The Shins — “Port Of Morrow”
James Mercer, one of indie rock’s brightest creative lights, proves on “Port of Morrow” that his unmatched knack for songwriting has remained intact in the five years since the Shins’ last album. His lyrics are among the best in the genre (“Love is the ink in the well when her body writes”), but even they are often out staged by his amazing melodies, things of stellar beauty matched perfectly by his sweet, welcoming voice.
This album improves with every listen and is without a weak track. Highlights include relentless opener “The Rifle’s Spiral,” the contemplative, soothing love song “September” and, of course, the invincible “Simple Song,” the album’s strongest statement that The Shins Are Back. The production is at a whole new level, with endless tricks and layers of sound that will reward headphone listening profoundly — e.g. the heavenly cascades of backing vocals that grace the transcendent chorus of “40 Mark Strasse.”
This album is a perfect combination of sonic and songwriting progress with all the things that drew us to the Shins in the first place, the qualities that make them one of the most joyfully unique rock bands of today and the qualities that will undoubtedly cement the moment you first fall in love with this album into the cherished halls of your memory.
RIYL: Broken Bells, the Beach Boys, Death Cab for Cutie, The Morning Benders, “Garden State”
-Jesse Paller, “We Like Music,” Wednesdays 10 p.m.-midnight
THEESatisfaction — “awE natural”
Up until this point, THEESatisfaction have been most notable for their quite effective features on Shabazz Palaces excellent album “Black Up.” Now, with their first full length album, this female duo really prove they can hold their own, providing short but incredibly filling slices of experimental R&B/hip-hop.
The two members of the group work together astonishingly well, with one maintaining the role of R&B soul crooner, while the other takes the role of MC, serving up short and sweet verses full of prose that could politely be referred to as “abstract,” and could also be referred to as “hella weird.”
This is an album happy to push the boundaries of what can be called hip-hop and R&B, and, with only one or two dragging parts on the entire album, it is a remarkable success. It grooves, it moves, it bumps and, above all, it works.
RIYL: Shabazz Palaces, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, BadBadNotGood
-Richard Murphy, “Lionheart James,” Thursdays 2-4a.m.
Andrew Bird — “Break It Yourself”
Eyeoneye from Andrew Bird on Vimeo.
Organic, eloquent and mellow, Andrew Bird’s sixth studio album is the record for the springtime. Gentle harmonized vocals thick with reverb and plucked violin start the album just as spring begins, with a slow methodic thaw into bursts of color, light and warmth. The album continues in this fashion, bleeding vitality and energy with every pluck and strum. Bird’s airy vocals, classical influence and exceptional whistling skills are all present yet again on his new record, but this time they seem to dig a bit deeper as he explores various genres throughout the album.
A sophisticated simplicity exists on this album that gives it an opulent playfulness. “Break It Yourself” is a layered extravaganza, so full and vivid that each listen reveals something new. The album’s standout track “Hole In The Ocean Floor” is an eight-minute, mostly instrumental track that is lavishly expressive and sincere.
The album ends as poignantly as it begins with a three-minute song composed entirely of bells. This album is a rich musical landscape that captures the brevity and beauty of a setting sun; except you can listen over and over and over again.
RIYL: Sufjan Stevens, Bowerbirds, St. Vincent
-Brendan Principato, “This Radio Show Will Ruin/Save Your Life,” Mondays midnight-2 a.m.
Nite Jewel — “One Second Of Love”
One of the primary complaints lodged against Nite Jewel’s Romona Gonzalez on her “Am I Real?” EP was a lack of definable characteristics that separated her from other one woman dream-pop blog darlings such as White Hinderland or Blue Hawaii.
On “One Second of Love,” Gonzalez heeds these requests (consciously or not), incorporating a more diverse pallet of instruments, sounds and influences. Still primarily focused on a modern, bedroom pop take on ’80s dance ballads, Gonzalez ditches the reverb drenched vocals and cheap purposefully lazy production that oftentimes defines the genre and experiments with interesting R&B and R&B-influenced ’90s and early 2000s pop.
Unfortunately, Gonzalez lacks the pipes of a Dirty Projector or an actual pop or R&B singer, and any elements of soul are lost in her over-enunciation and awkward phrasing, muting the effects of this redefinition of sound. Nonetheless, Nite Jewel has given music critics exactly what they wanted: a more well rounded, clean, interesting record with a more mature sheen. Let’s see what excuse they can come up with this time.
RIYL: Julia Holter, Blue Hawaii, Grimes
-Maxwell Tani, “Baroqueback Mountain,” Fridays midnight-2 a.m.
