The Drop music blog
Thank you for choosing the new music express
By Nick Hrkman, Blogger
November 9, 2007 | 3 a.m.
Thank you again for joining me on this week’s tour! We’re bound for new music and all points west. Please remain seated, and remember that food and drink are prohibited.
First stop: Sigur Rós. If you’re one of the snobs who snubbed the ‘Rós boys after their breakthrough, I’m kicking you off the bus right now. The rest of you: please check out the Icelandic group’s new DVD and companion compilation, Hvarf/Heim. Some of us have been without a dose of the sprawling beauty that is a Sigur Rós album for some time. Takk was released, like, a million years ago.
Anyway, not all the new stuff is technically new. Some of it is newly recorded and hints at a somewhat different direction for the group, while other parts of the album are refurbished tracks from throughout the band’s history. There a few weak links in the chain, however, and the album is by no means an Ágætis Byrjun, but the disc is well worth your hard-earned cash. I can’t vouch for the DVD because I’ve yet to get my frostbitten mitts on it, but tracks like the previously hard-to-come-by “Hafsól” will easily win you over. Not to digress, but Sigur Rós is a must-see live act. The album recordings, as powerful as they are, pale in comparison to the might of the songs in person.
Okay, enough of Iceland. Let’s try something warmer. Say ... the beach? Because that’s where I think you’d find The Brother Kite. Sure, they hail from Rhode Island, but their Brian Wilson-tinged tunes feel most at home lounging in the sand. The band just released the very catchy Moonlit Race EP. The six tracks on the disc give a solid indication of a strong full album in the near future. If you scoff at my Beach Boys comparison, look no further than the track “Waiting For The Time To Be Right.” That little heart-warmer crawled straight out of Pet Sounds.
We’re leaving the beach, people. I swear, if you get any sand in my imaginary tour bus, I’ll smack the music straight out of you. And you smartasses in the back should stop asking how the tour bus made it from Iceland to Rhode Island. I mean it.
We’ll swing by Hello, Blue Roses next. On your right, you’ll probably recognize Daniel Bejar of Destroyer and other affiliated side-projects, and on your left you’ll see the other half of the duo, the beautiful Sydney Vermont. I have no idea when this tasty little project will be available, but, if the track “Shadow Falls” is any indication of its quality, I hope it’s very soon. Sorry I’m short on the info here – just consider this a heads-up for a promising new release.
The driver just asked me about the recently announced Radiohead box set. Someone’s been reading the blog – congratulations, sir. As painfully tempting as this box set may be, recent rumors about the nature of its conception have cast the whole deal in a very ugly light. Apparently, the box set is a revenge move from EMI, Radiohead’s former label, for not getting a slice of the very delicious In Rainbows. Which is ridiculous, because Radiohead’s been out of EMI’s contract since Hail to the Thief was finished. I digress! My recommendation: don’t buy it. Sure, the CDs are pretty, but there is no new art, liner notes, etc. Save your precious pennies for an official, Thom & Co.-approved product.
Now the bus returns home to Athens. And what better to come home to than Southeast Engine’s new album, A Wheel Within A Wheel. These local boys appear to be on the cusp of making it in the larger music world, and the new album proves that they’re more than deserving of any fame to come their way. Wheel benefits from a higher production quality than its forerunner, Coming to Terms With Gravity. Many of you have probably already heard most of the new album – A Wheel Within A Wheel has been out for a few weeks, and the band has been playing the majority of its songs at shows for nearly a year now. There’s nothing too surprising here, just a lot of great songs by a fantastic local act.
That concludes this week’s tour. I’d like to remind you to take all your possessions with you as you leave. And the lady in the back, with the screaming kid – you’re not welcome back next week. I’d like to wish the rest of you the best of luck in finding new music, and I’ll be accepting tips as you step off the bus.
/DJ Starman
---