na: Nirvana, Wilco, Dum Dum Girls

GADZOOKS. A whole host of new arrivals today, which I’ll do my best to dive into. We’re going to be doing today’s round-up as a tag team, for reasons that aren’t terribly interesting. Meaning some of these writeups are going to be done by me, and some by Jayson. SEE IF YOU CAN GUESS WHO’S WHO.

Nirvana, Nevermind reissue: The definitive grunge document gets a deluxe reissue treatment. The album remains indestructible, having hardened into into a Mt. Rushmore of the rock canon, and it’s intriguing to hear some of the demos of that Rushmore being built. We put together a whole package of stuff around this moment, including an annotated list of bands Kurt loved, with quotes from his journals, and a review by legendary Melody Maker Everett True, who reviewed Nevermind when it came out and returns to reasses. Check it all out here:

The Legacy of Nevermind

Wilco, The Whole Love: One of America’s preeminent rock bands returns with their latest. It’s their first self-produced record, and it feels both lived-in and more bold than they’ve sounded in years: the first song, “The Art of Almost,” is basically a (really good) Radiohead song with Tweedy vocals, and the last song, “One Sunday Morning,” might be my favorite Wilco song in ten years. No joke. Peter Blackstock says:

What to make of Wilco with an established lineup? The Whole Love marks three straight albums on which original members Jeff Tweedy and John Stirratt and 10-year veteran drummer Glenn Kotche have teamed with multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone, guitarist Nels Cline and keyboardist Mikael Jorgensen — an unprecedented run of stability for the band … It may be the apex of Wilco’s career, a shining moment when the band’s artistic ambition becomes one with its instinctive musicality.

Dum Dum Girls, Only In Dreams – The glorious big-screen pop record you didn’t think Dee Dee was gonna make. This is a real good one, a meeting place between Chrissie Hynde and the Ramones and further proof that out of all the indie-pop revivalists that gained attention in 2009, Dee Dee is one of the most focused and most ambitious.

Mastodon, The Hunter: Hoo boy. Gonna be honest here, this is not my favorite Mastodon record. To their credit, however, Mastodon are certainly Going for Something here. Specifically, a Big Major-Label Hard Rock Record. To me, having these guys go for Foo Fighters gold is a little bit like having Picasso paint your shed, but hey, to each their own. Kevin O’Donnell says:

Unlike breakthrough albums Leviathan or Blood Mountain, The Hunter doesn’t have any overarching storyline or concept — a welcome relief — and Mastodon dial back the prog-rock tendencies to deliver a fairly straightforward hard rock record. Credit goes to producer Mike Elizondo — who also happens to be an A&R exec at the band’s label, so it makes sense that he’d try and clean up their sound in the interest of SoundScan numbers. To wit: The hot, skull-crushing “Curl of the Burl” might be the group’s most straightforward single ever.

J. Cole, Cole World: The Sideline Story: The North Carolina Conscious-Rap Hope makes his major-label debut after a string of fierce, thoughtful and excellent mixtapes. J. Cole is a serious, brow-furrowed guy, and except for a couple of perfunctory pop-rap jams that lack flavor, he’s preserved that trademark here.

Bonnie Prince Billy, The Mindeater – Convivial, lived-in music from Will Oldham’s Bonnie Prince Billy moniker. Always a welcome presence.

The Gem Club, Breakers: New band on the excellent Hardly Art is gentle as she goes. Lots of meditative piano, violin and hushed, hesitant vocals. I’d call this a male counterpoint to the Blue Roses record from a few years ago, except no one but me heard that Blue Roses record.

Hanni El Khatib, Will The Guns Come Out: This sounds excellent. Loose-limbed garage-rock, complete with the best kind of depraved-holler vocal stylings. Spiced with some winsome acoustic folk numbers too, for maximum effect. Very awesome.

Itsnotyouitsme, Everybody’s Pain Is MagnificentWispy, insinuating, melancholy indie-classical for a couple of violins and a single moaning synth. Spare, kinda lightweight stuff, but interesting.

Matt Haimovitz, Shuffle.Play.Listen: The cellist Matt Haimovitz, who made his name criss-crossing bars and clubs playing Bach and foregoing the concert hall, pairs up with Christopher O’Riley, the NPR host of From The Top and pianist who has released several records of piano interpretations of the music of Radiohead, Nick Drake, and others. This is mostly classical repertoire, spiked with some Bernard Herrman, and it’s nicely chosen and the playing sounds lovely and alert.

