Jul 31, 2011
Richard Buckner – Our Blood (2011)
Richard Bucker was prolific during the ’90s and early 2000s, but it’s taken the alt-country veteran five years to follow up his 2006 LP Meadow. Now, he’s finally ready to break his silence with the new album Our Blood.
What took Buckner so long to ready this album? A press release explains that the songwriter faced repeated setbacks including an aborted film score, a broken tape machine and a stolen laptop. Bucker offered this explanation of how the album got back on track:
Our Blood comes out on August 2 via Merge.
The Burning Hell – Flux Capacitor (2011)
Mathias Kom is singer/ukelele player in The Burning Hell Newfoundland-based The Burning Hell, led by songwriter/ukulele player Mathias Kom, have released new record Flux Capacitor (weewerk records). A really neat record with a rag-tag mix of sounds and lyrics about the late-‘80s (remember when John Stamos played for the Beach Boys), pirates and beards.
In a depressing statement on The Burning Hell’s blog, the band’s frontman, Mathias Kom — who is aging faster than he’d like to — voices a desire to turn back the clock on his life. Lacking the technical knowhow required to construct a flux capacitor, this album was his best option. It’s the first autobiographical record in The Burning Hell’s rapidly-expanding catalogue, and a chance for Kom to revisit (and perhaps revise) his own history.
Despite the lingering misgivings, Flux Capacitor takes the cake as The Burning Hell’s most joyous album. Kom was obviously hellbent on recalling only happy memories for his subject matter — a choice he vocalizes in “Nostalgia,” when he admits he’s only willing to remember “the music and the heavy petting.”
Jul 30, 2011
Jul 28, 2011
Jul 27, 2011
Ceremony – Not Tonight (2011)
Virginia’s Ceremony are back with a brand new CD E.P. titled “Not Tonight” featuring 4 new fuzzed-out, reverb-soaked rock and roll songs for fans of New Order, My Bloody Valentine, Jesus And Mary Chain and Skywave. The band head out on their first ever European tour this April.
The members of Ceremony were initially a part of the three piece noise pop band Skywave, along with Oliver Ackermann (A Place To Bury Strangers).
Las Kellies – Kellies (2011)
Argentinean trio, Las Kellies, have turned up with their third album Kellies a blast of reggae tinged post punk that sounds like they’ve been communing with the ghost of Ari Up and teaching her Spanish.
All in the Golden Afternoon – Magic Lighthouse on the Infinite Sea (2011)
This album was set to be released on mind expansion records to follow up the all in the golden afternoon self-titled ep. mind expansion unfortunately ran out of funding. the band decided to press the LP on their own. a limited release of 250 copies with gatefold covers are available, featuring beautiful hand engraved artwork by iker spozio. special guests featured on the album:
yvonne lambert from THE OCTOPUS PROJECT & chad merritt from ST. MARY’S
BONUS: there is a hidden bonus track available to those who download the full album. it’s a remix of “up all night” by western arms (aka andy young of LIFT TO EXPERIENCE) *vinyl orders receive a download code with LP*
Jul 26, 2011
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (TV,2006)
Combining unprecedented access to Davis' vast personal archives with original interviews, this documentary reveals a startling portrait of one of hollywood's most gifted and enigmatic stars.
Directors: Peter Jones, Mark A. Catalena
Writer: Peter Jones
Jul 25, 2011
Sombre (Philippe Grandrieux, 1998)
A car, following the Tour de France. Children screaming in front of the puppet show. Women, often prostitutes, trying to scream as they are being strangled. Then he will meet Claire, the virgin who will give herself to him, and perhaps deliver him from his malediction. The Whales of August (Lindsay Anderson, 1987)
Summer people in Maine: things are changing. Whales no longer pass close to the shore as they did during the youth of two elderly widowed sisters who have a seaside home where they've summered for 50 years. Libby is blind, contrary, and seemingly getting ready to die.Release the Sunbird – Come Back to Us (2011)
Some albums have great artistic merit but I listen to them 5 times and I don’t need to hear it ever again. Then there are just some albums that are so listenable. They don’t necessarily create a new genre or blow your mind with artistry, but are so solid and good that you listen over and over again. “Come Back to Us“, the new album from Rogue Wave frontman Zach Rogue is one of those albums. He recorded it under the moniker Release the Sunbird, which is pretty fitting since it is full of gorgeous sun-kissed songs, with sweet harmonies. It’s a Sunday morning album if there ever was one.
