Listening Habits 04-05.11

The two albums that stand out among the latest pack of new cds that pile up next to our stereo come from a pair of names that belong to the cream of the ’00s alternative rock crop; TV On The Radio and The Kills.

"Nine Types Of Light", the fourth album by TV On The Radio (fifth if you count their self-released and hard to find debut "OK Calculator"), may not scrape the same heights as their three previous stellar efforts, but it certainly helps the band to maintain its remarkably high career average score. The record’s laid back, melodic grooves give the impression of a band that doesn’t feel anymore the pressure to prove a point and who is confident enough to kick back and have some fun. The aim is no longer to experiment or try to find new ways of expression but to make robust, impeccably produced dance-rock rhythms and pop melodies with soul. The mission is successful and the end result is an entertaining record that although it may not make history like "Return to Cookie Mountain" or "Dear Science", it will certainly move your body and your mind.

Another early 2011 highlight comes from The Kills and their fourth full length "Blood Pressures". The powerful combination of Alison Mosshart’s irresistible wail and Jamie Hince’s killer guitar riffs has given us some of the most addictive tracks of the ’00s. Their struggle for dominance over the drum machine’s primitive rock beats continues in The Kills’ latest work, where the band’s unique chemistry still creates sparks and its unique blend of blues, punk, reggae and dance music produces once more some truly memorable tracks like "Future Starts Slow", "Heart Is A Beating Drum", "Nail In My Coffin", "DNA" or The Congos’ sampling "Satellite", all necessary additions to a future "best of".

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s sophomore effort "Belong" shows the young band’s ambition to create a bigger and bolder sound. By handing over production and mixing duties to esteemed producers Flood and Alan Moulder the band has upgraded its sound, while the influence of the ’90s indie rock big guitars threatens to overshadow the lo-fi C-86 naïve obsession that was pivotal to its debut’s effortless charm. In the new record the ’80s twee-pop melodies of the band's early efforts step into ’90s fashion shoegaze shoes, while The Smashing Pumpkins prove to be just as influential as Ride or The Jesus And Mary Chain. Although this new batch of songs lacks the immediacy of the first record, the attention given to the details of the sound and the band’s desire to evolve and expand its sonic palette has helped to create a strong whole that promises even greater things for the future.

The top 5 of the third edition of Listening Habits for 2011 is made up by Cold Cave’s second album "Cherish The Light Years" where the band’s '80s dark electropop sound transforms into an anthemic synth-rock orgy that sounds better with each spin and Religious To Damn’s promising debut "Glass Prayer", a record that draws inspiration from legendary names of the early '80s such as Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush or Japan and introduces us to the amazing vocal talents of their singer and songwriter Zohra Atash.

Top 20 Albums

1.  Nine Types Of Light - TV ON THE RADIO
2.  Blood Pressures - THE KILLS
3.  Belong - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
4.  Cherish The Light Years - COLD CAVE
5.  Glass Prayer - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN
6.  Riot Now! - ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
7.  Mazes - MOON DUO
8.  Degeneration Street - THE DEARS
9.  Share The Joy - VIVIAN GIRLS
10. Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES
11. Alela Diane & Wild Divine - ALELA DIANE
12. Tao Of The Dead - …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
13. Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS
14. Mine Is Yours - COLD WAR KIDS
15. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? - THE VACCINES
16. Trump-Harm - 31KNOTS
17. My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky - SWANS
18. Cloak And Cipher - LAND OF TALK
19. Untitled - FACTORY FLOOR
20. Dagger Paths EP - FOREST SWORDS

Top 20 Tracks

1.  Future crimes - WILD FLAG
2.  Heart is a beating drum - THE KILLS
3.  Will do - TV ON THE RADIO
4.  (R E A L L O V E) - FACTORY FLOOR
5.  Slow motion - HUSBAND
6.  Terra - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN

7.  Through the floor - CRYSTAL STILTS
8.  Satellite - ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
9.  When you cut - MOON DUO
10. Throw away this - TELEPATHE
11. Underworld USA - COLD CAVE
12. Strange - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
13. The dog is black (feat. Liela Moss) - UNKLE
14. Milkman - EMA
15. To begin - ALELA DIANE
16. Helplessness blues - FLEET FOXES
17. Blood - THE DEARS
18. Rope - FOO FIGHTERS
19. Vanishing of time - VIVIAN GIRLS
20. Norgaard - THE VACCINES

TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light

(mp3s via Stereogum, KEXP, Spinner, Sub Pop)

Meet Ze Monsta!

