Jon Crary’s Weekly Sound Off April 16-April 23:
1. Woods- “Moving to the Left” (Woodsist) – This amazing piece of retro folk psych rock is cool and blissful, a bit lo-fi and spacey. The singer has a melodic falsetto which all feels like it floats along while head-bopping beats make you feel good. This is my big pick of the week!
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2. Total Control- ” Flesh War” (Iron Lung) – It starts out with a goth-like beat reminiscent of Joy Division then it explodes into a light panoramic piano line and droning dreamy guitar solo and sounding like it should have been part of those great slightly uncomfortable synth-pop bands of the early ’80’s. Great tune.
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3. GusGus “Crossfade” (Kompakt) – This Icelandic electronic synth dance group serves up another great new single. This one pounds and swirls with sounds alternating from speaker to speaker and turns into a mesmerizing journey sonically without losing its dance floor edge, and its atmosphere is reminiscent of last year’s phenomenal offering by Jon Hopkins “Open Eye Signal.” It’s highly hypnotic and catchy.
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4. tUnE-yArDs “Wait For a Minute”- (4AD) – After the magnificent critically acclaimed debut album “w h 0 k i l l” in 2011, Merrill Garbus treats us to a more toned down, more soulful side in this new single awaiting her new album “Nikki Nack”. I liked “w h o k i l l” and I like this direction!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMclqWLPsM8]
5. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart- “Simple and Sure”- (Yebo Music)– In anticipation of their new album “Days of Abandon” out on May 13, here is the first single which dropped a couple of months ago as a taste of what is to come. Pains still makes amazingly bright pop anthems with lots of great hooks and feel good melodies. I’m looking forward to the full length release next month. Enjoy this cool tune.
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