Decemberists side project Black Prairie‘s new album A Tear In The Eye Is A Wound In The Heart comes out Tuesday, Sept. 18, but you can score an indie exclusive 4-song preview CD EP (How Do You Ruin Me?) now for only $1.99 at The Record Exchange!
The EP comes with a $2 coupon that you can bring back and cash in on the new album on the 18th!
PREVIEW/BUY THE CD HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE VINYL HERE
PREVIEW/BUY THE DELUXE VINYL HERE
NEW RELEASE LISTENING PARTY 9/4!
Back to a four-piece following the return of Josh Dibb (aka Deakin), who ducked out of the band’s 2009 critical hit Merriweather Post Pavilion, Animal Collective have dived deeper into their neon-lit rabbit hole for this ninth album. Centipede Hz is dense and detailed, invigorating and intoxicating. It requires a musical aperitif prior to experiencing, or else the listener risks being overwhelmed by the sensory rush.
Actually, that’s exactly what should happen. It’s absolutely paramount that you, listener, take yourself away from any other activity while Centipede Hz plays. Distractions will numb its potency – and believe these words when they state you’ll want to be completely consumed by this album. It’s the only way to properly feel it: into brain, blood, skin, and back into the air, hair buzzing, fingernails dancing. Close your eyes: soon enough pictures paint themselves across the blank canvas. They may not be clear, appearing as strange shape-shifting things, but they’re certainly captivating.
Transitions like that of “Today’s Supernatural,” an irresistible sci-fi sea shanty, into “Rosie Oh,” fizzy funk dressed in dusty folk threads, are indicative of a superb understanding of ‘proper’ album dynamics. This was designed to be heard in full, not picked apart by shuffle functions. Submit fully to Centipede Hz and it will infect you, quite deliciously, for the foreseeable. — BBC
1. Infinity Overhead, Minus the Bear
2. Stars and Satellites, Trampled By Turtles
3. Ghost To A Ghost, Hank Williams 3
4. America, Dan Deacon
5. Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt
6. Nocturne, Wild Nothing
7. Boys and Girls, Alabama Shakes
8. Some Nights, Fun.
9. A Thing Called Divine Fits, Divine Fits
10. Nothin’ But Love, Robert Cray
11. One Wing, The Chariot
12. Skelethon, Aesop Rock
13. Carry Me Back, Old Crow Medicine Show
14. Dive, Tycho
15. Havoc and Bright Lights, Alanis Morissette
16. Drag It Up (Deluxe Reissue), Old 97’s
17. Shrines, Purity Ring
18. Spark Seeker, Matisyahu
19. The Great Escape Artist, Jane’s Addiction
20. Within and Without, Washed Out
Lupe Fiasco‘s new album Food and Liquor II comes out Tuesday, Sept. 25, but you can score an indie exclusive preview CD single of “Around My Way (Freedom Ain’t Free” (along with b-side “Bitch Bad”) now for only $1.99 at The Record Exchange!
The single comes with a $2 coupon that you can bring back and cash in on the new album on the 25th!
BUY THE CD HERE
FREE TICKET TO KNITTING FACTORY SHOW WITH PURCHASE!
Much like 2010’s Omni, Minus The Bear’s latest release, Infinity Overhead, should come with a warning label. No, I don’t mean your typical “Parental Advisory,” but maybe something more along the lines of “WARNING: This album may inspire unexpected sexy times. Listen with caution.” However this time, though the music may sound just as risqué, the band added few dark twists to the mix.
“Steel And Blood” kicks things off smoothly but violently. While the synthesizers happily beep and the guitars chug along, it’s easy to overlook the gruesome car crash imagery in the lyrics: “She’s bleeding out, call an ambulance/These shaking hands are soaked in red.” “Lonely Gun” acts in a similar manner. While the album could’ve been plucked directly from Omni with its distorted dance-funk sound, its ass-shaking beats disguise some morbid themes. The song was written during what vocalist Jake Snider referred to as a “deep depression,” and he found himself thinking about the lonely state of an unused gun.
Infinity Overhead also has a few mood-changers mixed in. “Diamond Lightning,” from whose lyrics the album takes its name, slows things down Planet Of Ice-style. It features ethereal guitars and a dreamy vocal line, which fit perfectly with the outer-space-oriented lyrics. “Heaven Is A Ghost Town” follows suit with its slow, eerie tones, though it’s a bit more depressing than “Diamond Lightning.” The song’s chords echo while Snider painstakingly challenges the idea of heaven as a paradise, instead describing it as lonely and dark.
“Listing” steers away from the slow and heavy, using more upbeat and bouncy guitar patterns that mirror Planet Of Ice’s “Throwing Shapes.” It is easily one of the album’s most fun and unforgettable tracks. “Toska” is also a highlight with its soaring harmonies and a solo that reminds us all just how hard guitarist Dave Knudson can shred.
A song that could easily be featured in a hot and heavy movie moment, “Cold Company” brings Infinity Overhead to a close with serious force. Its guitars are huge, its drums are pounding, and it sums up the record perfectly: dark, sexy and gargantuan. — CMJ