Andrew Bird Fat Possum Chicago 120 http://www.andrewbird.net/ The Antlers Frenchkiss Brooklyn 818 http://myspace.com/theantlers Asobi Seksu Polyvinyl Brooklyn 217 http://myspace.com/asobiseksu Dan Deacon Carpark Baltimore 324 http://myspace.com/dandeacon Phoenix Astralwerks Versailles, France 526 http://www.myspace.com/wearephoenix Passion Pit Frenchkiss Boston 519 http://www.myspace.com/passionpit Laura Gibson Hush Portland 224 http://www.myspace.com/lauragibson Animal Collective Domino Baltimore 120 http://animalcollective.org/ White Denim Downtown Austin White Denim is one of the few bands that I've wanted to see for over a year, but have just never caught them at the right time. From videos, they seem to have an energetic and enjoyable live show though. White Denim's live show is one of the better For the music, the band catches a lot of crap about their often disjointed use of time signatures, but that just falls right in with something that I've always wanted to do myself, musically: make music that people can NOT dance to. Try bobbing your head to a White Denim song, and you'll likely get confused somewhere in the middle, because they will have shifted time signatures and/or tempos on you. It's like garage math rock, if that actually exists.\n Possibly to make up for the long wait their home country had to endure for their new album to drop, the US version of "Fits" came/comes with a bonus copy of their 2008 US "debut" (it's hard to say what their debut is) "Exposion." Although the majority of the songs from the EU debut "Workout Holidays" are on here as well, some are missing, and the track order is very different, making it, in my opinion, an inferior version of the group's initial offering. But, still, it's fun to have it. Even funnier is that the CD pressing was made in error, and the "Exposion" artwork is on top of the "Fits" CD, while the "Fits" artwork is on top of the "Exposion" CD. I can't imagine that it was deliberate.\n But what really is deliberate with this new release is the music. Recording, quite literally, in a travel trailer, the group had an unrefined sound, near the extreme of lo-fi without going into the "poor quality" realm, and that almost seemed to gain the group a fanbase, based solely on the recording quality. Though "Fits" was, again, recorded in that same trailer, it's somehow a much different album, but not in any negative way. "Fits" is, at first listen, a much more coherent and palatable album. Drawing more from psychedelia and vintage sounds, many songs sound as though they could have been on the "Dazed & Confused" soundtrack, but something still sounds very fresh and contemporary about their particular sound and, more specifically, the WAY that they draw from the obvious influences.\n\n My first listen made me literally jump up and go buy the album. I had waited until October to actually listen to it, possibly because, having such a strong initial release, I didn't have much faith that the group would be able to top it. But, oh, they have.\n The album opener is nice, and sort of what you would expect from the group if you were already acquainted with them: a sort of rambling rock song that suddenly and dramatically shifts time signatures. It's a good opener though, and it sets the stage for one of the album's highlights, "All Consolations," which brings out an overly-reverbed Petralli on vocals, along with one of the group's few guitar solos. And, just as you start bobbing your head to this one, the chorus comes in and completely shifts the rhythm, throwing you off. Oh, but it's a good thing!\n "I Start to Run" was a track released early on as a free download. Its heavy bass, introduction of sampling (somewhat awkwardly) and singing style are immediately reminiscent of, maybe, The Guess Who, or really any other powerful late 60's/early 70's rock group you can think of. It's not a bad song, but doesn't do a whole lot at showing off how good of an album this is. Then comes in "Sex Prayer," which is almost a psychedelic overload. Think "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" but shorter and all instrumental. It's jammy, yet ethereal and, I think, one of the highlights of the album. But, by far, one of my three favorites on here is "Mirrored and Reverse," which is, again very psychedelic, complete with sitar-like guitar line and minimal, repetitive vocals, but quickly winds into a much more interesting and unexpected chorus that works very, very well for it.\n White Denim were just here. You missed it, dude. ]]> 1020 http://myspace.com/whitedenimmusic Here We Go Magic Western Vinyl Boston 224 http://myspace.com/herewegomagic The Heligoats Graveface Champaign, Illinois 1110 http://myspace.com/theheligoats Bear in Heaven Hometapes Brooklyn 1013 http://myspace.com/bearinheaven Real Estate Woodsist New Brunswick, New Jersey 1117 http://myspace.com/letsrockthebeach Maps & Atlases (unsigned) Sargent House Chicago 102 http://myspace.com/mapsandatlases A Sunny Day in Glasgow Mis Ojos Discos Philadelphia 915 http://myspace.com/asunnydayinglasgow