Like the devastating speed of his tennis-playing namesake’s forehand, the British dubstep producer James Blake has rocketed to the top of KEXP DJs’ playlists and fans’ requests in just over a year. After releasing three EPs in 2010, the 21-year old Blake is offering today the U.S. version of his full-length, multi-genre self-titled debut, which combines dubstep, classical, soul, R&B, jazz and ambient electronica into a captivating mix. The similarly young Ohio-based would-be ingénue, Jessica Lea Mayfield, is returning this week with her second album of darkly seductive folk rock once again produced by The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach. Melbourne’s Cut Copy aims for the stratosphere on their third full-length of cinematic, spacey 80′s-inspired synth-pop titled Zonoscope. And Akron/Family up the ante with their crazily named fifth studio album, Akron/Family II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT, which is full of equally crazy folky psych-experimentalist songs that burrow into your brain and nestle up to your frontal lobe.
Also out this week is the seventh album by Austin-based indie-prog veterans ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, and talk about long-living... Motörhead are releasing their 20th album to date! Yes, Lemmy, the Wörld is indeed yours! The much newer Seattle folk collective Campfire OK are debuting with their album, Strange Like We Are, and yet another Vivian Girls spin-off, The Babies, featuring Cassie Ramone and Woods’ Kevin Morby, is exactly as good as you’d expect it to be.
You’ll find all of these and more -- including new releases by The Asteroid No. 4, Nicole Atkins, Over the Rhine, and Young Galaxy -- in record stores today. (Well, James Blake is currently available online only!) Check out Largehearted Boy’s list and sample more recommended tracks right here:
Akron/Family - Silly Bears (MP3)
from S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT on Dead Oceans
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - official EPK
from Tao Of The Dead on Superball Music
Nicole Atkins - Vultures
from Mondo Amore on Razor & Tie
Emily Arin - When You Knew Me When (MP3)
from Patch of Land (self-released)
The Asteroid No. 4 - Ignition Slated for Eight (MP3)
from Hail To The Clear Figurines on The Committee to Keep Music Evil
The Babies - Run Me Over (MP3)
from The Babies on Shrimper
James Blake - The Wilhelm Scream
from James Blake on Universal Republic
Campfire OK - Strange Like We Are (MP3)
from Strange Like We Are on Ana-Them Records
Creeping Weeds - Outsiders (MP3)
from See Through (self-released)
Cut Copy - Take Me Over (Thee Loving Hand Remix) (MP3)
from Zonoscope on Modular Recordings
The District Attorneys - Splitsville (MP3)
from Orders From... (self-released)
Esben and the Witch - Warpath (MP3)
from Violet Cries on Matador
Goddamn Electric Bill - Pull The Lever (MP3)
from Jazz on Pro.Con Records
La Resistance- Understanding (MP3)
from Philosophy on Superphonic Records
The Liptonians - You Know I Did (MP3)
from Let’s All March Back Into The Sea on Head in the Sand Records
Lullwater - One More Time (MP3)
from Silhouette on Spectra Records
Jessica Lea Mayfield - Our Hearts Are Wrong
from Our Hearts Are Wrong on Nonesuch Records
Jon McKiel - Motion Pictures (MP3)
from Confidence Lodge on Youth Club Records
Motörhead - Get Back In Line
from The Wörld Is Yours on Motörhead Music/EMI
The O’s - Tryin’ to Have a Good Time (MP3)
from Between The Two on Idol Records
Over the Rhine - The King Knows How (MP3)
from The Long Surrender on Great Speckled Dog
Religious to Damn - Drifter (MP3)
from Glass Prayer on M’Lady’s Records
Salva - Blue (MP3) (via Fader)
from Complex Housing on Friends of Friends
U.S.F. - Point Break II (MP3)
from Jamaica Plain on Highfives and Handshakes
The Union Trade - Headlands (MP3)
from Why We Need Night EP on Tricycle Records
Yip Deceiver - Sadie Hawkins Day (MP3)
from Yip Deceiver EP (self-released)
Young Galaxy - Peripheral Visionaries (MP3)
from Shapeshifting on Paper Bag Records
