Listening Habits 05-06.2016

At the top of the list of our favorite albums for May - June 2016 we have Parquet Courts' "Human Performance", perhaps the best effort yet for the New York-based indie rockers who have had an excellent run in the last 4 years, offering us a string of outstanding releases starting with 2012' "Light Up Gold".

The same can be said for Woods, also from the Big Apple, who recently released their 9th album "City Sun Eater in the River of Light". Woods have been supplying us with an awesome blend of folk and psych rock for several years now and their latest effort finds them in top form, picking up right where they left off with 2014's excellent "With Light and with Love".

It's no alarm and no surprise that Radiohead's return is also among the best releases of the last couple of months, and the same is true for Bob Mould and Kristin Hersh's 50 Foot Wave, who both add terrific new chapters to an outstanding legacy that goes all the way back to the '80s and two of our all-time favorite bands, Hüsker Dü and Throwing Muses respectively.

We did have a few surprises lately though and perhaps the best one came from The Coral whose "Distance Inbetween" is not only their best job since resurfacing a few years ago, but also a record that can compete with their mid '00s output for the honor of being named their best effort yet.

White Lung have given us evidence in the past that they can rock as inspiredly hard as their '90s indie rock heroes and "Paradise" adds more fuel to their fire, while Frankie Cosmos, aka singer-songwriter Greta Simone Kline, excels at the two-minute pop song, singing elaborate tales that you simply cannot believe how they all have fitted in the brief but wonderful 28 minutes of her new album "Next Thing".

Lots more great staff on offer recently as you can see in our Top 15 Albums list below. Have a listen and make sure to pay us a visit next week to see what will make it in our Top 30 list for the first half of 2016.

Top 15 Albums

 1.  Human Performance - PARQUET COURTS
2.  City Sun Eater In The River Of Light - WOODS
3.  A Moon Shaped Pool - RADIOHEAD
4.  Distance Inbetween - THE CORAL
5.  Next Thing - FRANKIE COSMOS
6.  Paradise - WHITE LUNG
7.  Bath White EP - 50 FOOT WAVE
8.  Patch The Sky - BOB MOULD
9.  Strangers - MARISSA NADLER
10. Funs Cool - THE PRETTIOTS
11. Chaosmosis - PRIMAL SCREAM
12. Kin - THE DUKE SPIRIT
13. Hold/Still - SUUNS
14. Stiff - WHITE DENIM
15. Punk 45: Chaos in the City of Angels and Devils. Hollywood From X To Zero & Hardcore On The Beaches: Punk In Los Angeles 1977-81 - VARIOUS ARTISTS

Top 15 Tracks

1.  Sun City Creeps - WOODS
2.  Burn The Witch - RADIOHEAD
3.  Chasing The Tail Of A Dream - THE CORAL
4.  Dust - PARQUET COURTS
5.  Bath White - 50 FOOT WAVE
6.  Dead Weight - WHITE LUNG
7.  The End Of Things - BOB MOULD
8.  Sinister - FRANKIE COSMOS
9.  Janie In Love - MARISSA NADLER
10. Where The Light Gets In - PRIMAL SCREAM
11. Hands - THE DUKE SPIRIT
12. Stabler - THE PRETTIOTS
13. Real Deal Momma - WHITE DENIM
14. Translate - SUUNS
15. Female Vampire - JENNY HVAL

 Parquet Courts - Dust

Listening Habits 08-09.14

It's certainly no small feat: 8 albums into an 18-year recording career, Spoon remain at the top of their game and deliver once again one of the best rock records of the year.

The ten tracks (9 originals and one cover) on "They Want My Soul" create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, complementing each other and making for a pleasurable listening experience from start to finish that will have you hitting the repeat button again and again.

Our August - September top albums list also includes Interpol's "Elpintor", their first album as a trio, which several reviews have hailed as a return to form. Personally, I don't think they have ever lost it, but if you have a record as awesome as "Turn On The Bright Lights" for your debut, you should prepare for the fact that people's expectations for your band will tend to be rather unrealistic. Thankfully Interpol don't seem to mind and get on with the business of making fine records, with "Elpintor" certainly not far from that early career high mark.

Our Top 5 is rounded up by the melodic California garage-pop of "Worship The Sun", Allah-Lahs' sophomore effort, the grunge-punk aggression of Canada's White Lung who have justly seen their profile rise with the explosive "Deep Fantasy", their third LP, and the experimental, laid-back hip hop sounds of Shabazz Palaces's "Lesse Majesty". 

Here's the complete Top 15 Albums list for August - September 2014:

Top 15 Albums

1.   They Want My Soul - SPOON
2.   Elpintor - INTERPOL
3.   Worship The Sun - ALLAH-LAS
4.   Deep Fantasy - WHITE LUNG
5.   Lese Majesty - SHABAZZ PALACES
6.   Pe'ahi - THE RAVEONETTES
7.   Initiation - HAUNTED HEARTS
8.   Hour Of The Dawn - LA SERA
9.   Beauty & Ruin - BOB MOULD
10. Revelation - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
11. Luminous - THE HORRORS
12. World Peace Is None Of Your Business - MORRISSEY
13.  The Voyager - JENNY LEWIS
14. Upside Down Mountain - CONOR OBERST
15. Clear Lake Forest - THE BLACK ANGELS

Top 15 Tracks

1.   Food For Clouds - THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
2.   Do You - SPOON
3.   All The Rage Back Home - INTERPOL
4.   Drown With The Monster - WHITE LUNG
5.   501-415 - ALLAH-LAS
6.   Killer In The Streets - THE RAVEONETTES
7.   Johnny Jupiter - HAUNTED HEARTS
8.   Losing To The Dark (mp3 via Stereogum) - LA SERA
9.   I Don't Know You Anymore - BOB MOULD
10. Kiss Me A Lot - MORRISSEY
11. Head Underwater - JENNY LEWIS
12. Hundreds Of Ways - CONOR OBERST
13. Hot And Cold - EX HEX
14. I See You - THE HORRORS
15. They Come In Gold - SHABAZZ PALACES

Spoon - Do You

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