Music

This Week's New Music Releases

by AUX staff

It’s the holiday season which means new releases are limited until the new year.  With this in mind, here is a set of recent releases you need to know about.

Animal Collective – Fall Be Kind (EP) – Domino/Distro-Outside

In January of 2009, Animal Collective released ‘Merriweather Post Pavilion’, and album that received rave reviews and gained the band a new fan base without polarizing their old one. Just shy of one year later, they’ve released ‘Fall Be Kind’, a five song E.P. that is not so much a companion EP, as it is an after-dinner digestive. ‘Fall Be Kind’ might also be their most accessible effort yet, embracing atmospheric harmonies that have worked so well for Grizzly Bear. If ‘Merriweather’ was to prove that they were one of the most important bands of 2009, ‘Fall Be Kind’ is to make sure you don’t forget it.

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic – Wea/Distro-Warner

After releasing 13 odd albums, The Flaming Lips still maintain the title of “strangest thing to come out of Oklahoma”. And while ‘Embryonic’ is strange, it’s also quite normal. Once again channeling their early psych-rock roots, and tossing in a dash of contemporary electronic for good measure, they’ve produced something that is not only accessible to the casual listener, but something that will remain a fan favourite for years to come.

The XX – XX – XL/Distro-Select

To say this band has hype would be underrated. It had so much hype, in fact, that their distributor asked retailers to start selling the album over a month early. And their influences are as vast and diverse as their fans, possessing the intoxicating blasé of Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’, and the trippy sex drive of Massive Attack. And if their daunting tour schedule is any indication, The XX are only just getting started.

Tom Waits – Glitter And Doom – Anti-/Distro-FAB

What more can you say about a man eats nails and drinks motor oil?  Tom Waits is a legend – a master storyteller who is always at his best when he’s on stage, and this live album is no exception.  Primarily feeding from his ‘Anti-‘ years, ‘Glitter and Doom’ features 16 songs culled from his 2008 tour; backed by a masterful band using every instrument in their arsenal.  The album also comes with a companion disc (digital download for vinyl) entitled “Tom Tales”, featuring 36 minutes of nonsense, ramblings, and anecdotes that could only come from this venerable vagrant we’ve come to love over the past four decades.

Charlotte Gainsbourg – IRM – WEA/Distro-CD-Warner/LP-Select

I don’t know the story behind this album, but I am positive it is an interesting and incestuous one. For her third record, the French actress/singer enlisted Beck Hanson write and produce the album (along with over dozen musicians). And it’s no secret that Beck is a big fan of her famous father, Serge Gainsbourg. In fact, Beck’s ‘Sea Change’ is a tribute to her father. So it’s no surprise that the end result sounds like a Beck album that sounds like a Serge Gainsbourg album, with Charlotte’s chip-off-the-block narrative vocal styling coming along for the ride. And in the end, is that really a bad thing?

New Music Releases is written by Paul and Josh of Criminal Records.