Delicate Cutters – Some Creatures (2011)
(From Paste)
This Birmingham, Ala., band takes its name from a Throwing Muses song, which took its title from the term used to describe mentally ill young people who gave themselves shallow cuts. Delicate Cutters frontwoman Janet Simpson shares with Kristin Hirsh a penchant for detailed, lived-in lyrics and a steely charisma. More crucially, the group unsurprisingly fills its songs with references to deep emotional scars, often alluding to harrowing events just off camera—as if they can’t bear to confront them too directly.
Jul 24, 2011
Jul 23, 2011
Beth Jeans Houghton: Dodecahedron
With her brilliant debut album now set for an early 2012 release on Mute, Newcastle’s psychedelic pop polymath Beth Jeans Houghton and her band The Hooves Of Destiny. If you’ve never seen Beth perform live, you’re in for a treat: expect towering songs of borderline genius and off-the-wall between-song banter.Check the Dodecahedron video filmed on a road trip Beth made across the USA with footage from Los Angeles, Texas, New Mexico, Malibu, Arizona and the Mojave Desert.
Nightmare and the Cat – S/T EP (2011)
(Review from IGN)
Featuring the sons of Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama), there is little surprise that the debut EP from LA-based Nightmare And The Cat already sounds like a seasoned band. Sam and Django Stewart marry their experience in Blondelle and Midnight Squires, respectively, with the production talents of Glen Ballard (Dave Matthews Band) and Dan Burns (Surfer Blood) to create a sparkling five-track effort.
The blend of quivering vocals, galloping beat and a lovely guitar hook that oozes out of the speakers on love struck “Sarah Beth” add up to an enchanting tune that immediately sells you on the future of the band. The twang-laced blues edge of the nimbly flickering guitar on “The Missing Year” drizzles over the shimmering acoustic, as the harmonized hook and warbling vocals sink their hooks into you. Best of the set is the swaying sing-along vibe of “Little Poet”. The dramatic vocals, clapped beat, and garnish of skipping guitar work well together as they proclaim, “Because you can’t live off love / Not new or old, anymore”.
Bill Ryder-Jones – A Leave Taking Soundtrack (2011) EP
Bill Ryder-Jones, former guitarist of The Coral, releases a free solo EP, inspired by the novel ‘If On A Winter’s Night a Traveler’ by Italo Calvino, via Domino Records. Words from Bill on A Leave Taking Soundtrack – “When I left the band I wasn’t playing much music at all but a friend got in touch asking if I would write something for this short he was making, which I did. It’s pretty much the only thing I wrote that year but the process opened another world up to me. We thought it’d be nice to give it away to the people who have been interested in what I’ve been doing on my own and also to hint at the future a little bit. My album, which is a soundtrack inspired by a novel, is pretty much a progression from the things learned when writing for Leave Taking.”
Jul 22, 2011
Little Tybee – Humorous to Bees (2011)
Da Nije Dragonslayerovog Predivnog Winampa Sigurno Ne Bih Naleteo Na Ovaj Polet Od Albuma...The Miracle Worker (Arthur Penn, 1962)
The story of Anne Sullivan's struggle to teach the blind and deaf Helen Keller how to communicate.Young Helen Keller, blind, deaf, and mute since infancy, is in danger of being sent to an institution. Her inability to communicate has left her frustrated and violent. In desperation, her parents seek help from the Perkins Institute, which sends them a "half-blind Yankee schoolgirl" named Annie Sullivan to tutor their daughter. Through persistence and love, and sheer stubbornness, Annie breaks through Helen's walls of silence and darkness and teaches her to communicate.
Jul 21, 2011
She Keeps Bees – Dig On (2011)
For their third album, Brooklyn blues-rock duo She Keeps Bees headed out to a secluded cabin in the Catskill Mountains, presumably to escape the claustrophobic confines of their usual urban setting. Their rural surroundings imbue Dig On – their first release since 2008′s Nests – with a sense of space, sure, but you would never mistake these escapist New Yorkers for natives of the Mississippi delta.
