It may not be New Music Tuesday, but we still have so much to share since this week just exploded with awesome music. Today we’ve got something for you to listen to from Foals, Purity Ring, Micahcu & The Shapes, Eternal Summers, and Passion Pit. Surely there’s something there to tickle your fancy.
FOALS - TAPES
Laced with unique ties to African music, Foals’ “Tapes” strives to take on the vibe of its title — an old-school mixtape. The band gathered an incredible smattering of guests to contribute to the album and give it that hodgepodge feel of a mix given from one friend to another. The album is divided into Side A and Side B (continuing with the tape theme). Side A features different musicians, a few from traditional African backgrounds, who help to create a structured song environment, while Side B’s features emanate a more continuous sound based on electronic and house music sounds. If you’re looking for an album that’s different from most of your music library, you’ve found it.
PURITY RING – SHRINES
I have been waiting so patiently for this album, listening to the entrancing “Fineshrine” at least three times a day until the album dropped on Tuesday. Megan James and Corin Roddick are a beautiful yin and yang. Her dripping, sweet vocals are brought back down to the ground by his electronic beatscapes, which seem to create atmospheres of their own. Together they tell different stories on every track, many alluding to the body in lyrical references. James and Roddick create an otherworldly experience on “Shrines,” complementing each others’ performances in every nuance. Definitely worth a listen.
MICACHU & THE SHAPES - NEVER
Since their debut in 2009, Micachu & The Shapes have been honing their effortlessly unique style. The band took to self-producing Never to attain that personal, gnarly feel without sounding overtly lo-fi. While different songs have different tempos and moods, and some even have pretty catchy hooks, there is an overarching quirkiness which reminds you exactly who is behind the wheel of this operation.
ETERNAL SUMMERS - CORRECT BEHAVIOR
Looks like Eternal Summers is growing up or something. Their previous album, Silver, was lauded for its intimate yet still lovely and indie-poppy quality. Since then, they’ve added a bass player to flesh out the sound, and turned up the rock. Eternal Summers barges through Correct Behavior with the necessary reckless abandon required by any noteworthy summer album, only to slow down a bit at the end with the lo-fi recording of “Summerset,” which rather feels like an homage to the element which made Silver a success. Bottom line: this album is very different, but there’s no way that’s a bad thing.
PASSION PIT - GOSSAMER
Alright, I’ve been waiting for this release even longer than I waited for Purity Ring. Passion Pit’s Manners blew up all over 2009, giving a quick rise to fame for Michael Angelakos, the frontman behind it all. Gossamer delivers more of the dancey electronic synth-pop that many fans have come to know and adore. If you don’t listen to Gossamer carefully, you might miss the dark tones infiltrating the uber-sunshiney beats. Angelakos tackles topics like alcoholism, the American economy, suicide, and more behind his signature sound. All of this comes from a real place, as Angelakos has struggled with many of these things and more over the last few years. Thankfully, his genius artistry is still present on his follow-up album which is recieved with welcoming, open arms.
