New Music – Week of 04/28/2009
Image from Flickr user Jon & Brigid
It’s ridiculously hot outside, and the building managers haven’t switched the air system from heat to AC. So it’s been hot and sticky all evening. Which is ironic, since last week you had to wear a winter coat to survive.
There’s a stillness to the mugginess. No breeze stirs the moisture or the heat. When the sun drops below the horizon, the heat only retreats a dozen degrees; like a monster slinking back to its cave after a sudden start: you can still see its eyes, still feel its breath.
But as miserable as sweat-soaked clothes can be, it does mean one thing – summer music is around the corner. Jangley hooks acquire an extra poignancy, carrying on the notes the magic to evoke a departure from any urgency.
Not sure that there’s much of that here, or that there’s any reason behind my musings beyond a heat-induced fever. Nonetheless, here’s what I’m looking forward to this week:
A Camp – Colonia – Many years ago, long outside of any statute of limitations, I grabbed A Camp’s first disc off some file sharing network or another. Nina Persson’s voice was intoxicating; far more so than it had been on any Cardigans disc before or after Gran Turismo. I since lost this album (when I went legit and ditched any mp3s not ripped from cd, the fact that it was import only meant it had no chance at surviving the purge) and hope the interest in the new one sparks some label to post it on Amazon. I’m probably more excited by this album than any other this week.
Ape School – Ape School – This sounds like a fun disc.
Bob Dylan – Together Through Life – Is there really anything that I can add to this?
Florence and the Machine – A Lot of Love, a Lot of Blood – This album’s been sitting in my music notes file for God knows how long. Weeks, if not months. Going back and listening to it, I really like the song Kiss with a Fist despite its Britney-esque misogyny.
Great Northern – Remind Me Where the Light Is – Don’t really know much about these guys, but Large Hearted Boys recommends them, so that’s good enough for me to give them a shot.
New Ruins – We Make Our Own Bad Luck – New Ruins’ 2007 record, The Sound They Make, didn’t really impress me at first. But a couple songs found their way onto my gumpack-sized iPod Shuffle, where they helped me zone out as I trained for my first marathon. Hopefully this next one will carry on the subdued rock.
Xu Xu Fang – Seven Days Now – Worth it for the percolating cover of The Cure’s Fascination Street.
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