(Dead Oceans) CD & LP
A two person project burgeoning out from the whirling pop dreaminess of Massachusetts native Casey Daniel, Kairos’ relatively simple instrumentation is reminiscent in mood to Beach House. With vocals alluding to both Angel Deradoorian (Dirty Projectors) & Joni Mitchell, Kairos is whimsical but sincere, forming a well-tailored world between spectrums of ethereal pop & dub-flavoured ambience.
(Old Life) CD
This crew of local musical enthusiasts has slowly started to gather a gust of hype around them, based mainly on their rocking ass live shows. Like many Victoria groups, the members have at one time belonged to other bands, but Forestry do the sincere post-rock/pop thing better than most. At time their debut is earnest & fragile, but that is often countered with a penchant for guitar racket that keeps things interesting. Promising new band. Drawing from peers like Great Lake Swimmers & Joel Plaskett.
WE WILL BE OPENING AT 10am!
April 17 is officially Record Store Day! Last year was a great success with a bunch of exclusive & cool releases on RSD & this year promises to be even crazier.
For details on RSD & cool artist quotes/interviews, wander over the RSD site …
Along with sweet exclusives & a crazy amount of new releases in general, there are a few nifty things we’ll be adding on to make Saturday radder than the raddest radness, such as…
Listen here...
(Jagjaguwar) CD & LP
Besnard Lakes Are The Darkhorse was a slow, steady burn that won many hearts in 2007 – its mix of proggy structures with etherial atmospheric & classic rock chops did wonders for those looking for a respite from quippy, thin indie rock. Their follow up, Roaring Night expands upon the sound of Darkhorse, with a little more time spent dwelling in the floating, Lynchian scapes these guys do so well. Of course, things do come to a head with “And This Is What We Call Progress”, an amazing driving tune with soaring vocals from Jace Lasek and a call & response riff arrangement that picks up the “rawk” quotient. One of the year’s strongest rock records so far.
(Drag City) 3CD & 3LP (!)
Wow. Little murmurs, a few web peeks & then BAM: three pieces of wax like THAT! It goes without saying that Joanna’s Ys quickly ascended the ranks of “modern classics” – it’s quietly grown & maintained an untarnished sense of purity & beauty over the last couple of years. The big question was; where does Joanna go from here? The answer has turned out to be even bigger. Have One On Me is a triple CD/LP affair & while it will take a few weeks to soak in all of its splendor, right off the bat with “Easy”, it’s a relief to hear some new tunes from Ms. Newsom. After a couple of rotations, it’s nice to hear some new arrangement ideas, with full accompaniment along on many tracks (including drums). Song lengths aren’t quite as daunting as Ys (even though they’re still 5 minutes +) & sonically the terrain is very familiar, with harp & other plucked instruments alongside piano & Newsom’s voice which seems to have made the same progressive leap from Ys that it made from The Milk-Eyed Mender. A worth of enjoyment awaits with Have One On Me – what a treat to have someone like Joanna Newsom making music in a time like this.
(Constellation) CD & 2LP
Their legacy might stem from folky ensembles & collective idealism but the remnants of Godspeed! still got some gusto; Thee Silver Mount Zion sound inspired here, at one moment tapping well worn post-rock grandiosity, the next, busting out punked-up Fugazi-esque post-hardcore. Impassioned tunes & great structuring keeps Kollaps Tradixionales from falling under the “another post rock record” category, with riffs alongside the poetic bleakness that TSMZ execute so well. Kollaps Tradixionales‘ emotional arcs mirror the arduous, challenging, yet rewarding path that the Constellation collective has endured over the last 15 years.
(Carpark) CD & LP
Toro Y Moi is producer Chaz Bundick’s solo dreamwave (or chillwave, WHATEVER!) endeavor that adds another quaint little album to the slowly building mountain of shoegaze miniatures that are seamlessly melding 80’s synthpop, post-electro &… well, Boards Of Canada songs (yeah, we said it). Much of Causers Of This sounds like Panda Bear if he went all super synthy & turned down the reverb. Tunes like “Thanks Vision” have that warbly tape vibe of Neon Indian & Washed Out, but still retain the structure of a catchy as hell modern pop tune.
CD & 2LP (Sub Pop)
A jump from Carpark to SubPop & the third dreamy installment from Victoria LeGrand & co’s Beach House project is here. There’s a slight bit more pep here, although the wisping melancholia is still abound, with LeGrande’s sinking, swooning vox doing that thing that worked so well on Devotion & their debut. A early contender for 2010 critics’ lists.
CD & LP (XL)
Like, come on already. Stop being so bloody catchy! Vampire Weekend seem to be “guilty pleasure” for many a music fan these days… um, what is that all about? How about Vampire Weekend are really good. We’ve seriously played this album twice in the store & I’m already singing tunes from it. “Cousins” is the “A-Punk” of this record for sure & despite the slight misstep with the auto-tuned silliness, Contra is a great follow up to one of the best debut albums of the last couple years. Get over it, they’re good. Stop hating life so much. Enjoy yourself. Sing along to these tunes & not smile – I dare you.
CD (local)
Out of nowhere this pops up. Well not really nowhere; My Lovely Son is a dude named Satnam, a loyal Ditch regular & as of late, one of our favourite new local artists. As My Lovely Son, he crafts painfully broken ballads that sit on clouds of reverb-drenched bliss. Amazing attention to production detail makes this stand out, but graceful, sinking hymns also posits My Lovely Son as a formidable songwriter in his own right. Think Mazzy Star meets Doves – dreamy & a bit of a downer, but rewarding & soothing at the same time. Check out the myspace.