New Music Tuesday
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After two years of solo work and side projects (including the hugely successful Neon Neon), Welsh psych-rock band Super Furry Animals is back with their ninth studio album. Bringing together funk, glam, brain-melting jamming, and spoken-word German vocals from Franz Ferdinand's Nick McCarthy, Dark Days/Light Years is a great trip. The BBC calls it "fantastic... a masterclass in cool and seemingly effortless psychedelia."
For fans of: The Flaming Lips + Islands + The Secret Machines
Recorded just before Beck broke into the mainstream with 1994's "Loser," One Foot In The Grave shows the unpolished acoustic-folk beginnings of this LA musician. The deluxe reissue includes sixteen previously unreleased tracks, including two versions of the excellent b-side "Teenage Wastebasket," making it possibly the indie-creddiest release of the decade. Enjoy!
For fans of: Townes Van Zandt + Nirvana + Daniel Johnston
Produced by Yeasayer's Anand Wilder, the debut EP from Brooklyn's Suckers has come along at just the right time. The flowers are blooming, the pirates are defeated, and everyone's ready for some sunny summer music. Time Out New York says "the shaggy, joyous tunes of local quartet Suckers sound like campfire sing-alongs for the Animal Collective generation." Download "It Gets Your Body Movin'" for free!
For fans of: Yeasayer + MGMT + Chairlift
Grand Duchy is Black Francis (a.k.a. Frank Black of Pixies) and his wife Violet Clark, but don't expect much that's familiar here. Each plays off the other's very different vocal stylings to keep you on your toes through nine tracks of stomping garage-metal, '80s cheese-pop, space-rock, and some truly bizarre synth-jazz. There are hardly enough hyphens to describe this album; let's just say if you like every track, you'll get a Merit Badge for Eclectic Taste.
For fans of: Pixies + The Breeders + The Kills
The Boy Least Likely To is a duo from Wendover, England that describes their gleeful pop music as "country disco." Makes sense; imagine yourself at six or seven years old, barn-dancing with a bunch of giant stuffed animals, and you'll pretty well have imagined The Law Of The Playground. Spin calls it "ultra-whimsical... The Boy Least Likely To animate their softly sung indie twang with nonstop hooks, bright production, and gently acknowledged adult anxieties."
For fans of: Belle and Sebastian + Peter and the Wolf + Camera Obscura
The debut full-length from Ezekiel Honig, New York electronic musician and founder of record labels Anticipate and Microcosm, is thoughtful, steady-paced techno. Clicking and pulsing with elements of dub, house, ambient, and a touch of jazz, Technology Is Lonely fits perfectly with a long walk or a night alone; Bigshot Magazine calls it "a mature, unpredictable collection of meditations on the man vs. machine relationship."
For fans of: John Tejada + Morgan Packard + Safety Scissors
Moonalice is legit. This isn't a bunch of college students trying out '60s music for fun, these are old-school rockers doing what they do best. As much as their self-titled album sounds like a Woodstock time capsule, though, the band has fully embraced the tech trends of 2009, live-tweeting one of their concerts song by song and attracting the attention of Twitter's creator for an article in Wired. But whatever; this stuff sounds better in a hammock than on your computer anyway.
For fans of: Jefferson Airplane + King Crimson + The Doors
