The month of May is living up to its fertile standards, giving way to tons of new releases. The month has already delivered:
Forgiveness Rock Record from Broken Social Scene, Your Future Out Clutter from the Fall, Together from the New Pornographers, Heaven is Whenever from the Hold Steady, Love is Strange from Jackson Browne & David Lindley, The Latin from Holy Fuck, High Violet from the National, Treats from Sleigh Bells, At Echo Lake from Woods and One Word, One Love from Michael Bolton (still reading?).
Almost as exciting as LCD Soundsystem’s This is Happening (due out May 18), is the return of Harvey Milk to the studio. Reuniting in 2006 after an eight-year hiatus, A Small Turn of Human Kindness (also due out May 18) is their second full-length since and sixth overall.
Harvey Milk gets its dirge on
Human Kindness is sure to excite the critical mass once again with this output, channeling their natural inner Chrome. Harvey Milk sets the spacious, metallic tone immediately, building walls of guitar so Creston Spiers can scale them. It’s definitely meant to be listened to straight through as one piece of music, one very ominous play. If you’re patient enough, you’ll be rewarded with a metal lullaby. Click here for the free stream at NPR’s First Listen:
Harvey Milk’s A Small Turn of Human Kindness
LCD Soundsystem’s release will be covered by the internet’s internet so we’ll skip our thoughts. Here is the limited-time free stream:
LCD Soundsystem’s This Is Happening
It’s worth noting that Andy Bell (of Erasure fame) will be releasing a solo album. The album was due out May 18, but has been pushed to June 7. From the small samples that have been released it’s more of the same synthpop with harder techno beats. Erasure has a massive gay demographic that will soak up anything Clarke and Bell release. If it isn’t evident by the sound, then it is by Bell’s headlining European Gay Ski Week 2010. Nothing, however, will replace Erasure as being the best online game theme song:
Erasure's "Always" makes you feel like a unicorn
Out May 25th is Beach Fossils’ eponymous LP. Anytime a new lo-fi act gains some notoriety, the “has it been beaten to death” debate begins, and that’s exactly what happened with The Beach Fossils. Despite already being compared to No Age, Wavves, Vivian Girls and (somehow) Mika Miko, Beach Fossils’ guitar chops are clearly on another level. The lo-fi sound is obvious, but it isn’t grating or contrived. There is even a twee-pop sweetness reminiscent of Galaxie 500 and Beat Happening. The sweet melodies are buried, but not No Age-buried. There is a clear distinction between No Age’s art-noise/no wave philosophies and Beach Fossils’ crafted fuzz (Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros meets Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet). These guys found a way not to be pigeonholed by their methods.
Beach Fossils self-titled LP out May 25th
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Heaven Is Loud 