Archive for March, 2012
Today I official retract any complimentary things I had to say about Sydney weather over the weekend, for today is a wet hell. My only watertight pair of shoes proved far from watertight under the onslaught that was the morning’s gushing skies. Luckily I had a spare pair of boardshorts in my car with which to dry my head and am now ready for the day ahead. Yesterday (or maybe even the day before) Beach House dropped the first single from their fourth studio album, set for release later this year and it’s ticking all the right boxes. The iconic voice of Victoria Legrand is the key to the sonic wash, underlayed with the paradox that is Alex Scalley’s simultaneously twinkling yet downcast guitar line. The trilling guitar toward the end of the track reminds me a whole lot of Vampire Weekend’s Walcott (around the 2:00 minute region) but it’s obviously not unique to either song. Also, it’s downloadable here. Anyway, make up your own mind, but I’m feeling this.
Something extra for the greedy, here’s another first taste, this time from s / s / s, which is the collaborative project of Sufjan, Son Lux and Serengeti. As usual, Sufjan is unusual.
It’s a beautiful Sunny sunday in fickle Sydney today and on such a day one wonders what would best soundtrack the surprisingly decent weather outside. I can’t think of a better aural outcome than Dry The River’s new record Shallow Bed, free for you to stream as of yesterday. They’ve been covered on Sound Doc a few times now (see here and here and here) and almost all the songs we’ve streamed from their earlier EPs and subsequent single releases are present on the album. It’s uplifting, it’s sensitive and it’s powerful. I’ve made no secret of how I feel about Peter Liddle’s quavering falsetto but I think only the face of Gary Busey can truly representing my sentiments. Every time I’ve written about them, I’ve made the claim that they’re ‘going to blow up soon’ and this is the last time I’ll make it. If they don’t get gargantuan on the back of this record then I’ll give each and every one of you $10, and this is big for me, because I don’t have $70 to just throw away like that. It’s rare to see a talented and well marketed band, but here we have it. Play it through, you won’t be disappointed.
I’d love to provide you with an embedded stream but that doesn’t appear possible, so for the time being you can hear it all here: http://shallowbed.drytheriver.net/ I’m not sure when it’ll be released in Aus but it’s out tomorrow in the UK and April 17 in the US.
James Watson, who has been listening from across the hall and is best pleased by what he’s heard, gives Shallow Bed four and a half stars out of five.
Artists you need to know rn
| 1. 1300 |  |
316 |
| 2. Voidhood | |
259 | 3. jamesjamesjames | |
186 | 4. Zan | |
174 |
| 5. Sesame Girl | |
147 |
