New Music Recommendations 2012


We have a wealth of musical wisdom here and it seems many enjoy having an ongoing thread were we can share new music finds with the rest of the forum. Here we go!

If you're enthusiastic about a new album you've picked up feel free to tell us about it. Post, discuss, inform....but be civil:)

No genre limitations, anything goes as we have all sorts of interests here. Classical, Jazz, Indie, Folk, Rap, R&B, Blues, Techno, Ambient, Modern Classical and on and on....post em all..

Let the music play.......
richard_stacy
Jack White - Blunderbuss. I've not liked much of what he's done to date, but this release is interesting and very good.
Chaz,

Thanks for the heads up on Jon Cleary - looks like it should be fun.

Marty
New LPs getting a lot of play on my system:

Dirty Projectors "Swing Lo Magellan"
Jamey Johnson "Living For A Song"
Tame Impala "Lonerism"
Storm Corrosion
Richard, I likewise couldn't find Terrence Dixon From the Future Part 2 I did really like the samples I heard. PM some directions if you have them. Thanks, Ryan
Terrence Dixon "From The Far Future Part 2"

Tresor release that had been on my list for a while and I finally got around to picking it up. I'd sure been missing a fine one. Real nice bit of dark tech/house with lots going on under the hood, just how I like it.

Changing musical gears....

I've been listening a lot to the older J. Tillman release, Vacilando Territory Blues so I picked up a few of his other older records. Singing Ax, Cancer And Delirium, Minor Works and Year In The Kingdom. All just outstanding albums, especially Singing Ax. Very highly recommended.
Jon Cleary - Occapella - Having fun with the songs of Allen Toussaint.

I 1st heard Cleary briefly on HBO's Treme (a great source for new music!). After digging a bit I came to the realization that I've been listening to him and his music for years! He recorded with Taj Mahal on 2 favorite Taj records; 'Phantom Blues' & 'Senor Blues'. Also on Bonnie Raitt's 'Silver Lining' & 'Souls Alike'. He was a member of their bands, playing keyboards, with Bonnie and Taj both recording songs of his on their albums. So I owned performances of his and his music, I just wasn't aware of it! Cleary originally hails from England (!) but he's been a New Orleans native for over 15 years, the dude's a phenom!! Funky, soulful, bluesey good-time music, a great score!!
Ejlif...is that available anywhere?! I saw it was coming and have looked around on the web but no luck so far. Feel free to PM me some directions. That has the makings of a great one on paper.
Awesome I love Andy Stott I will be checking out the new one today

The new collab between Tim Hecker and Daniel Lopatin "instrumental tourist" is sounding pretty good
Featherface . They just put out a full-length called Actual Magic that hasn't left my car stereo for a month.
Andy Stott "Luxury Problems"

Ok, this one is 10/10 for me and if you liked "We Stay Together" and "Pass Me By"....you'll love this. The master of totally f**k*d bass, beats and twisted vocals weaving in and out of rhythms from some dark warehouse in the wee hours. Playing this is a physical experience. Your innards will pulse and vibrate from the depths of the bass. Wicked or downright nasty.

Vatican Shadow

"Atta's Apartment Slated For Demolition"
"Ghosts Of Chechnya"
"Jordanian Descent"
"Ornamented Walls"

Yup, four releases over the past couple of weeks. Dominick Fernow's been quite the busy man and I'm quite happy about that. His VS work always leaves me at a loss for words when I think about describing it. There is nothing quite like it out there. All I'll say here is that it's one of my go to artists, this stuff sticks. Military, Middle Eastern balance of noise + rhythm that drones from attack to religious to orchestral. Brilliant work.

Old Apparatus "Alfur"

Electro acoustic bass beauty from another unique artists. As brilliant as his other work, highly recommended.
Just picked up the new Dave Matthews album "AWay from the world". His best yet IMO. Very introspective, beautiful melodies. Literally heard it once on my way to work and am hooked already. My favorite 2012 album to date.
"Lowe Country," a Country/Folk tribute to Nick Lowe, if it hasn't been mentuoned (or if it has been mentioned).

