The Albums You Need to Know About Every Week
We know, we know — it’s Tuesday. By this time, your Thanksgiving tryptophan has faded, you’ve washed your last holiday dish, you’re comfortably back at work or school and the next promise of a vacation is almost a whole month away. But don’t worry guys, there’s still a lot to be excited about. It’s going up into the 50s here in New York this week, we just scored a bunch of sweet Cyber Monday deals and we have some great new albums to go over!
First up, art rock indie darlings Xiu Xiu are out with their new album Nina this week. The album contains eleven revamped and reworked Nina Simone jazz classics covered in a way only this band can: stretched out arrangements, stylized vocals and seemingly cacophonous at times. Curiously though, “Feelin’ Good” and my personal favorite, “Lilac Wine,” don’t make appearances. Nina is a pre-cursor to Xiu Xiu’s forthcoming February album Angel Guts: Red Classroom, which is said to be the band’s darkest record.
Another cover album we’re excited for this week is Glen Hansard’s Drive All Night, an EP tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s track of the same name from the 1980 double-LP, The River. Being from the Jersey Shore means loving “the boss” is basically in my DNA — plus, I’ve always liked Hansard. His earnestness and passion in performances is incredible, and his songwriting talent recalls Bob Dylan, so to me his choice of Bruce seems like a natural one. The four-track release also features vocal harmonies from his pals Eddie Vedder and Joe Henry, as well as from Jake Clemons, the late Clarence Clemons’ nephew. “Drive All Night” is a nine minute long opus, just like Springsteen’s, but with Hansard’s classic crescendo touch. The coolest part of this is that Hansard is donating 100% of the proceeds from the digital release of this album to Little Kids Rock, a non-profit that helps provide music education to districts that may have lost music funding.
Next up is Gloom Balloon, Patrick Tape-Fleming of The Poison Control Center’s solo project, with his second album You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Disaster/Fix the Sunshine. This album is literally split into two distinct halves: the first is an exploration through many different musical genres, while the second is a tribute to Bill Doss of The Olivia Tremor Control, making for a very interesting album overall.
Last but not least, this week gives us further proof that 2013 is the year of comebacks (Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake and David Bowie each released their first new album in years). The embodiment of American teen pop herself, Miss Britney Spears, is releasing her new album Britney Jean this week. I guess after almost her entire life in the spotlight, we’re still supposed to feel like we’re getting to know her more with this intimate album title. Seriously though, what is there left to say that hasn’t already been said about Britney? She’s rightfully earned her spot as American celebrity legend, changing pop music forever and ushering in an entire new army of teen stars who clearly grew up on her music and culture. Can you imagine Miley Cyrus’s infamous VMA performance or Katy Perry’s video for “Roar” without Britney paving the way first? I am looking forward to this album because of that and will always respect her for being able to go completely bonkers (this is my favorite meme), then come back stronger than ever. I’m also fully prepared to hate how auto-tuned and crappy the music is. The American Dream, ya’ll!
