Welcome back for another round of new music releases my friends. Before I dive in to this week’s goodies, I wanted to give a shout out to the band Daughter, who released an EP last week but who I only just found out about last night and whose song “Candles” I put on repeat for the remainder of the evening. It is really beautiful. Today’s top spot goes to this trifecta of adorable music-makers. This is a passionate, moody and incredibly enjoyable album sure to be played in the speakers of 20-somethings pondering life’s big decisions over the next year at the very least. Actually, it was my buddy Janay who told me about Now, Now a little over two years ago. Apparently a lot’s been doin’ over the last couple of years because the indie-pop rockers were not only name-dropped on All Songs Considered but they also have their latest release streaming at Spinner.
I’m going to try to put this in the best way possible and hope I can make it sound the way I intend it to: I wish I hadn’t seen Kitty’s pictures or videos before listening to this album because I know I would like it a whole lot better. I’ll admit to not doing a ton of research into Ms. Clementine’s history prior to writing this, but there’s something about her packaging that doesn’t seem authentic. When she sings though, that’s a different story. You can tell she enjoys what she’s doing and there’s something oddly familiar to her voice. She’s got a bit of funk and soul with some throwback jazz. There’s a lot of potential here so I hope she comes out with more new stuff soon.
Lissy Trullie’s song “It’s Only You, Isn’t It” oozes the primal tear-your-clothes off and hang-on-to-someone’s-hair-for-dear-life, kind of sex appeal. She growls through her teeth throughout the song and if you listen to it only to look up suddenly and catch a glimpse of her fresh, innocent-looking face staring at you from her picture, it might be hard to believe she’s the one making those sounds. That song in particular is like a cross between Karen O and Siouxsie Sioux.
This may come out of nowhere for many of you, but for me there is something very David Bowie-esque about this album and I absolutely love it – spacey, sexy, raw and unapologetic.
Ekstasis is a beautiful reminder that music can be artistic and push boundaries without alienating its listener. Holter combines layers of her beautiful, soft, voice with a wide range of instruments and has put out an album you can easily leave on in the background but you’ll also catch yourself checking back in with it like, “Hey, how are you feeling about this? Did you have a rough day? Let it go while you listen to me.” You can stream Ekstasis in its entirety over at NPR. It’s been a little piece of Zen for my ears for the past two weeks.
When I look at Idina Menzel all I see is Lea Michele and then I think about Glee. I’m assuming if you consider yourself a Gleek, you’ll be totally into this. If you have no clue what a Gleek is but enjoy strong theatrical voices performing hits from Wicked, Rent and Lady Gaga, then you should treat yourself to this album. Honorable Mentions:Andrew Bird, The Magnetic Fields, Bruce Springsteen, Big Time Rush, Good Old War, White Rabbits, Kaiser Chiefs, Miniature Tigers, Said the Whale, Bowerbirds, Rocco De Luca, The Men, Young Chozen, Xiu Xiu, Tim Fite, The Honeydogs, Dead Fingers, Ceremony and Ninjasonik.
That’s all for this week but I also want to send another special shout out to Jennifer O’Connor, whose album, I Want What You Want, makes its CD and vinyl debut today. The digital release came out in 2011 but you can now put your hands all over the physical copy!
As always, feel free to hit me up on the Tweets, friend me on Facebook or check out what I’m listening to on Spotify. Don’t forget to use the #MyGayDJ tag on Twitter if you want to recommend a song or artist – or if you are looking for a recommendation yourself! And here, as an added bonus, why not download this tasty remix of Ladyhawke’ssingle, “Black White & Blue (Treasure Fingers Remix)”?
