Erik Burg
Grizzly Bear
Putting some of my personal fixations with Grizzly Bear aside, the release of their brand new song almost imploded the internet last week. “Sleeping Ute” is taken from the bands yet-to-be-titled album, due out later this year on Warp, and is an explosive mix of scaling guitars and the band’s collective vocal range. It’s incredibly reminiscent of member Daneil Rossen’s Department of Eagles project, digging into darker, more cathartic sounds on the third verse. It’s different from “Two Weeks,” which is kind of a bold statement considering the success of that song and Veckatimest as a whole, but “Sleeping Ute” is expansive and brilliant. So for now at least, they have my attention.
Dirty Projectors
Despite cutting back on one of the members that made their sound so unique on Bitte Orca, Dirty Projectors are barreling towards another amazing album in 2012. Swing Lo Magellan is out July 10th on Domino, and our first peek at the album, with “Gun Has No Trigger,” showcases frontman David Longstreth’s streaking vocals and the band’s booming choruses. The prickly guitar, tonal shifts, and the video’s gorgeous color palette are entirely Dirty Projectors’ schtick. Bitte Orca was unprecedented and genre defining, especially considering its departure from Dirty Projectors’ previous catalogue, and “Gun Has No Trigger” is a tremendous first look at the new album.
Jens Lekman
It may have just been an EP, but last year’s An Argument With Myself was one of the better releases of the year. With light, brilliantly written songs and catchy beats, it’s a release with the Swede’s fingerprints all over it. And with the announcement of I Know What Love Isn’t, Lekman appears to be reimagining the sound that made him so heartwarming in the first place. The swooning, sad songs of his earlier material, akin to Oh You’re So Silent Jens, shines through on “Erica America,” the first track released from the forthcoming album. It’s irreverent and startling, making the heartbreak in Jens’ voice at times more powerful than it truly should be. I Know What Love Isn’t is out September 9th on Secretly Canadian.
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti
Speaking on his new material with his band Haunted Graffiti, Ariel Pink has noted that, “There are definitely not any links to my lo-fi origins. It’s so diverse but so different from anything I’ve done before.” The entire conversation surrounding the new material reeks of a grown-up Ariel Pink — a guy who not but two years ago was running off stages, dodging interviews, and causing general mishaps in his career. Mature Themes is the album’s title, and whether it’s meant to be ironic or not, the band’s newest track might be their most thoughtful and mature yet. “Baby” is a cover of Donnie & Joe Emerson’s classic track, and finds Pink softly lamenting about a woman, but not in the same way he did on “Butt-House Blondies.” He might never grow up, remaining the spastic, sketchy guy that became an underground legend for his years of homemade work, but it appears as though he’s finally trying to fit in on Mature Themes.
Listen to Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti’s “Baby”
Donnie & Joe Emerson – “Baby” (Original)
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Jake Renn
Vee Hua 華婷婷
Navi Esparza