New Music – Allbrook/Avery

Allbrook/Avery is a Perth based musical project consisting of Nick Allbrook from Tame Impala and Cam Avery from the Growl. ‘Empty’ is the first single from their upcoming debut album Big ‘Art, a synthy sort of lo-fi offering that practically begs for hand claps. It’s daggy as fuck and sounds a lot like MGMT. It’s pretty hard not to end up liking it.

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Albums to get Excited About

Oh my god – there are so many albums set to come out this year, especially in the next six months!

Matthew Cooper, aka ambient recording artist Eluvium has a new album coming out at the end of February called Similes. It’s been three years since Cooper released anything under this alias, so this is definitely one to look forward to.

English singer-songwriter Laura Marling is supposed to release two albums this year apparently, with this first entitled I Speak Because I Can coming out late February/early March. After that she’ll be heading straight back into the studio for another album to be ready by September.

Sigur Ros frontman Jonsi is releasing his first solo album, entitled Go on March 23. It’s supposedly going to be a bit of a step away from Sigur Ros’ post rock style, being largely acoustic and featuring string arrangements.

Music act Evelyn Evelyn consisting of Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley will release their first full length studio album on March 30, following the success of their Elephant Elephant EP in 2007.

MGMT will release their second album Congratulations on April 12 and is rumoured to have quite a few guest appearances.

Just recently, The National announced that they would be releasing a new album this year, a follow up to their extremely successful 2007 release The Boxer. Details of the new album are yet to be confirmed, but we know that it’s set for release in May.

Canadians Broken Social Scene, The New Pornographers and Arcade Fire are all set to release albums in May. The new Arcade Fire release is easily one of the most anticipated albums of the year, due to the phenomenal success of their previous two albums.

But possibly the biggest surprise will be the resurrection of Conor Oberst’s alter ego Bright Eyes. He’s supposedly releasing one more album as the ‘band’ before he officially retires the project to focus on his solo work and his latest band Monsters of Folk. The album is set for a fall release in the States.

Other rumoured releases include Nick Cave’s other project, Grinderman, as well as of Montreal, and Fleet Foxes. Lots to look forward this year…and it’s barely even begun!

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CD Review – Triple J’s Like A Version Volume 5

Triple J Like A Version Volume 5

8/10

It’s always hard to put together a compilation album, especially one that consists entirely of covers, but Triple J’s Like a Version series always does well. The fifth volume of the series features 20 tracks of both Australian and international artists playing covers of some of their favourite songs live on the radio station’s breakfast show. It also comes with a 14 track DVD of these live performances. While the DVD is certainly interesting, it’s not really necessary – you’ll probably find yourself listening to the CD more.

The albums starts off strongly with The Kooks covering MGMT’s ‘Kids’, an already brilliant song that they’ve managed to turn into an amazing cover. Most of the better tracks are the unexpected ones, where artists are covering a different style or genre. Urthboy’s ‘London Calling’ is extremely enjoyable, emphasizing the underlying reggae influences of the recording. Sparkadia turns The Presets’ ‘This Boys in Love’ from an atmospheric electronic track to a poignant acoustic indie song.  Philadephia Grand Jury’s cover of Jay-Z’s ’99 Problems’ is okay. It’s fun to listen to, but probably a track you’ll skip over after a few listens. Other covers highlight the musicians’ already proven talents. Liam Finn’s cover of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ is stunning, and probably the best track of the album and Little Birdy’s ‘Do Right Woman’ showcases Katy Steele’s amazing voice. The whole album isn’t fantastic, with a few of the tracks coming across as plain or just sounding awkward (for example, Whitley’s ‘Dancing Queen’), but if you’re a regular morning show listener, it’s a nice trip down memory lane.

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