One listen to the heavy hitters from this week’s new releases and you’ll know they’ve definitely upped their game. The LA duo No Age have never sounded so confident in their mix of lo-fi garage rock and experimental sounds. Abe Vigoda have gone a bit darker, trading tropical punk styles for moodier post-punk... and they’re all the better for it! Deerhunter also continue to evolve on their fifth album, which our Music Director, Don Yates, calls “a sublime blend of fuzzy psych-rock, floating ambient pop, jangly indie-rock and shimmering ‘50s pop melodies.” Plus, Seattle power pop pioneers The Posies return with their first album in five years, and one of their most adventurous yet! And Neil Young has changed things up during his entire career, so it’s no surprise he’s done so again on Le Noise, produced by Daniel Lanois, who adds “noise” to Neil’s solo performance, making for one of his best albums in recent years.
Other, worthwhile albums include an excellent album of retro-soul from Aloe Blacc, the solo debut of Two Gallants’ Adam Haworth Stephens, an independent release form Lloyd Cole, the Frank Black produced self-titled album by Pete Yorn, a collaboration by Ben Folds & Nick Hornby, a new EP by Owen Pallett, and OMD‘s first album since 1996.
Speaking of returns, San Diego band Three Mile Pilot have released their first album in 13 years, EMI is reissuing David Bowie‘s Station To Station as a 3-disc set, and Ron Wood of The Rolling Stone/Faces/Jeff Beck Group fame features Slash, Flea, Kris Kristofferson, Eddie Vedder, and others on his first album in nine years. And there’s so much more to send you running to record stores this week. Check out Largehearted Boy’s list for the complete rundown and sample these fine tunes now:
Abe Vigoda - Throwing Shade
from Crush on PPM Records
Aloe Blacc - I Need A Dollar (MP3)
from Good Things on Stones Throw Records
Breathe Owl Breathe - Swimming (MP3)
from Magic Central on Hometapes
Lloyd Cole - Double Happiness (MP3)
from Broken Record on Tapete Records
Deerhunter - Helicopter
from Halcyon Digest on 4ad
Echo Orbiter - Mouth of an Incomplete Twin (MP3)
from Euphonicmontage on Looking Glass Workshop
Electric Six - Jam It in the Hole
from Zodiac on Metropolis Records
Eternal Summers - Pogo (MP3) (via P4k)
from Silver on Kanine Records
Glasser - Home (MP3)
from Ring on True Panther
Highlife - F Kenya Rip (MP3)
from Best Bless EP on The Social Registry
The Hush Now - The Other Ones (MP3)
from Shiver Me Starships (self-released)
In Grenada - Distance & Temptation (MP3)
from Beak (self-released)
Lazerbeak - Salt and Sea (MP3)
from Legend Recognize Legend on Doomtree Records
Meridene - Parade of Fools (MP3)
from Something Like Blood on Amble Down
No Age - Glitter (MP3)
from Everything In Between on Sup Pop
OMD - If You Want It
from History of Modern on Bright Antenna/ILG
Paleo - The King James Fakebook (MP3)
from A View of the Sky on Partisan Records
Owen Pallett - No Ankles (MP3)
from A Swedish Love Story EP on Domino
Peelander-Z-E-I-E-I-O (MP3)
from P-TV-Z on Chicken Ranch
The Posies - The Glitter Prize
from Blood/Candy on Ryko
Adam Haworth Stephens - Second Mind (download)
from We Live on Cliffs on Saddle Creek
Three Mile Pilot - What’s In The Air (MP3)
from The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten on Temporary Residence
Tied to the Branches - Fog (MP3)
from Tied to the Branches EP on Abandoned Love Records
Tired Pony - Dead American Writers
from The Place We Ran From on Mom and Pop Records
Victoire - A Door in the Dark (MP3)
from Cathedral City on New Amsterdam
Women - Eyesore (MP3)
from Public Strain on Jagjaguwar
XBXRX - I Can See (MP3)
from O on Polyvinyl Records
Y La Bamba - Juniper (MP3)
from Lupon on Tender Loving
Pete Yorn - Velcro Shoes (MP3)
from Pete Yorn on Vagrant
Neil Young - Walk With Me
from Le Noise on Reprise Records
