Monthly Roundup April 2017

May 01, 2017

Monthly Roundup April 2017

Although some great albums came out this month, I feel that this was so far the worst month for new releases I have seen for 2017. I'm not sure why this is. Maybe it had something to do with Record Store Day. Whatever it may be, I had to scrape the barrel a little bit to find some good stuff.

UPDATED: SPOTIFY LIST!!!

Some highlights amongst the highlights:

Arca's third full length release in which he makes the jump to XL and more importantly he started singing, which turns out he has a nice lilting operatic voice. All the singing is in Spanish and this resulted in a more subdued sonically, yet more impactful of a release in the emotion department.

We also saw the 2nd installment of The Caretaker's series on Alzheimer's disease and the deterioration of the mind.

Father John Misty released his much anticipated follow-up to "I Love You, Honeybear". This time focusing much more on the words than the melodies for better and for worse.

Feedtime returned with a solid new album after a 21 year break!

Alexandra Savior teamed up with Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys fame to throw their hats into the ring that is the sound Lana Del Rey has carved out for herself. A very nice addition to this style of music.

Robyn Hitchcock returned with one of his best albums in recent memory

The supergroup BNQT(consisting of members of Midlake and the vocalists from Band Of Horses, Grandaddy and Franz Ferdinand) released a great indie rock album with a laid back classic rock feel, not unlike The Travelling Wilburys. Highly recommended, perfect for a backyard BBQ

And finally, Shugo Tokumaru teamed up with Greg Saunier(drummer of Deerhoof), an orchestra and blended it all together with his signature folk music. He also pulled from a vast library of found sounds he had been collecting to create his most freewheeling and adventurous album yet!

April 7th

Arca-Self Titled(XL)

Genre: Art Pop, Glitch Pop, Ambient Pop, Post-Industrial, IDM

The Caretaker-Everywhere At The End Of Time-Stage 2(History Always Favours The Winners)

Genre: Turntable Music, Ambient, British Dance Band

Karen Elson-Double Roses(1965/PIAS)

Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Folk, Dream Pop

Father John Misty-Pure Comedy(Sub Pop)

Genre: Piano Rock, Chamber Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Indie Folk

Feature-Banishing Ritual(2670)

Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock, Punk

Feedtime-Gas(In The Red)

Genre: Noise Rock, Punk Rock, Garage Rock

Kreidler-European Song(Bureau B)

Genre: Krautrock, Indietronica, Post-Rock

The New Pornographers-Whiteout Conditions(Concord)

Genre: Power Pop, Indie Rock, Synthpop

Alexandra Savior-Belladonna Of Sadness(Columbia)

Genre: Indie Pop, Art Pop, Dream Pop

Vex Ruffin-Conveyor(Stones Throw)

Genre: Post-Punk, Experimental

White Reaper-The World's Best American Band(Polyvinyl)

Genre: Glam Rock, Power Pop, Pop Rock, Garage Punk

April 14th

This was a particularly weak release day, I think something like 10 albums came out, they were all stinkers. Yes, I am aware that the new Kendrick came out that week. I can only recommend about 4 songs off it. Unfortunately for the first time in his career he has really given into the current pop trends and the album suffers immensely from the tame R&B beats and the overused trap beats. What a shame.

April 21st