Brooklyn group Yeasayer top this week’s list of new releases as they continue down the path away from their initial indie-tribal leanings with, what our Music Director, Don Yates, calls “a darker and more adventurous take on the dance-friendly synth-pop of 2010’s Odd Blood, combining warped, buzzing synths, jittery rhythms, processed vocals and dystopian lyrics.” No doubt, Fragrant World will elevate Yeasayer’s indie status to its rightful place beside NY contemporaries Dirty Projectors and Animal Collective. Read a full review of the album on the KEXP blog here. Also out this week is the fourth album from UK band Bloc Party, aptly named Four, featuring “a more aggressive, guitar-oriented sound” while mixing “fiery, propulsive post-punk” among “gentle ballads,” as well as the third album by fellow Brits The Heavy, who, with their long awaited followup to the soul-rockin’ 2009 album, The House That Dirt Built, will be shaking some hips at Bumbershoot this Labor Day weekend. And amid controversy and ex-personnel drama, Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti return with their latest. Whether Mature Themes, their most fully produced yet, is a sign maturity or really the opposite, will be a joy for listeners to discover for themselves.
Other new albums you’ll want to pick up this week come from the mostly Seattle-based band Young Fresh Fellows, whose video for “A Fake Hello” we debuted yesterday; NZ via NYC band Bailterspace, who offer their first record in 13 years; 70′s British songwriter Bill Fay, with his first proper studio album in 30 years; Welsh songstress Cate Le Bon, who follows up her Nico-esque debut, CYRK, with CYRK II; and the Ben Chasny (Comets on Fire) psych rock project Six Organs of Admittance, who on Ascent go electric.
Sample all of these and more here before heading out to your favorite record store.
Animal Parts - King of Kings (MP3)
from Animal Parts (self-released)
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti - Only In My Dreams (MP3)
from Mature Themes on 4AD
Bailterspace - No Sense (MP3)
from Machine on Fire Records
Bloc Party - Octopus
from Four on Frenchkiss
Raymond Byron and the White Freighter - You’ll Never Surf Again (MP3)
from Little Death Shaker on Asthmatic Kitty Records
Evan Caminiti - Fading Dawn (MP3)
from Dreamless Sleep on Thrill Jockey
Careful - It’s Funny (MP3)
from Because I Am Always Talking on Circle Into Square Records
Bill Fay - Be At Peace With Yourself
from Life Is People on Dead Ocean
Happy New Year - Twins (MP3)
from Happy New Year on Brooklyn’s Crikey! Records
The Heavy - What Makes A Good Man?
from The Glorious Dead on Counter Records / Ninja Tune
Carol Kleyn - Jethro (MP3)
from Takin’ the Time on Drag City
Dylan LeBlanc - Part One: The End (MP3)
from Cast The Same Old Shadow on Rough Trade
Cate Le Bon - What Is Worse (MP3)
from CYRK II on The Control Group
OMBRE - Cara Falsa (MP3)
from Believe You Me on Asthmatic Kitty Records
Gregory Pepper and His Problems - Another Stitch (MP3)
from Escape From Crystal Skull Mountain on Fake Four, Inc.
Six Organs of Admittance - Waswasa (MP3)
from Ascent on Drag City
Teengirl Fantasy - End
from Tracer on True Panther Sounds/R&S
Yeasayer - Henrietta (MP3)
from Fragrant World on Secretly Canadian
Young Fresh Fellows - A Fake Hello
from Tiempo De Lujo on Yep Roc
