Album Recommendations

New music can be hard to come by. Let me help.

Grab a beer, a bowl, a pad and paper, whatever it is you like to do best while taking in a new album, and give these a swing.

The albums here are the most notable I’ve encountered recently. A lot of these albums are from major bands with major followings and so you might have seen them around before. But some of these are rare, rare gems that I’ve picked up in my travels. All the selections do have one thing in common: They are great, and you must listen to them at least once.

Having a hard time buying/downloading any of the rare ones?  Shoot me an email and I’ll see if I can help.

• 
  Dan Deacon // Bromst

  pulsating with glee, throbbing with energy, littered with depthful synthesis and inspired composition, pretty damn uplifting. listening instructions: record to tape, insert into walkman, wait for apocalypse, go outside, press play, smile.

• 
  Dirty Projectors // Rise Above

  a living breathing swirling fearless (composition-wise) mass of music, expanding, contracting, lashing in bits all over, gracefully hiding a steady and totally intentional inner pop sensibility. jangly, fizzy, spinning voice lines. uplifting in most all moments, insightful and honest when not.

• 
  Dan Auerbach // Keep It Hid

  superbly produced orchestrated and composed, soulful new blues, unbeatably charismatic and colorful singing, tons o fuzz n organ and tom, occasionally post-apocalyptic, constantly under the burning sun.

• 
  Abe Vigoda // Skeleton

  youthful, raucous, spring reverb drenched spangling guitars, steam engine rhythms, west coast post-punk, super fun, mysteriously harmonic

• 
  Titus Andronicus // The Airing of Grievances

  warbly raw rock, uplifting, guitar driven, youthful, choruses of intoxicated sing-alongs, delicious riffs. belly full of magic, head out the sunroof, burning orange expanse, hurtling down the road.

• 
  Here We Go Magic // Here We Go Magic

  sounds like paul simon on some wonderful acid conducting some essence of the Beatles with a tape machine in a post-apocalyptic desert oasis, lenses flare and flickering and all.  very interesting. very grand.

• 
  Cymbals Eat Guitars // Why There Are Mountains

  guitar-driven, indie rock, dense, rich, ferocious delivery, dynamic, super-intelligent, appropriately grandiose, firey, textured, entirely intentional

• 
  Ignatz // III

  haunting, ethereal, raw, lo-fi, blues, gritty, genuine, guitar textures, moving

• 
  Afuche // I Made Dots

  complex, wonderfully produced, poly-rhythmic, cycling melodies, zappa-esque, energized, fun, abstract, exquisite orchestration

• 
  Animal Collective // Merriweather Post Pavillion

  soul-charging, ethereal, crushing electronic aided rock, unique, pulsing, thrilling, hook-filled, luscious, rich, inspiring, smile-inducing, epic greatness, GO LISTEN NOW!

• 
  David Jewell & Sergio R. Samayoa // Surfing UFO

  spoken word w. interesting musical accompaniment, moody, honest, unique format, thought-provoking, weird, totally weird, lovely, psychedelic, rarer than a blue apple

  There’s not much out there on this album, so this cover links to something these two guys are up to now

• 
  Joanna Newsom // Ys

  epic, rich, elegant, prodigal, genuine, fantasy folk, expressive singing, exquisite song-writing, perfect production, flooring altogether, one of my favorite albums of all time