Thee Oh Sees A Weird Exits (Castle Face) Led by John Dwyer, garage-psych wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees has churned out 15 albums, the latest being A Weird Exits. It covers familiar territory, though previous forays into jangly, poppy material have been obliterated. For the uninitiated, A Weird Exits is not an easy introduction; song […]
Thee Oh Sees A Weird Exits (Castle Face) Led by John Dwyer, garage-psych wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees has churned out 15 albums, the latest being A Weird Exits. It covers familiar territory, though previous forays into jangly, poppy material have been obliterated. For the uninitiated, A Weird Exits is not an easy introduction; song […]
William Tyler Modern Country (Merge) A tough one. As a member of Lambchop, guitarist William Tyler helped craft one of the more interesting sounds in alt-rock, a lush mélange replete with strings yet maintaining a welcome twang. The last element was Tyler’s contribution, his abundant gifts becoming more obvious on his own albums, filled with […]
Paul Simon Stranger to Stranger (Concord) Paul Simon was once called “one of rock’s great lightweights,” though I’d offer “one of lightweight rock’s greats” instead. While Simon has never shown interest in proper rocking, he’s imbued pop songs with short-story richness while keeping them catchy, allowing you to sing along with lines like “the poor […]
Radiohead A Moon Shaped Pool (XL) Gotta admit I haven’t adored Radiohead so much as I’ve admired them. The group has always written harmonically sophisticated rock music without ever sacrificing the rock aspect. Plus, the band’s albums have always sounded amazing—the relationship Radiohead has with producer Nigel Godrich is on the level of The Beatles […]
Mark Roebuck The World and All Within (Fear of the Atom) In 1980s Charlottesville, The Deal was a shining power-pop group poised for success: a Musician magazine conferral of “best unsigned band,” a contract with Bearsville, sessions at Ardent Recording Studios with help from Big Star’s Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens and recordings with a […]
Finding the way Glenn Jones Fleeting (Thrill Jockey) In the early ’90s, as a member of the mostly instrumental group Cul de Sac, Glenn Jones helped point out the possibilities of combining vernacular acoustic guitar styles with krautrock and surf music. In another way, the group transferred John Fahey’s visionary ethos to a full-band setup—and […]
Dungen Allas Sak (Mexican Summer) Dungen, meaning “grove,” is a suitably organic tag for this Swedish band, though its prog-and-folk-inflected psychedelia invokes the cerulean as readily as the sylvan—think early-’70s Genesis or Caravan. The band is a classic four-piece, with bandleader/singer Gustav Ejstes sometimes laying aside his guitar in favor of piano, flute or violin; […]
Parquet Courts Human Performance (Rough Trade) In a “Kids in the Hall” skit, a sarcastic- sounding partygoer struggles to explain that his vocal tone is just a tragic defect, haplessly sneering, “Oh, no, I really want to be your friend!” Parquet Courts’ Andrew Savage might know the feeling. His deadpan declamations are easily labeled ironic—and […]
Various artists Studio One Showcase: The Sound of Studio One in the 1970s (Soul Jazz) The venerable Soul Jazz label has done the world yet another solid with this fantastic release featuring the Studio One record label. It’s almost impossible to overstate the centrality of Clement “Sir Coxsone” Dodd’s prolific operation to Jamaican pop music. […]
M. Ward More Rain (Merge) He’s covered Louis Armstrong, Daniel Johnston, David Bowie and Bach. He’s recorded Christmas albums with Zooey Deschanel. And for 15 years, M. Ward has also been one of the country’s best songwriters, though at times less a songwriter and more of a mood, something you put on and let drift […]