Our recent guest live on the Morning Show during our Hood to Hood broadcast from the Sunset Tavern in Ballard last Friday, David Bazan is releasing his new album, Strange Negotiations, today. Following up his excellent 2009 “solo” debut, Curse Your Branches, Bazan enlists his touring band to back him up in studio for a fuller sound on the new album. Fans can expect the same sort of probing questions he asked on the debut, though topics this time tend to reach outward toward the dysfunctions of our society -- seems like heady stuff, but Bazan has a way of always making it all seem personally relatable.
Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore returns this week with another new solo album. The mostly acoustic Beck-produced Demolished Thoughts has earned high praise from critics (like Pitchfork) and proves Moore to be as innovative as ever. Of British dance punks Friendly Fires‘s sophomore album, Pala, KEXP Music Director, Don Yates, calls it “a bigger, shinier, more pop-oriented take on their ‘80s-influenced dance-rock sound, with brighter melodies and more limber rhythms than those found on their impressive debut.” And for more infectious dance music, LA’s Foster the People have finally released their debut, containing the brain-burrowing and hip-shaking “Pumped Up Kicks,” an anthem for indie rockers and comercial radio listeners alike.
There are many other worthwhile new releases, including the latest from KEXP favorite Joseph Arthur, comics loving Brits Art Brut, Austin’s White Denim, and Japanese trio Boris who have not one but two albums out today! Northwest bands Motopony and Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside both have new albums on record store shelves today, as do Malian bands SMOD and Vieux Farka Toure. You can also pick up new solo albums from Dirty Projectors bassist Nat Baldwin and from Cocteau Twins co-founder Robin Guthrie.
And there’s much more waiting for you, including the whimsically designed The Danny Elfman & Tim Burton 25th Anniversary Music Box with 16 discs! Check out the sample below and along with Largehearted Boy’s list for more.
Art Brut - Lost Weekend (MP3)
from Brilliant! Tragic! on Cooking Vinyl
Joseph Arthur - This Is Still My World
from The Graduation Ceremony on Lonely Astronaut Records
Baby Baby - Breakin’ (MP3)
from Money on The Gospel Of Rhythm Recordings
Nat Baldwin - Weights (MP3)
from People Changes on Western Vinyl
David Bazan - Wolves At The Door (MP3)
from Strange Negotiations on Barsuk
Bird Call - Lost Cause (Beck cover) (MP3)
from Other Creatures EP on FHC Records
Bird of Youth - Bombs Away, She Is Here To Stay (MP3)
from Defender on Inebriate Records
Boris - Hope (MP3)
from Attention Please on Sargent House
Boris - Riot Sugar (MP3)
from Heavy Rocks on Sargent House
Cold Showers - I Don’t Mind (MP3)
from Highlands on Mexican Summer
The Devil Whale - Barracudas (MP3)
from Teeth (self-released)
Fan Modine - Through the Valley (MP3)
from Gratitude for the Shipper on Daniel 13 Press
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside - I Swear
from Dirty Radio on Partisan Records
Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks
from Torches on Columbia
Friendly Fires - Live Those Days Tonight
from Pala on XL Recordings
Kate Maki - Lose My Mind (MP3)
from Moonshine on Confusion Unlimited
Thurston Moore - Circulation (MP3)
from Demolished Thoughts on Matador
Motopony - King Of Diamonds
from Motopony on tinyOGRE
Scarlet Season - Horse Fury (MP3)
from The Taxidermist (self-released)
SMOD - Les Dirigeants Africains (MP3)
from SMOD on Nacional Records
Snailhouse - Sentimental Gentleman (MP3)
from Sentimental Gentleman on Mi Amante Records
These Trails - El Rey Pescador (MP3)
from These Trails on Drag City
Vieux Farka Toure - Aigna (feat. Derek Trucks) (download)
from The Secret on Six Degrees Records
Sarabeth Tucek - Get Well Soon (MP3)
from Get Well Soon on Ungawa Records
White Denim - Anvil Everything (MP3)
from D on Downtown Music
Yourself and the Air - Sick Days (MP3)
from Who’s Who in the Zoo on Lujo Records
