New Music Tuesday
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Believe the hype, Adele's 19 could be the best pop record of the year. Long before today's release of her debut album, critics were calling this 20-year-old "2008's breakthrough star" (The Sun) and "the real thing" (London Evening Standard). Even Mick Jagger is a fan, saying, "That girl is ace, man." Her voice is irresistible, her lyrics are sincere, and her songs are bright and soulful; let's hope Adele becomes the new face of pop music.
Named after the Bloomsbury Group, a British authors' collective that included Virginia Woolf, the new EP from California rockers Princeton puts a catchy, sunny spin on these famous figures. Song titles and lyrics reference the Victorian writers and their work, but the music is never lofty or heavy, bringing to mind Belle & Sebastian or tour mates Vampire Weekend. See why My Old Kentucky Blog called Bloomsbury "a treat... a pop record of rare sophistication."
Check out the cover of this album and you'll have a good idea what it sounds like. Listening to Hammer Batallion is like getting smacked in the face with the broad side of a Viking axe, jumping in an ice-cold Swedish mountain river, riding a Valhalla horse into the sunset and then eating it raw. War anthems and polytheistic paeans abound, and after 44 minutes of head banging and fist pumping you'll need to go back to that Adele album for a breather. Ferocious, thunderous, and unforgiving.
John Matthias is best known for playing in a band with Thom Yorke while a student at Exeter University and later contributing violin and viola parts to Radiohead's 1995 album The Bends. But the similarities between the music of John Matthias and Radiohead end there. The 12 songs on Stories From The Watercooler are rooted in folk-rock, but Matthias also adds strings and electronics to the mix, equally reminiscent of Nick Drake and Beck. Matthias's warm, inviting voice is the most important and constant element on the album, making the often unusual subject matter of his lyrics feel comfortable and familiar.
Osunlade hails from St. Louis, but his music draws from the spirituality of the Yoruba people living in Nigeria and the Benin Republic. Aquarian Moon, recorded live in Greece over 12 days, blends traditional African music with Greek melodies, Latin beats, and modern electronic textures to create a lush, cosmopolitan opus. Equally suited for the club, the beach, or the train, Osunlade is pefect for your summer soundtrack -- wherever the warm weather takes you.
On Every Joke Is Half the Truth, Scary Mansion's frontwoman Leah Hayes channels Will Oldham and Cat Power to produce an album full of haunting, melancholic songs. Throughout the record, Hayes's fragile voice is complimented by quietly expressive strings and a gentle backing band. Prefix Magazine described the album best: "This music sounds immediately like something you've heard a million times, but after a few hours, it'll sound like nothing you've ever heard before."
