Mosquito

Karen O's NYC Rockers, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are back with Mosquito, a heavily anticipated album for April. On their fourth album, they downplay synths, programmed beats, and other gadgetry in favor of drums, guitars, and a mix of rock and inward-looking ballads.Something of a grower, Mosquito has perhaps the widest range of sounds and moods the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have ever presented on one set of songs. It might not be as cohesive as their best albums, but the standout songs rival their finest moments. I think you need to give it about three listens to decide. If anything, Mosquito may be an indicator of a band finally settling into their "sound", with the next album being the make or break moment. Buy your copy here

James Blake Overgrown

James Blake, the dubstep-via-fractured R&B producer, returns this week with his sophomore effort, Overgrown. Subtlety is perhaps Blake's greatest attribute, with what could even be the album's heaviest moments blurring into a pleasantly melancholy whole through deft production choices. Take for instance "Take a Fall for Me," a partially rhythm-less track featuring Wu-Tang's RZA in an extended set of rhymes over a looping sample of static and processed backing vocals, and samples that recall Tricky's earliest work. The jagged edges of a track like this could render it awkward with more obvious production, but Blake's touch pushes even RZA's toughest verses into a rainy, lamenting place. The skeletal piano of the debut returns on tracks like "DLM" or the gorgeous album-closer "Our Love Comes Back," which has the faintest hints of Chet Baker's springtime loneliness buried in Blake's mumbling blue-eyed R&B vocals. Brian Eno even shows up to collaborate on the sputtering rhythms of "Digital Lion," perhaps the most hyperactive track here, though only in relative terms. Somewhere between the vacant echoes of dub and trip-hop, dubstep's sample-slicing production, and the contained heartbreak of a singer/songwriter playing piano to himself in an empty room, Blake has crafted Overgrown. I found this to be more catchy than his previous work, with synth grooves that capture ones attention. All in all, a strong follow up to his debut, which leaves me wanting more. Watch a wee music video here: Buy your copy of Overgrown here.

m b v

You had to know that My Bloody Valentine's first release in 22 years, m b v would end up here. It's like the law of record stores or something. Any record store retailer with any sense of pride is going to recommend this album. As much as this album seems to get the rubber-stamped pass wherever you go, this truly IS a fine album. Is it Loveless Jr? No. Does it pick up where Loveless left off? Perhaps. I find this serves as a past, present, and future of MBV as there are moments reminiscent of Isn't Anything, the guitars we fell in love with on Loveless, and repetitive drum machines, of their future. They definitely don't disappoint with multiple layers of tremeloed guitars, throbbing fuzz and those angelic vocals of Bilinda Butcher. We are reacquainted with the droning chords and persistent squall the we fell in love with. "Only Tomorrow" continues in the Loveless tradition with a gorgeous melody and more of those signature guitar sounds. After another dose of classic MBV ("who sees you"), there's a shift in the programming with the keyboard interlude "is this and yes." After leaving poppier territory with the pulsating strummer "new you," MBV venture into new lands with material heavy on drum machines. Though these three tracks are hardly electronic music, there are similarities with a style that slightly leans towards drum and bass alongside heavy guitar repetitions less reliant on melody. "nothing is" and "wonder 2" end the record in a particularly chaotic fashion which is particularly shocking after a somewhat subdued first half. Regardless, My Bloody Valentine actually achieved the unthinkable and followed up one of the greatest records of all time with something that just may be its equal. Just in case you missed it, or need a fix, here's she found now. Either buy your copy from the band (like I did) or get it from us (much quicker!!!) here.

The Next Day

The anticipation is over! David Bowie is back with The Next Day, his first output of new material in a decade. We all know how these things can go--when there's artist with a lengthy career who has been on hiatus it is usually quite the challenge to come back as relevant or perhaps resist the temptation to return as a caricature of oneself. I can definitely think of a few bands that seem to be coasting on their past laurels and sound like a band doing an impersonation of themselves. Nonetheless, The Next Day is not going to be mindblowing--it's Bowie. We have followed him through many phases and its hard to conceive what he has left to do. What I can say is that this is a solid album throughout, without any weak points or lulls. If you like Berlin-Era Bowie, then you are in for a treat! The first song, which is the title track, sounds the like it could be a B-side from Heroes. Take notice of the tongue-in-cheek, obscured nod to that exact era just in the cover art alone. Yet unlike the Eno treatment of Heroes or Low, this album has been systematically stripped of eeriness, trading discomfort for pleasure at every turn. Perhaps this is the quality I like most about it, as I want to listen to it everyday. It's a suiting "end of winter" pick. And pleasure it does deliver, as nobody knows how to do classic Bowie like Bowie and Visconti, the two life-long collaborators sifting through their past, picking elements that relate to what Bowie is now: an elder statesman who made a conscious decision to leave innovation behind long ago. Overall, The Next Day neither enhances nor diminishes anything that came before, it's merely a sweet coda to a towering career. Check it out: Buy your copy here.

