na: Grizzly Bear, David Bazan
This is what the actual island Veckatimest looks like. I would love to play “Two Weeks” while hanging out here.
Hey, here’s a riddle: what’s long-awaited, finally on eMusic, from Brooklyn, and rhymes with…..Um, wow, that’s harder than I thought. “Check a chemist?” “Wreck a gymnast?” (I think)?
Yes, that’s right, that was my absolutely ridiculous way of celebrating the arrival of Grizzly Bear’s Veckatimest,, Droste and co.’s greatest album by miles (sez me, anyhow) and one of the most anticipated records to hit eMusic in awhile. It’s here, and it’s still one of the best records of the year, an enormous step into the sunshine for a band that often tends to be more at home in murky low light. Andy Beta did a great Q&A with Christopher Bear, their drummer, in which we learn of their fondness for Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” and old G-Unit “for the ladies” tracks.
Also new this week, and definitely worth checking out, is David Bazan’s Curse Your Branches. David Bazan is Pedro the Lion, now shorn of his mane and attempting to make sense of a massive crisis of faith. As any of you who have ever spent time with some of the sweetly affecting Pedro records knows, Christian faith was the wellspring for most of Bazan’s music, but the evaporation of that faith hasn’t lead to a silencing of Bazan’s muse: it has lead to a record full of clear-eyed desperation and the kind of near-uncomfortably direct communication at which Bazan has always excelled. He performed an impromptu set in the eMusic offices last week, and you could hear a pin drop. As I said, slightly shaken, to Alex, as we walked back to our cubicle: “That…was some real shit.”
After the show, Joe went around the corner and had a beer with David, in which they compared their remarkably similar, in certain respects, life experiences, and the result is probably the most in-depth, personal, disarming, and compelling interview you will read all year. No jokes — required reading for everyone.
Beanie Sigel, The Broad Street Bully – Quickie straight-to-the-streets album, put out with a ton of egregiously uncleared samples, by Beanie Sigel, former Roc-A-Fella associate and, if you catch me at the right time (usually right after listening to “Feel It In The Air,”) one of my favorite rappers ever. Straight-to-the-streets rap albums with zero budget, especially by former major-label rap artists, usually suck, but this one does not suck at all. Basically, no one outside of Scarface does bone-chilling state-of-the-streets raps like Beanie, and “The Ghetto” is another insanely great one. Beanie spits with bruising force, so you can listen to him when you need to feel like it might be possible to destroy a car with your bare hands, but he is also one of the sneakily creative rappers currently working in gangsta rap, and his verses are things of beauty on paper as well. Exhibit A, from “Teardrops”: “I’m waist-deep in this piece, like Tyrese/Move the streets like telekinese’ — from a seat.” Not to mention that he tends to bleed his soul onto the page.
J Love and Ghostface Killah, Hidden Darts, Pt. 4 – Another solid collection of unreleased raps from the Legendary GhostDeini. “Charlie Brown” jumps out at me — a nice freestyle from days immediately pre-Fishscale. The rest looks like a nice collection of crispy chicken verbs from everyone’s favorite vivid laser-eye guide.
Joakim, Milky Ways – New release from French producer Joakim, whose previous record, 2007’s Monsters & Silly Songs, was a whimsical, pulsating collection of feel-good disco. This time around, it seems like he’s ditched the Silly Songs and just kept the Monsters — this is creepy, disturbing stuff.
Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family,
Na Teef Know De Road of Teef – The indomitable Daptone label ventures forth into the world of Afrobeat. I am not an expert on this, but to my untrained ears this sounds great and feels right.
Birgit Nilsson, Live in Stockholm 1970 – Heart-stopping live recording of soprano legend Birgit Nilsson singing some darkly romantic, languorously moody music, including Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs.
Liam Finn, Champagne in Seashells EP – People like Liam Finn, right? Crowded House, or somesuch? Someone please save me from some cobbled-together AMG plus Wikipedia plus Google Blog Search = INSTANT EXPERTISE! bullshit.
A A Bondy, When the Devil’s Loose — Hey guys, remember Verbena? I sort of do! Some great, sneering, self-consciously snotty rock songs. Well, frontman A. A. Bondy has grown up, and is no longer envisioning fantasy binge sessions with Keith Richards. He has sold off all his guitar pedals and has decided to sink comfortably into some very inviting-sounding barroom melancholy. Some parched country-folk picking on here, too — I will be download this, for sure.
Peter Fish, The Silver Apple — Jazz is not my beat, but this record sounds incredibly solid.
And, finally — Mac to the Future.
Ok, eMusic, I pass the baton to you. What else should we be hearing?
I wanna mention a couple great new audiobooks:
I Drink For a Reason by David Cross
Mr. Tobias Funke himself narrates his predictably self-effacing and slyly funny first book. This is why audiobooks were made: to hear a sharp-tongued comedian bring his material to life.
A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore
Lorrie Moore is my favorite living author. I have never read a sentence of hers that I haven’t wanted to contemplate and quote and savor. Her short stories are divine, and this latest novel promises to offer the same pleasures that have illuminated her best works: a piercing eye for mundane sadnesses, tinged with awareness and wit and humor.
Definitely want to check out David Bazan.
Just out of curiosity, why did it take so long for you guys to get Veckatimest on eMusic, and when can we expect the new Yo La Tengo?
Hey, I’ve been following the Finn family since brother Neil joined Timm in Split Enz, so no google needed. Liam is Neil’s son, used to play guitar with his dad’s traveling band.
