The Trashcan Sinatras “Wild Mountainside” EP (Bobame)
This 3-song EP was just released here in the US on the band’s own label Bobame after being out in the UK for about a month on the Picnic label. The highlight here is the gorgeous title track, which picks up nicely where their 2004 stunner Weightlifting left off with Frank Reader’s breathy, beautiful vocals taking center stage here. The other 2 cuts are live versions of Weightlifting tracks recorded last year. These are nice, but obviously for fans only. The title track, however, is a must.
Saint Etienne – Tales from Turnpike House (EMI)
I’ve been listening to the far superior UK version of this terrific album lately. The limited edition version comes with a bonus disc of 6 songs supposedly targeted at the children of their adult fanbase. Boy do I feel old now!
Colin Meloy – Colin Meloy Sings Trad. Arr. Shirley Collins (self-released)
Just like last year’s solo tour where he sold a home-recorded Morrissey covers EP, this year he’s selling another similar EP. This time, however, it’s a set of songs by ‘60s British folk-revivalist Shirley Collins. While I’m completely unfamiliar with her work, the songs, melodies and arrangements on this fantastic disc assure that I’ll be checking out her versions of these songs at some point in the future. My favorites are “Dance to Your Daddy”, “Charlie” (which features the vocals of his girlfriend Carson Ellis) and “Turpin Hero”.
Stereolab – Fab Four Suture (Too Pure)
And the hits just keep on coming. 2 years after the release of Margerine Eclipse, Stereolab are back with a collection of 6 tracks pulled from 3 limited edition 7” singles released since then as well as 6 new tracks that sound not too unlike their previous album. A more “proper” follow-up to Margerine Eclipse is scheduled for next year.
The Go-Betweens – That Striped Sunlight Sound (Yep Roc)
This is an absolute must for fans of The Go-Betweens. It consists of a DVD featuring a concert from the Tivoli Theatre in Brisbane last August along with an “Acoustic Stories” segment where principles Robert Forster and Grant McLennan play some songs spanning their career acoustically in a living room and talk about their genesis and history throughout the performance. In addition, ther’es also a CD which is the audio portion of the Brisbane concert. Both are excellent and the version of “Karen” on here is one of the best live recordings I’ve ever heard in my life. Watching it on DVD is especially recommended as you get to see Robert building the song up much in the same way as Patti Smith’s “Gloria”, which is what the song hinted at but never quite achieved until now.
Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (Matador)
This one has been growing on me as of late and since its official release date is this coming Tuesday, I thought that I’d list it here. Basically, it picks up right where Dear Catastrophe Waitress left off. Thus, it’s quite pleasurable to my ears. I don’t get the people who want them to remake Tigermilk and If You’re Feeling Sinister over and over again when their more recent material is just as strong if not better, but that’s just me.
The Constant Gardener®
Although derided as laughable by a friend of mine whose occupation is similar to Rachel Weisz’s character in this movie, I really enjoyed this political thriller which is really more of a love story with the political story (involving pharmaceutical companies faking clinical trial data and testing a drug on poor patients in Kenya) being a parable of sorts. Plus, the scenery is gorgeous (it was filmed mostly in Kenya), though the poverty that many of the residents who were filmed live in is heartbreaking to say the least.
The Rakes – Capture/Release (V2)
Similar to other recent upbeat UK bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and Bloc Party, The Rakes distinguish themselves with lyrics directly addressing the realities of urban living for 20 and 30 somethings. Titles like “Work Work Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)” and “22 Grand Job” should tell you all you need to know there. Plus, musically, they stand out from the pack by adding an element of start/stop edginess ala Wire’s Pink Flag along with fine, tight playing.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Gold Lion”
Well after the Diplo remix leaked last week, now we have the official single version, which is streaming on the band’s official website now. After listening to it 5 or 6 times, I can safely say that I like it and that it’s very different from any previous material of theirs. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like Love and Rockets’ “No New Tale to Tell” from their 1987 album Earth Sun Moon.
The Long Blondes “Once and Never Again”
This excellent new band from Sheffield reminds me of 1st album Pretenders as well as Elastica, only catchier. Of the songs I’ve heard, I think that this is the best one. I really hope that they come to the US again. Here’s a link to their MySpace page:
THE LONG BLONDES
