Welcome to a new, and possibly recurring feature on Spinning Platters, Not Necessarily New Release Tuesday. In this, I’ll recommend some new music to listen to. Some of these will be actual new releases, but not necessarily. I’ll also be including recently discovered imports, leaked albums, and rediscovered music as well. Sometimes I’ll just try to get you to listen to a forgotten record that I love. Since this is a new feature, I’ll be making it up as I go along so I absolutely want your feedback; therefore, please comment below and together we can make this the best Spinning Platters recurring feature ever. (Take that, Weekly Guide to Bay Area Concerts!)
The Sound of Arrows – Voyage
Oh boy, this album makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. For two reasons. One, because it’s just so chock full of sweet pop sugar, and the other because I was a kid walking around candy stores in the ’80s. Sure, there’s plenty of ’80s inspired music out there, but how many of them sound like a cross between Swedish pop and the Pet Shop Boys? One. And it’s this one. They’ve been putting out great singles for the last couple of years, so now that there’s an album, I can hope for some sort of traction here in America so I can drag my friends to see them. The opening track, “Into the Clouds,” is about two years old now, and the familiarity makes it my favorite. But for you, I’ll present the newest video, “Wonders.” If I still had a car, and you were in it some time in the next two months, this is the album you’d hear.
Billy Joel – Piano Man (Legacy Edition)
Every once in a while, it’s nice to get a reminder of just how awesome Billy Joel was in the ’70s. Since you really don’t need another repackaging of his classic Piano Man album, just get yourself to a nice streaming site and listen to the second disc which contains a live recording of Billy Joel at a radio station in 1972. He just flies around the keys of the piano and sings with light, cool phrasing. If you only know his ’80s material, and the BIG sound he’d later have, listening to an old live version of “Travelin’ Prayer” will make you appreciate the guy your parents loved more than you could understand.
Sigur Ros – Inni
I missed the classic, amazing, mind-blowing, legendary Sigur Ros concert that ended with a rain storm at the Greek Theater. I was out of town, or out of the country or something, so it’s not like I just stayed home. But still. Damn. Listening to this live album that will be released with an accompanying DVD next week is giving me missed-concert sadness.
Alexandra Stan – Saxobeats
I don’t listen to much beyond the singles on this record. That’ll do. I mean, it’s 2011 anyway, well past the supposed “death of the album” so a few good singles are all you need. And the lead single, “Mr. Saxobeat,” is the wormiest ear worm to come along since the beginning of worms. It’s the perfect “wait till everyone has left the house so you can blast this song and dance around your bedroom” track. (Not that I’ve done that or anything.) And then there’s the completely non-sensical, but completely watchable video. This song was huge in Europe this summer; could America be far behind?
The King Blues – Punk & Poetry
This band was my biggest Glastonbury surprise this year. A friend of mine said we should check them out, and for some reason I thought they’d be some sort of blues band. Instead, I got a politically charged punk combo while my Scottish friend had to give me color commentary on the between-song banter because I didn’t understand the British politics they were talking about. But one of their songs became oddly prescient a few months later.
Girls’ Generation – The Boys
So the K Pop thing is happening. There were pieces about it on both Grantland and Pitchfork, two giant sites, almost as big as ours. Anyone who misses the glory days of the music video when the people were pretty and the dance moves were choreographed has been watching K Pop with glee for the past few years. Now, it’s tipping into the mainstream, and it’s only a matter of time before Girls’ Generation are playing at a venue near you (if you live in a major city with a decent Asian population that is — hello San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Los Angeles!). Just last year, the giant multi-artist SM Town World Tour played LA and New York. This is a tour that has its own Wikipedia page, with setlists, too. If they play in LA again this year, I’m totally going, and my girlfriend will make fun of me for wanting to. Six hours of dancey pop music where I can’t understand the words? Yes, please!
