This top ten list includes recent releases I’ve been digging lately. Each one can be streamed in full using the links in the text below. Enjoy!
Azure Ray – As Above So Below EP (Saddle Creek)
I first became acquainted with heavenly-voiced duo Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink when they fronted the late-‘90s pop/rock quartet Little Red Rocket. But they’ve since been making softer, more ethereal music as Azure Ray (and on their individual solo records). This 6-song EP follows up their 2010 fourth LP Drawing Down the Moon, and finds their haunting, seamlessly-melded pipes backed by deep, ear-tickling electronics. It’s another beautiful record.
Dum Dum Girls – End of Daze EP (Sub Pop)
On this 5-song follow-up to The Dum Dums’ excellent 2011 LP Only in Dreams, the band mostly sticks to starker, slowed-down tempos, but add a more pronounced industrial-strength stomp. Singer Dee Dee continues to outdo herself as a vocalist; on the grinding “Mine Tonight,” the churning “Lord Knows,” and the ghostly Strawberry Switchblade cover “Trees and Flowers,” her otherworldly, anguished croon will send shivers down your spine. Meanwhile, speedier tunes “I Got Nothing” and “Season in Hell” are packed with hooks galore. What a knockout EP!
Elba – Elba (Elba)
I somehow lost track of this Seattle quintet (named after the Italian island where Napoleon was exiled from 1814-15) after digging their 2008 debut An Avalanche. So I was sad to hear they’d just played their last show at Seattle’s Tractor Tavern on July 10. I hope this year-old eponymous third LP of spry, jangly, and dreamy guitar pop with bite is not their swansong, but if it is they went out with a bang.
French – Politics & Girls (Wise Use)
After the breakup of New York’s Flower in 1990, bassist/singer Ian James formed the similarly potent French. Since their smoldering first EP in 1996 he has continued to make terrific, way-under-the-radar albums, even after moving to Vermont. In addition to their website, all their releases are now posted on a convenient Bandcamp page. That includes this brand new LP, 16 hot-from-the-oven slabs of their trademark thick ‘n’ chunky guitar rock. Il est très bon!
Jen Gloeckner – “The Last Day of Summer” (Halcyon)
This Cure cover from 2000’s Bloodflowers popped onto my Facebook wall this week, and reminded me why I liked Iowa songstress Gloeckner’s 2009 album Mouth of Mars so much. This rendition (which appears on Halcyon’s One Hot Mess compilation of summer-themed covers) dispenses with the original’s extended intro and focuses on her dusky, soulful, Stevie Nicks-like voice. It’s really sumptuous, and appropriately timed, too.
Great Northern – “Holes” (Great Northern)
Los Angeles alt-rock/dreampop duo Rachel Stolte and Solon Bixler are finishing up their third album, which follows up their excellent first two, 2009’s Remind Me Where the Light Is and 2007’s Trading Twilight for Daylight. Judging by this invigorating first single, which showcases Stolte’s breathy, speakers-filling voice, the new LP is shaping up to be another stormer. I can’t wait to hear it!
Neil Halstead – Palindrome Hunches (Brushfire)
I once took a drive through New Jersey’s scenic Northwest backroads, and brought along only Mojave 3 CDs, which enhanced my state of relaxed bliss. Slowdive/Mojave singer Halstead’s third solo LP gives off much the same effect, as did his 2008 Oh! Mighty Engine and 2002 Sleeping on Roads. It’s filled with lovely acoustic guitar, piano, and violin, topped off with Halstead’s calming, easygoing vocals and a candlelit ambience.
Hot Panda – Go Outside (Mint)
I liked this then Edmonton, AB, now Vancouver, BC foursome’s 2010 second LP, How Come I’m Dead?, calling it “gloriously boisterous guitar pop.” Led by brash, cheeky vocalist Chris Connelly, album #3 is similarly unorthodox and unpredictable. Tunes like the disturbed, cello-fueled “Language,” the more laid-back, horn-laden “Holidays,” and the convulsive, keyboard-driven “See You All Around” all contribute to another deliciously decadent, off-keel LP.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Jeremy” (Slumberland)
Brooklyn’s Pains take this Magnetic Fields song from 1991’s The Wayward Bus and give it a spirited and explosive power-pop facelift. This is from a 7” that will be released in October, which will include long-time favorite East River Pipe’s “My Life is Wrong,” from 1994’s Shining Hours in a Can, on the flipside. I haven’t heard that yet, but if it’s as fantastic as the A-side, it’ll make the single’s purchase even more of a no-brainer.
Haroula Rose – So Easy EP (Haroula Rose)
Los Angeles-by-way-of-Chicago singer/songwriter Rose follows up her delectable 2011 debut These Open Roads with this equally wonderful 5-songer. The EP is bookended by two terrific covers: a heartwarming, country-tinged version of French chanteuse Françoise Hardy’s 1964 “Only Friends,” and a melancholy, deep-toned piano cover of Glen Campbell’s classic 1968 #3 “Wichita Lineman.” But Rose’s three originals are also superb, each one infused with gorgeous arrangements and her velvety, honey-sweet voice.
