Moving Forward while Looking Back
This week the music world sees the return of some legends, both in reissue and new material, while New Orleans' clubs host a bit of both.
This Week's Soundtrack looks forward to new music from Deerhunter, and She & Him, as well as the return of some legends with Shuggie Otis and Van Dyke Parks.
1. "Dream Captain" - Deerhunter: From Monomania, their recently released sixth album, with two new members.
2. "Underdressed" - Cardinal Sons: These three brothers, all Loyola graduates, have each taken on a different leg of running the business of a band. They come together in verbose, catchy indie pop, and play Prytania Bar Friday.
3. "Listen to the Radio" - Sloan: Canadian power pop superstars (if such a thing exists), a track summoned to mind by hearing Cardinal Sons.
4. "Sunday Girl" - She & Him: From the recently released Volume 3 by M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel, a coincidental musical duo who turned a collaborative daydream and penchant for the Carter Family into record-making reality and in this case, a Blondie cover.
5. "Out of Mind" - Beaches: New music from the Melbourne collaboration of female rockers' album She Beats.
6. "Praxis Makes Perfect" -Neon Neon: A collaboration between Los Angeles' producer Boom Bib and Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys, each Neon Neon album tells the life story of a chosen historical icon, generally as '80s-era electropop. Praxis Makes Perfect is based on the life and times of Italian publisher and political activist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
7. "Kung Foo Cowboy" -Alan Vega: A track brought to mind by a title from Shuggie Otis' Wings of Love - "Black Belt Sheriff." Kung Foo Cowboys and BlackQuentin Tarantino would be beside himself.
8. "Slyd" - !!!: Generally pronounced "chk chk chk," this Sacramento dance punk group releases their 5th full length album Thr!ller, and comes to play Tipitina's May 24.
9. "Broken Record" - Little Boots: Electro-pop singer/songwriter Victoria Hesketh proclaims a love for 80's divas and Britney Spears. From her second album Nocturnes, this track captures all the glitter of ABBA, with the midrift-baring danceability of Madonna.
10. "Give it Back" - Love is All: Speaking of ABBA, this Swedish pop punk group came to mind thinking of blond divas who can get you dancing, or thrashing.
11. "Radio" - Moon Taxi: Hangout Fest takes place this weekend in Gulf Shores, and Thursday night Tipitina's hosts this Nashville quintet as a pre-Hangout event.
12. "Shut up, London" - Savages: From their debut album, these ladies are making some noise in their hometown.
13. "Wounded Heart" - John Michael Rouchell: From his new EP, which we discussed in a My Spilt Milk podcast.
14."Fireball of Love" - Shuggie Otis: We all know the Brothers Johnson hit "Strawberry Letter 23," or I hope we do. Now we can all know what else Shuggie Otis had to offer, like playing every instrument, save the horns, on his 1974 legendary psych-funk record Inspiration Information. So legendary in fact, that its probably been cultishly sampled more than heard in its entirety over the last 40 years. David Byrne's Luaka Bop label reintroduced the album to the world in 2001, and recently it was re-released again, paired with an album of previously unreleased recordings, Wings of Love. "Fireball of Love" is one of those tracks.
15."Tick Tock Goes the Clock" - Kobo Town: From Jumbie in the Jukebox, an excellent Canadian compilation of contemporary Calypso dialect.
16. "Two Sevens Clash/Prophecy Reveal" - Culture, Bo Jangles: An apocalyptic reggae classic, remixed with a Bo Jangles toast at the end.
17. "The All Golden" - Van Dyke Parks: A classically trained musician and composer, and famously on-again-off-again long time collaborator with Brian Wilson. From his 1968 solo album Song Cycle.
18. "S' Alive (Pt. 1)" - The Music Tapes: Julian Koster has been a utliity player in Elephant 6 bands including Neutral Milk Hotel, and his Music Tapes' Mary's Voice touches into Van Dyke Parks' musical vocabulary. My Spilt Milk is giving away tickets to see The Music Tapes Tuesday at the Howlin' Wolf.
19. "Hold Back Time" -Van Dyke Parks: From a new release, featuring Brian Wilson on vocals, Songs Cycled, a song that first appeared on their colaboration Orange Crate Art.
20. "Riverman" - Deep Chatham: Touring a second album just out in March, Flood, they play Siberia Tuesday.
21. "Laid, Paid, and Strange" - Natural Child: Nashville-based classic/goof rock band, playing Siberia Wednesday.
22. "Woman From Tokyo" - Deep Purple: Classic rock without a hint of goof.
23. "Cloak of Feathers" - The Sword: Doom metal band from Austin, playing House of Blues Tuesday.
24. "Watcher of the Skies" - Genesis: In honor of this week's publication of Yes Is the Answer, a collection of essays on prog rock, edited by Marc Weingarten and Tyson Cornell
