“Forever, and ever, you'll stay in my heart” —Hal David

Road Tunes: New Music Releases

What’s new in music for the week of September 4, 2012

By: David Merline

Web2Carz Senior Writer

Published: September 4th, 2012

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e’ve already mourned the passing of the brilliant lyricist Hal David, so we’ll dispense with any eulogizing and just recommend that the uninitiated pick up a copy of The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection, a nice box-set collection that features some of David’s best work in collaboration with his partner Bacharach. But if you’re too “now”-obsessed to care about yesterday’s hits, here’s a rundown of what’s new and exciting this week.

		Animal Collective / Centipede Hz (Domino) THEY SAY: Ninth studio album from indie rock darlings Animal Collective. WE SAY: Animal Collective, and its various solo offshoots (Panda Bear, Jane, Terrestrial Tones, etc.) the members of Animal Collective have a tendency to spread themselves very thin, missing the mark as often as they hit it. Centipede Hz sees the band returning to its roots, but those roots are fraying all of their various musical experimentations are starting to sound the same.
		Cat Power / Sun (Matador) THEY SAY: Ninth album from singer/songwriter Chan Marshall, who records under the name Cat Power, and her first album of original material since 2006. WE SAY: When we last heard from Cat Power she was belting out covers on her album Jukebox, after having attained some mainstream success with her breakthrough album The Greatest. On Sun, the enigmatic singer/songwriter takes an elctro-pop turn, but before you think sell-out, this is pop music that’s about as subtle and downbeat as it’s possible for pop to be. Sun finds Chan Marshall going in another great direction in a career full of surprises.
		Deerhoof / Breakup Song (Popvinyl) THEY SAY: Latest album from the San Francisco-based pop-noise band Deerhoof. WE SAY: Deerhoof have always been masters at using elements of noise-rock and math-rock to create deceptively complex, yet sweet-sounding pop songs. Despite its title, Breakup Song isn’t an album of sad reflections on lost love, it’s more of what Deerhoof does best: sprinkling sugary melodies over rich musical tapestries.
		Goat / World Music (Rocket Recordings) THEY SAY: Debut album from this Swedish psych band. WE SAY: Like the albums of fellow Swedish psych band Dungen, Goat’s debut gets to the heart of hard psychedelic rock while simultaneously pushing the genre in new directions. With swirling fuzzed-out guitars, tribal percussion, and blissed-out songs, World Music is an instant psych classic.
		Jens Lekman / I Know What Love Isn't (Secretly Canadian) THEY SAY: Third full-length album from Gothenburg, Sweden’s best export. WE SAY: Jens Lekman is often compared to Jonathan Richman, and although the two don’t share much in common musically, they both share the same child-like outlook on life, expressed through songs meant to make us smile. Some may find Lekman’s whimsy hard to swallow, but for fans of Richman, or tweesters Belle and Sebastian, I Know What Love Isn’t may just hit you in your sweet spot.

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