The Horrors – Skying

I am completely loving the new Horrors album, Skying, and after what seems like 100 listens this week it still isn’t getting old. Their previous album, Primary Colours was excellent, but the overall sound on the new album is such a great leap forward. Primary Colours always felt like a dark album, and more so now that Skying sounds like a total 180 from it. I’ve seen people criticize Skying for the excessive reverb and the backwards guitar, and I find that odd because THAT IS THE SOUND of The Horrors. Sure, it’s been done before, but they have a sound all their own no matter how much they’re borrowing from My Bloody Valentine or The Jesus and Mary Chain. There’s a sense of positivity on the new album that Primary Colours lacks – you don’t expect a good summer album from a band like The Horrors, but that’s what they’ve delivered.

The more I listen the more it’s impossible to pick a favorite song, but Oceans Burning is bound to be one of my top five favorite songs of the year. At nearly eight minutes long, it could easily go on for eight more and I don’t think I’d get tired of it. Below you’ll find the official video for Still Life. They’re coming to Chicago in November and I’m definitely planning on seeing them.

Visit The Horrors website

Download Skying on iTunes

Noel Gallagher – The Death Of You And Me

I wasn’t incredibly shocked or disappointed when Oasis broke up, in fact, like many people I hoped it would allow us all to see Noel Gallagher step away from the band and make the incredible solo album he’s bound to make without the scorn of brother Liam for breaking apart from the typical all-for-one, one-for-all band mentality he’s always spoken of. To me, some of Oasis’ best moments were when Noel was on vocals – the MTV Unplugged in which Noel led the entire show while Liam cursed at him from a balcony was proof enough that no matter how much of a rock star he really is, the band would be nothing without Noel and some of the legendary songs he wrote.

So they broke up, with Liam forming Beady Eye along with Oasis members Gem Archer, Andy Bell, and Chris Sharrock. Their debut album, Different Gear, Still Speeding was alright, but I don’t recall listening to it too much after buying it. In the past few weeks, Noel Gallagher has revealed that he’s been quite busy with his solo project, and release the first single The Death of You and Me this week. I was right: expecting big things from any future solo outing, the new song is fantastic and instantly more memorable than anything on the Beady Eye debut. Don’t get me wrong, there’s good stuff on that album, but nothing stands out like even the guitar riff at the beginning of Noel’s song. The vocals and overall song is everything I’d expect from one of the UK’s best musicians. If this song is any indication of what we can expect from the full album, we’re in for quite a treat when Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is released October 17th.

Noel Gallagher Website

Wugazi – 13 Chambers

This has been making the rounds this week, and was suggested by friends so I finally gave it a listen. Never was a Fugazi or Wu-Tang fan, but this album is pretty cool. This makes me want to get out and go running for some reason.

Wugazi is described as “a labor of love by Cecil Otter & Swiss Andy. A year’s worth of cutting up every imaginable Fugazi record and trying out every Wu-Tang acapella they could get their hands on, resulted in Wugazi: 13 Chambers (a must listen for anyone who even looked at a skateboard in the 90’s).”

Another Chessboxin’ Argument is probably my favorite track so far, so here you go:

Download it here

Wugazi.com

Com Truise – Galactic Melt

I’ve been listening to the new Com Truise LP Galactic Melt quite a bit since it was released a few weeks ago and it hasn’t let me down yet when it comes to thinking I’ve taken a trip back to the eighties. I’m a huge fan of Truise’s (real name Seth Haley) Komputer Cast mixes, and Galactic Melt fits well alongside them when it comes to perfecting what he calls “mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk.” Everything here sounds exactly like it could have been created two decades ago; from a synth perspective he just nails a digital warmth from beginning to end.

VHS Sex and Hyperlips are my two favorite tracks at the moment, both of which are available below. I don’t think the VHS Sex video is anything official by Com Truise, but it’s equally perfect and hilarious.

Com Truise Website

Purchase Galactic Melt on iTunes

James Blake Live on NPR World Cafe

Via Pitchfork.com I just found this link to a great three-song live performance by James Blake for NPR’s World Cafe. The only live song by Blake I’d heard – and the first song I heard by him – was The Wilhelm Scream, and even after that it was hard to tell exactly how the sometimes sparse arrangements would work live. The first live song performed here is the excellent cover of Feist’s Limit To Your Love shows the variety he can throw into a live tune; I’d be willing to bet the song could be performed differently every time it’s played and always be great.

James Blake Official Website

Listen to James Black live on NPR World Cafe

Light Asylum – In Tension EP

I guess Light Asylum’s EP In Tension has been out for far longer than I realized given that it only became available on iTunes this week. I could be wrong… who knows. What matters is that I loved the hell out of the track Dark Allies, and each of the three tracks that accompany it on this EP stand up really well to the dark vibe in that song. Dark Allies and Skull Fuct (YouTube audio below) better both be used in the some sci-fi-apocalyptic-end-of-world movie as long as 80s new wave fashion is involved along with cheap explosions and asymmetrical face paint.

LightAsylum.com

Buy Light Asylum – In Tension EP on iTunes

Glasvegas – Euphoria /// Heartbreak \\\

We’re about halfway through 2011 and there have already been some phenomenal albums this year, and Glasvegas’ new album Euphoria /// Heartbreak \\\ is easily one of my favorites. I was a huge fan of their first album and was lucky to see them from onstage at Lollapalooza a few years ago when we had VIP passes. This new album is a huge leap forward in a sense that the whole thing flows as if it’s one giant emotion of a song. I’ve not really read much of what it’s about, but there’s some heavy stuff going on here for singer James Allan. It’s gotten great reviews and the opening  track combination of Pain Pain, Never Again and The World Is Yours really sets the tone for the entire album.

The first video below is the office video from Glasvegas for the song Euphoria, Take My Hand. The second video is a stunning live version of opening track The World Is Yours, performed on Swedish TV show Nyhetsmorgon. Give the album version a listen; this version is almost completely stripped down to vocals and should make the hair on your neck stand up if you’re familiar with the regular version.

Glasvegas Website

Click here to buy Euphoria /// Heartbreak \\\ on iTunes.

Weezer – Tired of Sex

This is a good-mood Friday song, and easily ranks in the top five best opening tracks on a rock album for me. I never checked out anything newer than Pinkerton; no offense to Weezer but the Blue Album and Pinkerton can’t be topped.

Battles – Gloss Drop

When Battles album Mirrored came out in 2007 I felt like they had something I should have liked – the video for Atlas was really cool – but the music did nothing for me. Most of the songs I listened to were just an annoyance. So it was with total surprise that I sampled new album Gloss Drop on iTunes and actually really liked what I heard. Immediatly recognizable was the lack of manipulated cartoonish vocals, which was the one thing I disliked the most about Mirrored. With former frontman Tyondai Braxton gone from the lineup, vocals have been taken on by a variety of guests throughout the album, with second song Ice Cream ending up as my favorite, with vocals by Matias Aguayo.

Gloss Drop feels like a perfect summer album no matter how frantic and chaotic it can be at times. There’s a ton of complex musical creativity going on here, and while it’s not something I’d listen to frequently, I like the range of weirdness and instrumentation. Semi NSFW video for Ice Cream posted below.

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