John
Glen Hansard!!!! Rhythm and Repose may be the best folk album I have heard in years!! If you like male folk singers , this album will amaze you.
Some 2012 releases I'm diggin':

Frankie Rose - Interstellar. Ex-Dum Dum Girls hits a home run. Great indie-pop-rock.

Animal Collective - Centipede HZ. Not as immediate as Merriweather Post Pavilion but still mighty fine and deep.

the XX - Coexist. More of the same but that's a good thing.

Santigold - Master Of My Make-Believe. Not nearly as good as her debut but still pretty decent.

Corin Tucker Band - Kill My Blues. The one from Sleater-Kinney who is NOT in WILD FLAG. Much improved over her first solo record from a few years a go.

Robert Rich - Nest. Ambient masterpiece.

Liars - WIXIW. Lots of electronics added to their usual sound.

Swans - The Seer. Bombastic beauty that is the Swans.

Tame Impala - Lonerism. Been wating for this. Psychedelic rock fans can do much worse than this and their first album.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!. Crescendo-core ala Mogwai meets Stars Of The Lid.

Alcest - Les voyages de l'âme. Black-metallers turned shoegaze.

Eclipse - Bleed & Scream. Total dirt-rock and throwback to 1987.
A couple I have really been enjoying recently and highly
recommend:

Juju & Jordash "Techno Primitivism"

"Staggering new album of fusioneering 'Techno Primitivism'
from the A'dam-based Israeli ex-pats, Juju & Jordash. It's
fair to call this their debut album proper - following their
eponymous set of singles and an early digital collection
with this striking mission statement, a mazy and immersive
sound distilling elements of dub, jazz and psychedelia in a
tactile house and techno framework. It's testament to both
their nuanced skills as live musicians and studio boffins
par excellence, a mind-melt moire of analogue hardware
knowledge and hands-on vibes rendered with a diffuse sense
of synthesised space. We could be here all day picking out
highlights, but if you're only gonna check a few then the
unfathomably wide mixing trickery applied to 'Stoplight
Loosejaw' is a great start, as is the Mark Ernestus-meets-
Sun Ra vibes of 'Backwash', or the Augustus Pablo-in-Chicago
styles of 'Shakshuka Dub', while you can't go wrong with the
stoned descent of 'Dr. Strangepork' (great name!) and the
pensile, Carl Craig-like Detroit romance of 'Track David
Would Play'. It's kinda hard to believe these guys aren't
praised more widely, but with 'Techno Primitivism' now out
there, we suspect that's about to change. Outstanding."

Memotone "I Sleep. At Waking"

"Following a slew of 12”s, avant beatmaker William Yates has
finally rustled up this delicious full length for the Black
Acre label. Blending a passion for experimental classical
music with a clear understanding of bass music, Yate’s
vision is quite strikingly unique, fitting somewhere between
James Blake’s pointed piano experimentations, Demdike
Stare’s murky atmospherics and late-period Third Eye
Foundation. Yates’s talent is finding a connecting thread
between the sounds he’s obsessive about, and this makes for
an an absorbing full length."

I couldn't really describe either one so I included the
summary from Boomkat.com. I'll just say I concur and love
them both.
Richard_stacy, it would appear that we are musically kindred spirits. From 2011 I would add:

Marconi Union - Beautifully Falling Apart (Ambient Transmissions Vol. 1)
A Winged Victory For The Sullen - A Winged Victory For The Sullen
Harold Budd & Robin Guthrie - Bordeaux
Leyland Kirby - Eager To Tear Apart The Stars
Nils Frahm - Felt
Black Swan - In 8 Movements
Antonymes - The Licence To Interpret Dreams
Olafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs
Dustin O'Halloran - Lumiere
Harold Budd - In The Mist
Ryan Teague - Causeway
Robert Haigh - Strange And Secret Things
Dakota Suite & Emanuele Errante - The North Green Down
Emanuele Errante - Time Elapsing Handheld
Hauschka - Salon Des Amateurs
Nicholas Szczepanik - Please Stop Loving Me

Olan Mill is releasing Home next week, which promises to be stellar. Limited edition CD of 300 copies.

I'd love to hear about some of your favorites. Hopefully others will be exposed to some overlooked and under explored musical genres.

