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‘80S NEW WAVERS BACK TO RULE THE CHARTS
Depeche Mode: Sounds of the Universe
Pet Shop Boys: Yes
Both of these artists began their lengthy careers in Southern England back in the early ‘80s, 1980 and 1981 respectively. Their 30-year careers have been punctutated by stylistic shifts, most notably in the case of Depeche Mode who began life as among the poppiest of new wave’s synth pop bands and steadily turned darker and rockier over the years. Both artists return this week with new albums that will be competing heavily for attention among Generation Xers.
REVENGE OF THE BRIT POPPERS
Super Furry Animals: Dark Days / Light Years
Art Brut: Art Brut Vs. Satan
Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career
This is British week for record shopping. Three new releases are headed our way via Wales, Engand and Scotland from three of the finest indie pop bands in Dear Old Blighty. The Super Furry Animals continue to produce insanely catchy and wacky pop album after album and their new one is as strong as the preceding ones. Art Brut are the wise-acre of the bunch, turning in jagged pop riffs and acerbic observations bound with a uniquely British wit. Camera Obscura come from the classic Scottish twee pop tradition that produced Belle and Sebastian and their latest is yet another strong effort.
SOUL MEN
Allen Toussaint: The Bright Mississippi
Booker T.: Potato Hole
New Orleans’ legendary Allen Toussaint returns with his first solo album in many moons, more than a decade to be precise. It’s a jazzy journey through a collection of classic Big Easy and Mississippi River tunes, including songs by Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and Django Reinhardt. Meanwhile Booker T., from the 1960s Stax house backing band Booker T. and the MGs, steps into the spotlight on his own with Potato Hole. Booker T. roped in an amazing backing band in the Drive-By Truckers and Neil Young pops by to lend his guitar chops on two tracks.
Other notable releases this week:
The Boxmasters: Modbilly
Brakesbrakesbrakes: Touchdown
The Breeders: Fate to Fatal EP
Cryptacize: Mythomania
Wayne Hancock: Viper Melody
Jane’s Addiction: Cabinet of Curiosities
King Khan and the Shrines: What Is?!
The Kingsbury Manx: Ascenseur Ouvert!
Manchester Orchestra: Mean Everything to Nothing
Sinéad O’Connor: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got
Okkervil River: Pop Lie EP
Asher Roth: Asleep in the Bread Aisle
Dale Watson: Vol. 2 - Truckin’ Sessions
XTC as the Dukes of Stratosphear: 25 O’Clock EP / Psonic Psunspot
