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Sharon Van Etten – Tramp (Jagjaguwar)
Please see my full review here.
Bob Mould – World Cafe Live (Philadelphia) – February 8, 2012
To promote his autobiography See A Little Light, Mould told stories about his life (though he didn’t read directly from the book) that covered his childhood up until almost the present day. He also played songs from the Sugar album Copper Blue as well as some solo material ranging from material like“Wishing Well” (from 1989’s Workbook) to “Circles” and “Paralyzed” from 2005’s Body of Song. For an encore of sorts, we got a Hüsker Dü mini-set with songs from Zen Arcade (including “Something I Learned Today”, which I don’t think I’d ever heard him play before), New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig.
Sharon Van Etten – World Cafe Live (Philadelphia) – February 10, 2012
For this Free at Noon show, Sharon and her band played only new material from Tramp for the 45 minute broadcast and then came out to do “Life of His Own”, the B-side of her forthcoming single “Leonard”. As expected, it was stunning.
Sharon Van Etten with Shearwater – Johnny Brenda’s (Philadelphia) – February 10, 2012
Please see my full review here.
Swiz – No Punches Pulled (Jade Tree)
Upon hearing the news that Jade Tree is planning to reissue this stunning late ’80s DC band’s discography on vinyl as a double Lp, I played this again and it holds up as well as anything from its era. Essential. I’m looking forward to the double Lp as it will hopefully fix some of the CD mastering and volume problems with the original 1993 release (as great as it is).
Veronica Falls – “My Heart Beats”
Their first recording since last year’s fantastic, long-awaited, self-titled debut is another winner. Hear it here.
Shoppers – Silver Year (self-released)
As far as I know, the only place you can hear this Syracuse’s band latest is their bandcamp site, but I highly recommend checking it out as all 8 tracks (all simply numbered I-VIII Roman numeral style) are like Bikini Kill colliding with The Joy Formidable and maybe even the crush of early Killing Joke. Listen to it here.
The Go-Betweens – 16 Lovers Lane (Beggars Banquet)
This is not only their best, but also one of my favorite albums of all-time. I recently revisited their ’80s catalog and have concluded that they just got better as time went on.
Wire – Black Session (Pink Flag)
This live release, recorded last May in Paris, works as a career spanning retrospective as all 3 eras of the band are covered. The highlights here are many, but include “Please Take” from last year’s Red Barked Tree, “Kidney Bingos” (from 1988’s A Bell is a Cup Until It Is Struck) and a completely reworked, 10 minute plus version of “Pink Flag”.
Shearwater – Animal Joy (Sub Pop)
This new album is my first exposure to Shearwater’s discography and now I can only wonder why I haven’t paid attention them sooner. Simply put, this album is fantastic.
