Before The Harvest hits Vol.10 I thought I’d pull together a preview of what the 2nd half of 2013 has in store for us.
1. Fuck Buttons – Slow Focus
- Released : July 22nd, 2013
- Label: ATP Recordings
- For Fans of: Errors , Holy Fuck or Dan Deacon .
After two critically acclaimed albums and last year having both ‘ Surf Solar ‘ & ‘ Olympians ‘ played during the London Olympics opening ceremony, the Bristol two piece must be feeling like a young undefeated boxer right now, foreign to the taste of defeat. With a recipe of epic, electronic, adrenaline pumping sounds that aren’t ridiculously overbearing, Fuck Buttons have a formula that’s uniquely their own. Slow Focus is generally more of the same territory with slightly more live instrumentation, which may sound complacent, but when you have a good thing going, why change it? You can stream the entire album here .
2. Pond – Hobo Rocket
- Released : August 2nd, 2013
- Label: Modular
- For Fans of: Tame Impala , Grateful Dead or Melody’s Echo Chamber .
Pond never intended to take off, it was originally just a collaborative project, a big fun jam if you like. But after the international success of Tame Impala ’s debut album Innerspeaker , which featured three members of Pond, the bands 2012 album Beard, Wives, Denim drew attention across the board. Despite Nick Allbrook ’s best effort to step away from the pressures of success by leaving Tame Impala, because of the early buzz built from the first two singles, ‘ Giant Tortoise ’ and the more recent ‘ Xanman ’, you can expect Hobo Rocket to thrust Allbrook back into the spotlight.
3. Washed Out – Paracosm
- Released : August 13th, 2013
- Label: Sub Pop
- For Fans of: Toro Y Moi , Neon Indian or Memory Tapes .
While his contemporary friend
Toro Y Moi
has released three full length albums since bursting on to the scene during the 2009 chillwave movement – despite his global presence –
Ernest Greene
’s bedroom project has only managed the one album since that period.
I guess his release pacing is fitting for an artist whose music is also gently paced and is never in a rush (he’s genuinely one of the nicest humans you’ll ever meet).
True fact: due to being a product of sudden online success, the Georgia-based musician’s second live performance ever was at the
Santos Party House
in New York City.
4. No Age – An Object
- Released : August 20th, 2013
- Label: Sub Pop
- For Fans of: Times New Viking , Deerhunter or The Men .
No Age
are one of the few experimental punk bands that never build a large PR campaign to keep themselves relevant; they’re just that confident in their abilities that they let their albums do all the talking for them.
Perhaps another reason is that the only other time you see their name is when it’s regarding heated topics such as publicly addressing Converse’s use of sweatshops or headlining the Anti-Walmart Benefit.
But the duo has never let those controversies cast a shadow over their music, which has continued to evolve outside its original limitations during the noise scene of 2007.
5. Factory Floor – Factory Floor
- Released : September 9th, 2013
- Label: DFA
- For Fans of: LCD Soundsystem , The Juan MacLean or !!! .
In a world of post-
LCD Soundsystem
, the London post-industrial three piece
Factory Floor
have been positioning themselves nicely to move into that area of necessity for lengthy, robotic, live drumming lead, emotionally mutual music.
Not that
James Murphy
appears to care, because they signed to his DFA records label in 2011 and off the back of the first two hypnotic singles ‘
Two Different Ways
’ and ‘
Fall Back
’,
Factory Floor
has become one of the most anticipated debut albums of 2013 and hopefully a tour down under will follow suit. 2014
Golden Plains Festival
, I’m looking at you.
6. Janelle Mon á e – The Electric Lady
- Released : September 10th, 2013
- Label: Bad Boy / Universal
- For Fans of: Solange , Erykah Badu or Jessie Ware .
Although I’m not massively impressed or disappointed by the first two singles, ‘ Dance Apocalyptic ’ & ‘ Q.U.E.E.N. ’, if Electric Lady is anything like Monáe’s official debut album, ArchAndroid , these tracks are just a small sample of what to expect from an artist who can cover more territories on one album than most artists will ever cover throughout their entire careers – without over-stretching and sounding like one big mess of influences. From sharp radio singles such as ‘ Cold War ’ & ‘ Tightrope ’ to lengthy RnB space odysseys ‘ Say You’ll Go ’ & ‘ BaBopByeYa ’, Janelle Monáe currently plays a pivitol role in the progression of RnB music.