Caged Animals, Eat Their Own: A flashback to the Chillwave Summer of 09 – remember when we thought we were going to call this stuff “glo-fi?” That would have just been silly.

Josh Rouse and the Long Vacations, S/t: Breezy, carefree acoustic pop from Josh Rouse that feels more like a front-porch hootenanny than a record.

9th Wonder, The Wonder Years: Revered backpack-rap producer gathers together some of his closest associates. A who’s-who of indie rap: Tanya Morgan, Masta Killa, Phonte, Murs. Plus: Erykah Badu and Kendrick Lamar!

The Jacka, The Indictment: Excellent mixtape from a thoughtful Bay Area lyricist who’s turning himself into a mini-Nas for his city.

Cormega, Raw Forever: Fact: Cormega is one of the greatest rappers. People like Nas and Prodigy were scared of him back in Queens. He’s never become famous. He will never be famous. He has never changed his style in attempts to change this, and seems serenely content with his spot in rap. He’s incredible – if you like writerly texture in your verses, the sound of crumpled draft sheets, he’s the place to go. This project is kinda funny: a double-disc deal, one a collection of his best stuff, the second is a live-band performance. Mega forever, though.

Blu, Open – This guy’s still incredible, but he seems to have lost considerable momentum since his 2007-2008 heyday. Still a great rapper, though, so if you like great rapping…dig it.

Fair Ohs, Pacific Rim: Obnoxious, gob-hocking UK post-punk.

Alessi’s Ark, Time Travel – Gorgeous, cool-blue, cooing country-folk with a shimmer and swing to it that is casually intoxicating. A beautiful record. Chris Nickson writes:

Still only 20, Alessi Laurent-Marke is already a veteran performer, growing out of the MySpace generation to become a maverick satellite in London’s nu-folk scene (think Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling). There’s still a youthful innocence and freshness to her music, both in the gentle reflection of “Blanket,” yet she possess enough pop smarts to pen a piece like “Kind Of Man,” which is a little like Lily Allen without the snarky, über-hip attitude, or to putting in some sweet George Harrison/Badfinger-style slide guitar to glide out proceedings the end of “The Robot.”

Loutallica, The View – The most inexplicable high-profile “super group” ever? At least until Superheavy comes out. Here is the result, in all its turgid glory: hyper-compressed, lurching Reload-era Metallica lumber-jams paired with old Lou poetry of the most “f**k you, I’m Lou Reed” quality imaginable. Listening to this feels like someone has starting turning lawnmower blades in my guts. (It’s bad.)

Spank Rock, Everything is Boring And Everyone Is A F__cking Liar: Ingratiating title. Remember these dudes? YoYoYoYo had some jams on it, man. Baltimore club rap turned into a sleazy whippet hit. It was fun. This record has a bit of a sour, deflated, after-the-whippet feel to it, unfortunately.

Blink-182, Neighborhoods: This sounds depressingly mature and sincere. Don’t get me wrong, I rep hard for these guys; Dude Ranch! Enema of the State! Their self-titled had some incredible prom jams on it. This, however, sounds soggy and hookless.

Syntaks, Nachtblende: Speakers Going Enya. Or: Neon Barwick. Startlingly pretty New Age vocal coos and cries haunting a rotted analog-tape atmosphere that will feel very familiar to chillwave enthusiasts (you guys are still out there, right? I let my Chillwave Enthusiast Quarterly subscription lapse last month).

Disco Zombies, Drums Over London: Incredible Television Personalities-style punk.

Half Man Half Biscuit, 90 Bisodol: Punchy, sardonic Brit-rock. Good stuff.

Arthur Russell, Let’s Go Swimming: Nice couple of mixes of a classic Arthur Russell tune.

Matthew Sweet, Modern Art; New Matthew Sweet record! You might want to sit down for this: it’s a power-pop record. It also sounds pretty appealing. Sweet, man. He wrote “Girlfriend.”

Swiftumz, Don’t Trip: None lower-fi skuzz pop. Nice tunes, though, and a nice, breathy lead singer.

–> Metal Box
The Fucking Wrath, Valley of the Serpent’s Soul: Pummeling, hardcore-metal boogie with a slight biker chug to it.

Rwake, Rest: Awesome mournful gypsy-metal stylings, complete with those modal Eastern guitar harmonies and some swords-and-sandals Hollywood epic diva crooning in the background. A good soundtrack if you have to boil some Visigoths.

Dead in the Dirt, Fear: Jagged, hurtling hardcore metal.