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(04/21/17 5:36pm)
House devotees got quite the shock when Darren Cunningham, AKA Actress orbited out of retirement to produce AZD, a back-to-basics record for the UK-based composer. Much less apocalyptic and heavy than 2014’s Ghettoville, the record finds Actress focusing on rhythms and moods previously realized on 2010’s Splazsh and 2008’s Hazyville. Actress merges elements of R&B, electronica, and outsider house to form a sound reminiscent of such giants as Aphex Twin and Oneohtrix Point Never.
(04/18/17 12:30am)
After the unparalleled success of 2014’s Brill Bruisers and the ominous silence that followed, few people expected to hear much from Canadian supergroup New Pornographers in 2017. Six albums in, three years seemed like the midpoint of a prolonged gap between releases. However, on January 26, to universal surprise, the New Pornographers announced the release of their seventh project, Whiteout Conditions. Whiteout Conditions finds the band sticking to their youth-centered indie pop rock, splashed with synths and baroque pop-inspired piano sections. The record however is noticeably less quirky and free-spirited than previous New Pornographers material. Furthermore, the group delves deeper into the usage of synthetics and nontraditional harmonies.
(03/23/17 7:11pm)
On March 14, 2017 celebrated Indie Pop/Folk vocalist Feist released the first new track off of her upcoming album: “Pleasure.” “Pleasure” is a progression yet an escape from her past work. The single is yet another track in a train of works that stylistically, vocally, contextually, and severely differs from her mainstream hit, “1234” off of 2007’s The Reminder. Contrasting “1234”, “Pleasure” is a sensual, stripped-down, Baroque-pop-leaning exploration of our carnal instincts as human beings and a Freudian analysis of what motivates men and women.
(03/21/17 10:05pm)
After five years of nomadic wandering in near irrelevance, The Shins surprisingly dropped an album. Heartworms is the fifth studio album by the New Mexico-based entity, following up 2012’s critically-acclaimed Port of Morrow. From the very beginning of the Shins, through all of their EP’s and LP’s, they strayed and scurried between three or four different somewhat-related genres within all of their albums. There’s the lo-fi indie-infused “New Slang” off of Oh, Inverted World, the fifties/sixties linked “Phantom Limb” from Wincing the Night Away, and the alt-pop classic “Simple Song” off of their 2012 release. But for the first time in their twenty-one year existence, the Shins may have strayed too far and too late. Heartworms dabbles in traditional Shins genres such as surf rock, indie rock, and traditional alternative rock. However, tracks like “Painting a Hole” and “Name for You” find the Shins crashing into the territory that is indie dance pop with confusing results. Unfortunately for the Shins, lead singer James Mercer still maintains his folk-leaning lyrical structures and delivery even on these new, beat-infused works. Furthermore, songs like “Cherry Hearts” and “Fantasy Island” see the Shins experimenting with some electronica and slight psychedelia. All of these stumbled-in-to-genre experiments all build to a singular question throughout the entire album: Is the rotating ensemble of bandmates and writers finally taking its toll on the Shins and rendering their music confused and misguided?