Anyone interested in the electronic, ambient, neo-classical musical genres check out Fluid Radio Click on the Channel 1 link for streaming music.

BTW, I am also a fan of Rhythm & Sound!
Rbrowne - Some beautiful music there. I have all of those except the Pjusk and Ex Confusion which I'll check out. Thanks!
I didn't notice any mention of Mark Knopflers new release 'Privateering'. Some think it's his best. I've only heard one track so far and it was impressive. I'll post my thoughts on the entire release (it's a double) when I get it later this week.
A mix from 2012 in the electro-acoustic, ambient, electronic, drone, neo-classical genres that I like:

Greg Haines - Digressions
Keith Kenniff - Branches
Olan Mill - Paths
Ex Confusion - Embrace
Pjusk - Tele
Ryan Teague - Field Drawings
The Mountain Goats "Transcendental Youth"

Johon Darnielle does it yet again, the guy is a machine.
Another brilliant record, highly recommended as are each and
every record in his catalog.

[https://www.google.com/url?
url=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DEUYOFTBD120&rct=j&sa=
X&ei=DExoUIy_KafV0QH8j4GQCw&ved=0CCEQuAIwAA&q=The+Mountain+G
oats+white+cedar&usg=AFQjCNE6XLMdOu6yLaYD3CKHpU00K2WUwg]

and...one of my favorite TMG songs as well as one of my
favorite song titles, Ezekiel 7 and The Permanent Efficacy
of Grace. Not from the new record but sure is a hell of a
video... [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ-
zZJu6LKI&feature=player_detailpage]
Lisa Marie Presley's latest -- Storm and Grace -- produced by T-Bone Burnett, is breathtakingly good. Lucinda Williams-esque but deeper and more mysterious sounding.

This is a landmark album, mark my words.

Neal
http://soundcloud.com/sonic-pieces/sets/greg-haines-until-the-point-of-hushed-support
I happened across a new group (I think it's just one guy) called Borealis Self titled album. It's pretty awesome if you like electronic music it's worth checking out. It's the album with the spine on the cover
Gaithers -- Atlanta and Kennedy Center Homecomeings

Labi Siffre -- So Strong
one of the few CDs with no filler or weak tracks. Great Songs, Great Voice and Great Sonics.
Grizzly Bear - Shields. 180g gold vinyl. Music 9/10; recording/pressing 6/10

Dead Can Dance -Anastasia 180g. Music 9/10: recording/pressing 7/10

Glenn Hansard - Rhythm and Repose 140g. Music 10/10; recording/pressing 10/10
If you like Nick Drake's Pink Moon and you like early music, check out Requiem for a Pink Moon, by Joel Frederiksen and Ensemble Phoenix Munich, on Harmonia Mundi.
just loaded most of the above on mog. best i've heard of late is the fresh & onlys, long slow dance--sorta 80s jangly guitar pop; i hear traces of the smiths and the poppier side of the church--distinctive vocals and good guitars with actual hooky songs that embed in your head after a while. rewards repeat listens.
I posted Angel Olsen's latest here last week. Very glowing review this morning on Pitchfork:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17154-half-way-home/

Grizzly Bear "Shields"

Wow. I'm not too big on indie bands these days but I ran across a pre-release (actual release 9/18) copy of this and it's very special. Like I said to start...wow! Very highly recommended. Very. I really hope this is available in high rez.
Someone is another thread mentioned Casandra Wilson's new release, "Another Country". Give it a listen.
Alt-J: An Awesome Wave (LP...UK import).

It's been stuck on my turntable for a couple of months now.
Scars on 45 is my favorite new release this year. Great songs that make use of two really good singers, one male and one female. The woman, Aimee Driver, has a beautiful voice with a haunting quality to it. I guess they'd be considered Indie.
Cat Power's "Sun" arrived today. First spin is very positive...an extremely well recorded album.
through the graces of my new true love, MOG, i went on a manic new release binge. my comments thus far:
bob mould, silver age. the ever-intense one is back to rocking really hard--this sounds like his classic 90s stuff with sugar. never known for a rich sonic palette, he pretty much sticks to his basic angsty barrage. which is a damn good thing.
animal collective, centipede. apparently a big critic's band--they won the pazz and jop poll a couple of years ago. they do that beach boys-meet pink floyd thing that seemingly every other indie band is doing. they're pretty good at it,too--exploratory and psychedelic--but after awhile you can't help but notice that they don't actually have any songs.
cat power, sun. another much-hyped tortured artist type. for some odd reason i keep buying her records, although she doesn't rock, isn't very tuneful and doesn't sound very interesting.