Christopher

The Ruby Suns are back with a souped up, synthed up album called Christopher. In case you need a recap, The Ruby Suns combine psychedelic indie pop with world music influences, drawing inspiration from the travels of the group's only permanent member, Ryan McPhun. Although born and raised in California, McPhun's thirst for adventure eventually drew him halfway across the globe, where he ventured into Africa and Thailand before settling in New Zealand. Auckland's music scene was rich, and the multi-instrumentalist spent time in various pop groups (the Tokey Tones, the Reduction Agents, and the Brunettes) while fronting his own act, Ryan McPhun & the Ruby Suns. After releasing a self-titled debut under that moniker, the band shortened its name to The Ruby Suns and signed with Lil' Chief Records.securing distribution deals in Europe and Australia along the way. I was surprised by this album due to its amping up of production and embrace of pop signifies in McPhun's personal life, but there's a sense of heavy changes afoot throughout the album. The remarkably improved production is handled by Chris Coady (Beach House, Grizzly Bear), who takes McPhun's formerly busy sonic landscapes and manicures them without subtracting much from the always crowded songs. Multiple tracks of electronic drums and swirling synth lines are stacked up in pristine piles, making room for huge choruses and vocodered vocals. The production is impressive, but unfortunately only works when the songwriting rises to the occasion. Album opener "Desert of Pop" is a standout, telling a surprisingly naked account of a starstruck McPhun meeting pop idol/obvious crush Robyn and making an ass of himself while trying to play it cool. The song's multitude of hooks rides over a 80's beat sounds familiar and pleasing. Similar nostalgic greatness is achieved on "In Real Life," evoking all the quirky subtleties of the '80s electro-pop hits that filled John Hughes movie soundtracks. While the rest of the album sort of drops off by the very end, I still think this is worth several listens. Buy your copy of The Ruby Suns Christopher here.

Autre Ne Veut

French for "I think of none other," New York's enigmatic Arthur Ashin, also known as Autre Ne Veut, makes music that falls somewhere between '80s R&B hooks and melodies and the blurry sounds of Ariel Pink. His self-titled debut album arrived in August 2010 on Olde English Spelling Bee and Upstairs, the label owned by Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin. Autre Ne Veut supported Hooray for Earth during their residency at Piano's that fall, and played some shows with Zambri and Mirror Mirror in early 2011. That year, Ashin also released the Body EP via Hippos in Tanks and appeared on Ford & Lopatin's Channel Pressure. When interviewed by Altered Zones blogger Richard MacFarlane about his sound, Ashin has this to say: "The earliest ANV sound that I was really happy with-- perhaps best exemplified by “Tell Me”, “Loveline”, and “Emotional” [from Autre Ne Veut]-- was, aesthetically, the culmination of attempting to merge an intellectual respect for sound-craft with an affinity for traditional, popular song-craft. The results are a failure, but in my estimation a happy one. Since then, the sound has been a function of attempting (and again failing) to reappropriate those initial fortunate accidents. In my mind, hypnogogia aside, this is just failure-pop." Failure pop? Weird descriptions aside, Anxiety is full of lush synths, stark beats, and rich vocals, all of which are on display on tracks like the glitchy but hopeful "Promises." This gloss nods more clearly to classic and contemporary pop and R&B than any of Autre Ne Veut's previous music, but unlike some indie artists who try to incorporate these elements into their work, it never feels superficial or ironic on Anxiety. Ashin's genuine love for these genres' roots and where they're at in the 2010s comes through at every turn, but most importantly, in his hands these sounds seem natural, and above all, personal. Anxiety is a satisfying study in paradoxes: moving toward more mainstream sounds while sounding nothing like the pop maelstrom. If anything, some of the vocal stylings are reminiscent of Hercules and the Love Affair and How to Dress Well if the vocals weren't buried in echo. This was surprisingly enjoyable. You can get to know a little more about Arthur Ashin here. Listen up: Buy here.

A Long Way to Fall

Ulrich Schnauss has never been afraid to embrace the new age side of his sound. Even on the albums like 2007's Goodbye, where he went almost full-on shoegaze with plenty of guitars, there was always a softness to the synth textures, and a gentle touch to the melodies, which were soothing, to say the least. On his 2013 album, A Long Way to Fall, Schnauss has fully embraced the new age aesthetic of creating background music perfect to have on while relaxing. Though there are some guitars on the album, they are muted to the point of invisibility, and the beats that creep in now and then are polite and almost loping. While it makes for pleasant music to have on while you are sleeping away the afternoon in a cubicle or fighting insomnia late at night, the album is something of a letdown for anyone who, not unreasonably, came to it expecting something a little more interesting from Schnauss. Regardless, since there's not that much coming out right now, I still recommend this type of background music. We all can use something to relax to. Buy your copy of Ulrich Schnauss' A Long Way to Fall here.