Jessica Larrabee and Andy LaPlant, on guitar/vocals and drums respectively, make up another in a long line of blues-rock bassless duos from White Stripes to Black Keys. Larrabee, though, seems more interested in her guitar’s ominous clean tones than in fuzzy distortion, and her voice has no trouble taking the forefront. On that count, it’s hard not to compare her to PJ Harvey or Cat Power, but it’s a lazy comparison. She’s got her own chops, and an almost hypnotic lackadaisical approach that is at once lulling and imposing.
Jul 20, 2011
EMA-The Grey Ship(2011)
The debut CD (out May 10th) from former Gowns guitarist/singer Erika M. Anderson is darkly beautiful and haunting. On Past Life Martyred Saints, Anderson weaves hypnotic narratives on top of music that is as delicate and turbulent as her emotionally raw lyrics. This is the sort of music that you could easily imagine being included in David Lynch's next film and Bitch Magazine's blog remarked "this is the music you hear when you're entering into the eye of the storm."Baxter Dury – Happy Soup (2011)
“My first job was in a watch shop on Oxford Street, but I accidentally burned it down. The flames went up and triggered the sprinklers, and eventually they went off in every shop nearby which then flooded the whole road,” chuckles Baxter Dury. Serenaded into the world by his dad’s band The Blockheads banging out Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny Be Good’ in the basement below, and with 6’8” ex-Led Zeppelin roadie named ‘Sulphate Strangler’ for a babysitter, Baxter was never destined to work in a ‘proper’ job. Regal Records must have agreed for they snapped up the Buckinghamshire-bred chap and are currently gearing up to release his third full-length album ‘Happy Soup’.
Produced by Craig Silvey (Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Portishead) and recorded in Baxter’s hometown of London, the album will be released in digital and CD format. ‘Claire’ is the first single to be taken from it, released on 4th July.
Paul Thomas Saunders – Lilac and Wisteria (2011)
Paul Thomas Saunders is a rarity. His voice is both powerfully emotive and heartbreakingly delicate. Evoking Elvis Perkin’s on his biographical debut album, there’s a depth and introspective feel to the lyrics coupled with a distinguished, breathtaking vocal. Live with backing band, ‘The Fever Dreams’, it’s akin to Villagers in its ability to be dramatic and gentle simultaneously. The reverb-soaked guitars and softly stroked drums a perfect backdrop to Paul Thomas Saunders shy, elusive stage presence, both of which create an ambience that’s captivating during and a long time afterwards.
Daughter – His Young Heart EP (2011)
Daughter is London based singer-songwriter Elena Tonra. Her debut EP “His Young Heart” is due to be physically released on Communion this year. Recorded with her live guitarist and boyfriend Igor, the EP features four new tracks “The Woods”, “Candles”, “Switzerland” and opener “Landfill”.Jul 19, 2011
Woman in the Dunes (1964), Hiroshi Teshigahara
When entomologist Jumpei (Eiji Okada) travels to sand dunes on an expedition, he is met by a group of people who offer him a place to spend the night. They soon lead him to a house at the bottom of a sandpit. Upon climbing into the pit, he finds a young widow (Kyoko Kishida) living alone. Placed there by the villagers, her task is to dig sand out of the pit -- not only so that they can avoid getting buried, but so that the locals can use it for construction. The next morning, when Jumpei attempts to leave, he finds that the ladder which brought him into the pit is no longer there and the villagers inform him that he must stay and help the woman dig. After trying to get out of the pit, Jumpei takes his anger out on the woman--only to soon become her lover. After some time, he slowly gives in to accepting his predicament. This interesting story takes a simple yet effective route in philosophical allegory, focusing upon the couple's oppressive confinement and the force of their physical attraction to each other in spite of--or because of--their situation. Taken from the novel by Kobo Abe, director/producer Hiroshi Teshigahara completed this visually stunning feature on a budget of only $100,000. Winning a Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1964, the poetic Woman in the Dunes would go on to be nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Foreign Film (1964) and Best Director (1965).Abbe May – Design Desire (2011)
“Perth based, blues inspired, bona fide rock chick Abbe May impresses with her powerful third album – Design Desire.
For a girl who claims that she doesn’t crave the spotlight she proves that she has every right to stake her place in it, with this guitar driven, angsty offering.
From the opening bars of the title track “Design Desire” the mood is set to take you on an exhilirating rollercoaster ride through this incredibly diverse collection of tunes.
