New Music Releases Thread



Don'tListenToTheHat said:
Think this is superb. Looking forward to hearing the rest.
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It’s exactly what I was told it was like - Gainsbourg, Walker, Hawley esque, lush strings, some Turner high notes. Gorgeous. I’m hovering over Skyscanner here… Kalorama festival in Lisbon on Friday. Seen them in Croatia and Paris already this month. Me and the mrs are in an AM frenzy :lol:
 
Right a big week for new(ish) listening for me. My brief summary:

The Liminanas: a career spanning Best Of. You may well be familiar with some of it already. Contains 7 or 8 tracks from Les Bellas, the band that preceded Liminanas. They had the garage rock elements of Liminanas but, maybe not the psychedelia or the poise.
Gently Tender: Liking this a lot. They've basically formed from the ashes of Parma Violets but, vocals aside, aren't much like them. Kind of indie-folk but not. Quite anthemic, lots of shared male/female vocals.
Chris Forsyth: part instrumental, part songs, this incorporates post-punk, psych-rock and lots of other stuff. He continues to be excellent.
The Lounge Society: awful name. Yorkshire youngsters who do a sort of post-punk thing. Quite promising. "Generation Game" is still their best song by far.
Valerie June: covers, quite well done. Some are obvious (Pink Moon, Imagine, Into My Arms), others less so.
Ragawerk: Indian influenced psychedelic jazz, can be a bit noodly but some of it is very good.
Yanna Momina: a 74 year old woman from Djibouti. Lo-fi field recordings with, at times, minimal instrumentation. This gets really good when a little bit of guitar is added.
Watkins Family Hour: country-folk by a husband and wife duo plus guests. Highly enjoyable.
Ezra Furman: their garage rock has, at times, got a bit more anthemic. Enjoyable!
Julia Jacklin: high quality songs. Another excellent album from JJ.
Stella Donnelly: she's very good indeed. There's a Go Betweensy feel to one or two tracks and a more obvious pop feel to others.
Au Suisse: laidback electronica with vocals, think something akin to The Beloved or Hot Chips' more mellow recordings. Good.
Altered Images: back after many years, I think they're now basically Clare Grogan and her partner. Poppy at times, punky at others, the vocal irritate a little over a full album but still fun.
Esmerine: toward the classical end of post-rock. Very good indeed. They're Canadian and have connection to GSY!BE,
Maia Friedman: this has been out for a while. Debut solo release from a member of Dirty Projectors. Intriguing laidback pop with occasional psychedelic elements.
Bret McKenzie: his "not funny" album. It's really rather good and quite witty (without being out and out Conchords daft). Sort of LA pop-rock.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: electronica, heavy on treated vocals. Very engaging and intriguing. File in the same hole as Dan Deacon, maybe.
Jacken Elswyth: a psych-folk banjo fronted album. Very enjoyable, although probably for a niche audience!
Alex Rex: the psych-folk of his earlier albums have been replaced with drones that are ranted over. Interesting and also brief.
Art Moore: associates of Ezra Furman. This is quite nice, female fronted indiepop that's maybe a little one paced.

Album of the week: a tricky one. I'm liking Julia Jacklin and Stella Donnelly and Chris Forsyth a lot, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Esmerine and Bret McKenzie are up there but I think it goes to Gently Tender. They have a vibe about them. I've discounted The Liminanas in this as it's a compilation.
 
Arkle said:
Right a big week for new(ish) listening for me. My brief summary:

The Liminanas: a career spanning Best Of. You may well be familiar with some of it already. Contains 7 or 8 tracks from Les Bellas, the band that preceded Liminanas. They had the garage rock elements of Liminanas but, maybe not the psychedelia or the poise.
Gently Tender: Liking this a lot. They've basically formed from the ashes of Parma Violets but, vocals aside, aren't much like them. Kind of indie-folk but not. Quite anthemic, lots of shared male/female vocals.
Chris Forsyth: part instrumental, part songs, this incorporates post-punk, psych-rock and lots of other stuff. He continues to be excellent.
The Lounge Society: awful name. Yorkshire youngsters who do a sort of post-punk thing. Quite promising. "Generation Game" is still their best song by far.
Valerie June: covers, quite well done. Some are obvious (Pink Moon, Imagine, Into My Arms), others less so.
Ragawerk: Indian influenced psychedelic jazz, can be a bit noodly but some of it is very good.
Yanna Momina: a 74 year old woman from Djibouti. Lo-fi field recordings with, at times, minimal instrumentation. This gets really good when a little bit of guitar is added.
Watkins Family Hour: country-folk by a husband and wife duo plus guests. Highly enjoyable.
Ezra Furman: their garage rock has, at times, got a bit more anthemic. Enjoyable!
Julia Jacklin: high quality songs. Another excellent album from JJ.
Stella Donnelly: she's very good indeed. There's a Go Betweensy feel to one or two tracks and a more obvious pop feel to others.
Au Suisse: laidback electronica with vocals, think something akin to The Beloved or Hot Chips' more mellow recordings. Good.
Altered Images: back after many years, I think they're now basically Clare Grogan and her partner. Poppy at times, punky at others, the vocal irritate a little over a full album but still fun.
Esmerine: toward the classical end of post-rock. Very good indeed. They're Canadian and have connection to GSY!BE,
Maia Friedman: this has been out for a while. Debut solo release from a member of Dirty Projectors. Intriguing laidback pop with occasional psychedelic elements.
Bret McKenzie: his "not funny" album. It's really rather good and quite witty (without being out and out Conchords daft). Sort of LA pop-rock.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: electronica, heavy on treated vocals. Very engaging and intriguing. File in the same hole as Dan Deacon, maybe.
Jacken Elswyth: a psych-folk banjo fronted album. Very enjoyable, although probably for a niche audience!
Alex Rex: the psych-folk of his earlier albums have been replaced with drones that are ranted over. Interesting and also brief.
Art Moore: associates of Ezra Furman. This is quite nice, female fronted indiepop that's maybe a little one paced.

Album of the week: a tricky one. I'm liking Julia Jacklin and Stella Donnelly and Chris Forsyth a lot, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Esmerine and Bret McKenzie are up there but I think it goes to Gently Tender. They have a vibe about them. I've discounted The Liminanas in this as it's a compilation.
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Esmerine have a new one??
 
Arkle said:
Right a big week for new(ish) listening for me. My brief summary:

The Liminanas: a career spanning Best Of. You may well be familiar with some of it already. Contains 7 or 8 tracks from Les Bellas, the band that preceded Liminanas. They had the garage rock elements of Liminanas but, maybe not the psychedelia or the poise.
Gently Tender: Liking this a lot. They've basically formed from the ashes of Parma Violets but, vocals aside, aren't much like them. Kind of indie-folk but not. Quite anthemic, lots of shared male/female vocals.
Chris Forsyth: part instrumental, part songs, this incorporates post-punk, psych-rock and lots of other stuff. He continues to be excellent.
The Lounge Society: awful name. Yorkshire youngsters who do a sort of post-punk thing. Quite promising. "Generation Game" is still their best song by far.
Valerie June: covers, quite well done. Some are obvious (Pink Moon, Imagine, Into My Arms), others less so.
Ragawerk: Indian influenced psychedelic jazz, can be a bit noodly but some of it is very good.
Yanna Momina: a 74 year old woman from Djibouti. Lo-fi field recordings with, at times, minimal instrumentation. This gets really good when a little bit of guitar is added.
Watkins Family Hour: country-folk by a husband and wife duo plus guests. Highly enjoyable.
Ezra Furman: their garage rock has, at times, got a bit more anthemic. Enjoyable!
Julia Jacklin: high quality songs. Another excellent album from JJ.
Stella Donnelly: she's very good indeed. There's a Go Betweensy feel to one or two tracks and a more obvious pop feel to others.
Au Suisse: laidback electronica with vocals, think something akin to The Beloved or Hot Chips' more mellow recordings. Good.
Altered Images: back after many years, I think they're now basically Clare Grogan and her partner. Poppy at times, punky at others, the vocal irritate a little over a full album but still fun.
Esmerine: toward the classical end of post-rock. Very good indeed. They're Canadian and have connection to GSY!BE,
Maia Friedman: this has been out for a while. Debut solo release from a member of Dirty Projectors. Intriguing laidback pop with occasional psychedelic elements.
Bret McKenzie: his "not funny" album. It's really rather good and quite witty (without being out and out Conchords daft). Sort of LA pop-rock.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith: electronica, heavy on treated vocals. Very engaging and intriguing. File in the same hole as Dan Deacon, maybe.
Jacken Elswyth: a psych-folk banjo fronted album. Very enjoyable, although probably for a niche audience!
Alex Rex: the psych-folk of his earlier albums have been replaced with drones that are ranted over. Interesting and also brief.
Art Moore: associates of Ezra Furman. This is quite nice, female fronted indiepop that's maybe a little one paced.

Album of the week: a tricky one. I'm liking Julia Jacklin and Stella Donnelly and Chris Forsyth a lot, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Esmerine and Bret McKenzie are up there but I think it goes to Gently Tender. They have a vibe about them. I've discounted The Liminanas in this as it's a compilation.
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Celia from The Big Moon is the female vocalist / keys on the Gently Tender album. I need to give it a full listen.

Saw Altered Images earlier in the year, fair play to her for cracking on still. Wasn't a stellar gig but quite entertaining, my MIL enjoyed it. I think Clare Grogan's written quite a lot of the new stuff with Bernard Butler. He came out for a tune and looked slightly mortified. He always does.
 
chunkyshitehawk53 said:
Really enjoying the Recitals album
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Ooh, they're on Flying Nun, will give them a listen.
It's a bit calm before the storm for new stuff this week. There are albums from Megadeth, Rina Sawayama, SOHN, Tom Chaplin, Two Door Cinema Club, Yungblud, Steve Pilgrim, Pale Blue Eyes, Tommy McLain, Dendrons, Belief, Florist and The Hu.
 
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My somewhat shorter than usual potted review of new and newish stuff:

Party Dozen: Australian duo who do instrumental indie rock (although Nick Cave pops up on vocals at one point). Hurtles along at a pace. Very good.
Pale Blue Eyes: debut album, I believe. Kind of retro-futurist thing going on (i.e. a little bit post-post-punk) with an eye on hooks and melodies. Very enjoyable.
Belief: Boom Bip and Stella from Warpaint getting together for an album of largely instrumental electronica. Pretty good.
The Hu: Mongolia's finest return. Stirring epic marching rock with lyrics which read dreadfully when translated to English. Utterly magnificent!
Florist: indie dream folk, fronted by Emily Sprague (whose name seems familiar but I\ve no idea where from). Some tracks are a little bit Sufjan. Really rather good.
Dendrons: not sure if it's their debut but, beyond that, read the Pale Blue Eyes review above and you've got an idea about this. Same ballpark, equally good.
Tommy McLain: octagenerian folk-blues bloke returns after 20+ years and makes something very, very good. Elvis Costello guests.
Recitals: @chunkyshitehawk53 mentioned this last week. It's good. Actually in the same general area as both Pale Blue Eyes and Dendrons but with some female vocals.

Album of the week: The Hu but most of the rest are very good as well. Not sure Belief's album is sometihng I'll go back to a lot. Might explore Tommy McLain's back catalogue (i.e. listen to an old 'Best Of') and Florist have impressed me.
 
Arkle said:
My somewhat shorter than usual potted review of new and newish stuff:

Party Dozen: Australian duo who do instrumental indie rock (although Nick Cave pops up on vocals at one point). Hurtles along at a pace. Very good.
Pale Blue Eyes: debut album, I believe. Kind of retro-futurist thing going on (i.e. a little bit post-post-punk) with an eye on hooks and melodies. Very enjoyable.
Belief: Boom Bip and Stella from Warpaint getting together for an album of largely instrumental electronica. Pretty good.
The Hu: Mongolia's finest return. Stirring epic marching rock with lyrics which read dreadfully when translated to English. Utterly magnificent!
Florist: indie dream folk, fronted by Emily Sprague (whose name seems familiar but I\ve no idea where from). Some tracks are a little bit Sufjan. Really rather good.
Dendrons: not sure if it's their debut but, beyond that, read the Pale Blue Eyes review above and you've got an idea about this. Same ballpark, equally good.
Tommy McLain: octagenerian folk-blues bloke returns after 20+ years and makes something very, very good. Elvis Costello guests.
Recitals: @chunkyshitehawk53 mentioned this last week. It's good. Actually in the same general area as both Pale Blue Eyes and Dendrons but with some female vocals.

Album of the week: The Hu but most of the rest are very good as well. Not sure Belief's album is sometihng I'll go back to a lot. Might explore Tommy McLain's back catalogue (i.e. listen to an old 'Best Of') and Florist have impressed me.
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I'm enjoying The Hu very much. Its getting me right into the mood ahead of the match!
 
James said:
Saw Kevin Morby last night at Hoxton Hall. Tiny venue. He was absolutely tremendous, what a brilliant gig. Sound was perfect as well. He gets better with every record.
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Like Hoxton Hall a lot

Saw Caroline Polachek there, Sorry and a few others

Shame it costs a fortune to hire or there’d be more gigs
 
It's a big week for album releases. Tomorrow we get new stuff from Ari Lennox, Built to Spill, Daniel Romano's Outfit, GA-20, Jockstrap, John Legend, Julian Lennon, Marlon Williams, Oliver Sim (XX bloke who isn't called Jamie), Ozzy Osbourne, Parkway Drive, Preoccupations, Sampa the Great, Santigold, Son Little, Sudan Archives, The Afghan Whigs, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Proclaimers, Gabe Gurnsey, Parker Gispert, Sarah Davachi, Thee Sacred Souls and Crippled Black Phoenix.
 

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