New Albums

There might not be concrete proof that the Internet has accelerated the speed at which we tire of things, but observation and common sense seem to support that assertion. More often than anyone admits, we get our news and opinions from students -- individuals supposedly still learning but sidled with the greater responsibility of educating. Think about how rapidly teenagers change and consider the implications of placing them in charge of cultural opinions. In that light, is the speed consumption surprising?

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It’s been long enough since U.K. electronic music pioneers Boards of Canada’s last album, 2005’s 'The Campfire Headphase,' that the duo has achieved classic status. BoC haven't been part of the cultural conversation for nearly a decade, but in a year fraught with heavyweight comebacks, theirs is one of the most graceful to touch down. The announcement of their fourth LP, 'Tomorrow’s Harvest,' was met with neither the pained relief that came with My Bloody Valentine’s 'mbv' nor the fevered, antagonistic anticipation of the Knife’s 'Shaking the Habitual' or Daft Punk’s 'Random Access Memories.' BoC has nothing left to prove, which makes it all the more surprising that the most stunning thing about 'Tomorrow’s Harvest' is how vital and progressive BoC’s sound still sounds all these years later.

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A year-and-a-half back, CSS were among the headliners of the Culture Collide Festival in Echo Park, and though word is it was a fun show, it seems as if the members of the Brazilian group had a more meaningful experience than anyone else.

Inspired by the festive atmosphere (which Los Angeles is not at all known for), the band packed up and headed for the California sprawl to make 'Planta' with producer David Sitek. (Keep in mind that another Sitek album, Beady Eye’s ‘Be,’ is also out this week, so maybe the real story on indie blogs should be whether Sitek is hurting for cash or something.)

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Washed Out, aka Ernest Greene, has shared a whole mess of details regarding his upcoming album 'Paracosm.' He's offered up the track listing, as well as an animated lyric video for the shimmery first single, 'It All Feels Right.'

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Jason Isbell was 22 when he first hooked up with the Drive-By Truckers, whose two singer-songwriters had a decade and a half in age on the newcomer. By the time Isbell exited the group a few years later, he had caught up with his bandmates, figuratively at least, with songs that were wise beyond his years. On his three previous solo albums, Isbell charted the same terrain he and the other Truckers frequently explored, one where working-class people whose options were quickly running out in life.

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Last time out, on 2010’s ‘Invented,’ the early-to-mid-30s members of Jimmy Eat World wrote and sang heartbreak songs that didn’t sound all that different than the heartbreak songs they wrote and sang a decade earlier, when they were a lot closer to their awkward teen years. It wasn’t exactly a comfortable fit. Who wants to hear guys who should be settling into fatherhood whining about lost love and pimply-kid stuff like that?

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Nine Inch Nails took to Twitter last night (June 5) to unveil their new single, 'Came Back Haunted' (listen below), and announce the Sept. 3 release of 'Hesitation Marks,' their first album since 2008. NIN mastermind Trent Reznor is no stranger to social media -- he won an Oscar for his 'Social Network' score, after all -- or savvy marketing, and already, the Internet is abuzz over the latest musical offering from the industrial legends.

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When you name your band Big Deal, it's like a social contract you sign with listeners. You should either try to live up to the moniker or be so comically not a big deal that you fulfill the still-ample cultural need for ironic entities.

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On 'The Hurry and The Harm,' Dallas Green, aka City and Colour, sounds fully aware that more people will hear this album than have heard any of his previous ones. City and Colour have spread beyond the dorms of sensitive Canadian girls, and 'The Hurry and the Harm is louder, fuller and more ambitious than the project's previous three LPs.

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Eleanor Friedberger's second solo album since the 2011 announcement of an extended hiatus for her band, the Fiery Furnaces, doesn't follow the tradition of sophomore slumps. Whereas debuts are often strong because songwriters have had their entire lifetimes to craft them, Friedberger's 2011 solo effort 'Last Summer' was made by and artist with a decade of band success in her purse. Alhough brother Matthew wrote the majority of the Furnaces' material, it's hard to believe Eleanor was hanging onto 'Last Summer' throughout the whole experience. Rather, the record felt like a contained project by a singer that has been a part of many albums going it alone -- and succeeding.

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