“Design Desire” starts off hard and dirty, hitting you with grinding guitar riffs and seducing you with layered moody vocals. The pace slows a little for the more vocally centred “Universes” yet still impresses with its hard hitting riffs.
Jul 18, 2011
Diagrams – Diagrams (2011)
Lean, artfully constructed dream-pop from this Tunng-related London troupe, making their eagerly anticipated debut on Full Time Hobby. The Beta Band, Hot Chip, Clor and Badly Drawn Boy are all obvious touchstones for Diagrams’ combo of hook-laden, heartstring-tugging songcraft, elegant chamber instrumentation and quirky electronics. ‘Hills’ is an instant winner, whimsical but tightly controlled in a Talking Heads sort of way, with colliery brass parping and synths squelching across an agreeably jerky time signature. ‘Night All Night’ and ‘Ice Breakers’ are more conventional but still very likeable, reminding us of Sufjan Stevens or Super Furry Animals at their most dewy-eyed, while compactly surreal lyrics and lush string parts conspire to make ‘Antelope’ gallop along like its namesake.The woozy horns and reverbed harmonies of ‘Icebreakers’ suggest Old Rottenhat-era Robert Wyatt before unfolding into an ambience of faintly ominous seaside field recordings. On the evidence of this spritely, idea-packed EP, Diagrams are destined to become the UK’s latest art-rock darlings. Catch ‘em on the rise.Jul 17, 2011
Something Beginning With L – Beautiful Ground (2011)
(From BBC) If this south London trio’s name suggests we play the name game, then words beginning with L that suit them include “languid”, “limpid”, “luminous” and, indeed, “Low”. Anyone bewitched by the blissful, woozy and yet edgy sad-core of that Duluth, Minnesota trio will want to hear this debut album, though Something Beginning With L possess a different kind of fragile tension, fuzzier and sweeter. On top, they have two female singer/guitarists in Lucy Parnell and Jen Macro (both current members of Graham Coxon’s Power Ensemble), creating a more sinewy, cross-stitched dynamic. Whirring synths (played by bassist Jon Clayton) are also involved. Plus SBWL occasionally find third gear (though not fourth). Imagine a quieter, dreamier Throwing Muses as much as Low.
Jul 16, 2011
Mister Heavenly – Out of Love (2011)
Mister Heavenly’s debut album Out of Love is out August 16. The beautiful trio of Man Man (Honus), Islands (Nick) and Modest Mouse (Joe) makes some great music.Main Man Man man Honus Honus had formed a new side project called Mister Heavenly with Islands frontman Nick Thorburn and Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer. The band has now signed to Sub Pop,who will release their debut album August 2011.
Luther Russell - The Invisible Audience (Double LP) (2011)
The Invisible Audience, will be released on Ungawa Records on July 12th, 2011. Luther Russell is set to release his fifth LP, a double-length entitled The Invisible Audience, on July 12th on Ungawa Records. It’s a wildly ambitious record from the multi-talented singer-songwriter/producer, which he calls “a glimpse into the jukebox of my psyche.” The twenty-five tracks on this epic record were culled from months and months of recording “whenever I could get into my eight-track studio or on a four-track cassette to get an idea down.” The album’s narrative flow seems to run the gamut of emotions from regret, betrayal and loss to humor, nostalgia and hope.
Momus & John Henriksson – The Thunderclown (2011)
The 2011 long-playing record from Momus and collaborator John Henriksson. “When Stockholm vinyl charmer John Henriksson heard the crackly, croony Charm Song from the 2010 Momus album Hypnoprism he recognized a kindred spirit, for the Swede and the Scot both value intimate, lucid and serenely sexy tones. John is a huge Audrey Hepburn fan and believes that “moonlight and love songs are never out of date”. Momus is equally romantic, but adds something darker. The collaboration began with John sampling obscure vinyl 45s from his collection then gathering Swedish and French musician friends to add live sax, organ, celesta, lapsteel, marimba and vibraphonette, breathing new life into these museum pieces. The compositions were then sent to Momus, who altered pitch, key and structure and crooned new songs over them.
Jul 14, 2011
White Denim – D (2011)
On 2009’s Fits, White Denim opened the garage door on its punky, funky sound, spiking it with humid psychedelia, lessons in Rock En Español, and surprisingly effective use of Cowsills-like vocal harmonies. On its follow-up, D, the band doesn’t just leave the driveway—it ditches the road entirely.
