Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Gravity The Seducer

Gravity The
Gravity The Seducer
~ Ladytron
Release Date: September 13, 2011

Buy new: $8.99

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Review & Description

Ladytron's 5th studio album, Gravity The Seducer, is the follow up to 2008's Velocifero. After the 3/29/11 release of Best Of Ladytron: 00-10, the new studio album is another chapter after a decade's worth of evocative, instinctive yet deliberate electronic pop music. Gravity the Seducer is more of a jump than the last album - more ethereal & melodic, a touch more abstract in places - baroque 'n' roll. Ladytron recorded the album in Kent's countryside, with co-producer Barny Barnicott (Artic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors) at the helm.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #489 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-09-13
  • Number of discs: 1

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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Yes & Also Yes

Yes
Yes & Also Yes
~ Mike Doughty
Release Date: August 29, 2011

Buy new: $9.02
16 used & new from $7.74

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Review & Description

Things Mike Doughty Would Like You To Know About His New Album Yes and Also Yes:

1. The title, Yes and Also Yes was the headline of my profile on an online dating site. I improvised it, because they wouldn't let me post until I wrote a headline. I was wretchedly unsuccessful at online dating.

2. The single, 'Na Na Nothing,' was partially stolen from a song written by Nikki Sixx, Dan Wilson (wrote 'Closing Time'), and Matt Gerrard (wrote a bunch of tunes in 'High School Musical') (I got their permission to steal it)

3. 'Holiday,' a Christmas song, is a duet with Rosanne Cash. I did a show with her, and she said, onstage, 'I feel nervous playing my new songs, because Mike Doughty is here, and he's such a great songwriter.' That blew my mind.

4. The song 'Into the Un' was written for, and rejected by the Twilight soundtrack. (It's about goth kids on LSD in a train station)

5. I recorded it in a studio in Koreatown, Manhattan, from July '10 to April '11. Produced by Pat Dillett. Notable musicians included my trusty
factotum Andrew 'Scrap' Livingston on bass, and the pianist Thomas Bartlett, aka Doveman, who basically plays with everybody who's groovy (Justin Bond, Antony and the Johnsons, Glen Hansard, The National, David Byrne, Yoko Ono). I'm releasing it on my own label, Snack Bar, through Megaforce. I split with Dave Matthews' label ATO so I could run my own shop and have more control, business-wise.

6. I wrote most of the songs at the legendary artists' colony Yaddo, where Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, James Baldwin, Truman Capote, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, Sylvia Plath, and a lot of other all-time giants worked. It was founded by a railroad tycoon's wife, in her mansion, built in the 1890s. They put up artists for a month or two, feed them in an opulent dining room, and give them space and time to work.

7. I used a capsule of the antidepressant duloxetine as a percussion instrument on some tracks. I held the tiny pill between my thumb and
forefinger, put it close to the mic and shook it so it made a shcka-shcka-shcka! sound.

8. I wrote a book about my ugly, drug-doing years called The Book of Drugs. It's coming out in 2012 on Da Capo/Perseus.

9. The song 'Makelloser Mann' is in German.

10. I play a Chinese lute (called a zhong ruan) on the song 'Telegenic Exes, #1'

11. In the liner notes, I say I exclusively wear Paul Smith suits and Sol Moscot eyeglasses, and eat only gummi bears made by Haribo. I did this because I hope they'll send me free stuff.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #230 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-29
  • Number of discs: 1

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Monday, August 29, 2011

Young The Giant

Young The
Young The Giant
~ Young the Giant
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 171 days in the top 100
4.7 out of 5 stars(23)

Buy new: $9.68
39 used & new from $9.39

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Review & Description

Young the Giant write the sort of soaring, melodic rock 'n' roll that's bound for greatness. From the jolting percussion and anthemic chorus of 'My Body' to the lovesick fervor of 'Cough Syrup,' to the uptempo, sun-stained pop of 'I Got,' the California five-piece's stunning debut features an arresting collection of songs that announce the presence of a vital new band.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #69 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-01-25
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Dimensions: .21 pounds

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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Mayday Parade

Mayday Parade
Mayday Parade
~
Mayday Parade (Artist)
Release Date: October 4, 2011

Buy new: $14.36

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Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #192 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-10-04
  • Number of discs: 1

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Obscurities

Obscurities
Obscurities
~ Stephin Merritt
Release Date: August 23, 2011

Buy new: $12.88
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Review & Description

Merge Records presents Obscurities by Stephin Merritt, a collection of Merritt's hard-to-find recordings dating back to his time on Merge (1994 1999) and prior, as well as five previously unreleased tracks.


In 1999, The Magnetic Fields' three-CD collection 69 Love Songs established Stephin Merritt as one of this generation's most talented songwriters. The Los Angeles Times hails Merritt as "one of indie-rock's most acclaimed figures" while Pitchfork calls him "smart, thorough, and unerringly precise."

