There have been a few albums playing in here non-stop this week. Stop in to hear these with us, then pick up some records and continue the listening party all weekend!
Still Corners – Strange Pleasures LP:
“Greg Hughes, the driving force behind London’s Still Corners, is not one to rest on his laurels. Despite the critical plaudits hurled at the band’s 2010 debut Creatures of an Hour (‘indulgently seductive’ opined NME; ‘an astounding debut’ purred Drowned in Sound), Hughes is blessed with the kind of inexorable ardor for refreshing and sharpening his muse that is common to expert sculptors of elegant pop music. ‘I’ll never be satisfied with any of it, I need to keep trying new things,’ he concedes. ‘Still Corners is The Enterprise, for me.’
Riding that insatiable kinesis over the last two years has resulted in Hughes, along with singing accomplice Tessa Murray, fashioning Strange Pleasures, a devastating sophomore album which is destined to usher Still Corners to a deserved place at dream-pop’s high table. The album was captured in Hughes’ Greenwich studio, with the protean multi-tasker handling all the instruments and penning most of the lyrics. Where its predecessor soared on sugared layers of shoegazing-infused retro-futurism, Strange Pleasures proffers a leaner, more acute extrapolation of ’80s-suffused song and studio craft, navigating a sinuous trajectory between velveteen Angelo Badalamenti noir-pop torch song sophistication, ethereal Cocteau Twins beauty and the glacial, mellifluous territory mapped by Modern English, The Cure and The Passions.” –Sub Pop
Mikal Cronin – MCII LP/CD:
“With few exceptions, MCII finds the California rocker turning to acoustic strums instead of walls of feedback, jaunty or melancholy piano instead of raucous breakdowns, and gentle backing vocals instead of feral screams. In a recent interview, he called his music “aggressive pop,” but even the aggression is measured, like on the guitar solo from standout “Am I Wrong” or the glorious moment 45 seconds into another standout, “Weight,” where the distortion kicks in. Instead of inducing mosh pits, these elements incite little, pleasurable bursts of serotonin—the kind that gifted musicians performing at the top of their game can provoke in their listeners.
Throughout MCII, Cronin wrestles with self-doubt and self-betterment. ‘I’m dyin’ to get along with you,’ he sings on ‘See It My Way.’ On the pensive ‘Peace Of Mind,’ he echoes Sha Sha-era Ben Kweller, pleading, ‘Say you want me / Say it loud.’ Even the song titles themselves—’Am I Wrong,’ ‘See It My Way,’ ‘Peace Of Mind,’ ‘I’m Done Running From You,’ ‘Don’t Let Me Go’—ooze relatable sentiments for anyone who’s made it through their unstable, uncertain 20s. Now that Cronin nearly has, it’s tempting to wonder what he’ll sing about next. But MCII exhibits such an easy, enjoyable knack for pop songwriting that, whatever it is, it’ll almost certainly be a joy to behold.” –The A.V. Club
Child Of Lov – Child Of Lov LP/CD:
“The Child of Lov heads back to the future as both modern soul man and funk revivalist on his self-titled debut album released on Double Six. It possesses a nostalgic reverence for the heavyweight roots of early trailblazers like Little Richard, Otis Redding and James Brown and as well as a penchant for the later neo soul of Dilla and D’Angelo. The Child of Lov certifies his scholarly underpinnings with a consummate cool that makes him feel like the rightful successor in the long line of important soulful beings. The album was recorded at Damon Albarn’s 13 studio in London and features contributions from Albarn and DOOM.” –Double Six
New Releases, Restocks & Reissues:
Alan Licht – Four Year Older LP
Andy Stott – Passed Me By 2×12”, We Stay Together 2×12″
Aphex Twin – I Care Because You Do 2LP
Autre Ne Veut – Anxiety LP
Baroness – First & Second LP
Beach Boys – Surfin’ Safari LP+CD
Beach House – Bloom 2LP/CD, Teen Dream 2LP
Bee Mask – Unripe Pears LP
Blackout Beach – Blues Trip LP
Blank Realm – Go Easy LP
Bob Marley – Catch A Fire LP, Kaya LP
Bone Sickness – Alone In the Grave 12”
Brand Nubian – One For All 2LP
Brandt Brauer Frick – Miami 2LP+CD
Chico Mann – Magical Thinking 2LP
Co La – Moody Coup LP
Dead Ghosts – I Sleep Alone 7”
Deerhunter – Monomania LP/CD
Fred McDowell/Furry Lewis – When I Lay My Burden Down LP
Forgetters – ST LP
Ghost BC – Infestissumam LP
Goat – World Music LP
Grimes – Visions LP/CD
Heliocentrics – 13 Degrees 2LP
Holy Ghost! – ST 2LP
Human Eye – 4: Into Unknown LP
Iceage – You’re Nothing LP
Iggy & The Stooges – Ready To Die LP
inc. – No World LP
ISAN – Beautronics 2LP
J Dilla – Anthem 12”
King Khan & BBQ Show – Invisible Girl LP, What’s For Dinner? LP
Knife – Shaking The Habitual 2LP
LCD Soundsystem – London Sessions 2LP, ST LP, This Is Happening LP, Yeah! 12”
Low & Dirty Three – In The Fishtank 7 LP
Mark Templeton – Jealous Heart LP
Madvillain – Madvillainy Instrumentals 2LP
Mogwai – Les Revenants LP
Mystery Date – Dreaming In Black & White 7”
Oh Sees – Floating Coffin CD, Putrifiers II LP
Oneohtrix Point Never – Drawn & Quartered LP, Fall Into Time LP, Russian Mind LP, Zones Without People LP
Os Mutantes – Sixth Finger LP
Palma Violets – 180 LP, We Found Love 7”
Pan American – Cloud Room, Glass Room LP
Pharcyde – Labcabincalifornia 2LP
Portal – Vexovoid LP
Quicksails – Mayville LP
Reatards – Teenage Hate/Fuck Elvis LP
Savages – Silence Yourself LP
Sebastian Tellier – Sexuality LP
She & Him – Vol. 3 LP
Sleepers – ST 7”
Sole – No Wising Up No Settling Down CD
Some Stranger – ST 12”
Swans – Seer 3LP
Talib Kweli – Prisoner Of Conscious CD
Tortoise & The Ex – In The Fishtank 5 LP
Ty Segall – Lemons LP
Uh Bones – Only You 7”
Uncluded (Aesop Rock & Kimya Dawson) – Hokey Fright 2xPicture Disc+CD/CD
Various – African Scream Contest 2LP
Various – Kenya Special 3LP+7”
Various – London Is The Place For Me Vol.5 2LP
Velvet Underground – Live At The End Of Cole Ave. 2LP, White Light/White Heat LP
We Are Loud Whispers – Suchness LP
Wire – 154 LP
Young Galaxy – Ultramarine LP
