Find out what the Creative Loafing music team is jamming to break through the Monday malaise and rocket launch the work week… Click here to check out previous entries.
Ray Roa – Iron & Wine, Kiss Each Other Clean (2011)
Everyone is worried that Sam Beam is going to alienate fans by leaving Sub Pop for Warner Bros. on his fourth LP (which comes out tomorrow), but those who choose to abandon the former UM professor before listening to Kiss are making a very regrettable decision. From the first seconds of “Walking Far From Home” to the last bars of the seven-minute closing track, Beam, 36, offers a smorgasbord of auditory indulgence. The textured vocal harmonies are unearthly and the trilling horns on “Big Burned Hand” are funkier than Sasquatch after a weekend bender. While Beam pleasantly provides classic Iron &Wine fare on tracks like “Godless Brother In Love,” everything (especially the heart-thumping instrumentation on "Rabbit Will Run") still feels completely fresh.
Leilani – Infinite Groove Orchestra, People Music (2011), Akron/Family, S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT (Out February 8, 2011 via Dead Oceans), and Starfucker, Reptilians (Out March 8, 2011 via Polyvinyl)
IGO spent much of last year putting together and recording material for their debut LP and will finally unveil it to the public at a CD release party at Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe on February 4. I watched the ensemble evolve from their very first live shows, so I've been anticipating their debut for a while now. So far, it's well-produced jazz-funk-electro psychedelic goodness. Can't wait to spin it a few more times. The new Akron/Family immediately reminded me of Animal Collective — yes, they're back to their experimental ways, if you couldn't tell by the album's title — but there are definitely a few tracks that will at least open the door to the rest, if not necessarily make me like them. And the new Starfucker … I don't know yet. There are some of those sticky synth pop moments I love by this band so much, and the obligatory Alan Watts vocal samples, but it hasn't yet made more than a mild pleasurable impression. Overall, three albums I need to listen to some more for sure …
This article appears in Jan 20-26, 2011.