You know how some food looks nasty but tastes great? Yeah, “Maniac Meat” is probably one of those dishes, at least judging by the looks of the cover to the new Tobacco album out today. Soylent Green, anyone? Either way, the album Maniac Meat is certainly a mouthful and a challenge to the palette of all but the most trained psych-freak connoisseurs. But whatever sonic unease you might feel at times is quickly compensated by some damn catchy hooks and danceable rhythms. It’s the kind of album that elevates your senses, but not before knocking them flat on the ground. Remember when you were younger and you didn’t like mushrooms? Well, now look at you, eating morrells and black trumpets!
Perhaps more comforting, but no less fulfilling, are the new releases today from Damien Jurado and Bettye LaVette. Jurado will be Cheryl Waters’ guest today LIVE on KEXP on the Midday Show. Tune in at noon as he performs from Saint Bartlett. LaVette, meanwhile, has turned from the swampy blues of her Grammy-nominated 2007 album, The Scene Of The Crime, to the British rock heroes of the 60′s and 70′s, including Pink Floyd, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin.
Other tasty treats this week include the atmospheric IDM of Ellen Allien’s Dust, dreamy SoCal pop from Neverever, and the dark folky debut of British model and singer/songwriter (and wife to Jack White) Karen Elson. Philadelphia songwriter/guitarist Kurt Vile has a new EP out today, as does Junip, the Swedish band featuring José González, whose Rope and Summit EP they’re offering for free on their website!
There’s plenty more to choose from today, so take your menu from Largehearted Boy’s list, head out to your local record store and join the feast!
Ellen Allien - Our Utopie
from Dust on B-Pitch Control
Beach Fossils - Youth (MP3)
from Beach Fossils on Captured Tracks
Dan Black - Symphonies ft. Kid Cudi
from Symphonies EP on The Hours
David Cross - I Can’t Get Beer in Me (MP3)
from Bigger and Blackerer on Sub Pop
Corey Dargel - Touch Me Where It Counts (MP3)
from Someone Will Take Care of Me on New Amsterdam
Jamie Drake - Plumbline (MP3)
from When I Was Yours (self-released)
Elephant Stone - Strangers (MP3)
from The Glass Box EP on Elephants On Parade
Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks (MP3)
from The Ghost Who Walks on XL Recordings
Grovesnor - Taxi from the Airport (MP3)
from Soft Return on Lo Recordings
Junip - Rope & Summit (MP3)
from Rope & Summit EP on Mute
Damien Jurado - Cloudy Shoes (MP3)
from Saint Bartlett on Secretly Canadian
Bettye LaVette - All My Love (MP3)
from Interpretations: The British Rock Songbook on Anti-
Neverever - Young and Dumb (MP3)
from Angelic Swells on Slumberland Records
Peter Wolf Crier - Hard as Nails (MP3)
from Inter-Be on Jagjaguwar
Señor Coconut - Yellow Magic (Tong Poo) (MP3)
from Yellow Fever on Nacional Records
Solvent - Loss For Words (MP3)
from Subject To Shift on Ghostly International
DM Stith - Thanksgiving Moon (demo) (MP3)
from Heavy Ghost Appendices on Asthmatic Kitty
This Piano Plays Itself - Who We Were (MP3)
from As the House... on Stickfigure Recordings
Tobacco - Fresh Hex (featuring Beck) (MP3)
from Maniac Meat on Anticon
Kurt Vile - Invisibility: Nonexistent (MP3)
from Square Shells EP on Matador
Walking Sleep - Final Chapter (MP3)
from Measures (self-released)
