Editor's note: If you missed any of yesterday's selections, you can check them out here.

Jon Krol

Album:  David Bowie - The Next Day

This pick should come as no surprise to those who know me. I pretty much worship at the altar of Bowie-anything, and, despite his relatively weak output in the nineties and early 2000's, looked forward to this album with hot anticipation. Let's just say I wasn't disappointed. The Next Day hearkened back to Bowie's bygone era, the Berlin Trilogy, which was arguably his strongest moment as a songwriter and creative provocateur. After his limelight faded a bit in the late seventies, Bowie moved to Berlin and released Heroes, Lodger, and Low, three criminally overlooked albums in the pantheon of rock history. During that time, Bowie experimented with soundscapes and angular post-rock. The end result was something rock had rarely seen, a truly unique exploration of the medium. Listening to The Next Day, I felt like Bowie was continuing this journey. The songs were undeniably rock-oriented with pop hooks and guitar crunch for days. They were something more though. Vibe and attitude as only Bowie can pull off, the songs were interesting, and they felt fresh and new. After ten years off, it was as if Bowie re-discovered that inner spirit. Still exploring, in search of that perfect pop song, Bowie pushed himself and the end result was an album that ranks amongst his very finest.




Jeannette Chin

Album:  Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Faultless Youth

When asked about their second album, Cold Spring Faultless Youth, the newly signed to Warp duo, Mount Kimbie, reported that unlike their first album, the music was largely inspired by elements of live performance, the approach towards songwriting being stimulated by being on tour for months on end without interruption. This difference in approach is easily traceable for Mount Kimbie fans upon listening to Cold Spring Faultless Youth. Brought to the forefront are melodies driven by electric guitars and synthesizers, rhythms that compel listeners to bob their head, and, perhaps the most surprising, the unrestrained use of vocals. That's right, in this album, the duo take turns singing discernible lyrics to discernible melodies. Two of the songs ("You Took Your Time" and "Meter, Pale, Tone") even feature the vocal magic of their music peer, King Krule. 

Despite having gravitated toward song-writing structures that some of us would lightly consider more "traditional," effectively stamped on each track is their unique signature, the sonic template of their style, whose appearance in 2009 had music critics speculating about the end of dub step. The duo was then listed among the list of artists leading what's left of it into a new era. Crackly textures, sudden transitions, idiosyncratic key signatures, scrambled drum patterns, and melodies that take multiple listenings to register, to fully coagulate inside our heads as listeners. It's all unmistakably packed in there. Moreover, their approach to vocals, to lyrics (with the aid of King Krule), is something that will be appreciated by those who pay homage to language considered to be poetry. Personally for me, out of any recent releases, it most closely resembles what I would imagine a Beat-Revival would sound like. Anyways, all this just scratches the surface of why, out of any album released this year, this one continues to be the most interesting for me to listen on repeat. Listen to it yourself and let me know what you think.



Song:  Kurt Vile - "Girl Called Alex"

For me and many others, Kurt Vile is a significant songwriter because he effectively portrays the voice of youthful indifference. A sort of vague, widespread ideological climate that can puncture a generation. In my mind, his music listens like a halo of apathy; fueled by nostalgia and as tender as it is reckless. It is also impressive, in more ways than one, you can't help but admire his handle on the guitar, his intuitive songwriting, but you're also impressed that he managed to pull himself out of bed to record it.  Overall, "Girl Called Alex" plays like a pure extract of everything Kurt Vile is good at, guitars that lull your head to the clouds, symphony moments, simple lyrics with bursts of rawness, and making you feel as though you are not alone in your strangeness. "I wanna live all the time in my fantasy infinity."

April always represents a coming-out party of sorts for the independent music industry. The winter months are being phased out, and as the days get longer and warmer, the need for new and invigorating music only grows stronger. With the renewal of Spring comes its accompanying melodies to motivate and captivate us, to get us out of the house and out into the parks and onto the patios, to inspire us, so that we too can get the creative juices flowing and start anew. It's a beautiful thing, folks. This month, even before reckoning with the extensive catalog of stellar Record Store Day releases (April 20!), it's a pretty overwhelming list. After finding about 30 candidates that qualified for the top ten most anticipated April releases, it was difficult to deny mentioning some of these albums that are also worth your time, so I've set aside a few honorable mentions before getting into the main inventory. Hold on to your hats.

Another week, another round of "dancing about architecture" with your friend, the Listener. To counter Frank Zappa's jab at writing about music, I once performed an interpretative dance to express my feelings about the work of Frank Gehry. Needless to say, it did not go well...This week, we have some great new music by Usher, Haim, Kurt Vile, Youth Lagoon, and another guy from Real Estate with a separate band of his own. So, at this point, who in Real Estate does not have their own thing going on? I bet that guy is really bored right now.


Usher & Diplo - "Go Missin:" Last year Usher teamed up with Diplo and released the incredible single, "Climax," with Diplo adding excellent and foward thinking production to Usher's vocals. This year, the pair have returned with a new single. "Go Missin," is less dramatic than "Climax," trading that song's emotional bombast for something much more subdued and tense. Built around a simple droning synth and light beat, the work is left to Usher and his vocals to drive the track. Unfortunately, these singles seem to be a once a year deal at this point ("Climax" was released last Valentines' Day), so we might have to wait another year to see what they do next.



Haim - "Falling:" Haim's soaring songs all sound vaguely familiar even if you have never heard them before. Personally, their music reminds me of the music you would hear in one of those montages you saw in movies from the 1980's. Midway through "Falling," you can easily picture Ralph Macchio making some sort of breakthrough in his training while simultaneously taking a girl on a date at the local arcade (they appear to be having a great time, later the girl is shot looking in the bathroom mirror while talking to her friends about the fun she had). The ending chant of "never look back/never give up" certainly helps my case here. Be sure to put this on while training for your upcoming karate tournament.



Kurt Vile - "Waking on a Pretty Day:" Remember nice weather? Personally, I do not, but Kurt Vile seems to and the result is this sunny 9 minute jam. The first single off of his upcoming album, set to be released in April, sees Vile on familiar territory, creating easy going, spacey folk rock. Vile's gentle vocals drift in and around a catchy guitar line that drones through until it becomes a pleasant part of your headspace. Even with the song's duration, you grow so comfortable in it that you are a little bit sad to see it end.



Youth Lagoon - "Mute:" Having not really paid attention to Youth Lagoon last year, I am rather impressed by what I have seen to date of his forthcoming album. "Mute" shifts the gentle melancholy of "Dropla" into something much more over the top, continually changing with Trevor Powers adding new elements each minute. While seeming like it will fall apart under the weight of everything going on, Powers keeps control of the song and the result is fantastic.


Alex Bleeker & The Freaks - "Don't Look Down," Bleeker is the bassist for Real Estate and his vocals appeared on "Wonder Years" during their last album. Similar to his song on that Days, albeit a little less restrained,"Don't Look Down," is a simple, easy going, romp. Alex Bleeker & the Freaks will be releasing an album through Woodsist in May.