Deerhunter lead the pack of this week's new releases with the seventh full-length, Fading Frontier. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "one of their most direct and melodic releases. It’s also one of their best, featuring beautifully crafted songs of atmospheric psych-pop combining a warm, often-dreamy sound with poignant lyrics reflecting on survival and mortality."
Other highlights this week include the latest from Montreal duo Majical Cloudz, "another gorgeous set of brooding, atmospheric pop with a spare and spacious sound combining celestial keyboards and sparse percussion with Devon Welsh’s rich croon and emotive, deeply personal lyrics of love and death." Beach House surprised everyone with a new album, released less than two months in the shadow of their fifth full-length Depression Cherry. Yates says, "while it may not be quite as strong as Depression Cherry, it’s still an often-gorgeous set of hazy dream-pop."
Texas-raised, Brooklyn-based artist Alan Palomo (a.k.a. Neon Indian) shares a "strong set of psych-tinged electro-pop featuring a densely layered blend of twinkling synths, bright guitars, woozy textures, propulsive, occasionally tropical-tinged rhythms and sparkling pop hooks." Greek duo Keep Shelly In Athens return with "a well-crafted, emotive set ranging from haunting dream-pop to propulsive electro-pop and shimmering space disco." And Bay Area band The Mantles release "a well-crafted blend of psych-pop, ‘60s garage-rock, New Zealand jangle-pop, hypnotic Velvet Underground rock, acoustic folk-pop and more, combining often-dark lyrics with bittersweet melodies."
(Various Artists) Hamilton Leithauser – “To Susan On the West Coast Waiting”
from Gazing With Tranquility: A Tribute to Donovan on Rock the Cause
!!! – “Bam City”
from As If on Warp
Alex Bleeker & the Freaks – “The Rest”
from Country Agenda on Sinderlyn
Arcade Fire – “Porno”
from The Reflektor Tapes cassettes on Merge/Sonovox
Beach House – “Rough Song”
from Thank Your Lucky Stars on Sub Pop
Børns – “Electric Love”
from Dopamine on Interscope
Chris Forsyth / Koen Holtkamp – “Long Beach Idyll”
from The Island on Trouble in Mind
Chris Walla – “Kanta's Theme”
from Tape Loops on Transrecords
Christina Vantzou – “Shadow Sun”
from No. 3 on Kranky
Christine and the Queens – “Jonathan (feat. Perfume Genius)”
from Christine and the Queens on Because
Coheed and Cambria – “Island”
from The Color Before the Sun on 300 Entertainment
Dan Friel – “Rattler”
from Life on Thrill Jockey
Dave Heumann – “Here In The Deep”
from Here in the Deep on Thrill Jockey
Dead Ghosts – “Drink It Dry”
from Love and Death and All the Rest on Burger Records
Deerhunter – “Living My Life”
from Fading Frontier on 4AD
DJ Firmeza – “Alma Do Meu Pai”
from Alma Do Meu Pai on Príncipe Discos
Grave – “Redeemed Through Hate”
from Out of Respect for the Dead on Century Media
Gun Outfit – “Gotta Wanna”
from Dream All Over on Paradise of Bachelors
Half Japanese – “Firecracker”
from Boo! on Fire Records
Here We Go Magic – “Dancing World”
from Be Small on Secretly Canadian
Inventions – “Hearing Loss (Opening Edit)”
from Blanket Waves on Temporary Residence
Jean-Michel Jarre
from Electronica 1: The Time Machine on Ultra
Joe Budden – “Playing Our Part”
from All Love Lost on Entertainment One
John Carpenter – “Night (Zola Jesus & Dean Hurley Remix)”
Seattle's own Beat Connection make their Anti- Records debut with an album KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes as, a "first-rate set of sleek electro-pop inflected with New Wave, R&B, funk and other styles, with consistently strong songs featuring bright synths, jangly guitars, shimmering…
All week long on the KEXP Blog (here and here), we've been celebrating the release of Israel Nash's latest, Israel Nash’s Silver Season. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it "another impressive set of psych-tinged folk-rock reminiscent of Neil Young, featuring a warm, ‘70s-steeped sound with expr…