It was one of the many highlights of PJ Harvey's amazing performance tonight at Primavera Sound Festival. Here it is performed earlier this year at Coachella:

PJ Harvey - Meet Ze Monsta, live @ Coachella 2011

The Black Heart Procession, live @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, May 21, 2011)

After last year's reunion with his old Three Miles Pilot buddies for the release of the rather excellent “The Inevitable Past is the Future Forgotten”, their first album in more than a decade, Pall Jenkins is back to his main job, leading The Black Heart Procession down the dark alleys of heartbreak and romantic despair.

For its latest tour the band is down to its two main members, the creative core of Pall Jenkins and Tobias Nathaniel, and is presenting a stripped down show, playing tracks from their impressive back catalog that work best with just the bare essentials.

Without the aid of a rhythm section to give a rock pulse to the music, Black Heart Procession’s main men relied just to Nathaniel’s piano, Jenkins’ musical saw and the occasional use of electric guitar to bring their dark songs to life. With this spartan orchestration the music sounded even more ghostly and haunting than before, a séance to communicate with the spirits of lost loves and broken dreams, while the weight of each song was carried solely by Jenkins’ voice and sorrowful lyrics, making their gothic universe seem an even darker shade of black.

For 75 minutes this bare to the bones incarnation of Black Heart Procession’s music accompanied damaged love stories about hearts that bleed raindrops, blue tears, drugs, thieves who cannot lie and letters that you carry with you without finding the courage to open. The highlight of the night came right at the end of the second and final encore with a spirited rendition of “It's a Crime I Never Told You about the Diamonds in Your Eyes”, one of the classics off their second album “2”.

Although in a few occasions I found myself missing the electricity that would come with a full band line-up, it was certainly intriguing to witness this stripped down and more intimate aspect of Black Heart Procession’s sound, even if sometimes the mood became much heavier than usual. A concert for piano and saw perfectly suited for a night of drinking your sorrows away.

The Black Heart Procession - It's A Crime I Never Told You About The Diamonds In Your Eyes (live @ Gagarin 205, Athens)

1982: Top 50 Singles

Another blast from the past from Cool Music Database: the list with our 50 favorite singles from 1982 can be found over there, while here you can press the widget's play button below and listen to them all.

If you also check out the list of our Top Albums from that same year, you can easily understand that 1982 was the year of The Jam for me. Paul Weller's band started the year with its third UK No.1 single, the double A-side "Town Called Malice / Precious" released on January 29, continued with the excellent, soul and funk influenced sixth album "The Gift" which also reached the top spot in their country, and closed it with the shock announcement of their leader's decision to split up the band at the height of its popularity. Weller's ever-changing moods led him to the eclectic pop of The Style Council and, to his credit, he never gave in to the temptation of reforming his legendary band, stating that "The Jam's music still means something to people and a lot of that's because we stopped at the right time, it didn't go on and become embarrassing" - words of wisdom, indeed.

The Jam - Town Called Malice

Found Sound: Husband, Soft Metals, 31Knots, Teepee, sistra, neyBuzz

The web is full of cool sounds waiting to be discovered. In our Found Sound series of posts we'll be sharing our latest findings with you, focusing on lesser known artists that deserve your attention. In the first installment we have oddball, tribal electronica from Italian duo Husband, smooth electropop from Soft Metals and adventurous rock from 31Knots, both from Portland, lo-fi guitar frenzy from Miami's Teepee, Russian indiertonica from sistra and mellow dub from San Francisco's neyBuzz.

Husband - Love Song

  01 Husband - Love Song by Robot Elephant Records

Husband are Gianlorenzo and Chiara from Bologna, Italy and on their debut EP "Love Song / Slow Motion" (out this Monday on Robot Elephant) they offer mesmerizing, tribal electro sounds that bring to mind ‘80s experimentalists like 23 Skidoo or Cabaret Voltaire. The EP also offers remixes of "Love Song" from Mascara, Sifaka Kong and like-minded, '80s electropop-loving act Soft Metals which transform the track into a trance anthem, ready for the dancefloor of a forward-thinking indie-disco.

And speaking about Soft Metals, the Portland-based duo of Ian Hicks and Patricia Hall, here’s the mp3 of "Psychic Driving" off their forthcoming self-titled debut LP (via Pitchfork):

Soft Metals -  Psychic Driving"

31Knots - Candles on Open Water

  31Knots - Candles on Open Water by Polyvinyl Records

31Knots are about to release their 7th full-length, "Trump Harm", on Polyvinyl this June. The track "Candles on Open Water" is the first taster from the adventurous-sounding album which can be pre-ordered here along with Vin Blanc’s "Chroma Key", the limited edition debut solo effort from 31Knots guitarist and vocalist Joe Haege (free mp3 of the track "Red Thread" here).

