Tuesday, May 11, 2010

NEW ARRIVALS: CDs - The National, Holy F*ck, CoCoRosie, Moon Duo & more

AVI BUFFALO Avi Buffalo LP+MP3 / CD
*** "By the time you read this, Avi Buffalo will pretty much all be out of high school. They ve toured with Beach House, Final Fantasy, opened for Vampire Weekend and found fans at KCRW and Steve Lamacq at the BBC."

COCO ROSIE Grey Oceans LP+MP3 / CD
*** CocoRosie's 11-song Sub Pop debut, Grey Oceans, is hair. I mean "here."

DUM DUM GIRLS I Will Be CD
*** "I Will Be is a decidedly medium-fi record. Just under thirty minutes with eleven songs, it's a short tribute to love, fun and the classic pop form of the '60s girl groups and early punk rockers."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Happy Birthday LP+MP3 / CD
*** "Happy Birthday formed in November 2008 to play one show at the punk-space "Tinderbox" (RIP) & enjoyed playing with each other so much that they decided to keep doing it."

HOLY FUCK Latin LP+MP3 / CD
*** "If opposites really do attract, it makes perfect sense that Holy Fuck would choose a barn in rural Ontario to record a series of dynamic electro-noise pop tracks that compose their latest full-length release, titled Latin."

MOON DUO Killing Time LP / CD
*** "MOON DUO is the solo alter-ego of WOODEN SHJIPS guitarist/singer RIPLEY JOHNSON. Expansive Krautrock influenced tapestries of warm cascading fuzz and controlled feedback, organ, and accenting keyboard."

THE NATIONAL High Violet 2xLP+MP3 / CD
*** "A nervy, melodic, explosive and beautiful set, wide-ranging in its moods, by turns intimate and rough, expansive and spare, full of stark angles and atmosphere. High Violet may be The National's most thematically twisted record to date but it somehow also manages to be their most infectious and immediate."

THE RADIO DEPT Clinging To A Scheme CD
*** Someone called Radio Dept "the perfect mix between Saint Etienne and early The Jesus and Mary Chain and The best songs Pet Shop Boys never wrote and the album you'd hoped My Bloody Valentine did after 'Loveless'"

SECOND HAND Death May Be Your Santa Claus CD
*** "Second album from one of the best 1960s UK psychedelic bands. Originally recorded as the soundtrack to an obscure underground movie, it's a dark, dense and challenging masterwork combining uniquely experimental compositions with wild organ playing and complex rhythms."

DOUG SAHM He's About A Groover: An Essential Collection 2xCD
*** "50 Tracks spanning Dough Sahm's solo career from 1957 to 1980 plus the best from Sir Douglas Quintet. This collection contains the hits, previously unreleased tracks and unreleased live tracks."

BRIDGET ST. JOHN BBC Radio 1968-1976 CD
*** "Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Bridget made many unique recordings for BBC Radio, mostly for John Peel, unreleased until now, several songs released here for the first time."

UNKLE Where Did The Night Fall CD
*** "James Lavelle teams up with a whole range of talented guest collaborators, (MARK LANEGAN and BLACK ANGELS among others) to create a sonically dense record that encompasses musical styles as diverse as Psychedelic Rock and Minimal House."