Henrietta Game – Black Ship (2011)
Henrietta Game; are a band of many qualities, so lets tick all the boxes here: they can compose elite songs that will knock many of their contemporaries out of the water like in the game battleships, they can all sing (the harmonies are astounding), they can all perform, they are each multi instrumentalists and they are each exquisitely good looking (in a medieval striking way). There is Cello, Guitar, Stomp, Violin, Glockenspiel, Drum, Piano and a vast array of lead and harmony Vocals.
Stephanie Daley (2006) -Hilary Brougher
A frightened and irresponsible girl and an emotionally conflicted woman are brought together under tragic circumstances in this independent drama. Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl who while on a school-sponsored ski trip collapses in a puddle of blood; a medical examination reveals that Stephanie has recently given birth, and in a nearby bathroom a newborn child is found dead, flushed down a toilet with its mouth stuffed with toilet paper. While Stephanie insists the child was stillborn and she had no idea she was pregnant, she is charged with killing the infant, and court-appointed psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is assigned to interview the teenager. Lydie has her own issues with possible parenthood; she's been struggling to have a child after a recent stillbirth, and the matter is taking a toll on her marriage, with her husband, Paul (Timothy Hutton), seeking solace in the arms of another woman.Jul 13, 2011
Matthew Ryan – I Recall Standing As Though Nothing Could Fall (2011)
Whatever a ‘typical’ Matthew Ryan record is, this isn’t one of them. Everything from his previous and prolific catalogue is here, from his fragile-whisper of a vocal and Springsteen/Strummer hybrid ear for a tune, through to the electronic arrangements that set Dear Lover (the forebear to this) slightly to one side of his previous endeavours. This new one contains everything essential to his career to date (not least his ambient Like New Years’ Day EP release with Hammock), reinventing each component to create a whole new dimension to his output. Each song really does feel like a scene from the same movie viewed from many different perspectives.William Elliott Whitmore – Field Songs (2011)
(From Uncut) The photograph on the cover of William Elliott Whitmore’s fifth album speaks volumes about what lies within. A simple sepia shot of an overloaded hay cart with two farm workers perched on top, it encapsulates the essence of Whitmore’s stark milieu: man’s relationship with the land, the rigours of hard labour, the basic reward of “three square meals and a living wage”. It could have been taken 80 years ago or last week, just as the hard times detailed in one of several stand-out tracks, “Get There From Here”, could be those of 1931 or 2011.
Wooden Shjips – West (2011)
San Francisco psych-rock outfit Wooden Shjips have signed with Chicago label Thrill Jockey and will release their latest full length record on August 16th. Entitled West, the seven-track effort marks the band’s first album created in a studio — it was recorded in six dates at Lucky Cat Studios in in San Francisco, CA, with Trans Am’ Phil Manley serving as engineer. Sonic Boom oversaw the album’s mastering at Blanker Unisinn in Brooklyn, NY.
Jul 12, 2011
Jul 6, 2011
Herman Düne – Strange Moosic (2011)
Swedish anti-folk band Herman Düne earned an international cult following that included the influential BBC radio personality John Peel, whose unfailing support earned the group enormous hipster cachet. Channeling a continuum of influences spanning from Neil Young to Sonic Youth to Pavement, band issued a series of self-released cassettes and CD-Rs and even toured the U.S. and Europe before releasing its first “official” LP, Turn Off the Light, on the Prohibited label in mid-2000. …Recorded in Portland, Oregon, the new album was recorded simply with a focus on composition and melody, allowing each song to shine through. Lead by David-Ivar Herman Dune’s singular vocals with drummer Cosmic Neman, this is their most “pop” album to date whilst still maintaining their unique, affably laid-back style.
Two Men in Town (José Giovanni, 1973)
To cast Jean Gabin and Alain Delon side by side is to invite a crash course in French cinema history, the contrast between the former's craggy stolidity and the latter's sun-tanned languor standing in for the tensions between the country's pre-war "tradition of quality" and the deconstructing modernism of the New Wave. Despite their differences, however, their acting styles share melancholy and barely repressed violence, so that in Two Men in Town, the final of their collaborations together, the stars share enough iconic chemistry for their scenes to reflect the intergenerational passing of a torch.
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