Monday, July 21, 2008

Music: This Week's New Releases

I have two recommended releases for this week. Well, I guess "recommended" is not the right word since I have not heard the first album that I am going to mention.

A year ago Broken Social Scene member Kevin Drew released one of my favorite albums of 2007, and it was the first solo album from a BSS member that was branded as a BSS release. It was titled, Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew.

Tomorrow we will get the second BSS branded release when BSS collective member Brendan Canning releases his first solo album.
Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning- Something for All of Us. I will be picking this one up tomorrow, and it will be the featured music review sometime later this week. This one comes out on the Arts&Crafts imprint, which is one of my favorite labels. I mean just look at their magical indie Candian lineup: BSS, Kevin Drew, Stars, Amy Millan, Feist(who doesn't need a BSS presents on her albums), Los Campesinos!, American Analog Set, and well I could pretty much drool over their entire roster.


Your second recommendation this week is none other than Black Kids. I was fortunate enough to download their EP for free on their MySpace page before they started negotiating with the major labels to put out their first full length. I also saw them in April open for Cut Copy, which overall was a fucking fantastic indie dance show!

Well they aren't so indie these days as Columbia will be releasing their full length
Partie Traumatic.

The song that made Black Kids is "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You", which is a feel good, upbeat, dance number that makes it impossible to sit still. One of my favorite parts of the song is when lead crooner Reggie Youngblood sings, "You are the girl, that I've been dreaming of, ever since I was a little girl." You should track down this song, and I guarantee it will make you a believer. The highlight of the live show that I attended was their performance of, "Listen to Your Body Tonight" a sexy ditty about flirting, hooking up, lust, future love and what it all means. "Do you want my body? I went to feel somebody, on me, Listen to your body tonight, it's gonna treat you right," and then it all came to a crescendo at the end with the line, "don't be afraid to fall in love, cuz you don't like heights." I think that this is an excellent choice for the final song on the album, but alas it's 7th of 10.

This week you should definitely get Black Kids. If you like Broken Social Scene as much as I do then you should pick up the Brendan Canning as well.

You can check out Brendan Canning on his upcoming tour:

07/27/08 Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival
08/02/08 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/02/08 Chicago, IL @ Metro
08/04/08 Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
08/08/08 Regina, SK @ Regina Folk Festival
08/10/08 Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Folk Music Festival
08/15/08 Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Folk Festival
08/21/08 Salt Lake City, UT@ Twilight Concert Series
08/24/08 San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival
8/27/08 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil @ Canecao
8/28/08 Sao Paulo, Brazil @ Citibank Hall
8/31/08 Buenos Aires, Argentina @ La Trastienda Club

Black Kids are seemingly taking over the world with their list of upcoming tour dates which you can find on that link(click their name!).

2 comments:

aperock said...

I take Pitchcork reviews with a grain of salt, but apparently they do not like the new Black Kids album, and instead of a review they posted a photo of a couple of pugs with a note saying “Sorry :-/”. No review just the photo. Since Pitchfork is one of the ones who hyped the Black Kids in the first place, maybe they are just regretting the fact now. Interesting choice that they chose pugs to represent the photo. Maybe it is because a few years ago pugs where the “it” dog for a while, but really pugs are not healthy dogs. This breed is grossly deformed. The unnaturally short face and upturned nose means breathing difficulties and the potential for heatstroke in hot humid weather. Their compromised respiratory system makes it risky to anesthetize them. Most of these dogs can't even whelp their puppies without veterinary intervention. The large shallow-set eyes are extremely vulnerable to injury and infection. Pugs are also prone to a serious brain disease, joint problems, and skin and allergy problems. So in short Black Kids = Pugs = Problems.

Jon said...

Thank you so much for your educated take on the pug symbolism.

I have the EP, which I downloaded because Pitchfork gave it such a rave review. I know that those songs were remixed and rerecorded for the full length. I have not listened to these new versions, but suddenly I would really like to. I would like to know if they are overproduced, or what major differences there are.

Maybe Pitchfork just fucking lost it?