Wardicus Wednesdays #9 - #9, #9, #9, #9, #9

I've been terrible keeping up with music recently as a result of my thesis and multiple finals starting to pile up on the to do list. The most recent album I've snagged was the incredible Ian Durkin-recommended Cymbals Eat Guitars. However, over the past month or so there have been a few releases that warrant listens. Here they are:

The Dirty Projector's new album, Bitte Orca, isn't actually due for release until June, but it's already being hailed as one of the finest albums of 2009 by various elements of the hype machine and blogosphere. It's definitely the band's most accessible album to date, but nevertheless showcases their bizarre avant-garde aesthetics. Just listen to the vocalization on this track, Stillness is the Move. (And this coming from someone who dislikes lyrics in songs.)


Last time, I showcased Tobacco as a result of his stupendous set put on at Sepomana. Well, Black Moth Super Rainbow, the band of which Tobacco is a part, just put out a new album called Eating Us. If you've past me recently and I've been whistling, it was this track, Born on a Day the Sun Didn't Rise. It's been stuck in my head for about two weeks now because it's the first song off the album.


As someone who likes my music as loud and distorted as possible, I've loved The pAper chAse for a while now. The group's new album, Some Day This Could All be Yours Vol. 1, is centered around various natural disasters (Floods, Tornados, Epidemics, Mass Hysteria, &c.). It also features something foreign to most pAper chAse releases: silence. Instead of an all-out sonic assault on the listener, SDTCABY leaves space for the songs to build to splendid climaxes such as the ending of the track, The Small of You Back the Nape of Your Neck (The Blizzard), where John Congleton belts the lyrics of "He's Got the Whole World in his Hands" over discordant squeals and a heavy piano track. Look for Vol 2 toward the end of the year.


This next one comes courtesy of Manager of Vinyl, Cam Kowall. The El Michaels Affair is a collection of artists from various New York funk revival bands Dap Kings, Budos Band, and Antibalas. The group's new album, Enter the 37 Chambers, consists entirely (and obviously) of covers of beats from Wu-Tang and its individual members.


I don't know how I missed this album, This is It and I Am It and You Are It and So Is That and He Is It and She Is It and It Is It and That Is That, back in October when it was released, but goddamned. Seriously goddamned. Marnie Stern can shred. Sounding like Deerhoof fighting with Lightning Bolt, the songs are fast (the sheer multitude of notes is unbelievable), high energy (often schizophrenically so), and raucous (dance a little closer so we can start a mosh pit).