So most of you know I either download music or buy it from dollar bins at Reckless and Half Price Books. My favorite in the first category is the new Cloud Nothings album, produced by Steve Albini and one of the best albums I've heard in years. It is also further proof that Albini can easily make any album one of my favorites(see Bush, "Razorblade Suitcase"). I don't know what I would define it as, but it sounds like heavy yet harmonic indie rock perfected. I hear a little bit of Titus Andronicus but certainly it is heavier and has less of a Springsteen feel and more of a classic west coast punk feel. And by classic west coast I mean music from their hometown of Cleveland (land of the Dead Boys) and west.
Their older albums aren't nearly as thick and fuzzy as "Attack on Memory," the new album. But I'm pretty sure the main guy in the band did the first two albums by himself on garageband or something and we're all lucky he found some dudes ready to rock out. I can't help but headbang or bang on stuff when I put the album on. That would be my ranking system btw: a 10 would be like "uncontrollable spasm inducing" and a 1 would be something that makes me walk fast in hopes of out-running the crummy album.
While I am not one of those dudes that gives out whole albums on my blog, just google "Cloud Nothing 'Attack on Memory' site:mediafire.com" and you'll find it. But first check this out and make sure you agree with me: I guess Urban Outfitters bought them a video and I put it right here:
Cloud Nothings - "No Future / No Past" Official Video from Urban Outfitters on Vimeo.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the newest Pictureplane album (and remixes), thee oh sees' newest album, and I'm oddly entertained by the Weeknd's new album.
The latter is perfect urban walking music and that link is for their whole album on Soundcloud. I totally dance walk when I put it on after class and make my way home on the el.
Pitchfork still sucks by the way: every album I like is usually an 8 or lower. The 9+ albums don't even belong on a site that reviews indie rock albums, or preferably, art-rock albums. While the "indie" or "art" term is vague, the "rock" part is not. Just because someone lives in Brooklyn or Echo Park or London and appears hip, it doesn't mean their album belongs in the same category as actual independent bands that make artsy, rock and roll influenced music.
I was planning on giving you the best of the dollar bins but I'm losing patience and getting vitriolic. I think that is the right word. The best dollar bin album I copped this past week was the deluxe version of "Goo." While I've never claimed to be an audiophile and certainly can't always tell between MP3 qualities, I can safely say I prefer the "Goo" 8 track versions on disc two. Yes, Jim O'Rourke remastered them and that probably made a huge difference. But I've literally never gotten into something like 8 track demo versions of songs I grew up with. I bought the album for the extra tracks, all of which ended up as "mehs" in my book (or according to the uncontrollable dancing scale, the b sides might get me to tap my fingers on my lap or something but that is it. But for a dollar bin buy, you can't ask for much more.
