WE PAY CASH
FOR USED CDs, DVDs AND VINYL
[ OPEN 363 DAYS A YEAR ]
1313 W Burnside 11-8 p.m.
Panda Bear - Sinister Grift
Historically, Noah Lennox’s solo albums as Panda Bear have been places where he can compartmentalize parts of his musical voice that blur into a larger, more chaotic whole when played out through his role in Animal Collective. Even at their most uproarious, the different phases of Lennox’s work have all shared a specific air of solitude, drawing from the deepest reaches of his emotional center, and sounding very much like they were crafted in isolation. Sinister Grift breaks that mold to some extent. The washed-out synths and dreamy, Beach Boys-descendant vocal harmonies of earlier Panda Bear output are still present, but are joined here by electric guitars, full kit drums, bass, and songs that adhere to more traditional rock band structures. Though there was ample collaboration here (Cindy Lee sings on “Defense” and there are contributions from all of Lennox’s Animal Collective bandmates and Spirit of the Beehive’s Rivka Ravede) Lennox plays most of the instruments himself and the majority of the vocals are his signature stacks of reverb-coated self-harmonizing. Sinister Grift is a significant chapter in the Panda Bear story if only for how it finds Lennox shedding some of the stubborn uneasiness that’s so long been part of his music. While still mainly the product of a solitary mind, the album is perhaps the least lonely Panda Bear has sounded to date. ~Fred Thomas, allmusic.com
Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On
Horsegirl's debut album, Versions of Modern Performance, was a bracing reboot of noise rock that saw the young musicians diving headfirst into scrape-y post-punk, scrappy shoegaze, and overdriven C86-style pop, emerging with a batch of songs that balanced avant-garde sounds and lemonade-sweet melodies. It was so good and so fresh-feeling that it almost immediately begged the question of what they could possibly do to improve on an approach that's nearly perfect. They sort that out on their second album, Phonetics On and On, in a couple of ways. Firstly, they strip off almost all vestiges of noise, with barely any distortion and a crisp, clean production helmed by Cate Le Bon. Secondly, they bring the voices to the front of the mix, letting their plangent leads and swooning harmonies be the focus. It was a daring gambit, but it pays off exceedingly well. Part of the joy of the band's debut was the sheer amount of grit and rumble in the mix; this time the listener is dazzled by the sleek starkness of the arrangement and production, where one can hear the space between the clanging, jangling guitars, angular bass lines, and restrained drum hits, ~Tim Sendara allmusic.com
Squid - Cowards
On Cowards, U.K. combo Squid introduce a unified theme that they've juxtaposed against some of their brightest and most melodic tracks to date. Generally speaking, Cowards is an album about evil. Under that black umbrella, Squid examine murder, narcissism, weakness, ego, and general wrongdoing. These subjects dovetail quite nicely into the group's already anxious post-punk style, though, interestingly, the album feels more exciting than grim. Over a decor of shimmering arpeggios and harpsichord, singer/drummer Ollie Judge applies cold, demented glee to "Crispy Skin," a song about cannibalism. "Building 650" is another standout with a gorgeous string arrangement that explores a protagonist too weak to disavow a friend who is clearly evil. Aiding and abetting the band are producers Marta Salogni and Grace Banks and mixing engineer John McEntire. Squid are still in the early part of their career, but with each record, they've shown a remarkable adaptability and willingness to change, without losing what makes them special. ~Timothy Monger allmusic.com
Preservation Brass—For Fat Man
The bass drum beat is the heartbeat of New Orleans, the organ that pushes the blood through the arteries and veins of the city streets, and the biggest and strongest heart was Kerry "Fat Man" Hunter. When the bass drum was strapped over his shoulders and the mallets were in his hands, he let 'em know-loud, proud and undeniable was his style, and it's that style that's at the heart of For Fat Man, the new recording by the Preservation Hall Brass. The album was guided from inception to completion by Preservation Hall cornet player Kevin Louis, He wanted to capture what was going on at the Hall on Monday nights, and from the beginning, Fat Man was key to the recording. Equal parts remembrance, document, and party, For Fat Man wasn't meant to bear that title. Kerry's untimely passing during Mardi Gras is sadly but irrevocably now a part of the story of this record, which began as a celebration of where the brass band tradition at Preservation Hall was at and where it's going. And thank goodness, the story doesn't end. Life, like any good brass band, keeps moving.
Deep Sea Diver - Billboard Heart
Billboard Heart, the new album by Deep Sea Diver, immediately puts the Seattle band in the company of St. Vincent, TV on the Radio, and Flock of Dimes, bands that have found newly ornate and magnetic ways to make indie rock by discarding notions of how it must sound or what it must say. It's their fourth album and first for Sub Pop, and it is a coup, a triumph over self-doubt, transforming failure into an opportunity to find new freedom, belief, and strength. Deep Sea Diver mastermind Jessica Dobson’s passionate, punk-inflected vocals, flaws-and-all instrumental takes, and an actively-burning-out vibe sell songs that are anxious even in affectionate moments. It seems fitting, then, when Billboard Heart ends with a song called "Happiness Is Not a Given." The album's one true ballad, its quandary is illustrated by a piano that swims upstream against humming synths and processed drums for its place onstage.
Rose City Band — Sol y Sombra
Psychedelic country jam band Rose City Band is the project of Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo guitarist/vocalist Ripley Johnson, the band name referencing Johnson’s home of Portland. The evolution of Rose City Band has been subtle but steady. New albums have cropped up regularly since the project's mysterious, semi-anonymous self-titled 2019 release, each of them with a new angle on the original spark: spaced-out Americana songs somewhere between dusty, lonesome-hearted country and sprawling psychedelic roots rock. Their fifth album, Sol y Sombra, comes after Johnson translated his studio creations into a powerful live show, and it captures the most detailed recorded version of Rose City Band to date. As with 2023's Garden Party, the arrangements on Sol y Sombra prominently feature Barry Walker's dazzling pedal steel guitar. Walker's tinny runs are a focal point of many of the album's songs, from the laid-back '70s FM rock-styled "Radio Song" to the drifty, atmospheric lushness of the slow-burning "Sunlight Daze" to the far more traditional honky tonk bounce of "Open Roads." On the first few spins, the songs and ideas here don't seem to stray terribly far from the path worn by previous Rose City Band albums, but the heightened production and detours into previously untraveled styles all slowly contribute to this chapter being both a continuation and a gentle expansion of Johnson's warped, beautiful, and ongoing vision of space-age country music. ~Fred Thomas, allmusic.com
