Big Thief “Real Love” (From “Masterpiece”) Naming your debut album “Masterpiece” takes chutzpah or a winking sense of inward disarmament. Brooklyn’s Big Thief have now released two singles from that upcoming record, and both have been lyrically vivid beauties. “Real Love” features eviscerating lyrics (“real love makes your lungs black/real love is a heart…
Timely Tunes ~ March 17, 2016
Andrew Bird “Roma Fade” (From “Are You Serious”) Andrew Bird has been so reliably consistent throughout his career that I admit I occasionally take his work for granted. A couple weeks ago, his stunning collaboration with Fiona Apple (“Left Handed Kisses”) shook me from that complacency and reminded me that he is one of…
Timely Tunes ~ March 10, 2016
ANOHNI “Drone Bomb Me” (From “HOPELESSNESS”) I chose ANOHNI’s “4 Degrees” as my second favorite song of 2015. This, the second single released from the upcoming full-length, is every bit as emotionally devastating and sonically rich. ANOHNI has said that it is written from the perspective of a young girl whose family has been…
Timely Tunes ~ March 3, 2016
School of Seven Bells “Ablaze” (From “SVIIB”) The songs on “SVIIB” were written while Benjamin Curtis was losing his battle with Lymphoma, but the leading track is the most massive song they ever wrote. Pop music as supernova. White Lung “Hungry” (From “Paradise”) White Lung’s last album, “Deep Fantasy”, was one of my favorite…
Timely Tunes ~ February 18, 2016
Junior Boys “C’Mon Baby” (From “Big Black Coat”) Canadian electropop duo Junior Boys’ latest record might be the strongest in an already impressive discography. The dark elegance of the best arty ‘80s synth-pop (see: Yellow Magic Orchestra, Ultravox, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark) remains at the forefront of what the group does, but early…
Timely Tunes ~ February 11, 2016
This weekend is Valentine’s Day, so I have decided to do something a little bit different for this week. Instead of writing about new releases I dug (Junior Boys, Deftones, Eagulls, Rihanna, etc.), I put together a love-themed playlist of power pop (and power pop-adjacent) gems. Hope you enjoy. SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: TIMELY TUNES, VOL….
Timely Tunes ~ February 4, 2016
Shearwater “Wildlife in America” (From “Jet Plane and Oxbow”) Jonathan Meiburg initiated Shearwater as a side outlet while still a member of Okkervil River, a lyrically dense band whose songs scanned like screenplays. Meiburg is an ornithologist, and perhaps his sharp birder eye is what allows him to tell such detailed stories as a…
Timely Tunes ~ January 28, 2016
Chairlift “Polymorphing” (From “Moth”) Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly’s third album is the best synthesis of their effervescent pop yet. Their music still gets labeled by some as “indie pop”, for reasons that only make sense if you are hung up about enjoying pop music non-ironically (an arcane rockist attitude to, thankfully, more and…
Timely Tunes
Anderson Paak “The Season I Carry Me” (From “Malibu”) Anderson Paak is a singer-songwriter, producer, and musician from California straddling the line between R&B and soul-influenced hip-hop, orbiting in the same solar system as Miguel or Kendrick Lamar. Paak appeared on a sizeable chunk of Dr. Dre’s surprising “Compton”, and frequently stole the spotlight…
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