na: helsinki, mekons, caribou

Tons of new arrivals today, so let’s not waste too much time with above-the-cut chit-chat…

To start straight out on the indie rock tip: Architecture in Helsinki’s Places Like This finds the group branching out a bit, incorporating a few world music elements into their gangly synth-pop. They’ve never really been my cup of tea, but I’ve heard this record described by more than a few people as “inventive.”

A little more intriguing to me is Caribou, Andorra. eMusic’s Andy Battaglia describes it as “casually majestic,” saying

“Touchstones abound, from canonical favorites the Zombies and the Left Banke to lesser lights like the United States of America and White Noise. The swirl and bash of songs like “Sandy” and “She’s the One” traffic in the kind of strings and backward-tape effects that could have played in San Francisco back in the day.”

He’s right — there’s plenty of nods to ’60s pop, but the songs are gilded with enough electronic elements to keep them from becoming straight pastiche.

Bright power pop band Imperial Teen return after a five year hiatus with The Hair, the TV, the Baby and the Band, another record loaded with sweet melodies and high harmonies. Fans of the New Pornographers looking to quell their jones do well to check out this instead.

Speaking of returns: The Mekons are back with Natural, about which eMusic’s Chris Nickson says:

“This time around, they’ve made a largely acoustic album conceived and recorded in the bucolic English surroundings of the Lake District of Sussex — home to Wordsworth, Coleridge and, of course, those waving daffodils. The often quite retiring Tom Greenhalgh is front and centre, taking the lead on several tracks, while the usually effusive Jon Langford plays a backup role for much of the album. Musically, it’s the band’s typical mix of the imaginative and the ramshackle, sometimes astonishingly lush and soothing (the lilting, reggae-infected “Cockermouth”) and sometimes as raw and stark as a Saturday night head wound (“Dickie Chalkie and Nobby”).”

Also in rock, Minus the Bear’s Planet of Ice nimbly fuses emo yelps with brittle indie guitars and oddball production tricks — the more I sample this, the more interested I become; Deadboy & the Elephantman’s Dax Riggs brings We Sing of Only Blood or Love, a record full of grizzled quasi-blues; A new record from Over the Rhine drops today. I used to love this band back in the IRS years, but I’m not quite sure what’s happening here. There’s a lot of smoothness on this. Same for Jeremy Enigk, The Missing Link — though I still love the sound of his voice, I kinda wish he’d turn the amps back up.

A few titles today from the unbeatable Traffic label — starting with Time’s Running Out by Brand Nubian. This record was supposed to come out 11 years ago but was inexplicably shelved. For any fans of ’90s hip-hop, this record is a must, great, laid-back Tribe-y production and crackling rhymes.

Another legendary MC, CL Smooth, returns with The Outsider. I’ve only sampled bits of this and can say it’s no Mecca & the Soul Brother, but then, what is? The fact that there are 22 songs frightens me a little.

I Need a Haircut by Biz Markie doesn’t quite approach the greatness of Goin’ Off, but it does have “Busy Doin’ Nuthin’,” which alone justifies its existence.

Also kinda hip-hop — jam band Galactic pairs with MCs including Juvenile and The Coup’s Boots Riley on From the Corner to the Block.

Another stash of Fania titles hit the site today, chief among which is Joe Bataan, Mr. New York & the East Side Kids (which is not to be confused with this.) It’s smoother and mellower than Riot!, concentrating more on slow jams than floor fillers. But for a Saturday night candlelight record, it’s hard to beat. For something with a little more simmer, try Andy Harlow’s Sopresa La Flauta, which I’m pretty sure translates to mean “Surprise the Flute.”

Todd is out today, otherwise I’m sure he’d have more to say about the Vexille, which contains tracks from Basement Jaxx, DJ Shadow, M.I.A., and a whole lot of Paul Oakenfold.

I have to make brief mention of Various Artists, Angola, the Greatest Songs from the 60s and 70s, a double six(!!)-disc collection of vibrant and inspiring Afropop.

And finally, we got an old Immortal record in yesterday, Blizzard Beasts. There’s not much about Immortal I dislike, so I just mainly wanted to mention that this exists. Every time I listen to one of their records I feel like I’m about 45 seconds away from dying. This one is about the same.