4/27 new arrivals

The craziest wedding album I have ever heard, a hotly anticipated disco record and some recommended odds and ends.

Various Artists, Transylvanian Wedding Music: Okay so this record is absolutely bananas. This morning I’ve already marked Transylvania as the #1 place in the world where I want to get married. Start with “Three Dances,” which uses an accordion and violin to play at a sprint-like tempo, speeding up more and more over the course of the song, the wedding party cheering them along, and just consume as much of this record as you can from there. It’s very, very fun. Those hoping to finally find the Transylvanian “Wonderful Tonight” will be in for some disappointment, however: there isn’t anything even close to a ballad here. Apparently in some countries, marriages are happy affairs! Vadda country etc etc.

Kathy Diamond, Miss Diamond to You: Todd raved about this record a month ago, and today it arrives. Todd calls it “a collection of spectral slo-mo disco tunes flecked with touches of dub by her producer, the incomparable Maurice Fulton.” It’s in my to-listen-to pile today.

American Analog Set, Set Free: The most recent album from the Set, released in 2005. It does not derivate from the soft, indie pop template of Promise of Love and (my favorite) Know By Heart. I listened to the record a few times when it first came out, and nothing jumped out at me the way “Aaron & Maria” or “Punk as Fuck” had from Heart. It’s nice enough, but they’ve done better.

Various Artists, Folk Songs and Music from Malta: The other Smithsonian Folkways standout from today, this one the sorrowful accompaniment to the revelatory Transylvanian wedding record. “Folk Tunes on Guitar” in particular has been killing me all day; it’s very reminiscent — to me at least — of Anton Karas’ “The Third Man Theme.” I don’t think there’s a happy song on the whole thing.

Life in Bed, Passed and Presents: The new album from eMusic subscriber Sean Finn’s band (more details here), and three songs in and I’m really digging it. They’ve softened up the sound a bit — by which I mean more consciously pop — and it suits them well. Nice work!