New Music Tuesday

Probably the best electo-pop meets folk album I've ever heard. You have the lyrically-gifted Mercer with acoustic ballads and anthems that cater to the singer/songwriter lover with Dangermouse, tinkering with the knobs that become a part of his anatomy. Despite the popularity of this subgenre of music, they've created something quite unique and original. As much as I enjoy the single, The High Road, I think the second track off the record is the best work I've seen from Mercer since Sea Legs. Check it out below!

Broken Bells - Vaporize

From Queens, NY, they make pop tunes with whatever instruments are in arm's length, collabrating anything from banjos to waterphones. They make music that escape you from your body, with dislocation, and bringing you more appreciation to your spirit. It's great. Check out the song, Starring provided below.

Freelance Whales - Starring

No, don't ask me to apologise. I won't ask you to forgive me.

My Old Man took one look at Elvis Costello and said he looked like a germ crawling out of a toilet.

 

This is an album full of realistic teenage love songs. Boy meets girl. Boy gets snubbed by girl. Boy hates girl.

 

I remember listening to This Year’s Model over and over and over. And over and over and over and over. And over. I wouldn’t worry I had so much fun. Sometimes I almost feel just like a human being. This is where Elvis’ Buddy-Holly-after-the-plane-crash persona came to the fore. To the fore of The Attractions to be precise. Like many loners he is at his best with a gang behind him. The Attractions gave him a sound. Not so much a wall of sound, more a boxing glove of sound.

 

This is an album of lyrics that is all about the music.  Jabbing bass, butterfly floating organ, uppercut drums.  And knockout sneer. Every time I phone you I just want to put you down. Tracks like Little Triggers dance around you worrying about the common decency when it is only a matter of frequency. Tracks like The Beat dazzle you with their shuffle footwork I don’t want to be your lover, I  just want to be your victim: Tracks like Lipstick Vogue pummel your body sometimes I think love is just a tumour, you’ve got to cut it out: Tracks like Pump It Up hit your head with combination rights and lefts all the things you bought for her wouldn’t get her temperature: And tracks like I Don’t Want To Go To Chelsea hit you below the belt they call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie.

 

This album doesn’t want to hold you close; it wants to push you away, to arms length, so it can get a better punch in.

Go on. Get in the ring with it.

 

If I’m going to go down you’re going to come with me.

 

 

A mellower Arcade Fire, this band uses an assortment instruments from mandolins to trumpets, creating a deep, full sound on the debut album, Resevoir. They blend obscure sounds, both lyrically and instrumentally. A very romantic album. Check it out. I have available for download my favorite song, Ghosts. Enjoy!

Fanfarlo - Ghosts