Teepee - Sewing Machine

"Sewing Machine" is one of the standout tracks from the album "Morals" (available for free download here) by Teepee, the solo project of Eric Lopez-Zareno. The combination of explosive guitar and frantic drum-machine on this one seems like a lo-fi attempt to recreate Big Black's ferocious sound. Elsewhere things get more trippy and psychedelic.

sistra - Everyone has his own remote control

  | сИстра | - Everyone has his own remote control by | sistra |

sistra are from Khabarovsk, Russia and make dreamy indietronica. "Everyone has his own remote control" is one of their newest tracks available on soundcloud and it's perhaps their best effort to date.

neyBuzz - REvolution

  REvolution by Neybuzz Music

Finale of our first Found Sounds with a mellow dub instrumental from San Francisco's neyBuzz, the title track off their 3rd album whose laid-back sound has been described as "Augustus Pablo meets Curtis Mayfield on Independent Street".

More new discoveries coming up soon, on the next Found Sounds installment.

High Places @ Room 205

Room 205's site has a great looking collection of videos with performances by a select group of artists including Soft Moon, La Sera, Crystal Antlers and High Places. Check out below C.M.C. favorites High Places performing inside an enormous, colorful yarn sculpture the track "On Giving Up", one of the highlights from last year's excellent LP "High Places vs. Mankind":

Get the Urge!

Urge Overkill, one of our favorite '90s rock bands, are about to release "Rock & Roll Submarine", their first studio album in 15 years, and for 72 hours you have the chance to get it for a minimum of 2$! Head over to http://bit.ly/urgeovr from Tuesday, May 10th at 9:00am PST to get it priced at Pay What You Want ($2 min, $7 suggested) with 10% of donations going to MusiCares (www.grammy.org/musicares) - more info available here.

We haven't heard the new album just yet, but its first single "Effigy" certainly brings back some great memories - like this excellent 1993 single, "Sister Havana" from "Saturation", I believe the only orange colored vinyl in my record collection and certainly one of the top rock records of the '90s:

Urge Overkill - Sister Havana

New Releases : April 2011

Time for our monthly round up of the most interesting new releases with useful audio/video preview links:

Albums

TV ON THE RADIO - Nine Types of Light
THE KILLS - Blood Pressures
tUnE-yArDs - Whokill
CRYSTAL STILTS - In Love with Oblivion
VIVIAN GIRLS - Share the Joy
THE FEELIES - Here Before
MEAT PUPPETS - Lollipop
LOW - C'mon
BILL CALLAHAN - Apocalypse
PANDA BEAR - Tomboy
MOON DUO - Mazes
COLD CAVE - Cherish the Light Years
FOO FIGHTERS - Wasting Light
THE RAVEONETTES - Raven in the Grave
TIMES NEW VIKING - Dancer Equired
EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
CAT'S EYES - Cat's Eyes
ALELA DIANE - Alela Diane & Wild Divine
HOWE GELB & A BAND OF GYPSIES - Alegrias
GLASVEGAS - EUPHORIC / / / HEARTBREAK
METRONOMY - The English Riviera
PREFUSE 73 - The Only She Chapters
ATMOSPHERE - The Family Sign
BRAIDS - Native Speaker
CRAFT SPELLS - Idle Labor
AN HORSE - Walls

Singles & EPs

PJ HARVEY - The Glorious Land
WILD FLAG - Future Crimes / Glass Tambourine
FACTORY FLOOR - ~ (R E A L L O V E)
GANG GANG DANCE - Glass Jar
RADIOHEAD - The Butcher / Supercollider
DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - You are a Tourist
ARCTIC MONKEYS - Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair
BEASTIE BOYS - Make Some Noise
UNKLE - Only The Lonely EP
ESBEN AND THE WITCH - Chorea EP
FLEET FOXES - Helplessness Blues
DEERHUNTER - Memory Boy
BLACK MOUNTAIN - Rollercoaster
YUCK - Get Away
THE JOY FORMIDABLE - Whirring
THE GO! TEAM - Apollo Throwdown / Voice Yr Choice
COLD CAVE - Villains of the Moon 
FRANZ FERDINAND - Covers EP
DANGER MOUSE / DANIELE LUPPI - Two Against One / Black
URGE OVERKILL - Effigy 
WAVVES - Thorns
TWO WOUNDED BIRDS - Midnight Wave
METRONOMY - The Look
OF MONTREAL - Controller Sphere EP
DIRTY BEACHES - No Fun
KAREN ELSON - Vicious
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN - Nervous
BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY and MATT SWEENEY - Must Be Blind
MIDLAKE / WILL SELF - Am I Going Insane?
BUILT TO SPILL - Ripple
THE FLAMING LIPS / NEON INDIAN - The Flaming Lips With Neon Indian
JUSTICE - Civilization
UFFIE - Wordy Rappinghood
OH LAND - Voodoo

Summer's just around the corner! Get on your surfboard and catch the "Midnight Wave" with Two Wounded Birds: 

(audio via pitchfork, stereogum, soundcloud or the relevant record labels)