New and Noteworthy: J. Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Jessica Lea Mayfield, Foo Fighters, TV On The Radio, The Dodos
J Mascis-"Not Enough"
Ever wonder how J Mascis would sound on an album of down home, light acoustic based numbers? "Several Shades Of Why" offers exactly ten in this vein and is available right now. Kurt Vile stops by to help on much of the album and the two of them are touring this spring together. So it's no "Freak Scene" or "Start Choppin'", but turning down the energy doesn't demote Mascis songwriting skills which shine through on a few of the numbers I've heard. Here's "Not Enough" which is soft, cuddly, and reminiscent of Neil Young's "Harvest" in many ways.
Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Aurebach for a second time, Mayfield's sophomore album, "Tell Me", is currently available for your listening pleasure. If you dig the Black Keys, you're probably going to enjoy this second offering from Kent, Ohio's newest sensation. And at twenty-one, Mayfield sounds like she's growing even more comfortable with her role as a candidate for alt-country queen with a lot of strong songs from what I've heard so far on "Tell Me". "Our Hearts Are Wrong" is a nice song for a serene spring drive so dive in and take a listen below.
After a four year absence, the Foo Fighters are back with a new album on April 12th called "Wasting Light". I haven't been a Foo Fighters album listener or buyer for years finding their singles were always a bit stronger than album tracks. But the when the singles by Grohl and company are on, they are usually some of my favorite hard rock songs available ("Everlong", "Next Year", "Times Like These"). And looking at the track listing...Bob Mould plays and sings on a song "Dear Rosemary" on the album. Now you've got my attention. Grohl remembers where his roots came from. "Rope" sounds like a solid single and better than any of the singles from their previous album (honestly, their weakest batch of singles) so "Wasting Light" is off to a good start.
Well, when I saw TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek was heading off to join Jane's Addiction earlier this year, the last thing I thought I would see was an announcement from the band breaking their hiatus with a new album and tour announcement. But, here it is. "Nine Types Of Light" has a release day slated for April 12th and will be the fifth from the band. So when I heard the news, I went back and listened to "Return To Cookie Mountain" and "Dear Science" and remembered how much I loved both of those albums (two of my favorites from the past decade, easily). Their second release made available for free download, "Caffeinated Consciousness", a few days ago is below. We'll see if they keep their winning streak going when the full album is released in a few weeks.
Indie folk band, The Dodos, have returned with their fourth full length "No Color" which was released last Tuesday. The duo of Meric Long and Logan Croeber is joined by Neko Case on half of these pastoral tunes. From listening to some snippets on Soundcloud, there is definitely enough of a range of craftsmanship on this album to relegate above other indie folk outings of the past few years. Perhaps my favorite is the shuffling beat of "When Will You Go" which just jovially skips along with a nice acoustic guitar and top notch atmospherics with the guitar reverb in the breaks.
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