I also can’t wait to here the Bazan, as he’s a great writer. But I do find myself having doubts at some of the gushing reviews–as it sounds a lot like the reviewers are just glad the Bazan has come over to their side of the faith and doubt barrier, thus making it an easier listen for them. They no longer have to apologize for liking something Christian.
I’ve always like Bazan because his songs spared no one from searching within themselves for judgementalism and hypocrisy. I hope this maintains that, and doesn’t drift toward the smug superiority that most proselyting music–Christian and Anti-Christian–drift into.
DJ Adequate –
Thanks for the Finnfo! (oof.) And while I hear you on the Bazan, I think you’ll be relieved to find out that nothing could be further from the truth. As Pedro the Lion, Bazan wrote as much about doubt as about faith, and he hasn’t taken sides here. And as far as “[sparing] no one from searching within themselves for judgmentalism and hypocrisy”….well, I can’t wait until you hear “Please, Baby Please.” This is probably the least “smugly superior”-sounding record ever.
Also, please, please please read Joe’s Q&A with David — it really is wonderfully illuminating reading.
That Bazan album is the real deal. I pre-ordered it, so I had access to stream it for the last couple weeks and I could gush and gush about it.
Okay, I will gush and gush about it:
I think his songwriting has grown tremendously, and this album is a giant step forward for him. Not that I disliked the old stuff, but everything here is tighter, hookier, punchier–whatever you want to call it. It’s like he unleashed his inner-Beatles fan (filtered through the Bazan aesthetic, of course) and made an effortlessly listenable album, albeit with dark running lyrical themes.
Speaking of which, I think that, to an extent, the “crisis of faith” thing has become a convenient sound bite distillation of the album. To me, the themes run much deeper than that, though they can all be tied back to the chorus of “Hard To Be”–simply, “it’s hard to be a decent human being.” Bazan puts all of his faults out there and asks tough questions about himself. I don’t know that he finds many answers–he’s certainly not standing on a soap box, preaching about a new belief system–but it makes for some very, very compelling songs.
End of gushing! I’m gonna go listen to it again, right now!
ps. Excited about Liam Finn’s EP, too. His last album was one of my favorite records from last year.
I just read the Keyes/Bazan interview. Utterly fantastic! Wow.
These United States have a new album out today. Their previous, “Crimes,” was pretty good, quick spin of their latest sounds promising…
New digital single out before the full-length drops on Oct 6th. Dark, adventurous, awesome.
The full catalogue of one of my favorite bands, Maximo Park, is now with us. First one is an (already!) forgotten classic, and there’s a great cover of John Lennon’s “Trial and Error.” on Missing Songs. Grab ‘em.
Thanks, Matt! I was happy to have had that chance to talk to him.
You were right, that Q&A put a lot of my fears to rest. And Matt’s right, “hard to be a decent human being” pretty much sums up what I love about Bazan. He knows it hard, he knows he’ll often fail, but he keep trying. Can’t wait for my downloads to refresh so I can get it.
Does anyone happen to know if and when the new Circulatory System album will be on emusic?
i don’t know when it was added, but the new little dragon record, machine dreams, is really, really good.
@pneumatic — it should be up 9/8! The street date got pushed back. I haven’t had a chance to listen yet, and I really want to…
The interview with Bazan is pretty interesting. Thanks for that Joe!
One thing that I find interesting about David Bazan’s philosophy or outlook on life is that he claims that he doesn’t know if God exists or if the Bible is true but then he claims that he DOES know that it doesn’t matter right now.
He says, “I don’t know if it’s true, but I think it’s important, and that’s why we’re reading it. And the cool thing is, you don’t have to know either right now. Today you can think it’s true, tomorrow you can think it’s just important and not true.”
How does he KNOW that we don’t have to know if it’s true or not right now? That seems to be a claim of knowledge about God. I wonder what his response would be to this seeming contradiction.
Either way, enjoyed the interview and the honesty!
Will emusic be getting the new ingrid Michaelson?
Jayson do you know if we’ll be getting the David Bazan in the UK- one of the singles form the album is up but not the album
Cheers
@capn: We will! It’s just delayed.
@Billy – I’ll look into it. I’m not sure
@Ryan: I don’t wanna put words in David’s mouth, but I think, from the tone of our interview in general, he would say that he’s basing that on the supposition that, short of a horrible unforseeable accident, people don’t have to make their minds up with the kind of urgency that Christianity sometimes places on them.
thanks joe! hey, how about those feelies reissues??
We’re getting ‘em! On street! I am super excited.
Oh, also coming down the pike in reissue land — the self-titled Raincoats record on Kill Rock Stars. That one’s out in October.
Now, if only someone can get on reissuing Return of the Giant Slits in the US…
jayson, thanks for the A A Bondy headsup…. gonna d/l that badboy right now.
wow, sept. 8th is going to rule!
Hey Joe, any idea on when/ if we’ll get the new Zomby album (Ramp Recordings) “One Foot Ahead of the Other”?
Wow, I was really excited to see Wild Beasts as the review of the day (4 days early!) when I logged in this morning. I was a big fan of the first album and really like what I hear so far from the new one.
http://www.emusic.com/album/Wild-Beasts-Two-Dancers-MP3-Download/11607263.html
Lemme see what I can find out, toyballoon.
9/8 and 9/22 are going to be huge release days on eMusic!
how about “a sunny day in glasgow”.. is that coming here 9/15? thanks
any idea when the new A.A. Bondy will be available in the UK?
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