RIYL: the nightlife, unapolgetic pop, and british accents

Jack Penate - Tonight's Today

making volume knobs turn clockwise on XL recordings (2009)

No time to waste today. Check out this British soul-crooner's recently released second album. Slip on some knee-high socks and glide down your nearest hardwood floors to "Tonight's Today."

RIYL: bucolics, experimental Americana, and Akron/Family's positivity

Megafaun - Gather, Form, and Fly

taking off on hometapes (2009)

The second album from this Durham, NC posse that used to play with Justin Vernon (a.k.a Bon Iver). Lots of prog-rockish country and noisy folk tunes. A big, bold record that I'm still digesting, but clearly deserves attention.

I once saw Megafaun as the backing band for Akron/Family at a show they opened with the Top Gun theme song. Unbeatable.

RIYL: Non-Linearity and warm, organic folk

Le Loup - Family

steeling worried minds via Hardly Art records (2009)

I've been all over the place--literally--driving across this spacious country of ours and trying to establish a life for myself over here in D.C. Such an undertaking has kept me insanely busy, and the blog has fallen to the wayside. I'll do my best to keep posting with some regularity, but the number of words per day is not promised.

Today's record is from a former DC band, Le Loup, who've up and left to find new inspiration (kinda like yours truly), settling in the basement of a small Maryland cabin to record this inspired album, their second. I wasn't a huge fan of Le Loup's first album, but this latest effort is blowing my mind. There's not a single song on hear that doesn't completely envelope you in its rounds of swirling harmonies, acoustic guitar and banjo, sonic experimentalism, and drum-circle percussion.

RIYL: globalism and gettin' down

Fool's Gold - (s/t)

on IAmSound records (2009)

Much-hyped L.A. collective embraces all kinds of world music influences—including afro-pop, Hebrew lyrics, and Latin percussion—fusing them together in a resulting sound that's beautiful, gloriously post-racial, and impossible not to move your ass to.

I can't get past "Surprise Hotel" and "Nadine" before wanting to play them over again.

RIYL: haunting reverb and George Harrison

Yim Yames - Tribute To

respecting elders on ATO records (2009)

My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James pays homage to George Harrison here by covering a handful of the Beatles axeman's tunes. All six songs on the EP are sparse, acoustic affairs that feature little more than James' desert-highway croon slowly working through Harrison's familiar melodies. The austere cover art says it all.

"My Sweet Lord" and "All Things Must Pass" are especially beautiful interpretations. Check 'em out.

RIYL: troubadours, banjos, and Napoleonic talents

The Tallest Man On Earth - Shallow Grave

out now on gravitation records (2008)

A lot of attention has been focused on Swedish singer/songwriter Kristian Mattsson's less-than-average height, but perhaps only because it's all the more noticeable given his enormous talent. Performing as The Tallest Man On Earth, Mattsson's gravelly ballads are hard to deny, as are his uncommon banjo chops and knotty, usually heavy-hearted lyrics. Give a listen to "The Gardener" or the title track and you'll hear what I mean.

No LaLa support on this one, unfortunately.

RIYL: Neil Young, lo-fi folk, and more Neil Young

Woods - Songs of Shame

rockin' in the free world via Shrimper records (2009)

Funny how an outside nudge is all it takes to give a once dismissed record a second, more receptive look. In this case that nudge came from a friend, and man was he right; this record rules. True to the grower credo, Songs of Shame takes some breaking in over a few listens. Volume helps.

Check out the fragile fuzz-rock of "To Clean," "Echo Lake," "Rain On," and "Gypsy Hand"

RIYL: your funk on ice, shoegaze guitars, and breakbeats

Yppah - They Know What Ghost Know

playing it cool on Ninja Tune records (2009)

Yppah is the solo project of Lone Star state native Joe Corrales. I wasn't at all familiar with his first album, but the kaleidoscoping psychedelic-rock/funk/hip hop workouts on this one, his latest record, have got me hungry for more. Granted, I've been on a bit of an electronic-flavored kick recently.