7. Delorean – Apar
- Released : September 10th, 2013
- Label: True Panther / Mushroom Pillow
- For Fans of: The Tough Alliance , Cut Copy or Air France .
Obviously I love reviewing new albums, otherwise I wouldn’t have reviewed well over 200 albums so far this year, but if there’s one album I’m by far the most curious about and rooting for to succeed, it’s these Spanish lads new album, Apar . While the Ayrton Senna EP was a vast improvement from the bands early work, Subiza took their vulnerable, balearic, blissful sounds to another level. With brilliant (a word I don’t use lightly) attention to detail. Only two things held the album back from flat-out classic status; one was the language translation and the other was the album’s inconsistency towards the latter half, two areas I really hope they have worked on during the agonising three years since Subiza .
8. Bill Callahan – Dream River
- Released : September 17th, 2013
- Label: Drag City
- For Fans of: Smog , Lambchop or Cass McCombs .
Bill Callahan
is still only 47 years old, but his vocals are almost entirely unrecognisable from his early 90s days with his experimental lo-fi band
Smog
.
At some point around the turn of the millennium, maybe sensing he needed to alter his craft to sound a little more timeless in order to continue making a living out of his music, Bill realised when he sung with his deeper voice, he sounded like a wise old majestic man. This has served him very well as he’s moved into contemporary folk music and revitalised his career.
9. Oneohtrix Point Never – R Plus Seven
- Released : October 1st, 2013
- Label: Warp
- For Fans of: Emeralds , Tim Hecker or Actress .
In Brooklyn right now, ambient, drone, experimental music has become as trendy as light, indie, summer music was only just a few years back. It’s actually become slightly ridiculous to the point where artists are just releasing tracks, clearly without any substantial knowledge of areas already covered or an understanding of where to push the boundaries moving forward. While Daniel Lopatin ‘s other project Ford & Lopatin drew heavily from the 80s, Oneohtrix Point Never ‘s roots are far harder to trace unless you have access to active Stargate. With his recent move to Warp Records, I’d expect any restrictions that previously held his production back because of budget concerns will not to be an issue this time around.
10. Poliça – Shulamith
- Released : October 31st, 2013
- Label: Mom + Pop
- For Fans of: Gayngs , Purity Ring or Daughter .
Because of a time table clash at this year’s Laneway Festival in Melbourne, I only caught the second half of
Poliça
’s set, but that was all I needed to be convinced that lead singer
Channy Leaneagh
is the real deal.
Her live vocals far surpassed those displayed on the debut album
Give You The Ghost
, which were already incredibly enchanting, and she also had a very warm and inviting stage presence.
Although
Bon Iver
definitely over-stated when he once said “
They’re the best band I’ve ever heard.
”, the future appears very bright for this five piece band from Minnesota.
Here are more albums to keep an eye out for:
July:
- AlunaGeorge – Body Music
- Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
- Gauntlet Hair – Stills
- Scott & Charlene’s Wedding – Any Port In A Storm
- Soft Metals – Lenses
- Weekend – Jinx
August:
- Belle & Sebastian – The Third Eye Centre
- Bloc Party – The Nextwave Sessions
- Braids – Flourish // Perish
- Crocodiles – Crimes Of Passion
- Dent May – Warm Blanket
- Dodos – Carrier
- Franz Ferdinand – Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action
- Julia Holter – Loud City Song
- Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe
- Minks – Tides End
- Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings – Give The People What They Want
- Ty Segall – Sleeper
September:
- Arctic Monkeys – AM
- Au Revoir Simone – Move In Spectrums
- CHVRCHES – The Bones OF What You Believe
- Deer Tick – Negativity
- Goldfrapp – Tales Of Us
- Holograms – Forever
- MGMT – MGMT
- Okkervil River – The Silver Gymnasium
- The Roots / Elvis Costello – Wise Up Ghost
- Volcano Choir – Repave
TBA:
- Beck – TBA
- Danny Brown – Old
- Forest Swords – TBA
- Holy Ghost! – Dynamics
- Spoon – TBA
- The Dismemberment Plan – Uncanny Valley
WORDS BY Marcus Rimondini
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