Catching up on 3 weeks of Record of the Week again after some incredibly hectic weeks. The hangover from our Kurt Vile and Soft Pack in-store is in full force but I’m confident we can pass on our excitement about these three records just the same!

It’s the month of October and an even number year which means, a new album from Benoît Pioulard! An absolute store favorite here for years, we’ve played his two previous full lengths, Précis and Temper, a whole lot in the store. This former Ann Arbor native, who’s actual name is Thomas Meluch, has been crafting his unique style of blissful, bedroom dream pop for years and presumably releasing them strategically in the Fall as his records have become the absolute sign of the season around here. You’d could almost consider him our dream pop version of Punxsutawney Phil.

Lasted is his newest full length and it’s an absolutely beautiful record, certainly worthy of October 12th’s Record of the Week. His field recordings sound as lively as they ever have as a backing track. Sounds of trains and various other things, they help speckle the album with the sound of Fall. He has also honed his skills on pop hooks and incredible song writing even more and some of his best tracks are here to show for it.

All in all, another incredible effort from Benoît Pioulard. An album that truly sounds like it’s album cover. A washed out Polaroid photo that has been bleached out by the sun, yet retains, or maybe even gains a new sense of life.

Listen to “A Coin On the Tongue” from Benoît Pioulard’s Lasted

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October 19th’s Record of the Week, Desertshore’s Drifting Your Majesty was something of an enigma. Without any information at all, just knowing I really liked the album cover, I put it on and was quite taken aback.

The first thing I noticed was a striking similarity to the backing music of the first two Sun Kil Moon albums, or Red House Painters material. While Desertshore is entirely instrumental, there was some definite similarities. Come to find out, Phil Carney of both bands is the guitarist of Desertshore!

Most of the songs are somewhat short, generally falling under four minutes. Some songs come across more as ideas rather than full fleshed out songs but are rather good nonetheless. Right in the middle of the album is the title track that clocks in at close to eleven minutes and is the absolute pinnacle of the album.

If you are a fan of the music that has backed Mark Kozelek for years as Sun Kil Moon or Red House Painters, I’d definitely recommend checking out this album.

Listen to “The Town Alight” from Desertshore’s Drifting Your Majesty

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October 26th’s Record of the Week comes from Philadelphia’s Purling Hiss. Their new album, Public Service Announcement comes from us from Woodsist Records and is absolutely out there.

The only way to describe it would be if Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti smoked some of the dirtiest weed they could find and laid down some tracks on a busted four track recorder. The opening track, “Run From the City”, is headlined by an absolutely killer guitar hook and has a production that almost sounds like standing outside and hearing some guy driving down the street blaring classic rock in his ’78 El Camino with blown out speakers and the windows down.

The production of the album is used as an instrument just as much as the instruments themselves. There are parts of the album that sounds like it just skips a frame or two. Other parts where it sounds like the turntable belt is going bad and the record can’t quite sit around 33 1/3 RPMs. It’s incredibly lo-fi which could turn a lot of people off but just adds to the mystique if you ask us!

All in all, an absolutely great record from these Philly weirdos. We also are stocking their two other full lengths, this year’s Hissteria, and their earlier self-titled effort. Absolutely worth a pick up!

Listen to “Run From the City” from Purling Hiss’ Public Service Announcement

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