Top 5 New Releases :: New Music Friday ::
February 24, 2017
It’s New Music Friday again. Are you ready for the best of the new album releases today? I’ve sifted through the newly released albums, EP’s and singles, and come up with the five best of the week for your perusal. So, sit back, secure your headphones, and have a listen to a few albums and a single, or two, that are the standout best Top New Releases for the week of February 24, 2017..
Top 5 New Releases:
1. Sick Scenes :: Los Campesinos!
Three-Sentence Review: Immediately catchy and accessible, Sick Scenes reminds me of what I saw in Los Campesinos! back in 2007, with the songs “We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives” and “You! Me! Dancing!”. Indie in its sensibilities, but pop/power pop in the delivery, this album has the potential of being bigger than their recent releases. I’m awfully fond of the slower, softer moments, too (see “The Fall of Home”), with its waltz-feel, and late night confessional lyrics.
Initial Favorite Track(s): “Sad Suppers”, “The Fall of Home”, and “A Litany/Heart Swells”
Rating (1-5 Stars): 5
“The Fall of Home”
2. “Can I Sit Next to You?” :: Spoon
Three-Sentence Review: Can the new Spoon album be out today? This is the second pre-album single to be released, and it is a stunner. I was immediately grooving to it from the first notes, and as the song went on I knew I’d be hitting repeat as soon as it was over.
Initial Favorite Track(s): N/A (single)
Rating (1-5 Stars): 5
“Can I Sit Next to You?”
3. Don’t Get Lost :: The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Three-Sentence Review: A new album only four months after their last, Don’t Get Lost continues with the band’s electronic experimentations, fusing it with the psychedelic sensibilities that have always been a big part of their sound. Tim Burgess, of The Charlatans, guests on the track “Fact 67”, one of the strongest song songs on the album. The album itself gets lost in its own wanderings at times, lacking a cohesion that at first glance the song titles would presume it has, but there are some interesting, stand-out moments to stop on along the way (see especially “Fact 67” and “Dropping Bombs on the Sun”).
Initial Favorite Track(s): “Fact 67”, “Dropping Bombs on the Sun”, and “Acid 2 Me is No Worse than War”
Rating (1-5 Stars): 4
“Fact 67”
4. S/T :: Dirty Projectors
Three-Sentence Review: Dirty Projectors’ so-called “break up album”, which I picked up on in first line of the opening track, “Keep Your Name”, which feels and sounds like Bon Iver, to me. The production, and electro-infusions, keep this album from sinking too deeply into melancholy, while not completely taking away the expression of heartbreak. This album works best when the beats and vocals are messed with, causing lifts and falls in sound, and where the Indie R&B styles are allowed to flow through.
Initial Favorite Track(s): “Keep Your Name”, “Death Spiral”, and “I See You”
Rating (1-5 Stars): 4
“Death Spiral”
5. Wilderness of Love :: Shadow Band
Three-Sentence Review: Late sixties psychedelia influenced, dark and dreamy, I feel like I want this album in Autumn, but I’ll take it for now (and most likely revisit it in October). This debut album is a DIY/home recording musical offering; close your eyes and can’t you just see the smoke-filled rooms they created, and recorded, this in? “Morning Star”, my first listen favorite, reminds me a lot of the Zombies.
Initial Favorite Track(s): “Endless Night”, “Morning Star”, and “Daylight”
Rating (1-5 Stars): 3
“Daylight”
