Listening Habits 09-10.12

As we’re coming closer to the end of 2012 and the beginning of the annual internet listmania, let’s take a closer look at our favorite albums and tracks of this autumn:

Cat Power’s return to action with "Sun", her first album of original material in six years, turns out to be a runaway success here at Cool Music Central. Both of the album’s singles, "Ruin" and "Cherokee", have been in heavy rotation for the last few months and now the album itself tops our autumn Top 15 list. Arguably this type of success will not solve any of Chan Marshal’s recent troubles, but we do feel she has done an exceptional job with this record and we’d like to send her our best wishes for a speedy recovery. "Peace and Love" to you, too, Chan!

Meanwhile, the '90s comeback is at full swing right now, with several of the era’s indie rock protagonists offering excellent new albums that can stand their own against their ace back catalog. Bob Mould’s "Silver Age" is a return to the sound of his Sugar years, a record that proves he can still produce the same fire and fury that inspired the early '90s alternative rock explosion.

With the release of "I Bet On Sky", Dinosaur Jr.’s third post-reunion album, the original line up of the band now has as many albums as it did in its '80s heyday. Although it’s rather impossible to reproduce the excitement of a record like "Bug", there’s no denying that the new material has the strength to inspire the same awe and keep the band at the top of today’s noisemaking elite, without any help from their past glories.

Other notable returns of our '90s indie rock heroes include the reunited Jon Spencer Blues Explosion with the hard-hitting "Meat and Bone" and Corin Tucker with her ace, blues-killing, second solo work "Kill My Blues". Spoon’s Britt Daniel and Wolf Parade - Handsome Furs vocalist - guitarist Dan Boeckner have joined powers as Divine Fits and have produced a thing of divine noise-pop beauty, "A Thing Called Divine Fits". Ariel Pink has gone hi-fi for "Mature Themes", a record whose psychedelic experimentation pays off handsomely, a statement that is also true for Tame Impala’s "Lonerism". Wild Nothing offer the purest of pop delights with "Nocturne", while Canadian newcomers METZ are here to kick ass and take names with their vicious noise bomb of a debut album. Killer staff, indeed!

Top 15 Albums

1.   Sun - CAT POWER
2.   Silver Age - BOB MOULD
3.   I Bet On Sky - DINOSAUR JR.
4.   A Thing Called Divine Fits - DIVINE FITS
5.   Metz - METZ
6.   Mature Themes - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
7.   Lonerism - TAME IMPALA
8.   Nocturne - WILD NOTHING
9.   Kill My Blues - CORIN TUCKER BAND
10. Meat And Bone - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
11. Twins - TY SEGALL
12. Circles - MOON DUO
13. Endless Flowers - CROCODILES
14. Centipede Hz - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
15. Four - BLOC PARTY

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Wet Blanket - METZ (mp3 via sub pop)
2.   My Love Is Real - DIVINE FITS
3.   Peace And Love - CAT POWER
4.   Elephant - TAME IMPALA
5.   Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know - DINOSAUR JR.
6.   You’re The Doctor - TY SEGALL
7.   Only In My Dreams - ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GRAFFITI
8.   Paradise - WILD NOTHING (mp3 via rolling stone)
9.   Neskowin - CORIN TUCKER BAND
10. I Got Nothing - DUM DUM GIRLS
11. Star Machine - BOB MOULD
12. Black Mold - THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
13. Sleepwalker - MOON DUO
14. Endless Flowers - CROCODILES (mp3 via spinner)
15. New Town Burnout - ANIMAL COLLECTIVE
16. Octopus - BLOC PARTY
17. Secret Days - SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS (mp3 via stereogum)
18. Fireflies - STILL CORNERS (mp3 via pitchfork)
19. Wrath Of God - CRYSTAL CASTLES (mp3 via stereogum)
20. Underground - THE DARK RAGS

Wild Nothing - Paradise, starring Michelle Williams!

Listening Habits 07-08.12

On the first rainy day of autumn we’re looking back on the second half of the summer and choosing our favorite albums and tracks:

As we’ve said before, Purity Ring have made the Album of the Summer for us. The young Montreal duo, consisting of Megan James on vocals and Corin Roddick on instruments, succeeds in crafting a rich electronic tapestry on debut album "Shrines", masterfully combining the best elements from the last three decades of electronic music. Tampered hip hop and R&B beats provide the idiosyncratic rhythms that propel the ethereal synth-pop melodies, while Megan’s dreamy vocals become the most important instrument at the heart of Purity Ring’s luscious sound. "Shrines" is one of the albums that are defining the electronic sound of 2012 and given that "Visions" by label-mate Grimes was equally important in that respect, I imagine that they must be feeling pretty proud at 4AD right now.

