na: the clientele & elliott smith

Today’s ridiculous new arrivals include a whopping 28 recommended titles, including new ones from the Clientele, Elliott Smith, Electrelane, Arcade Fire, Sea and Cake and a shockingly great country cover of “I Wanna Be Adored.” Come for the news cycle, stay for the music.

Read About It on Yr Blog
The Clientele, God Save the Clientele: Today is the first time I have ever heard the Clientele, and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. I had always assumed that they weren’t my thing. Ends up they still aren’t, but it’s not nearly as twee as I had feared. For this fact alone, it earns today’s top spot. Well, that and the fact that everyone and their mother is in love with this record. Here’s some of Joe’s review:

But where Geometry was merely clearer, God Save the Clientele is sweeter and sunnier, little fingers of sunlight prying open the center of the songs and flooding them with warmth. Clientele frontman/auteur Alasdair MacLean no longer hordes his major chords, and the songs here are full of open-eyed, upward-reaching melodies… What’s most heartening about God Save, though, is how well the group’s aesthetic translates to a brighter milieu. While it might not be a tremendous sonic stretch, the little tweaks — fuller verses, sturdier bridges — manage to merge progress with nostalgia. It’s consistency with character — and not a hobgoblin in sight.

Don’t ask me about that hobgoblin line. Joe is always going on about them; we all just pretend we don’t hear.

Elliott Smith, New Moon: If you’re a Smith fan, you’re downloading this as we speak, or once your account refreshes. If you’re not (like me), then I recommend going over to the album page and reading Ira Robbins’ lengthy review — it’s a stunner, and it really makes a good case for Smith and for this album in particular. The line that really jumped out at me: “It’s impossible to say if Smith’s songs add up to the man he was, but it’s hard not to envision the person whispering these sad, angry, bitter and melancholy lyrics as a shaky late-night insomniac frantically trying to make sense of his world and himself by letting it all seep out in torrents of aggression tempered into acoustic tenderness.” Based on that, I decided to grab this album after all.

Electrelane, No Shouts, No Calls: I have a funny relationship with Electrelane. I was very, very into The Power Out (I mean, holy shit, “Axes” is such a spectacular song) for well over a year. They were a band — like Beach House is now, and Blonde Redhead and Unwound used to be — that sounded good to me even when I didn’t feel like listening to music. You know records like that? We all have one, an album that can just cut through the malaise of life and give you a little pep.

Anyway, that was Electrelane for me… until I saw them play a show at the Knitting Factory here in NYC back in 2005 or so. It was awful. So awful. It was full of jamming and long guitar solos, the tempos were very off, the bass player was almost malicious… I could go on and on. But the thing is, the crowd ate it up. Totally gave the band a pass, kept on digging it. I was so flummoxed by it — and pissed off by the bad show — that I completely turned on them. And when Axes included a lousy cover of “The Partisan,” a traditional French folk song made famous by Leonard Cohen that is pretty much my favorite piece of music in the history of the world, that just cemented it: I no longer liked this band.

All of which brings us to No Shouts, No Calls, which is where I get egg on my face. Because I like this album. Quite a bit. There’s nothing on it that quite jumps out at me the way The Power Out did, but look at it this way: it converted a dedicated Philistine back into their corner. That’s gotta say something, right? Anyway, hi Electrelane. I hope you’re willing to forgive and forget. I’m sorry.

The Sea and Cake, Everybody: Andy Battaglia has such a way with words. A review excerpt:

Ever since they sashayed out of the Chicago post-rock scene in the mid ’90s, the Sea and Cake have concentrated on a sound that plays like the rock equivalent of a pinky finger extended from the edge of a glass with a carefully mixed gin & tonic in it. The band’s albums have all been delicate, precious, a little bit prissy — and masterfully made in a way that translates as invariably breezy and approachable. The same goes for Everybody, on which the Sea and Cake’s considerable smarts settle into an urbane mix of summer songs.

On a related note, Sea and Cake mastermind Sam Prekop did an awesome Dozen for us. Check it out.

Mary Timony Band, The Shapes We Make: We all loved Helium — who didn’t? — and Timony has really done a great job of keeping that momentum going in the years since. Has she made a bad record? Ever? I can’t think of one. Still not sure about how this one is — haven’t listened yet today — but I have faith.

Mice Parade, Mice Parade: I gotta take umbrage with Marc Hogan’s Pitchfork review of this record. Mainly Marc seems to not like: Adam Pierce’s voice (he’s the Mice Parade dude) and the fact that the songs are very drummy. I mean, first off, Pierce’s voice to me sounds a bit like Barlow generindie voice kinda stuff, a fact that I don’t exactly bemoan, because in no way are the vocals meant to be a real focal point here. The song that Marc mocks, the opener, is actually my favorite, and I love how unimpressed Pierce sounds while everything goes crazy around him! I dunno. I’ve never been a huge Mice Parade booster by any means — a conscientious objector is prolly the best wording — but this record is good.

New Years Day, My Dear: Mainstream emo, female-fronted, loud and fun. Their video:

Arcade Fire, Keep the Car Running: The B-side, “Broken Windows,” is a new one that’s very much in line with Neon Bible. Here’s the A-side live:

The Dears, You and I Are a Gang of Losers EP: Yet another entry where I admit I haven’t liked the band in the past. Only this time I can’t say I dig this new one either. Very middle-of-the-road indie to these ears, but I know lotsa folks dig them, so here’s a heads up.

