If you're looking for a last-minute Valentine's Day gift for a music lover, look no further than this week's new releases. Brooklyn-based Sudanese multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Sinkane (aka Ahmed Gallab, former Yeasayer/Caribou/Of Montreal sideman) releases his fourth LP. KEXP Music Director Don Yates declares it, "a sunny, rhythm-driven blend of Afro-Beat, highlife and other African styles with funk, electro-pop, reggae and more, combining bright synths, slinky guitars, soaring horns, occasional woodwinds and percolating rhythms accompanying his breezy, sweetly soulful vocals and often-hopeful lyrics." L.A. band Meatbodies (led by Fuzz bassist Chad Ubovich) bring their sophomore LP, "an impressive set ranging from Bowiesque glam-rock to psych-tinged garage-punk and heavy stoner-rock." Hand Habits (aka upper New York-bred, LA-based artist Meg Duffy, who's played guitar for both Kevin Morby and Mega Bog) presents their debut full-length under that name is "a promising set of atmospheric psych-folk combining dreamy guitars and unhurried rhythms with her serene vocals."
On their eighth album, Northern Malian band Tinariwen continue to deliver "another excellent set of Tuareg desert blues with rumbling, serpentine guitar lines, hypnotic rhythms, melancholy call-and-response vocals and often-politically charged lyrics. Special guests include Kurt Vile, Mark Lanegan, Matt Sweeney and Alan Johannes." B.C.-based artist Teen Daze (aka Jamison Isaak) was inspired by his own backyard of Fraser Valley for his latest. "It's an often-gorgeous set of tranquil, blissed-out ambient dream-pop with gently swelling synths, twinkling guitars and beatific melodies. Special guests include Dustin Wong, S Carey, Nadia Hulett, Sound Of Ceres and Jon Anderson." And, on the other side of Canada, long-running band The Sadies deliver "another well-crafted blend of psych-rock, garage, folk and roots-rock."
Highlights this week include the latest from Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls Lekman's fourth LP, "a smartly crafted set of buoyant orchestral dance-pop inflected with disco, calypso, samba and other styles, combining bouncy dance beats and a variety of ins…
January ends on a bang as many long-awaited albums hit stores this past Friday. Cleveland's Cloud Nothings return with their fourth LP, which KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls, "their most polished and measured set to date of punkish power-pop. Produced by John Goodmanson, the album combines a dy…
