Here’s how this segment usually works:
I’ll listen to as many albums as possible throughout the week, break down buzz worthy choices and then stamp them with either; Unripe (intriguing), Ripening (gratifying) or Ripe (choice of the week).
But I was away on holidays for most of August. However, I still had my ear on the pulse of new album releases.
Albums I listened to that I didn’t feel warranted a discussion:
- Belle & Sebastian – The Third Eye Centre
- Bloc Party – The Nextwave Sessions
- Braids – Flourish // Perish
- Dead In The Dirt – The Blind Hole
- Crocodiles – Crimes Of Passion
- Destruction Unit – Deep Trip
- Drenge – Drenge
- Disappears – Era
-
Franz Ferdinand
–
Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions
- Laura Veirs – Warp And Weft
- Moderat – II
- No Age – An Object
- Pond – Hobo Rocket
- Pop. 1280 – Imps Of Perversion
- Pure Bathing Culture – Moon Tides
- Sam Phillips – Push Any Button
- The Dodos – Carrier
- Zola Jesus – Versions
12. A$AP Ferg – Trap Lord
- Released : August 20th, 2013
- Label: Columbia Records
- For Fans of: Chief Keef , A$AP Mob or Danny Brown .
- The Harvest: Unripe
It contains all the ridiculous flare production of A$AP Rocky ’s LongLiveA$AP but with less diverse hooks and more mindless lyrics, the latter of which actually plays into Ferg’s appeal. His foot is to the floor from start to finish, not allowing the listener to question the depth of the subject matter and that’s for the better, because Ferg knows his strength lays in his dark aggressive spitting, regardless of how uncreative some of the results are. He has the production backing to draw further interest, but he’ll need to expand it away from fading trends such as southern trap music.
11. Shigeto – Skyer
- Released : August 20th, 2013
- Label: Ghostly International
- For Fans of: Hyetal , Lone or Lapalux .
- The Harvest: Unripe
For a long time the general law of modern music was that the drums or percussion were layered down to maintain a rhythm for the guitars or keyboards to work with. Thanks to artists such as Hyetal , Lone and now Shigeto , that conventional wisdom has been flipped on its head. Often basic chord structures are played and then covered by jumping percussion samples, providing an element of adventurous unpredictability. The difference between Shigeto and the other two however is the recording process. As the album evolves, every organic moment, while affable, sounds like the product of a big meandering jam session. Not conclusive decisions.
10. Superchunk – I Hate Music
- Released : August 20th, 2013
- Label: Drag City
- For Fans of: Jawbox , Portastatic or Archers Of Loaf .
- The Harvest: Unripe
After being a veteran band of 10 years with 8 full length albums, the return from a hiatus between 2001 until 2010 was never going to be easy. Superchunk had two advantages; the enthusiasm that comes from returning to the studio and the depth of material collected, which flowed all over Majesty Shredding. But the follow up, I Hate Music , didn’t have those advantages. Turns out their enthusiasm doesn’t look likely to fade at this rate, but their material does. You don’t have to be a young band to sound exciting, but it does get harder to write refreshing new material.
9. King Krule – 6 Feet Beneath The Moon
- Released : August 24th, 2013
- Label: True Panther / XL
- For Fans of: Mac DeMarco , Daughn Gibson or Mount Kimbie .
- The Harvest: Unripe
At only 19 years old, King Krule already has the grainy voice of a man who’s lived a rough and interesting life with plenty of stories to tell. Unfortunately he can’t decide which ones to focus on and nurture. He rambles at times, which isn’t unpleasant because his manner is like a comforting drunk English man down at the pub – when you’re keen for a chat with anyone, regardless of constant topic changes. There’s another element that plays a major factor here and that’s that when the arrangements are thicker, on tracks such as ‘ A Lizard State ’, he’s clearly more thrilling. Again, he’s only 19.
8. Forest Swords – Engravings
- Released : August 26th, 2013
- Label: Tri Angle
- For Fans of: Holy Other , Actress or John Talabot.
- The Harvest: Unripe
While managing to avoid stepping on anyone else’s territory, Matthew Barnes forgot to stamp his own unique take of beat driven witch house music. That’s not to say he doesn’t have an ear for rich tones or uncluttered compositions, but it’s hard to define exactly what Forest Swords sound is at this point. My suggestion would be to follow the direction of the lengthier tracks, ‘ The Weight Of Gold ’ and ‘ Friend, You Will Never Learn ’, which subtly build with the inclusions of dynamic dub vocal samples and don’t rely on repeating engaging textures that rust quickly.
7. Washed Out – Paracosm
- Released : August 13th, 2013
- Label: Sub Pop
- For Fans of: Toro Y Moi , Neon Indian or Memory Tapes .
