United Nations: The Next Four Years
Anna Calvi: Strange Weather
Zackey Force Funk: Money Green Viper
Rise Against: The Black Market
The singer and guitarist brought her striking live show to the Windy City, complete with Talking Heads-like choreography and a tribute to Kurt Cobain.
St. Vincent: s/t
Beck: Morning Phase
Davidge: Slo Light
The Notwist: Close to the Glass
Jherek Bischoff: Composed (Brassland, 6/5/12)
Jherek Bischoff’s solo album Composed (which we called “immaculately arranged orchestral pop”) was recorded by layering and cutting together single musicians recorded in their living rooms, over his own previously recorded parts. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, however, Bischoff was able to organize a concert at New York’s Merkin Hall with a full backing orchestra.
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.
Jherek Bischoff: Composed (Brassland, 6/5/12)
“Young and Lovely” f. Zac Pennington & Soko
[audio:https://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Jherek_Bischoff_Young__Lovely.mp3|titles=Jherek Bischoff: “Young & Lovely”]Jherek Bischoff has more than a few tricks up his very well-tailored sleeves. You know it just by looking at him, at his satin-collared tuxedo and manicured hairdo circa 1939, at his high cheek bones and golden-brown eyes, the color of failing light refracted off coated steel. Bischoff is maybe a renaissance man, maybe one of many. He’s not the only musician whose pedigree includes both experimental ensembles like Xiu Xiu and more classically oriented groups like Wordless Music.
Get ready to hear the name Jherek Bischoff a lot more often. The multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, and ex-Parenthetical Girls member has crafted an epic orch-pop debut called Composed, which is coming via Brassland on June 5.
And if you need a few familiar names to get you interested, the album features David Byrne, Nels Cline (Wilco, Nels Cline Singers), Craig Wedren (Shudder to Think), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Zac Pennington (Parenthetical Girls), Soko, Carla Bozulich, Dawn McCarthy (Faun Fables), and even more notables.
Achieving public familiarity through featured songs in Little Miss Sunshine, DeVotchKa has worked hard to make a name for itself. Its Gypsy-influenced sound employs a wide variety of styles and instrumentation, celebrating a genre that has been around for hundreds of years.
Led by songwriter Nick Urata, DeVotchKa takes its wildly inventive Balkan pop in new directions on 100 Lovers — an album born of filmic discards and endless tinkering.
This trio from North Carolina is one of the few remaining African-American string bands in the world, and its music aims to tell the history that history books left out. In the process, an oft-overlooked tradition is reinterpreted into something completely new.
DJ artists Squeak E. Clean and DJ Zegon team up as N.A.S.A, mixing North American hip hop and rock with Brazilian funk, collaborating with major artists including Kanye West and Tom Waits.
