Dirty Three - Great Waves (ft. Cat Power)

So. Dirty Three makes great music, even though it ended up sounding more or less the same after five records. For Cinder they decided to tighten it up, and asked everyone's favourite sensitive / disturbed female songwriter to write lyrics to sing on one of their new pieces. The result is good news from the Chan Marshall Mental Institute and great material for the trio's sixth record.

dirty_three_-_great_waves.mp3

Why? - The Hoofs

Why? is smart, that's his thing. He can be quite annoying, too : you may end up wanting to jump repeatedly on his neck until it's nothing but tiny shards of bone. But in the end, he will still be smarter than you. Here's an exerpt from Elephant Eyelash, his brand new lp, following the critically acclaimed (by myself and two of my friends) Sanddollars ep.

why_-_the_hoofs.mp3

Aoki Takamasa & Tujiko Noriko - Vinyl Words

Japanese girls are often thought of as "cute" by my contemporaries and Aoki Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko's collaboration (28, fat cat) won't prove them wrong. It's discreet cut and paste electronica and I can't picture "Vinyl Words" as being about hardcore fetish fantasies (sorry, contemporaries).

aoki_takamasa_and_tujiko_noriko_-_vinyl_words.mp3

XINLISUPREME - I Drew a Picture of My Lungs

WARNING : THIS SONG MAY BE ABOUT HARDCORE SEXUAL FANTASIES INVOLVING INTERNAL BODY ORGANS AND JAPANESE MEN.

I wish Xinlisupreme made the awesome record they're bound to make, something that would stand between Loveless and 60 Second Wipeout in my record collection and I wish I knew whether or not their new online album was this groundbreaking effort : in their typical, perverse japanese logic, the band posts one track after another and each track stays online for two weeks and then disappear in the interweb. Behold "I Drew a Picture of My Lungs," the only track i have managed to get (i'd kill to know how "I Am New Christ" sounds like) and one of their most oppressive pieces so far. These young men know how Red Bull and X taste like.

xinlisupreme_-_i_drew_a_picture_of_my_lungs.mp3

The Fall - Futures and Pasts (peel session)

I'm learning The Fall's history through that awesome Peel Sessions Box Set I just got. According to it, in the beginning, The Fall were great, in the late 80s, they were less great, in the early nineties, they were almost bad, in the mid to late nineties they were better and now they're back in top form. Here's "Futures and Pasts" the very first song of their very first peel session broadcast in june 1978.

the_fall_-_futures_and_pasts.mp3

The Rakes - Open Book

I'm always quite suspicious of British bands. They try so hard to write a number one single that it's hard to find sincerity and global quality in long players. Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads did it, Art Brut almost did it, The Rakes could have done better. Here's "Open Book," a good pop song.

the_rakes_-_open_book.mp3

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - New Partner

This is a redemption song, re-recorded for Will Oldham's Sings Greatest Palace Music album. I listened to it for the first time about a year and a half ago when i was starting to feel OK. Sometimes songs make you feel bad, sometimes they just make you feel sad.

bonnie_prince_billy_-_new_partner.mp3

Calexico - Black Heart

Another song that never stops from making me shiver. Everything fits perfectly, Joey Burns' warm voice, John Convertino's tight drumming and dark strings all gathered into Calexico's first instant classic.

calexico_-_black_heart.mp3

Rogue Wave - Publish My Love

On this track, an exerpt from Rogue Wave's forthcoming sophomore album Descended Like Vultures, the band sounds a little like Billy Corgan's New Order rehash, except good. They sound much more like an actual band than on the very Californian, very fresh, very 1964 Out of the Shadows and even if their new album is not as uniform as its big brother, some of its songs just can't be stopped.

rogue_wave_-_publish_my_love.mp3

Chateau Transistor - Love Motel

A great song by a forgotten band from here. I hadn't heard of them until quite recently, when a love interest of mine made me listen to "Love Motel". Chateau Transistor recorded songs and never released them, like most bands in this sick city. They liked Depeche Mode, too.

chateau_transistor_-_love_motel.mp3

Art Brut - These Animal Menswe@r

A new Art Brut song, a b-side to the "Emily Kane" single that sounds like a Doolittle outtake. It's short, its title refers to a britpop band everybody had finally succeded in forgetting, but it's really good.

art_brut_-_these_animal_menswear.mp3

Nice things to come

deerhoof_-_scream_team.mp3 [Deerhoof] from The Runners Four
The Runners Four is less poppy than the Green Cosmos ep and more similar to their usual stuff, except with great production, awesome songs and tons of melodic lines swimming in abstract pop madness.

animal_collective_-_turn_into_something.mp3 [Animal Collective] from Feels
Another step forwards, Feels sounds like a full band Sung Tongs, much more ambitious, turning Animal Collective into the -now listenable- modern freak-folk act everybody wished they'd become.

grandaddy_-_pull_the_curtains.mp3 [Grandaddy] from Exerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla
"Pull the Curtains" is great old-fashioned Grandaddy at its best, with cheap keyboard lines, drums that sound like they come straight through a casio and awesome hooks. Back to the old home-studio, Jason Lytle recorded 8 songs for this ep, moving away from Sumday lethargy, trying new things and having fun again. All in all, good news.

broken_social_scene_-_7-4_(shoreline).mp3 [Broken Social Scene] from Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene's "Almost Crimes" is one of those songs i can't get enough of and it sets the quality standard for the rest of the band's output. "7/4 (Shoreline)" is great.

danger_doom_-_space_hos.mp3 [Danger Doom] from The Mouse and the Mask
Another keeper from MF DOOM, hip-hop's most consistent artist, teaming up with Danger Mouse for a hell of a record.

wolf_parade_-_i'll_believe_in_anything.mp3 [Wolf Parade] from Apologies to the Queen Mary
Canada is setting new standards in production and intensity, singers howling and instruments melting together in glorious stews. Apologies to the Queen Mary is one of my favourite records right now.

the_constantines_-_love_in_fear.mp3 [The Constantines] from Tournament of Hearts
The Constantines sound appeased and even if Tournament of Hearts lacks the emergency that could be found in the band's two first records, the band makes up for it with great songs and impressive tightness.

calla_-_swagger.mp3 [Calla] from Collisions
Calla used to be known for damp atmospherics and bleak melodies, an impressive rhythm section and a black-throated singer who sounds like he's dying and not really complaining about it. On their new album the band sounds more straightforward than they ever sounded, and, despite the lack of tracks as intense as "Televise" of "Tijerina," Collisions could be Calla's much deserved break-out record.

american_analog_set_-_born_on_the_cusp.mp3 [American Analog Set] from Set Free
I have always liked the first tracks off American Analog Set's records, this one's no exception.

Sufjan Stevens - Borderline

Sufjan Stevens is getting pretty big everywhere and Rough Trade issued a 7" off Sevens Swans not a long time ago, featuring this gorgeous b-side, a simple sad song, more touching and sincere than his latest outings.

sufjan_stevens_-_borderline.mp3