New Music Tuesday
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Outselling Coldplay (and everyone else) in their home country of South Africa, The Parlotones are breaking through to the rest of the world with their stadium-filling rock anthems. The band's single "Overexposed" was used by FHM in their World's Hottest Woman short film, and the song "Beautiful" soundtracked a Fujifilm ad campaign in Ireland. In anticipation of their upcoming album, The Parlotones are releasing a special EP only on Amie Street that collects some of their biggest singles. Get started by downloading "Beautiful" and "Rock.Paper.Scissors" for free!
A Londoner with Jamaican heritage, Roots Manuva blends the best of witty British rap, Caribbean dub, dancehall, and electro-pop. His lyrics often deal with dark personal issues and the realities of poverty, terrorism, and race politics, but with deep bass and heavy beats this music still works in the club. Slime & Reason contains some of his most pop-oriented singles yet -- "Again & Again," "Buff Nuff," and the hilariously bizarre "Do Nah Bodda Mi" -- as well as a more introspective second half that reprises lifelong struggles with addiction and authenticity. Reviews from both sides of the Atlantic have been overwhelmingly positive, with the Observer (UK) calling it "[his] best so far and a work of genius."
Semi Precious Weapons is bringing back glam-rock with their over-the-top debut studio album, We Love You. Led by wonderfully garish singer Justin Tasjan, the band has been impressing sold-out crowds in their hometown and beyond: NYC's Village Voice voted them "Best Band in New York" and London's The Guardian called them "the most important band in America." Like the band's energetic live shows, this album is action-packed with filthy, rebellious, shocking, ridiculous, and sleazy party hits that LA Weekly describes as "gun-blazing bitch-rock."
Australian brother-sister duo Angus and Julia Stone will work their way into your heart with the sweet folk duets on Just A Boy. Prior to 2006, the siblings had been pursuing solo careers and accompanying each other from time to time, but it wasn't until they joined forces that they were able to break through to wider audiences. Julia's vulnerable whisper is a perfect compliment to Angus's "smoke-on-the-beach drawl" (The Sydney Morning Herald) and UK journalist Johnny Sharp describes their songs as "simple but blindingly effective acoustic compositions, warm boy-girl harmonies and delicate, less-is-more arrangements." Who could say no to that?
You may know Petra Haden as the violinist of The Decemberists, or as the daughter of legendary jazz bassist Charlie Haden. Now you'll know her for this avant-garde collaboration with Woody Jackson, who scored Ocean's 12 and 13. The curious, spacey music on this album is mostly wordless, but it's far from instrumental: Haden hums, moans, and scats over Jackson's jazz-influenced orchestrations. This may not be for everyone, but it's much too cool to ignore.
Australian rockers Doomfoxx lie somewhere between AC/DC and Motörhead with their indulgent, booze-soaked rock'n'roll. The former lead singer of The Darkness, Justin Hawkins, once called the band "the best rock 'n' roll band going around" while respected rock journalist, Jeurgen Tschamler, called their self-titled debut "...the rock album of the year. 12/12. Simply outstanding." With their raw, gritty pirate-rock, Doomfoxx is one of those bands that'll get you started on a night you won't want to tell your grandchildren about. (P.S. Their album art is a little NSFW.)
