New Music Tuesday: Many, Many Releases

This is definitely the first New Music Tuesday of 2009 that is loaded with stuff worth checking out. There are almost a dozen albums out today that I want to procure at some point in time, many of them I've already heard and enjoy quite a bit. However, these are the albums out today that I will be legally acquiring.

M. Ward - Hold Time

Although Matt Ward's older stuff is really pretty and enjoyable, I found a lot of it to be quite boring after a while. I'm probably one of the few but I was just a casual fan until his last record, Post-War. Turns out when he's got a full band to fill up the sound, he can keep my attention much longer. The new one sounds good on the first spin which is promising since M. Ward albums usually reward frequent listens.






Beirut - March Of The Zapotec & Realpeople: Holland

This is the first release on this post that I haven't listened to yet. Zach Condon hasn't disappointed me thus far so I'm expecting to enjoy it. That could be a trap though because I've been known to be especially critical of material by some of my favorite bands if it's anything less than stellar. We'll see what happens with this album length double EP.






Morrissey - Years Of Refusal

Well, by this point in his career you're either already a Morrissey fan or you're not. If you are a fan, you'll find plenty to enjoy on this album. He's not re-inventing the wheel by doing anything new or challenging but he's also not fading into irrelevance but has, in fact, released one of the strongest solo albums of his career.








Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Self-Titled

The last post I did before this one was actually a post about this record. Feel free to re-read it if you like, but I felt it necessary to mention this one is out officially today.










The Appleseed Cast - Sararmatha

I've only listened to this one once but it does sound promising. I feel bad because I haven't given the last two record Lawrence's own The Appleseed Cast put out. In my quest to listen to more local music, I felt the need to mention their latest is out today as well. If you aren't familiar with The Appleseed Cast, let me strongly recommend their brilliant double album from 2001, Low Level Owl Volume 1 & 2. They were actually sold separately but are best enjoyed together.




Various Artists - Dark Was The Night

If you haven't heard about this album, it's another charity compilation and this one was curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. They got an all-star line-up to contribute to this one and like I said, it's for charity, so acquire this one by paying for it. If you aren't convinced try and tell me this track list doesn't warrant your hard-earned dollars:

Disc 1:

01 Dirty Projectors and David Byrne: "Knotty Pine"
02 The Books [ft. Jose Gonzalez]: "Cello Song" (Nick Drake cover)
03 Feist and Ben Gibbard: "Train Song" (Vashti Bunyan cover)
04 Bon Iver: "Brackett, WI"
05 Grizzly Bear: "Deep Blue Sea"
06 The National: "So Far Around the Bend" (arrangement by Nico Muhly)
07 Yeasayer: "Tightrope"
08 My Brightest Diamond: "Feeling Good" (Nina Simone cover)
09 Kronos Quartet: "Dark Was the Night" (Blind Willie Johnson cover)
10 Antony and Bryce Dessner: "I Was Young When I Left Home" (Bob Dylan cover)
11 Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner: "Big Red Machine"
12 The Decemberists: "Sleepless"
13 Iron and Wine: "Stolen Houses (Die)"
14 Grizzly Bear and Feist: "Service Bell"
15 Sufjan Stevens: "You Are the Blood"

Disc 2:

01 Spoon: "Well-Alright"

02 Arcade Fire: "Lenin"

03 Beirut: "Mimizan"

04 My Morning Jacket: "El Caporal"

05 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: "Inspiration Information" (Shuggie Otis cover)

06 Dave Sitek: "With a Girl Like You" (The Troggs cover)

07 Buck 65 [ft. Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti]: "Blood Pt 2" (based on "You are the Blood" by Castanets)

08 The New Pornographers: "Hey, Snow White" (Destroyer cover)

09 Yo La Tengo: "Gentle Hour" (Snapper cover)

10 Stuart Murdoch: "Another Saturday" (traditional)

11 Riceboy Sleeps: "Happiness"

12 Cat Power and Dirty Delta Blues: "Amazing Grace" (traditional)

13 Andrew Bird: "The Giant of Illinois" (Handsome Family cover)

14 Conor Oberst and Gillian Welch: "Lua"

15 Blonde Redhead and Devestations: "When the Road Runs Out"

16 Kevin Drew: "Love vs. Porn"


-Matt