New Music Tuesday
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of Montreal, the critically acclaimed indie pop band led by the bombastic and unpredictable Kevin Barnes, is celebrating the release of their ninth album, Skeletal Lamping, with an exclusive pre-order on AmieStreet.com. Reminiscent of Bowie with Ziggy Stardust, Barnes employs a cross-dressing alter ego -- Georgie Fruit, a black funk-rocker in his early forties who's been through multiple sex changes -- as the main character of this concept album. Drawing much more heavily on funk and R&B than their previous work, MusicOMH calls Skeletal Lamping "an album to rival any of Prince's at the top of his game." Pre-order it now, for only $5!
Brett Dennen is one of Rolling Stone's "10 Artists To Watch in 2008," and John Mayer calls his music "timeless" and "gorgeous." On his second album, Hope For The Hopeless, Dennen adds elements of African pop and classic rock to his distinct brand of soulful folk. The album features guest vocals from Femi Kuti on "Make You Crazy" as well as songs clearly influenced by Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, and the Rolling Stones. From now through October 27th, you can pre-order Hope For The Hopeless for $5 and a matching donation will be made to The Mosaic Project -- a non-profit organization that "unite[s] young children of diverse backgrounds, provide[s] them with essential skills to thrive in an increasingly diverse society, and empower[s] them to strive for peace."
Girl Talk is the alias of Greg Gillis, a Chicago DJ who's made his name on wildly eclectic party mixes that mash up everything from Trick Daddy to the Smashing Pumpkins. His newest album is a seamless mix that includes over 300 samples in under an hour -- the musical equivalent of putting your record collection in a blender. If you always had a sneaking suspicion that Journey would sound great with vocals from Outkast's Andre 3000, well, you're entirely right. Jim DeRogatis (Chicago Sun-Times) calls it "[a] dizzying and intoxicating rollercoaster ride."
Four years after they broke up, platinum-selling group Sixpence None The Richer have reunited to release a new Christmas album entitled The Dawn Of Grace. The album features the group's signature light-pop interpretations of nine traditional Christmas songs, including "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "Silent Night" (featuring guest vocalist Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay) as well as two original Sixpence holiday tunes, "The Last Christmas" and "Christmas for Two." Even though the holidays are a couple of months away, the songs on The Dawn Of Grace are so merry, they're worth downloading already.
Released on Dunham Records, a new subsidiary of Daptone Records, Make The Road By Walking is the debut album from the awesomely funky Menahan Street Band. Featuring members of the Dap-Kings (who back Sharon Jones and Amy Winehouse), the Budos Band, Antibalas and El Michels Affair, this band is so raw that the album's title track has already been sampled by Jay-Z on his smash hit "Roc Boys." If you love that bold and heavy old school sound, get down with the Menahan Street Band.
Arizona emerged from Brooklyn in 2005 and quickly gained acclaim for their "brilliant folk-pop layered in textures" (Largehearted Boy). After extensive touring with Band of Horses, The Slip, and Indigo Girls, the band relocated to Asheville, North Carolina to record Glowing Bird with producer Danny Kadar (My Morning Jacket, Iggy Pop, The Avett Brothers). The album was recorded in a rural farmhouse amidst the Smoky Mountains and bohemian community, making for a psychedelic-folk sound reminiscent of The Beatles, Modest Mouse, and The Decemberists.