Check out the secret-agent smooth vibes of "Gumball Machine Weekend," and head onto "Shutter Speed" or "The Tingling" from there.

RIYL: murky experimental-pop, childhood, and Animal Collective

Blind Man's Colour - Season's Dreaming

blowing minds on Kanine records (2009)

Blind Man's Colour are Kyle Orhan and Ben Ashton, two best-friends from St. Petersburg, Florida who've been making music together since they can remember. The duo wears their obvious Animal Collective worship on their sleeves, and they even covered some AC songs and posted them for free download on their blog. But if Animal Collective embodies what lies ahead for music, the lo-fi murkiness of Season's Dreaming feels more like some long-lost field recording from the past. The album's nostalgic songs are awash in a dreamy haze of found-sound samples, reverbed melodies, and enveloping electronic noise. It works.

Try album opener "Warm Currents Pull," the trippy "Jimmy Dove," or the unfolding horizon of "Shells"

RIYL: the 1950's, effortless pop, and the perfect wave

The Drums - Summertime EP

yours to own on TwentySeven records (2009)

Upstart Florida duo makes yearny pop songs after moving to Brooklyn. This debut EP is not the most consistent record ever made, and it sometimes gets obnoxiously too-cool-for-school. Lead-single "Let's Go Surfing" is more than worth the price of admission, however, with its breezy hook and beckoning optimism. The music video's pretty great, too.

RIYL: country miles and Music From Big Pink

The Moondoggies - Don't Be A Stranger

out now on Hardly Art (2008)

More favorite records from 2008, this time from Seattle's own downhome-rockers The Moondoggies.

RIYL: itinerancy, psychedelic pop, and Kiwi's

The Ruby Suns - Sea Lion

around the world in 80 days via Sub Pop records (2008), and just recently pressed on vinyl for the first time.

It's awfully distracting traveling the world, and I'm admittedly slouching on the blog love front this week—which is why I'm digging deep in the personal favorites bag and posting about one of mine from last year: Sea Lion, by fellow globetrotters The Ruby Suns. Here's something I wrote about the record in another piece:

"There's something universally appealing about Sea Lion: its incredibly fun. So long as the Ruby Suns keep that spirit as their amorphous music's common denominator, I've no doubt we can expect more great things to come from these New Zealanders"

Start with the carnival-inspired Latin vibes of "Tane Mahuta," or "Kenya Dig It?" and its cinematic 80's score. You might recognize the chorus of "Oh Mojave" from that one Microsoft commercial.

RIYL: Pete Rock, instrumental boom-bap, and diggin' in the crates

Visioneers - Dirty Old Hip Hop

on BBE records (2006)

RIYL: nu-folk, coffeehouses, and the slower pace of an era gone-by

Bowerbirds - Upper Air

out now on Dead Oceans records (2009)

This now one-guy-and-one-girl duo make rustic folk music that's anchored in acoustic guitar, accordion, and the pre-amplifier traditions of an older time. Both "Northern Lights" and "Beneath Your Tree" are available for free download courtesy of Dead Oceans.

RIYL: synchronized swim-pop, lethal charm, and paisleys

St. Vincent - Actor

winning-over audiences everywhere on 4AD records (2009)

Tomorrow I take off for a family vacation and will probably have little internet access, so this week's posts might be relatively scrawny. That's still a few hours away, however, and for the present time I want to quickly wax enthusiastic about some great records. I'll schedule them to post one at a time per day.

Today's is the engrossing second album of multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark and her ziplock-tight backing band, who together perform as St. Vincent. Give it a listen. Clark's inventive, meticulously-arranged, and enchanting songs are as innocuously sweet as they are slightly menacing. I'd reccomend "Laughing With A Mouth Full Of Blood," "The Strangers," or "The Party" to start.