Further evidence that currently the guitar sound has taken a back seat and electronic music is doing all the innovation driving is provided by "WIXIW", Liars’ sixth album. The former post-punkers and noise-makers, in another twist of their adventurous career path, have ditched the guitars and with the help of Mute label boss and synth-music pioneer Daniel Miller have crafted their most electronic record to date. Liars’ instruments of choice may have changed here, but the end result is as exciting as ever and no less unpredictable, ranging from the fine synthpop of first single "No.1 Against the Rush" to the aggressive dance punk of new single "Brats".

For those of us who are still in need of a regular guitar-noise fix, thankfully there were the summer new releases by Japandroids and A Place To Bury Strangers to keep our spirits high, with a little help from the new tunes by Dinosaur Jr. (their new album "I Bet On Sky" is expected soon) and Chelsea Light Moving, Thurston Moore’s new band, whose "Burroughs" sounds like a long lost Sonic Youth b-side.

Top 12 Albums

1.   Shrines - PURITY RING
2.   WIXIW - LIARS
3.   Celebration Rock - JAPANDROIDS
4.   Worship - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
5.   Synthetica - METRIC
6.   The Money Store - DEATH GRIPS
7.   R.A.P. Music - KILLER MIKE
8.   Confess - TWIN SHADOW
9.   Tuscon - GIANT GIANT SAND
10. Heaven - THE WALKMEN
11. With Siinai: Heartbreaking Bravery - MOONFACE
12. In The Belly Of The Brazen Bull - THE CRIBS

Top 20 Tracks

1.   Watch The Corners - DINOSAUR JR.
2.   Cherokee - CAT POWER
3.   Belispeak - PURITY RING
4.   Synthetica - METRIC
5.   Heaven - THE WALKMEN
6.   The House That Heaven Built - JAPANDROIDS
7.   Burroughs - CHELSEA LIGHT MOVING
8.   Alone - A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS
9.   Plague - CRYSTAL CASTLES
10. Brats - LIARS
11. I’ve Seen Footage - DEATH GRIPS (interactive video link)
12. Big Beast - KILLER MIKE
13. Five Seconds - TWIN SHADOW
14. The Base - PAUL BANKS
15. Lord Knows - DUM DUM GIRLS
16. I'm Not The Phoenix Yet - MOONFACE
17. Die Life - THE SOFT MOON
18. Glitters Like Gold - THE CRIBS
19. Undiscovered Country - GIANT GIANT SAND
20. OK - MICACHU AND THE SHAPES

Watch The Corners - DINOSAUR JR.

(mp3s via stereogum, kexp & sub pop)

Listening Habits 06-07.2009

It's finally time for our summer vacations but before we prepare our suitcases and hang the "Gone Fishin'" sign, we'll be taking a look at the latest batch of fine records that fell into our lap recently.

The "Album of the Month" title for July goes to the latest Jack White-featuring supergroup, The Dead Weather. This time he has taken up the drums and hooked up with Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Dean Fertita from Queens Of The Stone Age and Jack Lawrence from The Greenhornes and, of course, The Raconteurs. Once again, his ongoing mission to deliver at least one classic record every year is accomplished. And with such an illustrious company it would be really hard to fail. The composition of the fiery, blues-inspired rock of "Horehound" is divided almost equally among the four members, while Alison handles the vocals in her customary passionate style, whispering sweet nothings in your ear one moment and exploding the next, howling her intentions to "grab you by the hair and hang you up from the heavens".

The singing style of Jonnine Standish of HTRK (stands for Hate Rock), on the other hand, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Hypnotic, barely above a whisper and yet completely captivating. The 9 songs of "Marry Me Tonight" seem to be variations on the same slow-burning theme but they possess insidiously addictive powers and they'll have you craving for more just as the last notes of closing track (and upcoming single) "Disco" fade into silence.

Meanwhile, the return of the old school of indie-rock continues. After Sonic Youth's comeback to their indie roots with an album that takes inspiration from their early '90s sound, Dinosaur Jr. continue to build momentum and present another fine, typically ear-splitting LP, while their '80s SST comrades, Meat Puppets, return to form with "Sewn Together". The explosion of the grunge revival seems imminent and Rick Froberg's Obits (the voice of Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes) might be the ones to hit the detonator button. "I Blame You" is a hot lava of guitar meltdown and I'm starting to look for my old flannel shirts just in case. Did I forget to mention that Domino is re-releasing early Flipper albums? Oh, yeah! Punk Armageddon is upon us! And 'till that time comes, we'll be also grooving to the sounds of Viva Voce's "Rose City", The Gossip's "Music For Men" and Dirty Projectors' "Bitte Orca", while complicating things further with Jarvis Cocker and commuting with Jason Lytle.

