Another great week for music as we have quite a few releases to talk about. When Mark Olson puts out a record and we can still gush about three more records on top of that, you know it’s going to be a good week.
First and foremost though is an album that I have been anticipating for quite awhile right now. Christopher Willits put out his last “proper” full length 4 years ago titled, Surf Boundaries. The follow-up, Tiger Flower Circle Sun, continues his brand of incredibly intelligent compositions that manages to be hard to pinpoint into a genre. Glitchy ambient pop? While Willits continues to explore and experiment, he manages to keep his songs and ideas succinct, with most of them clocking in around 3 and a half minutes and the longest being only 5 and a half minutes. For people working in the context of anything remotely ambient, that’s nearly unheard of.
What really will amaze you about this album is that Christopher Willits is a guitarist, first and foremost. He does a lot of computer processing, being a software engineer with a master’s degree in electronic composition from Mills College, that turns his guitar into an instrument of endless possibilities. There are moments where the guitar is just the guitar though, as evidenced on the very folk based, “Light Into Branches.”
All in all, Christopher Willits has turned in an absolutely fantastic album that rates up there amongst this year’s finest.
Listen to “Light Into Branches” from Christopher Willits’ Tiger Flower Circle Sun
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Listen to “Sun Body” from Christopher Willits’ Tiger Flower Circle Sun
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Honorable Mentions
Best Coast – Crazy For You (Mexican Summer)
What could have very easily have been Record of the Week itself, Best Coast’s debut full length is 20 something odd minutes of throwback girl group, garage pop that is going to be just about everyone’s Summer record of 2010 and at the top of most people’s album of the year as we creep closer to 2011.
Listen to “Goodbye” from Best Coast’s Crazy For You
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Jaill – That’s How We Burn (Sub Pop)
Sub Pop have seriously been firing on all cylinders lately, with nothing but killer records this year with the likes of Beach House, Male Bonding, Wolf Parade, Dum Dum Girls, Avi Buffalo, and far too many others to remember. They continue it with the new album by Jaill, that is an excellent jangly summer indie-pop record, sharing some similarities to the Girls album that came out last year.
Listen to “Everyone’s Hip” from Jaill’s That’s How We Burn
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Grizzly Bear’s Daniel Rossen,alongside Fred Nicolaus, returns with side project, Department of Eagles. This time around, we’re treated to sketches of what ultimately became their debut album, In Ear Park. There are songs on here that you aren’t exactly sure why they weren’t used as they sound like they would have been right at home on a Grizzly Bear album. All in all, it’s a great snapshot of a band that we unfortunately won’t hear much from as Grizzly Bear is full steam ahead for the time being.
Brad Rose has been performing under the North Sea moniker for some time now and his sound has evolved with each release. And he certainly puts out releases as I think this is his 26th full length. He has ventured into the darker realm of music the past year, calling to mind Throbbing Gristle or Whitehouse. Certainly not a noise record, this dark ambient record is one of the most disorienting and frightening albums you’ll hear in some time and is damn near perfect.
Integrity has returned for what is probably it’s 100th different line-up but Dwid is still the creative force behind the band. Every time I see there is a new line-up, I go into the album with zero expectations. After all, Integrity 2000 did happen. Ugh. Well, The Blackest Curse was a huge surprise as the solo’s that were former guitarist Aaron Melnick’s specialty, are there in spades and the influential Cleveland metalcore band’s spirit remains intact. Killer album.
The new, vinyl only EP, from store favorite Kurt Vile is a bridge between his excellent full length that came out last year, Childish Prodigy, and his upcoming full length coming this Fall. The songs on here range from upbeat acoustic folk numbers, such as the opening track “Ocean City”, to some of his trademark, long playing, lo-fi sounds on the track “Invisibility Nonexistant”. All in all, another great effort from our favorite weirdo in music.
Damien Jurado have been putting out records for what seems like forever now, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. This time around he has enlisted fellow labelmate, Richard Swift, to handle production and we have to consider it an all around success. Much more hopeful sounding from the usual sad-bastard stylings of Jurado, this is one of his finest efforts in years.
The fourth full length from one of my favorite Type Records artists, the Alps return with Le Voyage. Bringing to mind the sort of kosmische sounds of Popul Vuh and Cluster, the Alps have gone towards a bit more of an organic sound with this record which harkens back to the bands roots of being part of the Jewelled Antler collective. Absolutely essential for any fan of psychedelic rock.
The Depreciation Guild, made up of members from store favorites Pains of Being Pure at Heart, put out an album that isn’t far from the aforementioned band and has a lot in common with Asobi Seksu. Shoegaze pop that uses a modified Nintendo as an instrument in the band, their new album, Spirit Youth, is a damn good album and a proper hold over until we get something new from Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
