Recommended Albums: February 2013

February's release schedule was dominated by the still difficult to believe return of shoegaze originators My Bloody Valentine, whose new album m b v really has to be heard if you've yet to have had the pleasure. But other albums, from both young and veteran artists, are also worth checking out. Here are my favourites:

Mountains - Centralia
An eerily beautiful album of ambient electro-acoustics, that references Terry Riley and Brian Eno. This one is continuing to grow on me with every listen.



Grouper - The Man Who Died In His Boat
This one is a sequel of sorts to Liz Harris' breakthrough 2008 album Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill, and is therefore more centered around the acoustic guitar than more recent Grouper albums. Again, I'm looking forward to spending more time with it.



My Bloody Valentine - m b v
I hope to be reviewing this one in the future so I don't want to say much about it yet. The music can speak for itself for now.



Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push The Sky Away
Nick Cave goes back to his quieter, romantic side for the latest Bad Seeds album. The softer moments are balanced out with epics "Jubilee Street" and "Higgs Boson Blues", which are as good as any songs Cave's written.



Iceage - You're Nothing
You're Nothing is a more challenging album than Iceage's debut, New Brigade. If you weren't sold on that album, this one isn't for you. The first two and last two tracks are the best, I find.



Trade - SHEWORKS005 (EP)
Trade is the collaborative project of Blawan and Surgeon, and their EP for She Works The Long Nights contains four tracks of heavy, pulsating modern techno. It shows off the capabilities of both producers extremely well.



Rainer Veil - Struck (EP)
As my Single of the Week feature suggests, I'm looking forward to what Rainer Veil will do in the future. Until then there's their EP for Modern Love, which is more than gratuitous.



Atoms For Peace - AMOK
Finally I was pleasantly surprised by the electronic-cum-Afrobeat project of Thom Yorke/Nigel Godrich/Flea/Joey Waronker, Atoms For Peace's AMOK. It's expensive-sounding fun, and lord knows Thom needs some of that every once in a while.



This month expect new albums/EP's from David Bowie, Pete Swanson, Justin Timberlake, CHVRCHES and more. Tracks from some of these albums/EP's can be found on my latest monthly mix Culture Shock (and in previous mixes if you care to look):

C s (Culture Shock: March 2013) by Culture Shock on Mixcloud

Single of the Week: Girl Band - "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage" (Blawan cover)

As brilliant as the original is, there's evidently something about "Why They Hide Their Bodies Under My Garage" that when let loose turns Blawan's most recogniseable tune from dread-y techno into noise-punk assault. Thank Albini that Girl Band found it then. The Irish group originally submitted their cover of  "Garage" as their contribution to Quarter Inch Collective's Quompilation #3, but it's a ferocious piece by itself; all tight, monotone drumming and held-out distortion reaching an inevitable climax and going over the top. With only eight words to work with the vocals rely on both the band's intensity and the inane excellence of the titular phrase; the results are quite spectacular. This isn't dance-punk (at least not in the DFA sense) but Girl Band's "Garage" encounters the possibilities when the doors between the two worlds are broken down.



For a comparison, here's Blawan's original: