Audioholic Media

»Album Reviews For Release Date: 06.09.09
by Joshua Krage

Soooo much I want to listen to more this week, but alas there is no time. Some of the year’s best music is hitting store shelves over these next few months, and a few of those are on this week’s list below. Check it out:

Trey Anastasio & Don Hart
Anti-Flag
Black Eyed Peas
The Blackout
British Sea Power
Busdriver
Cake – Motorcade of Generosity reissue
Chickenfoot – rock supergroup with Joe Satriani (guitar), Chad Smith (drums), Michael Anthony (bass) and Sammy Hagar. Interesting? Maybe. Good? Um…
Cinematic Orchestra
Crown of Thorns
Deerhunter

Dirty Projectors, Bitte Orca – see our Hype section for a full report on this one, but I’ll say this: it may be a bit obtuse for mainstream listeners, but it’s one of the best things I’ve heard in years; great orchestration and really inventive without being caustic. Highly enjoyable.

Dredg, The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion – I was honestly dumbfounded that their last album, 2005′s stellar Catch Without Arms, didn’t catch on with the masses. It was so damn good! This LP seems just about to match its predecessor in sonic quality, and they’ve upped the scholar bar so that the slightly progressive dynamic musicianship propels words of artistic substance, arranged in memorable melodies and delivered in Gavin Hayes’ crystalline-cavern rock tenor. This band inhabits the middle ground between melodic emo-core and literary prog, which may be why some find them inaccessible, but for my money, they’re at the top of the modern rock genre, incorporating elements of many colors without being owned by any.

Elizabeth and the Catapult, Taller Children – the physical copy of Brooklyn’s best working songwriting band’s debut LP on the Verve Forecast label. I loved it a month ago when it dropped digitally, and love it just as much now; Elizabeth Ziman has a voice that just nestles in your soul and dances ballet there, pristine, affecting and playful all at once.

The Features
Freeland – also known as DJ Adam Freeland
Nanci Griffith
Heavy D
Peter Holsapple / Chris Stamey
The Horse’s Ha
Infected Mushroom
Joan of Arc
Quincy Jones – “exploring” Henry Mancini
Kasabian
Los Amigos Invisibles
LMFAO – somebody seriously named their band this. Seriously.

The Low Anthem, Oh My God, Charlie Darwin – absolutely genuine folk/Americana trio who has garnered accolades from all the big folk publications. Most folk is kind of cookie-cutter to my ears, so to hear this music played so singularly and with such an affecting sound was quite jarring, to say the least. Frontman Ben Knox Miller’s angelic choir falsetto is the shortest path to awestruck tears you can take (his low, dry whisper and barn-burning blues growl aren’t bad, either), and the arrangements and harmonies are handled perfectly, from the unadorned acoustic guitars, to the blues-hall rhythm shuffles, to the sustained organ and harmonica lines. This is organic music at its finest, straight from the soil.

Teena Marie
Miike Snow
Rhett Miller

Mos Def, Ecstatic – I wish I had more time to listen to this. It’s a real return for the rapper who has spent so much time out in Hollywood, and it’s great to hear him in top-form with rhymes to spare.

Pigface

Placebo, Battle For the Sun – I wish I could have given this a proper listen, but luckily my buddy Kevin stepped up to the plate and gave it a once over. He reports that the first half kicked his ass in a wonderful way, but the second half left a lot to be desired. Thanks, Kev!

Pleasure P
Portland Cello Project
Ben Reynolds
Todd Snider
Sonic Youth
Stardeath / White Dwarfs
Paul Van Dyk – best of
Darryl Worley
Yung LA

I’d have more, but I’ve got 40+ songs I’ll be performing this Saturday, and most of those I’ve never played before. I love a challenge! See you next week, and enjoy what music you may find.

P.S. Enjoy a sampling from this week’s new songs on my MySpace page. It’s updated pretty much weekly now…

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