Episode026 - Heavy Mood

Episode026 - Heavy Mood
"♫Makin' a soundtrack for another planet to hear♫" on @PumpUpThaVolume! Episode026 - Heavy Mood was pre-recorded from the home studios of MediaMonarchy.com and features brand new #SongOfTheDay sounds from Patterson Hood, Taken by Trees, Pinback, Azure Ray, Kaki King, Matthew Dear, Tilly and the Wall, David Wax Museum, La Yegros, Meme, Family of the Year, Benjamin Gibbard... because it can't be news and politics all the time!

Episode026: MP3/Feed\Archive

Previous: Episode025 - Yet Again
****************************************
♬Liner Notes♬: Another week of short and sweet, so we get right to the point... I love new music and you do, too. My new full-time job as a talk radio producer is now my main focus, but I was able to get some promo discs from work recently and hopefully we'll start getting comped to some in-house shows at the Bing Lounge very soon - and that could make this humble, little music blog blast off a bit! But for now, let's just sit back, put our (new) headphones on and Pump Up Tha Volume!

Patterson Hood
"Disappear"
'Heat Lightning in the Distance'
ATO, 2012
Note: eMusic breaks it down like this: "Shared band members aside, there’s a trailer park-sized divide between Drive-By Truckers and the solo work of their singer, Patterson Hood. Unlike the cowpoke country and beers & steers rock ‘n’ roll of albums like Gangstabilly and Pizza Deliverance, Hood’s new Heat Lightning in the Distance LP shows the frontman’s sensitive side. Not to mention his strengths as a songwriter, which isn’t a surprise considering Hood’s father, David Hood, was a bassist for Muscle Shoals’ legendary studio band."
(More Info)

Taken by Trees
"In Other Words"
'Other Worlds'
Secretly Canadian, 2012
Note: As Stereogum says about The Concrete's lead singer's new solo album: "Taken By Trees — the blissful pop project of Victoria Bergsman — will put out a new record later this year called Other Worlds, an LP produced by the Tough Alliance’s Henning Fürst. It’s out 10/2 on Secretly Canadian. Head below to see the tracklist and watch a short trailer."
(More Info)

Pinback
"Proceed to Memory"
'Information Retrieved'
Temporary Residence, 2012
Note: As the almighty Pitchfork notes, "Pinback don't release new music very often-- their upcoming LP, Information Retrieved, will be their fifth album in fifteen years-- and every time they return, it sounds like they're right where they left us. "Proceed To Memory" sounds wholly unaffected by the mind-boggling cultural and sonic advances in indie rock since 2007's Autumn Of The Seraphs."
(More Info)

Azure Ray
"Red Balloon"
'As Above, So Below' EP
Saddle Creek, 2012
Note: We last heard from Azure Ray two weeks ago on Episode024, but this time NPR notes: "The Omaha duo is capable of weaponizing its melancholy to devastating effect, but Azure Ray's forthcoming six-song As Above So Below EP (out Sept. 4) finds the pair mining considerably gentler territory. Working on a bed of clicks and ahhhhhhs, Taylor unleashes what amounts to a long, slow summer swoon: "You know you bring joy to everything," she sings, awash in unguarded optimism. The devastating melancholy will come later."
(More Info)

Kaki King
"Bowen Island"
'Glow'
Velour, 2012
Note: Consequence Of Sound says: "Atlanta-based singer-songwriter Kaki King will release an instrumental album, Glow, on October 9th via Velour Music Group. The follow-up to 2010′s Junior was produced by D. James Goodwin (Devo, The Bravery) and long-time King bandmate/live sound engineer Dan Brantigan at Goodwin’s Isokon studio in Woodstock, NY."
(More Info)

Matthew Dear
"Her Fantasy"
'Beams'
Ghostly, 2012
Note: Drowned In Sound reticently notes: "Hand on heart, I don't really know how I feel about Matthew Dear's latest album Beams yet. After a dozen or so plays now, there are days when I fear that Dear has started to outstay his welcome... There are obvious highlights too, which stand out regardless; when the high pitched shrill noise soars out of the mix in the rather great opener 'Her Fantasy', it is highly reminiscent of New Order at their most poignant."
(More Info)