Angel Olsen "Half Way Home"

Beautiful stuff. Think female Will Oldham with a timeless voice.
Every Kingdom by Ben Howard is a fantastic album!!
You can take a free listen on Spotify too.
Ben Howard __ Every Kingdom
Nglazer

Great recommendation, I've listened to it a couple times now. Get this album!
Gene Harris -- In His Hands

Original Broadway Cast -- Ain't Misbehavin' (Fats Waller)

Evening Hymns "Spectral Dusk" (Folk Rock, Folk)

Real nice record. Pretty, well played and well written.

Bandcamp: http://eveninghymns.bandcamp.com/

From their Bandcamp page:

Evening Hymns are sung from the cathedrals of tall trees. They capture the spirit of moments, of friends around a bonfire on a foggy beach, the crunching of snowshoes in the silence of a winter night and memories of tribal boys growing up with pellet guns, fishing rods, and handmade forts.

Spectral Dusk covers very personal issues, and takes Evening Hymns to the next level, musically and lyrically, from their acclaimed debut record‚ Spirit Guides (2009). A study of loss, pain, and hope and a pathway drawn out of the dark into the light, Spectral Dusk finds Jonas Bonnetta dealing, through music, with the loss of his father three years ago. This record spills its guts out on the floor, and yet so softly it leaves the listener no option but to reflect on their own mortality. An album as dense as it is spatial, Spectral Dusk moves from droning bliss (Irving Lake Access Road) into anthemic chants (Cabin In The Burn). A record to be experienced more than listened to. An environment to exist in for an hour. A small retreat from the world.

Recorded in a log cabin in Northern Ontario with the band’s closest friends, it features members of The Wooden Sky, Timber Timbre, City and Colour, and more.

Spectral Dusk is being released in Canada on Shuffling Feet Records (distributed by Outside), in Germany on Strange Ways Records and in France on Kütu Folk Records, and will be supported with tours in Canada and Europe later this year.

DeepChord "Sommer" (Field Recording, Techno, Dub Techno, Ambient)

We've been inundated with Echospace releases lately with last months "Silent World" releases, "Sommer" and the upcoming "Summer Night Versions" and lucky for me as this is easily one of my favorite artists. They have yet to disappoint and the bar is set sky high. Rod Modell continues to grow and demonstrate why he is at the forefront of electronic music. His sound is immediately distinguishable with analog warmth, atmosphere and beats that seem to rise and fall from places that only he is capable of pulling from. He creates those rare sonic spaces that transport, that breathe with life and posses a soul.

I'll spare y'all any attempt to describe this record and only offer my absolute highest recommendation. This is a desert island record for me.
Hi Marty.

If I could not get WAOB, my next choice would be III. TCG has progressively smoothed out their sound, and progressed beyond their garage-country roots. This is arguably a good thing -- as it arguably was for Wilco -- but not quite my bag.

If WAOB is out of print, feel free to send me a PM (jdoris@wustl.edu) and we'll see what we can do.

Cheers,

J
A little OT here (sorry)

John,

I picked up 2CG's "Speaking In Cursive" at your recommendation and really like it quite a lot. I can't seem to find a sanely priced copy of "Wall Against out Backs", so I was wondering what the next choice in their catalog might be?

TIA,

Marty

PS It sounds to my ear like some of the quirky rhythms on Cursive seem to predict the Mumford & Sons sound.
Richard, Columbus is home to one of the best American rock bands bow working, Two Cow Garage. Sadly, they seem to have turned down a it, but worth a show if you've not seen them.

John
Ben Howard __ Every Kingdom

A performance on the order of Van Morrison's Moondance. A landmark pop-folk album. Outstanding lyrics, original and stirring music, soulful performance. An artist to be reckoned with. Don't miss this one.

Neal