Of Montreal, Icons, Abstract Thee: The Polyvinyl website calls this a “companion piece to of Montreal’s critically-acclaimed Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destoyer, this CDEP features five additional tracks from the Hissing Fauna sessions.”

Sage Francis, Human the Death Dance: AMG likes Francis’ new one, but I haven’t heard much buzz outside of that. Matos says, “Francis’s new album, and his second for Anti-/Epitaph, is Human the Death Dance, and while his MC’ing is still rooted in the spoken-word slam poetry he came up doing, the disc also features the most straightforwardly grooving production of his career. He also throws some jokes (”If you ain’t dead, you ain’t a Suicide Girl”) in among the more hard-hitting stuff.” We talked to Sage Francis about the album here.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Not Worth Fighting: There are some things I just can’t even to pretend to understand why they’re special. (Did that sentence make any sense?) Anyway, two new songs. Get ‘em while they’re hot.

You Heard About It on Our Blog
Ohsees, Thee Oh Sees Sucks Blood: Both Joe and I independently liked the name of this band and album and downloaded it as a result this morning. We also both really, really like it. It’s real fuzzy in terms of production quality, reminding me quite a bit of a nice vinyl Sundazed re-pressing of some poorly recorded garage record from the mid ’60s. Only there’s a definite indie rock element, too. “Ships” is really, really, really great.

Axton Kincaid, Songs From the Pine Room: Joe gets credit for this catch: peep the fifth track on this album. Yes indeed, that is a country cover of the Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored.” And here’s the thing — it’s really, really great. I spot-checked the rest of the disc and it’s not nearly up to that level, but I think you’ve got your next killer mixtape track with that one.

Alva Noto, Xerrox Vol. 1: Todd’s been digging this one, which is in the same vein as the User’s Symphony #2 For Dot Matrix Printers. Not quite as literal as that awesome Dot Matrix record, but equally buzzy.

Delorean, Transatlantic KK: There should be way more attention paid to these Spanish dance-rockers — a supporting slot with Daft Punk would make much musical sense — and I’m hoping that this larger, more official release will help. “Complexity Reducer” is a smooth-ass disco number, and “As Time Breaks Off” is a massive, thumping masterpiece, the kind of track summers were made for. There are two exclusive remixes here, both of which are fun but not nearly as awesome as the original.

Seeing as how the person who put out this record not only works here, but posts on 17 Dots — say hi, Molly! — we worked out a deal where we could stream my favorite song. So good.

The Lichens, Omns: This is the new project by Rob Lowe, the African-American bass player for 17 Dots favorites 90 Day Men. But the two sound nothing alike: 90DM is spazzy math-rock that has more hinges than Pinocchio, the songs shifting and jumping eagerly and rapidly. Lichens is the total opposite: meditative, quiet and haunting. I really, really like this album, though. It sounds an awful lot like acoustic ambient music. Highly recommended.

Shannon Wright, Let in the Light: Joe is in love with this one. An excerpt from his eMusic review:

The latest record from Jacksonville’s Shannon Wright opens like a pop opera. There’s a single, see-sawing piano part — an introduction of the theme, if you will — a somersaulting countermelody, and then Wright enters, dressed in black, singing: “You help me do the things I hold.” Finally, in comes the band, big and doomy and cacophonous, crashing against the song’s haunted chorus. That’s Shannon Wright in a nutshell: a little whisper followed by a tremendous bang.

The Blow, Poor Aim: Love Songs: How about that? Last week I bitch about the absence of the original “Hey Boy” on the Poor Aim remix album, and this week it shows up. Do yourself a favor and grab the first track. Mind-blowingly great.

Are We the Only Ones Who Dig the Boggs?
The Boggs, Forts: I loved their SXSW show, and I love this album, too. It sounds like an Irish-folk post-punk album — among other constructions that, as words, don’t make a lot of sense — and the melodies are strong and tactile. Highly recommended.

Kool G Rap, Wanted: Dead or Alive: A total hip-hop classic from 1990. You must own this.

Headlights, Keep Your Friends And Loves Close. Keep The City You Call Home Closer.: The opening track is by far my fave, a nice, soft galloping indie-pop song with a female vocal.

Mystery Jets, Zootime: A muscular Smiths is the high-concept pitch, a very British album, and all that that entails.

Highstrung, Get the Guests: Classic-rock sounding power-pop from Florida Detroit. (Thanks to Bill in the comments for the correction.) This is the kind of record I normally hate, and I really don’t mind this one. Which, to me at least, says that for power-pop folks, this is a no-brainer.

The Microphones, Don’t Smoke/Get Off the Internet: I never would’ve guessed Phil Elvrum for the preachy type. I’m trying to think of how to put this delicately, but I can’t. Both of these songs suck. Too bad. Try “Solar System” instead.

Baby Oliver, Primetime: You show me an album associated with Morgan Geist’s impeccable disco label Environ and I’ll show you a smile. This single is goofy more than anything — not Environ’s best.

Theo Bleckmann / Ben Monder, At Night: I’ve really enjoyed the Ben Monder stuff we’ve gotten in the past, but the vocals here are a bit too much for me.

Vladislav Delay, Whistleblower: New one from the Luomo dude. Resident electronic dude Todd is down on it — I haven’t listened yet, but I hope he’s wrong. (I liked The Four Quarters and he didn’t.)