1. Modern Vampires of the City, Vampire Weekend
2. Volume 3, She & Him
3. American Kid, Patty Griffin
4. The Great Gatsby Soundtrack, Various Artists
5. Mother, Natalie Maines
6. The Lumineers, The Lumineers
7. My Head is an Animal, Of Monsters and Men
8. Bankrupt!, Phoenix
9. Silence Yourself, Savages
10. The Low Highway, Steve Earle & the Dukes
11. Nanobots, They Might Be Giants
12. Hands That Thieve, Streetlight Manifesto
13. Mosquito, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. Thr!!!er, !!! (Chk Chk Chk)
15. The North Borders, Bonobo
16. Gravel and Wine, Gin Wigmore
17. Searching for Sugar Man, Rodriguez
18. Boys & Girls, Alabama Shakes
19. Donkey Punch the Night, Puscifer
20. Green 25th Anniversary Edition, R.E.M.
NEW DVD/BLU-RAY: GET SLIGHTLY STOOPID WITH BOB WEIR AND OTHERS
PREVIEW/BUY THE DVD/CD HERE
In 2011, Slightly Stoopid was invited by the Grateful Dead and Furthur’s Bob Weir into his state of the art TRI Studios and brought down some of their close friends, family, and musical guests for an unprecedented live webcast and in-studio performance. Their good friend Tommy Chong hosted the event and provided some “Wisdom.” Their extended family of musical guests joining and playing on the session included Karl Denson, Ivan and Ian Neville of Dumpstaphunk, Don Carlos, and Bob Weir himself!
The result is a 31-song/2-set acoustic and electric performance including behind the scenes rehearsal footage and a rare interview segment moderated by Tommy Chong & Bob Weir.
Last but not least, a portion of all proceeds will benefit two charitable organizations whom the band supports: Save the Children and World Food Programme.
VINYL WORD: HARD-TO-FIND MOGWAI FRENCH TV SOUNDTRACK IN STOCK!
BUY THE VINYL HERE
“Les Revenants” (“the ones who came back”), a French TV program for which Mogwai provides the soundtrack, is a gorgeously subtle, harrowing drama that explores the reality of loved ones returning from the grave. These “zombies” aren’t grisly maniacs hungry for flesh, but humans in their pre-death state who return to their tiny community, a twin town to Twin Peaks nestled in the crook of some mountains and swaddled in perpetual night, as if they’d just popped out for air. The soundtrack album Les Revenants contains not a shred of the terror Mogwai is capable of wreaking, and it works terrifically — it rarely comes off overly dramatic or leading, and matches the unsettling feel of the show.
Mogwai had only seen a few English scripts for the drama before they started on the music. “We were aware of trying to keep it not as a typical soundtrack, more just music that doesn’t necessarily do anything that has a bit of presence,” guitarist John Cummings told the Quietus. That’s underselling it a bit; there’s no need to see the TV show (though I’d highly recommend it) to appreciate the subtlety of Mogwai’s score. — Pitchfork
DOOM-METAL STALWARTS ORCHID'S SECOND FULL-LENGTH AND OTHER NEW CD RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE RX
PREVIEW/BUY THE CD HERE
San Francisco-based doom rockers Orchid established their reputation early with 2009’s release of their first EP, Through The Devil’s Doorway. The EP quickly received first-rate reviews around the world naming it an ingenious debut for a band with an auspicious future. Shortly after the release of Through The Devil’s Doorway, Orchid began working on their full length album, Capricorn, which was released in 2011. The quartet around charismatic lead singer Theo Mindell and his fascinating, psychedelic vocals were the new darlings of the retro heavy rock scene.
Taking into consideration that the Californian quintet had obviously already found its formula for success, one could have expected them to play save by fully maintaining the first record’s course. However, when giving Orchird’s sophomore release The Mouths Of Madness a spin for the first time, one will immediately realize that it embodies anything but stagnation. Carrying their 70s-doom-hard-rock vibe to a new level of intensity and adding new facets to the work of art, Orchid haves succeeded in staying true to their roots while refining their trademark sound at the same time.
NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK: VAMPIRE WEEKEND'S THIRD ALBUM 'MODERN VAMPIRES OF THE CITY' IS 'PERFECT'
PREVIEW/BUY THE CD HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE VINYL HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE DELUXE VINYL HERE
Vampire Weekend never seemed built to last; neither its prep-school visual aesthetic nor its African-tinged pop suggested longevity. But five years after Vampire Weekend debuted, “Oxford Comma,” “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” and “A-Punk” sound not just as good as they did then, but better. 2010’s Contra offered more of the same, in good ways and bad, and now the boldly (or is it just badly?) named Modern Vampires Of The City—“very much the last of a trilogy,” according to frontman Ezra Koenig—arrives to put it all in perspective. Anyone hoping that the winsome, cocky, popular boy would grow into a fat, balding man will be disappointed. Instead, he’s turned out handsome, thoughtful, and sophisticated.
Unlike its two predecessors, which burned hot but only in spots, Modern Vampires feels like a rare thought-through album in the iTunes age. (That didn’t stop the band from releasing dribs and drabs piecemeal over the past few weeks, but that seems to be a fact of modern music-making now.) Its best songs are its slow jams, but every minute feels part of a larger whole rather than just a smattering of hits fleshed out for the sake of fleshing. It’s a pleasant surprise that begins cautiously, with the wistful “Obvious Bicycle,” a ballad that nods more toward The Kinks or pre-disco Bee Gees than Paul Simon, setting the layered tone for the rest of the record. as a capstone to what it’s done so far, Modern Vampires Of The City feels pretty perfect. — The A.V. Club