talked about it... twice maybe? I thought the point of this thread is to discuss new releases? I don't see what I have done wrong here.

[GeezrRckr]

You haven't done anything wrong, of course. But, you have pumped it (both in quantity and qualitatively).

Net...it's pretty shitty, imo. I'm not a P4k sycophant, but they nailed it on this one. It's too bad as they were on a roll.

[HotHamWater]

Japandroids' album is the one you're thinking of that Josh was "pumping" to death.

I, too, think the new Yeasayer album is better than Odd Blood. More cohesive, in my opinion. In Odd Blood, literally every other song is good.

[HotHamWater]

How's the new Mono?

Why do you keep pumping this band so much? Give it a rest already...fux sake.

[Drinkey McDrinkerstein]

How's the new Mono?

Mono's For My Parents is stunning, as expected.

To embellish a bit though - it's even more orchestral and more understated than usual. It truly follows the approach of classical music structure of having real hills and valleys, and very slowly builds itself into pretty amazing crescendos. It gets heavy very sparingly this time around and instead relies much more on strings and creating actual movements 9Mono already does this a lot more than other post rock bands anyway). There's quite a bit of story-telling in this one, to the point of sounding like a film score nowadays, but really calling back to actual classical music. The closing track, "A Quiet Place (Together We Go)" is especially an example of this.

As for Yeasayer - I would not go as far as to say it's better than Odd Blood, but after a couple more listens i really do have to disagree with Drew on this one. There's a ton of really neat stuff on it, and i really like where they're going with their sound.