Out Today: 10.23.12
Every Tuesday is album release day (as well as video games, movies, etc.), but on a day so far from the weekend, it's a good feeling to wake up to some brand, spankin' new music.
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail Of Dead - Lost Songs (Richter Scale/Superball)...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead is a pretty widely recognized name, in part due to their commercially and critically successful post-hardcore tendencies and a short stint on Interscope Records, but also because our tendency to rely on alphabetical-order places the band first on almost every list on which it's included. The Austin outfit's eighth LP Lost Songs explores a multitude of not-so-positive subject matter, including apathy, war, and tyranny. Hooray!Stream it here.
of Montreal - Daughter of Cloud (Polyvinyl)Released on Champaign-Urbana's own Polyvinyl Records (as is usually typical with of Montreal releases), this collection of rarities features 17 songs from Hissing Fauna days to the present. Unless you're the type of person who has actually listened to every single of Montreal release (and I mean every. single. one.), or you constantly find yourself perusing media coverage of Kevin Barnes' penis because of that one show for which he performed nude, then you probably haven't heard the majority of these. So, here's your chance!
[embed]http://open.spotify.com/album/5p4s16IEhhtiTDaerizN0j[/embed]
Paul Banks - Banks (Matador)Better known as "that guy from Interpol," Paul Banks has previously dabbled in solo work with the release of 2009's Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper EP and this past summer's Julian Plenti Lives... EP. Banks, however, is Banks' first solo studio LP, in which he takes his vocals, so identifiable with Interpol, and places them on top of calmer, Interpol-y arrangements, making for a pretty interesting experience. Also, apparently as of August, Banks officially decided to "ditch" the "Julian Plenti" pseudonym, rendering Spotify searches for a single, all-encompassing artist impossible.
[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQUkbXOC9Dg[/embed]
The Polyphonic Spree - Holidaydream: Sounds of the Holiday Volume One (Good Records/Kirtland)The Polyphonic Spree hasn't actually put out any LPs since 2007's The Fragile Army. So the fact that this symphonic pop group with a bazillion current and past members put out this collection of holiday songs two months before Christmas seems a bit odd. But then you remember that The Polyphonic Spree is a bit on the eccentric side, and for whatever reason, releasing a holiday album as your first full-length in half a decade makes more sense than most things you ponder on a daily basis. Wanna know what makes more sense? School of Seven Bells contributes to The Polyphonic Spree's rendition of "Silver Bells."
[embed]http://open.spotify.com/album/10GrjBozUybGXCEl2UQs3c[/embed]
Titus Andronicus - Local BusinessI spoke with Titus Andronicus a little over a year ago, and they expressed a need to write new songs, considering they had been touring on the same ones for years (and I, personally, thought there was nothing to fix). Low-and-behold, the band followed through with this and released a free EP of live songs, rarities, and B-sides in March, and now there's a whole album's worth of material (not for free, however). The band has changed significantly, as this collection of songs seems more pop-infused than ever before, and because guitarist and violinist Amy Klein left the band a little while ago. But, the message is still the same: "Get up and do something, and be loud about it," (in a tasteful way, though).Stream it here.