Though much of keyboardist Marco Benevento’s new album traverses familiar territory, the opening two tracks will take listeners by surprise, offering playful pop with guest vocalist Kalmia Traver from Rubblebucket.
Ty Segall: Twins (Drag City, 10/9/12)
In light of his third release in just a year’s time, the ever-prolific garage/lo-fi wunderkind Ty Segall has just released a video for his new single, “The Hill,” a psychedelic throwback to VHS spliced together by the man himself over a series of three days. Think John Lennon singing over the grimy distortions of Big Business or Lightning Bolt…in a bear/dog/eagle costume.
Parenthetical Girls: Privilege, Pt. V: Portrait of a Reputation (Slender Means Society, 9/11/12)
Culminating two years of work on a five-EP cycle, the final installment of Parenthetical Girls’ Privilege series is here and full of dynamic pop beauty and angst.
Drawing back from the orchestral expanse of 2008 LP Entanglements, the core duo of vocalist / creative director Zac Pennington and producer/arranger Jherek Bischoff (whose solo album you must hear) offers dreamy electro- and 1960s pop, psychedelic rock, an organ dirge, and a touch of chamber elegance on Portrait of a Reputation. Watch here as the “Curtains” are closed on Pennington for a viking sea funeral.
David Byrne & St. Vincent: Love This Giant (4AD, 9/11/12)
“Who”
David Byrne & St. Vincent: “Who”
David Byrne has one of the most recognizable voices in music, ranking somewhere between Bob Dylan and Michael Stipe. No doubt this is why everyone wants the former Talking Heads front-man to guest on their records. Dirty Projectors, Arcade Fire, Jherek Bischoff — they’ve all taken advantage of the static friction of that back-of-the-mouth tenor.
But Love This Giant, Byrne’s collaboration with St. Vincent, a woman who’s known more for her multi-instrumentalist abilities than her voice, is the first full-length he’s co-written with anyone other than Brian Eno.
For its eighth installment, Chicago’s punk- and hardcore-centered Riot Fest decided to go big, adding stops in Brooklyn, Toronto, and Dallas and expanding its Windy City weekend to include an outdoor carnival. Though tickets are almost gone, you still can grab two-day passes for Saturday and Sunday in Humboldt Park or buy single-day tickets for those two dates.
Here are our picks for the weekend. Rain isn’t in the forecast, but bring your poncho for GWAR either way.
The one and only Amon Tobin brought his otherworldly ISAM tour back to Chicago last weekend, pairing his peculiar homemade samples and IDM beats with an orgiastic visual display.
Though Australian electro-rock trio PVT (formerly Pivot) is keeping details about its forthcoming LP under wraps, the band has graciously given a taste of what’s to come with its new video for “Shiver,” the album’s opening track.
The video below, minimal and graceful, is a fitting accompaniment for the track, which features hushed vocals lingering between warbling pop synths and sparse bass pulsations.
P.O.S: We Don’t Even Live Here (Rhymesayers, 10/23/12)
Doomtree emcee P.O.S (born Stefon Alexander) has announced the fall release of his first LP since 2009, and he’s enlisted a slew of artists to back him up. We Don’t Even Live Here boasts, among others, Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ryan Olson (Gayngs), Boys Noize, and fellow Doomtree talents.
October’s far away. Whet your whistle with this new video for the album’s first single, “Fuck Your Stuff,” which features P.O.S & Co. creating totally un-sponsored havoc (note Mike Mictlan’s blurred-out GWAR tee) in the streets to an insanely danceable beat.
Solos: Beast of Both Worlds (Joyful Noise, 9/11/12)
“Carpe Diem”
It may seem strange that the members of Hella have gotten poppier and poppier since the height of their impenetrability from 2005 to 2007. Long-time fans, though, will recognize a penchant for melody amid complexity that dates back to its full-length debut in 2002.
Solos is a new project from Hella guitarist and cofounder Spencer Seim and avant-folk artist / temporary Hella singer Aaron Ross. Following the overt melodies of Seim’s synth-core project sBACH, Solos is a jaunt into slightly more avant-pop territory, combining Led Zeppelin-ish acoustic rock with psych-pop and Seim’s pounding, distinctive beats.