Looking for new music? DJs at student-run radio station WVAU share their thoughts on a range of recent releases.
Click here to read past Audiophiles.
Jens Lekman
An Argument With Myself EP
There aren’t many modern-day artists who can deliver a one-liner like Jens Lekman. With his witty lyrics and breezy musical accompaniments, Lekman’s latest EP is a whimsical collection that ends all too quickly. While all five of the songs here are enjoyable, none match the title track in terms of pure fun: It matches a “Graceland”-esque arrangement with lyrics such as, “I’m walking by Bev and Mick’s backpacker hostel on Victoria Street / Where it’s reggae night tonight / And the backpackers are pouring out like a tidal wave of vomit.” If you’re not already sold, then there’s not much more I can say to do so. Recommended if you like: Morrissey, Paul Simon By Cameron Meindl
Build Collapsible Mountains
The Spectator & the Act
The title of Zola Jesus’ new album is Latin for “moving forward,” so it is no surprise that we find mastermind Nika Roza D Behind the long name is a very simple album. Singer-songwriter Luke Joyce’s first full-length is an intimate, acoustic affair. The majority of songs consist only of quiet guitar and Joyce’s voice, which carries a subtle Scottish twang and reaches a perfect balance between rough and pretty. When another instrument surfaces, it is only to complement the spare arrangement. The songs are ephemeral and lonely — their enigmatic lyrics emote well without disclosing any meaning to hold on to with a strong grip. If anything, the closing track gives this album the right to be on the rack: the gorgeous “Wrong Way,” whose melancholic chords and desolate words end the album with a long sigh that you will hear every time you listen. But the sigh will be your own. Recommended if you like: Damien Rice, Nick Drake, Iron & Wine By Jesse Paller
M83
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
M83. - Midnight City by naiverecords
On his fifth studio album, M83 delivers the culmination of years of hyper-dramatic buildup in a bombastic, grandiose and, yes, ‘epic’ fashion. Any fans hoping for a return to his shoegazey roots will be severely disappointed, as the album is a blissful pop explosion of ’80s synthesizers and shout-along choruses. Any fans hoping for the emotional, removed piano ballads of 2008’s “Saturdays=Love” will also be disappointed, as M83 genius Anthony Gonzalez delivers massive, arguably overblown shameless interstellar-pop that would sound equally at home in a French dance hall or a bedroom floor. But any fans who hoped to see what a fully realized M83 album would sound like are in luck, as “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming” is easily M83’s most optimistic, least apologetic and most stadium-ready record to date. It’s bombastic and larger than life in a way that pushes the meaning of “overdramatic” to a new level. Sure, it’s 73-minute length is as daunting as any double album you’ve sat down to listen to all the way through. But unlike so many bands that find themselves placed under the vague label of “indie,” M83 dares to be sincere and asks you to live your most grandiose and larger than life dreams without shame. Recommended if you like: Depeche Mode, Day & Age-era Killers, any John Hughes soundtrack By Maxwell Tani
My Brightest Diamond
All Things Unwind
The best way of describing Shara Worden’s music as My Brightest Diamond is “quirky.” With instrumentation that includes plucked strings, flutes, trumpets and military drum rolls, Worden has few true contemporaries. “All Things Unwind” mixes all of these ingredients with Worden’s consistently gorgeous vocals to create an album that is, if nothing else, very interesting to listen to. Highlights include opener “We Added It Up,” which initially creates a folksy vibe with its strummed guitar chords only to pile on classical instrument accents, as well as “Be Brave,” a number that begins quietly before it bursts with trumpets and Worden’s strongest vocal performance of the album. Certainly, Worden has presented listeners with an album that is both delicate and beautiful, but also wonderfully weird at the same time. Recommended if you like: Joanna Newsom, Sufjan Stevens By Cameron Meindl