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #234 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-23
  • Number of discs: 1

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Slave Ambient

Slave Ambient
Slave Ambient
~ The War on Drugs
Release Date: August 16, 2011

Buy new: $8.99
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Saturday, August 13, 2011

The Rip Tide

The Rip
The Rip Tide
~ Beirut (Artist)
Release Date: August 30, 2011

Buy new: $11.35

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Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #507 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-30
  • Number of discs: 1

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Strange Mercy

Strange Mercy
Strange Mercy
~ St. Vincent (Artist)
Release Date: September 13, 2011

Buy new: $9.99

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Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #155 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-09-13
  • Number of discs: 1

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Monday, August 8, 2011

Major / Minor

Major
Major / Minor
~ Thrice
Release Date: September 6, 2011

Buy new: $21.80

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Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #112 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-09-06
  • Number of discs: 1

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Sunday, August 7, 2011

Revival

Revival
Revival
~ Gillian Welch
Ranking has gone up in the past 24 hours 83 days in the top 100
4.8 out of 5 stars(88)

Buy new: $9.39
50 used & new from $5.28

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Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #98 in Music
  • Released on: 2001-06-12
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Format: Original recording reissued
  • Dimensions: .21 pounds

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Saturday, August 6, 2011

Mirror Traffic

Mirror Traffic
Mirror Traffic
~ Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks (Artist)
Release Date: August 23, 2011

Buy new: $11.68

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Review & Description

Coming off a triumphant year of Pavement reunion shows, Stephen Malkmus returned to the studio with Beck producing to record his fifth solo album, Mirror Traffic. Early press reactions are calling this gorgeous, crystalline production "the album we've been waiting 10 years for him to make," and it certainly contains the most heartfelt and indelible songs he's written in years. Gone are the long guitar workouts and jams that marked the last couple of Jicks albums, replaced by incredibly catchy and endearing pop songs.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #541 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-23
  • Number of discs: 1

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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Dirty Radio

Dirty Radio
Dirty Radio
~ Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside
4.0 out of 5 stars(1)
Release Date: May 23, 2011

Buy new: $9.58
28 used & new from $5.00

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Review & Description

'Best Band of 2010'! - Willamette Week

One of the most stunning and arresting voices in music!

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside vigorously mines a sweet spot between modern and vintage. Sallie's voice has elicited comparisons to classic jazz and blues icons, yet it is stoked with the fire of youth and rebellion, too, an instrument capable of conveying raw emotion and nuanced artistry in the same breath.

Since 2008, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside has been intertwining elements of swinging roots rock, country, jazz, and blues with a contemporary lyrical stance and Ford's instantly recognizable voice. The Portland quartet has steadily ascended through the ranks, earning a growing following throughout the Pacific Northwest.

For a thumbnail sketch of the band s aesthetic, lend an ear to 'Write Me A Letter,' wherein Sallie reminisces about snail mail correspondence while referencing contemporary authors and musicians. 'Against the Law' juxtaposes skeletal percussion and haunting guitar licks with Sallie s blunt carnality, while 'Miles' and 'Thirteen Years Old' show off a more torchy side, complete with judicious fiddle.

Public enthusiasm for the band s live shows and its self-released 2009 EP Not An Animal have helped them garner fans near and far. The Avett Brothers Seth Avett was so taken after seeing Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, he tapped them to open a pair of sold-out shows at Portland's Crystal Ballroom in summer 2009, and invited them to be their support act in California and Colorado. New Year's Eve found Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside performing at the 7,700-seat Asheville Civic Center with the Avetts and Langhorn Slim, the highlight of a string of Southeastern dates and the beginning of an auspicious twelve months; come the end of 2010, the quartet would be playing with Mavis Staples at the historic Egyptian Theater in Boise, ID.

Even before their full-length was finished, the group's accomplishments were significant enough that Portland music insiders crowned them the Best New Band of 2010 in local alt-weekly Willamette Week. In 2011, with Dirty Radio ready to serve as a calling card and the open road inviting them to bring their live show to audiences everywhere, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside is poised to receive similar accolades from coast-to-coast and beyond.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #337 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-05-23
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Dimensions: .13 pounds

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Black and White America

Black and
Black and White America
~ Lenny Kravitz
Release Date: August 30, 2011

Buy new: $12.97

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Review & Description

For his ninth album, Lenny Kravitz found much of his inspiration close to home. In fact, the very spirit of Black and White America came from the locations in which the music was made from a tiny, 400-person community in the Bahamas to the streets of Paris. And out of his experiences as a true citizen of the planet, his first new songs in three years became the most personal and diverse collection of his career. "No doubt, my environment definitely lends a lot to the creative process," he says.


Black and White America was written in reaction to a documentary Kravitz saw about racism in the post-Obama United States. Amidst the defiant lyrics, the songwriter references his own family history, and the experiences of his parents as an interracial couple in the 1960s. Though the sonic emphasis of Black and White America may land squarely on the funk, the force behind such guitar-driven smashes as "Fly Away" and "Are You Gonna Go My Way" hasn't turned his back on rock. Songs like "Rock Star City Life," and the first single, "Stand," give the album a healthy dose of crunching riffs.
The overwhelming emotion on Black and White America is the feel of optimism, faith and hope.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #244 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-30
  • Number of discs: 1

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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Pearl Jam Twenty (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam Twenty (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
~ Pearl Jam
Release Date: September 20, 2011

Buy new: $19.36

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Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #319 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-09-20
  • Number of discs: 2

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Our Blood

Our Blood
Our Blood
~ Richard Buckner
Release Date: August 2, 2011

Buy new: $12.87
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Review & Description

Since 2006's Meadow, fans of Richard Buckner have been clamoring for new material and wondering what was keeping their hero from releasing the new songs he would perform on the road. Well, it's a long story!

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #561 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-02
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Dimensions: .15 pounds

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Monday, August 1, 2011

Icky Mettle

Icky Mettle
Icky Mettle
~ Archers of Loaf
4.8 out of 5 stars(16)
Release Date: August 2, 2011

Buy new: $13.65

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Review & Description

Merge Records reissues all four Archers of Loaf studio albums, starting with their acclaimed 1993 debut album Icky Mettle. Re-mastered by Bob Weston and featuring new liner notes by Robert Christgau, Icky Mettle will come with bonus material including the entire Archers of Loaf vs. The Greatest of All Time EP as well as singles and b-sides from the Icky Mettle era. Reissues of Vee Vee, All the Nation's Airports and White Trash Heroes will follow.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #315 in Music
  • Released on: 2011-08-02
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Dimensions: .16 pounds

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