5 Monday Music Thoughts

* Jarvis Cocker’s new album, Further Complications, hits stores on May 19th, but like everything else, has leaked to the internet early. I don’t think I really need to explain just how much Jarvis means to me. He’s pretty much who I’d like to be, if the world were ideal. Further Complications is a brilliant album, with shades of T-Rex, early Bowie, and Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. Did I mention that it was produced in Chicago by Steve Albini? It’s unusual territory for Jarvis, for sure, but it’s surprising how well it works. I’ve listened to the album at least 30 times in the last week and I love every inch of it. I recommend that everybody buys a copy. I’ve got it preordered on vinyl myself. Below is one of my favorite tracks from the album, along with a lengthy video of Jarvis spelling his name. I could watch Jarvis spell his name for hours. And I have. *sigh*

I Never Said I Was Deep - Jarvis Cocker



* I know I’ve made fun of Silversun Pickups in the past, but their new album, Swoon, is a shining example of the new guard of shoegaze. Sure, they sound a bit much like The Smashing Pumpkins… but they’re not embarrassing themselves like Billy Corgan has been the last several album. Silversun Pickups are on the more commercial end of the modern shoegaze spectrum. No one’s going to mistake them for Autolux or The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. But if they get more people into the sound, it’s not a terrible thing.



* Admittedly, I didn’t expect The Breeders to release anything so soon after their last album, 2008’s Mountain Battles. Their new EP, Fate To Fatal, is very reminiscent of their first album, 1990’s Pod. The Breeders have always suffered from the problem of essentially being a Pixies side-project and Fate To Fatal certainly isn’t going to change many minds about that fact. But it is refreshing to see Kim Deal writing and singing independently of Frank Black, without being any less a musician than him.



* Datarock’s second album, Red, is finally close to release, and the songs trickling out of it are making me shake my ass something fierce. The first single, “Give It Up,” has a Michael Jackson-inspired video that’s fun and goes quite well with the mood of the song. Datarock’s post-punk-meets-Daft Punk style is fairly obvious at times, but they’ve got crossover potential written all over them.



* I’m not exactly the biggest Atmosphere fan in the universe. I mean, generally, I don’t really get them, and their fans certainly terrify me a bit, in the same way fans of, say, Sublime or Weezer do. But there’s something about their latest single, “Your Glasshouse,” that really hits me. I don’t know exactly what it is. Maybe it’s the downbeat nature of the song. Maybe it’s the cute girl in the video. Beats me. I just can’t stop listening to the thing.