How does it happen every month or so that the most exciting and anticipated albums come out on the same day? You’d think these publishing houses and distributors would get together and stagger these every once in a while? Oh well.. guess I’ll just have to listen to even more great music this week!
Aphex Twin | Syro
Returning with renewed inspiration, Aphex Twin returns with what very well might be the best album of the year. It sounds completely out of the blue; nothing like what happened this year, last year, or the year before that. It reminds me of getting high in my buddies attic listening to lo-fi and late-90’s electronica when I was 17 years old. This record makes no claim to try and be anything modern. Immersive, cohesive, and done with such a virtuosity and attention to detail that it can hold up to Aphex Twin’s earlier work as well as restart the conversation about his influence today.
alt-J | This Is All Yours
Starting exactly where they left off in their previous release An Awesome Wave, This Is All Yours surrounds you like a deep forest. While staying creative and fresh, the British three-piece are here to prove to their audience, and critics, that they are no one-trick pony. It’s hard to to say if they’ve actually achieved this – this album released to largely mixed reviews, warranted and unwarranted alike – but they know where their strengths lie; their drive for edgy refinement and the fluid and almost sickly sweet voice of frontman Joe Newman.
Perfume Genius | Too Bright
Relying on difficult lyrical content based on years of drug addiction and personal turmoil, Perfume Genius’ first record, Learning, seemed almost stifled from a lack of recording budget, yet stayed true to the personal touch of a singer-songwriter. Now onto his third LP Too Bright, Mike Hadreas has spurned the plunky piano and quivering voice for a noisier and more aggressive style of getting his point across. This album is a great step forward for an artist that has finally come to terms with his past and, with an increased budget and label support, brings him out of the shadow of the minimalist singer-songwriter version of himself.
