And here we are again. The ongoing listening series (formerly known as MusicMonday) continues in its re-imagined form. The Well-Played List features the most listened-to, jammed-out songs, albums and artists of the week as submitted by the CL Music Team along with a rotating crew of tastemakers — local music promoters, record store and venue owners, music fans and scenesters, DJs, musicians, and a radio personality or two; check the past several week’s worth here. Audio and video included, along with any applicable show information. And on that note, what are you jamming this week? Tell us in the comments…
Midlake, Antiphon (2013) The new album from Midlake sounds good to me. Although, admittedly, I didn't really follow the Denton, Texas outfit before this, so I'm not sure how much the departure of frontman Tim Smith has changed their sound. Could they have been so much better than they are on this album? If so, I must hear. If not, maybe it was good to have let Smith go on his merry way. Antiphon — now led by and guitarist Eric Pulido — is lush, psychedelic folk and easy rambling indie rock finely arranged and produced to get to that sort of 1970s orchestrated drama; what you might hear riding an alpaca through a snowy mountainside in some sort of expansive film epic.
Le Trouble, Reality Strikes EP (Lava Records, 2013) I have alternate feelings of pleasure and puzzlement with this release from a newish Montreal quintet. The EP is a pop-catchy mix of post-punk revival and indie garage rock grind with twinkling embellishments, moments of sneering, grinding and grooving, and there's something retro yet fresh about the way they approach rhythmic time signatures. Plus the lead singer has tuneful croons and can hit a good velvety falsetto. The lightly offbeat strut of "Help You Out" is solid starting point, while "Fine Line" is easy going folk rock that almost recalls Harry Nilsson; in fact, there is something very "Everybody's Talkin'" about the backing guitar harmonies. And the band fairly reeks of Meatloaf here and there. Check "Real Talk (Part 2)" after the jump.
AUTOPSY IV aka BRYAN CHILDS | Ninebullets.net, NineBullets Radio on WMNF
White Trash Blues Revival, Now Baby, Now Listen! (2013) You don't need a thousand dollar guitar and a 12-piece drum kit to rock. Sometimes all you need is a skateboard with a string, a pickup and some trash to bang on. This is the blues, long before the matching bowling shirts became the norm. "She Don't Care" official video below.
ANDREW SILVERSTEIN
Drake, Nothing Was the Same (2013) In what could easily be his best album yet, Drake has found a solid balance between his hyper-introspectiveness and the nauseating braggadocio to make for a pretty interesting product this time around.
Drake gets clowned for his sensitivity on the regular, but he finally sounds proud of it on Nothing Was the Same, which tons of dorky music reviewers can probably get down with. Not that I'd know or anything.
JESS GROOM | music fan with discerning taste
Foxygen drummer Shaun Fleming dropped a very impressive LP last week under the moniker Diane Coffee. "Hymn" — which premiered back in August on Pitchfork.com — is an amazing intro track that properly lured me in. Other worthy tracks are "Tale of a Dead Dog" and "Green".
Of course, the release of Diane Coffee's LP rekindled my love for Foxygen. I prefer "Oh Yeah" but "Shuggie" is a classic off this year's We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic; check it below below…
INFINITE SKILLZ | Emcee; promoter/owner/main dude, B.A.S.E. Inc. Music
Serial Killers, "Doctor's In" (2013) I'm just getting up on this collective that includes heavy hitters B-Real & Xzibit along with Demrick and a feature from Hopsin who absolutely bodies the track below, which has a definite Halloween feel to it.
Shred The Verbal Tongue, "Better Tomorrow" (2013) The downside of a fantastic weekend is the early week letdown that sometimes follows. Mine was made better by one of my A2BAY brothers that I'll be performing with this Friday in Atlanta. This song goes out to all you Bucs fans still down about your squad. Like Shred says, it's going to get better. I promise.
ADAM KUHN | music fan and scenester with discerning taste
La Luz, It's Alive (2013) A female-fronted band practicing a more traditional surf vein. Clean guitar tones, breathy vocals and synths set to their best faux Hammond B3 tones, all dripping with reverb. These Seattle ladies have a sound steeped in classic girl-group bands like the Shangri-Las or Ronettes and filtered through a spaghetti western haze.
Botch, We are the Romans (1999) Every few years I circle back to this album, which I first heard just after it came out through a friend who told me they were "like Neurosis." Sold. Although I wouldn't make the same distinction, this is one of my favorite albums of the '90s, math-y post-hardcore that few bands have managed to replicate since. Full album here.
Perfect Pussy, I Have Lost All Desire for Feeling (2013) Another female-fronted addition, this one noise punk from Syracuse, N.Y., as if Japandroids had been huffing spray paint. Cathartic and angry and coated in a thick layer of fuzz and squalls of distortion best played ear-crushingly loud. Good luck Googling this band.
The Prissy Clerks, Bruise or be Bruised (2013) This band could be ripped straight from the '90s golden era, like a female-fronted bastard child of Dinosaur Jr and Pavement. Catchy, sunny pop hooks from one of the best bands Minneapolis has to offer, with plenty of nods to slacker surf and garage. "Blast Off Girls" video below.
PHIL BENITO | Brokenmold Entertainment
Dysrhythmia – Prog metal at it's finest!
Tonight (Wed., Nov. 6), at Crowbar, with Zevious and Auto!Automatic!!.
Appleseed Collective – Dixie ragtime, bluegrass, gypsy folk, swing blues – jam it all together and you've got Appleseed Collective. The band from Michigan plays Fri., Nov. 8, at New World Brewery, with Damion Suomi and 6 Volt Rodeo.
KEITH ULREY | owner, Microgroove, New Granada Records
Tuesday, Nov. 5 is Gram Parsons' birthday, and he's a Florida boy (i.e. Winter Haven), no less. So, it's a GP marathon for me. Here's "Christine's Tune" by The Flying Burrito Brothers.
RAY ROA | Co-founder, Suburban Apologist; freelance music correspondent, CL & TBT.
Song Preservation Society, Ready Room EP (2012) Thanks to my dad, I grew up with a healthy dose of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young shoved down my earholes. My dad also almost always had WMNF on when he would take me to school in the mornings. All that aural stimulation came to a head on November 4 when Los Angeles-based acoustic trio Song Preservation Society arrived (a bit tardy thanks to that dumb thing we call "daylight savings") to open a WMNF benefit show.
My wife is at that age where she doesn't like to get to shows early to see openers, and she never, ever buys merch (my band shirt collection will be the sole reason, if we split up). She bought Song Preservation Society's 12-inch EP, which is crazy, and all of its throwback folk, serene harmonization, and melancholy is reverberating through my living room right now.
GABE ECHAZABAL
Allen Toussaint, Songbook (2013) Superb new live recording that finds one of the architects of the rich musical history of New Orleans doing his thing. Allen Toussaint is a renowned singer, songwriter, pianist and producer. Here, Toussaint showcases some of his best-known compositions and reveals some pretty interesting anecdotes about the songs throughout the musical journey. Toussaint’s rich voice and his stylish playing make for an enjoyable snapshot of the long and illustrious career of one of the Crescent City’s favorite sons. "Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further?" and "The Optimism Blues" in the Spotify Playlist below…
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2013.