This week’s a pretty light one for releases, but we’ve still got some good ones for you. Sweden-based solo act El Perro Del Mar covers some dancing territory, while Brooklyn’s own The Babies kick it with some awesome new garage rock (they’re celebrating with a show tonight at The Knitting Factory!). The hands-down highlight release of the week, however, is Sufjan Stevens’ Christmas album, Silver & Gold. If possible, he’s gone more all-out this time than ever before.
El Perro Del Mar (@epdm) is the moniker for Swedish solo act Sarah Assbring. She began releasing her music in 2003 on a small Swedish label, and by the mid 2000s she had garnered enough success to spread her viewership to the rest of Europe and North America. This week, she put forth her fifth studio album, entitled Pale Fire. The single from the LP, “Walk On By,” has a bass line to kill, which just so happens to be the perfect complement for her sweet, light voice. It’s a slight divergence from her past work — adding groovier beats and stronger hooks has taken her traditionally indie pop sound into a bolder, more danceable territory.
Sometimes, I just need a dose of straight-up, no nonsense garage rock. The Babies’ (@thebabiesband) sophomore LP, Our House On The Hill, is the perfect solution to that. The Brooklyn quartet began in 2009 due to a chance meeting between Vivian Girls‘ Cassie Ramone and Woods‘ Kevin Morby. Through their LPs and, moreover, their five 7″ releases to date, they’ve gained a pretty loyal following. The band is currently embarking on a great little US tour, beginning TONIGHT at the Knitting Factory! Check out their album, catch a live show if you can, and rock on, babies.
Seriously? Who other than Sufjan Stevens (@sufjanstevens) could sing “Oh, I’m the Christmas unicorn…” and, in light of that, manage to sell out 2000 vinyl box sets before the release date? It’s amazing to me how un-gimmicky he manages to make a Christmas album whose entire premise is to ask this: “What is it about Christmas music that continues to agitate our aging heartstrings? Is it the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen? Or the boundless Potential Energy inherent in this bastard holiday so fitfully exploited, adapted, and confounded with no regard for decency?” He’s created Silver & Gold in the fashion of a true rebel — by working the system in order to subvert its ideals. The 58-song (no, that’s not a typo) compilation will have you laughing then crying, singing along then ripping your hair out, and by the end will have you somehow experiencing a sort of euphoric depression — an emotional “WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!,” if you will. Guys? Welcome once again to holiday season.