Music comments

Chances are that if you talk to me on a regular basis I've already told you how amazing the new Mountain Goats record is. If I haven't told you yet, well, I'm telling you now. It's amazing.

All of the key ingredients are here: biblical themes, poignant lyrics, cancer, death, and that unique sense of sparseness and lyrical efficiency that John Darnielle seems to have completely mastered. It's called "The Life of the World to Come", and you should listen to it. Here's a link. [Fixed]

In other news, apparently Digital Leather is coming out with a new record. Their old one, "Sorcerer", was great. I thought it sounded like a perverse and violent Joy Division: Deep, flat, dark-sounding vocals and tinny drums were present, just like Joy Division, but also a heavy layer of fuzz and hyperactive synthesizers. The hooks were all there, too, but wrapped thickly in the meaty noise that made up the rest of record and evenly spaced between audio-violence ("Pleasurebot") and flat out trickery ("Hologram"). If this sounds interesting, it is. Here's a link.

So what about the new record? I haven't heard the whole thing yet, but found a few tracks to download on this blog. It's called Warm Brother, which according to Pitchfork is supposed to be offensive. Read into that if you want.

My first impression upon listening to these two tracks?

Frankly, I was a bit let down. The hyperactivity and tension that made "Sorcerer" stand out from all of the other Joy Division-influenced fuzz-bands seems to be largely missing. In their place are (relatively) clear vocals and a much friendlier approach. The first record was engaging, but these two new tracks seem immediately ready to fade into the background.

I haven't heard the whole record yet, though, so don't consider this a review. I'll let you know my complete opinion after I've heard the whole thing.

Also, The Antlers did a session over on Daytrotter last month. Check it out if you like The Antlers.

In the meantime, stay tuned. The podcast will update this week as usual, but it might be a day or two late. Don't panic.