Tilly and the Wall
"Heavy Mood"
'Heavy Mood'
Team Love, 2012
Note: MTVhive says: "It’s been four years since we last heard from Tilly and the Wall, and if you were wondering if the band was ever going to return, well, so were they. Fortunately, after a break that included moving to different parts of the country (they’re now split between Omaha, Kansas City, and Los Angeles), having children, and starting second careers (often as yoga instructors), they’ve found the time to get back together. And the new album, Heavy Mood, is the sound of a group who’ve figured out what’s important to them, and what they have to say." (We also thank their label, Conor Obert's Team Love, for the RT!)
(More Info)

David Wax Museum
"Will You Be Sleeping?"
'Knock Knock Get Up'
101 Distribution, 2012
Note: As music blog Hear Ya writes: "Much like The Avett Brothers sound has evolved over the years, so has David Wax Museum’s. For a band that was born as a combo of the Mexican son music with American folk, Knock Knock Get Up has made the Mexican folk influences more subtle... Knock Knock Get Up is a vibrant album that makes you happy to be alive. Watching this band mature and blossom has been a delight. Knock Knock Get Up is their fourth effort and they just keep getting better."
(More Info)

La Yegros
"Viene de Mi"
'Future Sounds of Buenos Aires'
ZZK/Waxploitation, 2012
Note: "So it should be (and to most people, it probably isn’t) no surprise that Future Sounds of Buenos Aires is a concise, yet well conceived package of where the music trend can go. This 12-track compilation is the spawn of a unique music merger between two who have eyes on the bigger prize: Argentinean label ZZK (notable as curators of South American music) and US-based Waxploitation (who sport massive indie credibility)." Language barrier aside, I believe that "Viene de Mi" is also the title track from La Yegros forthcoming debut album.
(More Info)

Meme
"Young"
'Young'
self-released, 2012
Note: Oh, Wikipedia! Is there anything you don't know? "Meme is a music project created by producer Danny Burke and singer/lyricist Lizzie Brown based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The couple began making music together after hours at In the Groove Music's studio where Danny Burke works as a producer and songwriter. The group's sound combines Lizzie Brown's ethereal pop voice and sense of melody with Danny Burke's ambient electro-acoustic songs. The group has been featured on multiple television shows and movies including Jersey Shore, Gossip Girl, From Prada to Nada, and The Real L Word." But now they've hit the big time with their first appearance on Pump Up Tha Volume!
(More Info)

Family Of The Year
"Hero"
'Loma Vista'
Nettwork, 2012
Note: Last heard on PUTV's epic Episode016, Family Of The Year follows up that bit of "Diversity" with a "Hero". Or as England's NME says about the Los Angeles band: "A fantastic debut, reminiscent of Fleet Foxes."
(More Info)

Benjamin Gibbard
"Teardop Windows"
'Former Lives'
Barsuk, 2012
Note: And we close with some hotly anticipated solo sounds from the Death Cab For Cutie front man. As Pitchfork sums it up: "Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard will release his first-ever solo record, Former Lives, October 16 via Barsuk. Following his recently announced tour in support of the record, Gibbard has shared an album cut, "Teardrop Windows". According to Gibbard, the song is a tribute to the Smith Tower in Seattle.
(More Info)

****************************************
@PumpUpThaVolume Music News:
Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong enters rehab following concert meltdown
"YOU KIDDING ME? 1 MINUTE? IM NOT JUSTIN BIEBER YOU MOTHERF***ERS" Go on Billie Joe Armstrong!
The funniest YT comment I saw: "@GreenDay's about as punk as a 24hr marathon of #TheWaltons!" Hmm, that sounds nice about now...
James Franco releases debut album featuring Smokey Robinson
good advice "Hide away and find your peace of mind/With some indie record that's much cooler than mine"
Beach Boy fires all other Beach Boys
Lyor Cohen Out at Warner Music Group
Mumford and Sons are about to have the best selling rock album in four years (!)
Shockingly, Ke$ha Is Not the First Star to Claim She's Had Sex With a Ghost
RABBITS feature in the @PortlandMercury. #BitesRites

(Thanks again to @TheUdog, @KEXP, @KCRW, @TheCurrent and you!)