Need a dose of new tunes? Click onward to hear four excellent upcoming albums.
From simple to psychedelic, here’s a look at ten great works of album art from this month.
Electronic musician (Chris) Clark is releasing tracks cut from his 2012 album Iradelphic as a free download. Grab ’em to help him avoid self-described solipsism.
Grizzly Bear: Shields (Warp, 9/18/12)
Brooklyn-based indie rockers Grizzly Bear produced a killer album last year in Shields, a sweeping combination of the electric and acoustic that cements them as one of the genre’s elite. Now they’ve produced a disturbing but beautiful video for “Gun-Shy,” one of the album’s standouts. Evoking elementary-school science videos as well as body horror, the band’s use of animated GIFs might just win it some sort of newfangled Internet award.
Last month ALARM presented its 50 favorite albums of 2012, an eclectic, rock-heavy selection of discs that were in steady rotation in our downtown-Chicago premises. Now, to give some love to tunes that were left out, we have our 50 (+5) favorite songs of last year — singles, B-sides, EP standouts, soundtrack cuts, and more.
Another year, another torrential downpour of albums across our desks. As always, we encountered way too much amazing music, from Meshuggah to The Mars Volta, Converge, Killer Mike, P.O.S, and many more.
Flying Lotus: Until the Quiet Comes (Warp, 10/2/12)
“Putty Boy Strut”
Originally sharpening his teeth with bumper music for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, electronic producer Flying Lotus garnered notoriety that bolstered the success of his 2006 debut, 1983. Now with four full-length albums, seven EPs, and countless singles and collaborations, it’s clear that, in retrospect, Steven Ellison has skills that only can be inherited, not taught.
Grizzly Bear: Shields (Warp, 9/18/12)
“Sleeping Ute”
In 2009, Brooklyn-based Grizzly Bear became a mainstay of artsy indie rock with its breakthrough effort, Veckatimest, which added to the band’s already gorgeous, distinct sound. Three years later, the vocally adept and sonically diverse quartet is back with Shields, an album even more assured of the band’s signature style.
