1. Pure Heroine, Lorde
2. Silver Bell, Patty Griffin
3. Event II, Deltron 3030
4. Country Music Dead, New Transit
5. Days Are Gone, Haim
6. Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song, Amos Lee
7. Old, Danny Brown
8. Wise Up Ghost, Elvis Costello and the Roots
9. Diving Board, Elton John
10. Innocents, Moby
11. Melophobia, Cage the Elephant
12. The Bones of What You Believe, Chvrches
13. Whales and Leeches, Red Fang
14. Native, Onerepublic
15. AM, Arctic Monkeys
16. All the Little Lights, Passenger
17. We Need Medicine, The Fratellis
18. Bitter Rivals, Sleigh Bells
19. Babel, Mumford and Sons
20. Hesitation Marks, Nine Inch Nails
THE VINYL WORD: CAGE THE ELEPHANT 'IN A CLASS OF THEIR OWN' ON NEW LP
It’s hard to think of many peers for Cage the Elephant. They’re a young Kentucky rock band riffing on Zep and garage-punk without retro nostalgia; whip-smart songwriters un-beloved by hipsters; rock-radio hitmakers who play with the unhinged mania of a warehouse set. On Melophobia they’re in a class of their own among big, unit-shifting rock bands who can play with the scrap and imagination of van-tour vermin. — L.A. Times
NEW RELEASE OF THE WEEK: SLEIGH BELLS' THIRD ALBUM 'BITTER RIVALS' IS AN 'EXCITING AND POWERFUL RECORD'
PREVIEW/BUY THE CD HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE VINYL HERE
The opening title track off of the third Sleigh Bells album, Bitter Rivals, must have been carefully crafted to both introduce listeners to the record and build anticipation for what is to come.
It doesn’t start with a bang—rather, the duo begins the album with a groovy guitar riff (with really great tones) and some minor backing percussion, including a quiet chorus of snapping and…barking dogs—but within a minute, the song comes crashing in to reveal the band’s signature electronic indie-pop sound. The driving rhythms, crunchy guitars and frantic synthesizers establish an entirely different, chaotic vibe (made more chaotic by Alexis Krauss’ layered and heavily affected vocals) that juxtaposes the much mellower opening.
Sleigh Bells exercise and play around with these quick, often unexpected, dynamic shifts in tempo and melody throughout Bitter Rivals. Of course, the group’s bread-and-butter is still in writing catchy, noisy guitar-based pop songs with a distinct electronic edge, and there’s plenty of that to go around on the album, but the duo is also adept at recognizing when to pepper in moments of contrasting instrumentation to freshen up the songs and reinvigorate the listener.
In addition, these variations in arrangement serve to display the duo’s ever-growing range as songwriters, but it’s not always necessary to slow things down or drastically alter a song’s makeup to do that, because underneath all of those crunchy, distorted guitars and pulsing synthesizers and digital drums, Sleigh Bells is a pop band. And as a pop band, its songs ultimately depend on crafting memorable melodies that resonate with a listener, which for the most part, they’re able to accomplish on nearly every track on Bitter Rivals.
These creative movements make Bitter Rivals an exciting and powerful record, because it reminds the listener that sometimes it’s okay to follow an idea into unexpected territory and shake things up. — Paste
WIN A SIGNED OF MONTREAL VINYL LP!
The Record Exchange was one of a few select indie record stores in the country to get our hands on an ultra-rare autographed copy of the new Of Montreal album Lousy with Sylvianbriar, and one lucky customer will win it!
To be entered into the drawing, we are requiring a CD or vinyl purchase of Lousy with Sylvianbriar. Why? Because we want the vinyl to go to an Of Montreal fan and not up on eBay. Deadline to purchase the album and get entered to win is Sunday, Oct. 13. We will draw the winner at random on Monday, Oct. 14.
NEW RELEASE TUESDAY 10/8: SLEIGH BELLS LISTENING PARTY, PLUS CAGE THE ELEPHANT, OF MONTREAL, AMOS LEE
The Record Exchange will host a Sleigh Bells listening party at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8. Hear their new album Bitter Rivals, pick it up on CD or vinyl and enter to win a rare vinyl test pressing of the album — one of only 15 in the country!
Here’s a quick look at the bright and shiny new releases this week at The Record Exchange:
CD
Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals
Cage the Elephant – Melophobia
Amos Lee – Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song
Korn – Paradigm Shift (deluxe edition also available)
Of Montreal – Lousy with Sylvianbriar
Lindi Ortega – Tin Star
Danny Brown – Old
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – The Speed of Things
Panic at the Disco – Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die!
The Fratellis – We Need Medicine
Miley Cyrus – Bangerz (deluxe edition also available)
Lissie – Back to Forever
Anna Calvi – One Breath
Various Artists – CBGB
Turin Brakes – We Were Here
Earthless – From the Ages
RJD2 – More Is Than Isn’t
Various Artists – Red Hot and Fela
Anders Osborne – Peace
Mayday Parade – Monsters in the Closet
Kodaline – In a Perfect World
Patty Griffin – Silver Bell
Diego Garcia – Paradise
William Shatner – Ponder the Mystery
Seasick Steve – Hubcap Music
Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington – High Rise
Echosmith – Talking Dreams
Dance Gavin Dance – Acceptance Speech
Alter Bridge – Fortress
Daniel Bachman – Jesus I’m a Sinner
St. Lucia – When the Night
Kenny Rogers – You Can’t Make Old Friends
Cassadee Pope – Frame By Frame
Tim Kasher – Adult Film
Alex Chilton – Electricity by Candlelight: NYC 2/13/97
Parquet Courts – Tally All the Things That You Broke
Parquet Courts – Light Up Gold + Tally All the Things That You
Suburban Legends – Dreams Aren’t Real, But These Songs Are Vol. 1
New Found Glory – Kill It Live
Glasser – Interiors
Joe Nichols – Crickets
Joe Cocker – Live at Montreux 1987
Deep Purple – Live at Montreux 1996 and 2006
Nektar – Sounds Like This
Deap Vally – Sistrionix
Black Sabbath – Seventh Star
George Thorogood and the Destroyers – Ride Til I Die/The Hard Stuff
Tony Bennett – Live at the Sahara: Las Vegas, 1964
Answer – New Horizon (deluxe edition also available)
Answer – Everyday Demons
Answer – Revival
Various Artists – NOW Christmas
VINYL
Red Fang – Whales and Leeches
Cage the Elephant – Melophobia
Sleigh Bells – Bitter Rivals
Various Artists – CBGB
Amos Lee – Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song
Jesu – Everyday I Get Closer to the Light From Which I Came
Blackmore’s Night – Dancer and the Moon
Testament – First Strike Still Deadly
The Get Up Kids – Eudora
Pearl Jam – Backspacer
Weezer – Green
Litter – Distortions
Carpathian Forest – Black Shining Leather
DVD/BLU-RAY
American Horror Story: Asylum DVD
The Avengers: Emma Peel Megaset DVD
The Hangover Pt. 3 DVD
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life Blu-ray
Levon Helm – Ain’t In It For My Health DVD
Fairport Convention – Live in Maidstone 1970 DVD
I Married a Witch (Criterion Collection) DVD and Blu-ray
After Earth DVD
The Borrowers DVD