Top 10 Albums

1. Horehound - THE DEAD WEATHER
2. Marry Me Tonight - HTRK
3. Farm - DINOSAUR JR.
4. Sewn Together - MEAT PUPPETS
5. Rose City - VIVA VOCE
6. I Blame You - OBITS
7. Music For Men - GOSSIP
8. Bitte Orca - DIRTY PROJECTORS
9. Further Complications - JARVIS COCKER
10. Yours Truly, The Commuter - JASON LYTLE

Top 15 Tracks

1. Treat me like your mother - THE DEAD WEATHER
2. Got nuffin - SPOON
3. Disco - HTRK
4. Sick muse - METRIC
5. Over it - DINOSAUR JR.
6. I'm not you - MEAT PUPPETS
7. Triangle walks - FEVER RAY
8. Heads will roll - YEAH YEAH YEAHS
9. Heavy cross - GOSSIP
10. Angela - JARVIS COCKER
11. Die a little - VIVA VOCE
12. Widow of my dreams - OBITS
13. Sunken union boat - JOHN VANDERSLICE
14. Ghost of my old dog - JASON LYTLE
15. Useful chamber - DIRTY PROJECTORS

Site News: To make it easier to follow our music recommendations and the latests posts of Cool Music Central and Cool Music Database (did you check out our 1988 list?), we are introducing Twitter Updates. You can see the latest updates in the blog's sidebar and by signing up and following us on Twitter you'll be able to find out all our latest music discoveries (or oldies flashbacks, as the case might be sometimes) as they happen. Come on over, it might be fun!

When we return from our short break, we are planing to hit you with another Blast From The Past. This time the late '90s will be under the microscope, selecting our Top 50 albums from 1995 to 1999. We leave you for now with this month's Killer Track, The Dead Weather's new single "Treat me like your mother":

The Dead Weather - Treat me like your mother

Clash of the Titans: Nick Cave vs. Dinosaur Jr. - Live in Athens (June 7, 2008)

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with Ed Kuepper (Lycabettus Theater, June 7)

"When it rains, it really pours" goes a wise old saying. And this was certainly true for the Athenian rock community on June 7, not because the skies opened up (it was actually a very nice, warm summer night), but because after a particularly poor winter for live music, we were suddenly faced with the impossible task of choosing between Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds playing the Lycabettus Theatre (one of the finest places for summer concerts in Athens, if you don't mind climbing hills) and the very first Dinosaur Jr. Greek gig in Polis Theatre. Your correspondent's choice, not with a light heart mind you, was the Nick Cave gig for 3 simple reasons: a) Cave is currently going through his renaissance period, as proven by his latest albums that are certainly among his best, b) the legendary Ed Kuepper with Jeff Wagener (of The Saints and Laughing Clowns fame) was the support act, and c) I had the pleasure of seeing the reunited Dinosaur Jr. less than a year ago, at 2007's Rock En Seine festival in Paris.

So, it was up the hill for me, for the Aussie rock fest. The Ed & Jeff show warmed us up with a 45-minutes guitar & drums maelstrom (kicking off with the awesome "Honey steel's gold"), followed by a 2 hours plus Bad Seeds extravaganza: four tracks off the latest album ("Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!!", "Midnight Man", "Today's Lesson", "More News from Nowhere") and countless classics from the last two decades ("Your funeral my trial", "Tupelo", "Mercy seat", "Deanna", "Papa won't leave you Henry", "Red right hand", "The lyre of Orpheus", "Get ready for love", "Let love in", "Hard on for love" - you name it, they probably played it). For "Stagger Lee" Ed and Jeff joined the Bad Seeds, briefly forming the ultimate Aussie supergroup, for one of the highlights of an already extraordinary night! Here's some exclusive photos from the gig plus video footage for "Wanted Man" (courtesy of our in-house photographer Alegra):

Ed Kuepper & Jeff Wagener (Lycabettus Theater, June 7 2008)

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Wanted Man in Athens City

As for Dinosaur Jr., we shall always have Paris (see picture below). However, if you'd like a small taste of the Polis gig, have a look at the video for "The Wagon", shot on location by our good friend Littlefluffyclouds (of the infamous Plateau blog). Thanks fluffy!

Dinosaur Jr. (Rock En Seine 2007)

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The Wagon