- The Harvest: Unripe
Ernest Greene ’s colourful castle is under attack and he’s not going to flee it any time soon. He’ll fight it out until the end and you have to admire a man who sticks to his guns. Paracosm ’s new instruments added textures and a more authentic sound to his production but those new weapons were all played from a safe distance away, only at times reaching the acquired target. Paracosm ’s other issue is its degree of structural difficulty is at times moot. Still, tracks such as ‘ It All Feel Right ’, ‘ All I Know ’ and ‘ Paracosm ’, as predictable as they can be, have such rich lovable good intentions.
6. Earl Sweatshirt – Doris
- Released : August 20th, 2013
- Label: Columbia Records
- For Fans of: Tyler, The Creator , Kendrick Lamar or Domo Genesis .
- The Harvest: Ripening
The advantage of being the youngest member of Odd Future is that you get the time to sit back, mature and learn from their mistakes. Where Tyler, The Creator has physiological issues that make him lyrically interesting, it often pulls too hard on the arc of his albums. Earl is far more level headed already. Sure his production and flow takes plenty of influence from Kendrick Lamar but at 19, he’s probably a stronger role model than Tyler at this point. Doris doesn’t have the diversity of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City , but it indicates he’s heading the right direction.
5. Money – The Shadow Of Heaven
- Released : August 26th, 2013
- Label: Bella Union
- For Fans of: Future Islands , Wu Lyf or Dutch Uncles .
- The Harvest: Ripening
For what they lack in originality they more than make up for with their inspired passion for uplifting music, and then some. The arrangements are at times predictable, but like a tennis player who tries to continuously smash the same backhand winner over and over again, Money ultimately succeed in submerging you into their world. In fact, the cover sleeve sums up the album perfectly. They refuse to stay grounded in doubt for any lengthy period of time and it leaves you feeling warm inside and out when you eventually manage to walk away from The Shadow Of Heaven .
4. Julianna Barwick – Nepenthe
- Released : August 20th, 2013
- Label: Dead Oceans
- For Fans of: Emeralds , The Caretaker or
- The Harvest: Ripening
If you’re going to be a relatively one-trick pony, make sure it’s a trick that’s distinctly yours. That’s exactly why Julianna Barwick has value on the market and it also helps that she sounds like an angel. When I saw her perform in Melbourne 18 months ago, she was only using a basic sample pad and a lot of re-verb through her microphone. The recording production throughout Nepenthe has stepped up a considerable notch, but without drawing on an influx of various instruments that would only draw the light away from her. I think the world can finally move on from Enya and rejoice in Julianna Barwick.
3. Blondes – Swisher
- Released : August 6th, 2013
- Label: RVNG Intl.
- For Fans of: Fort Romeau , Pional or Jam City .
- The Harvest: Ripe
RVNG Intl .’s decision to upload the entire album on YouTube as one full stream made perfect sense; once Swisher takes off, it evolves smoothly for an entire hour. If you didn’t have access to the track list, there’s a good chance you’d struggle to pick when one track ends and another begins. What makes the whole experience even more impressive is that it never feels like a DJ set, but rather a highly calculated affair. The textures may not be groundbreaking but Blondes attention to detail allows them to establish themselves as one of the few artists who can DJ crowd pleasing dance music and also construct interesting layered studio albums to equal satisfaction, without changing character dramatically.
2. Ka – The Knight’s Gambit
- Released : July 30th, 2013
- Label: Iron Works
- For Fans of: Shabazz Palacces , Roc Marciano or The UN .
- The Harvest: Ripe
Ka ’s best weapon is space. It’s not about spitting rapid fire, but the fear installed from split seconds of eerie silence. A signature trick of Shabazz Palaces , but Ka isn’t interested in perplexing the listener with material world obscurities, he’s more affected by the spiritual beliefs of religion, inner peace and Mother Nature in general. It’s an intriguing contrast to his clear influence of New York beat production and the rough edges of Brooklyn that comes together like Yoga class in central Manhattan. If immature subject matters are your number one turn-off from hip-hop, you may find The Knight’s Gambit very refreshing.
1. Julia Holter – Loud City Song
- Released : July 22nd, 2013
- Label: Domino
- For Fans of: Laurel Halo , Jenny Hval or Nite Jewel .
-
The Harvest:
Ripe
She displayed a lot of potential on her previous album, Ekstasis, with tracks such as ‘ Goddess Eyes II ’, but Loud City Song is on another level altogether. Part experimental avant-garde, part beautiful singer-songwriter, Julia masters the principles of both worlds equally and doesn’t rely heavily of either one to carry her appeal. It’s striking upon first listen and equally, if not more, striking upon further indulgements. Perhaps at times she overcrowds the songs with too many ideas, but she means business, there’s undeniably no holding back here.
WORDS BY Marcus Rimondini
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