This week in music (Week of 4/17/2012)

A combination of the end of the semester here at school and fracturing a finger a couple weeks ago (making typing somewhat annoying) have led to decreased posting lately. The new posts will likely continue to be sparse here for the next couple weeks, but I did want to try out something new, so without further ado, here is my first “This week in music” post.

New release of the week – Signs & Signifiers by JD McPherson

Technically this album is a re-release, but I usually tend to count those if they are from artists with which I was previously unfamiliar. This album has a really fun old school rock and roll sound like it was recorded 50 years ago (due in large part to the fact that it was recorded on equipment from that time). With how over produced some music can sound now days, it is refreshing hearing music in its more raw form like this. Hat tip to the blog Everybody Taste for introducing me to JD McPherson. The first song on the album can be downloaded by right-clicking the link to the song on Everybody Taste.




Other notable releases

Maps & Atlases is a Chicago based band that has been making music for several years, but I’ve never really listened to their music for whatever reason. However, my initial reaction to their new release (Beware and Be Grateful) is that I could really get into it, and I’m pretty addicted to the song “Winter,” which can be streamed below or downloaded by right-clicking the name of the song. It reminds me a bit of Ra Ra Riot and somebody else that I just can’t quite put my finger on.



I haven’t gotten quite as into the new indie folk album Cynic’s New Year by Horse Feathers, but I do really enjoy this song below:




Miscellaneous News and Notes

* How about we make a rule where if you name your band “Girls,” you aren’t allowed to get mad if other people use that name. Seems fair, right?

* On Monday, First Aid Kit, creators of my favorite album so far this year, performed “Emmy Lou” on Conan.


Let me know what you think of this type of blog post. Does it seem like something worth doing most weeks? Am I missing anything from the past week?