New Release Tuesday: January 30

Please excuse the abbreviated NRT this week: we'll see you next week with a biggie size.

Naturally, the indie world is buzzing with talk about Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!'s latest, Some Loud Thunder, and all we can think of is how those poor kids have a lose-lose situation on their hands. They enjoyed a couple years worth of undeniable popularity and interest surrounding an album that, as it was sold by the thousands from a bedroom, truly did function as a little indie miracle. Now that it's 2007, and fans have been waiting over a year for anything new (well, aside from some live Alec Ounsworth songs), they've got the sophomore slump to contest with as well as expectations that the new songs will be very produced. Well they are, and though Ounsworth refuses to nurture his vocal style into submission by turning down the wail a tad, that last hint of rawness doesn't always function well with the rest of the production. We'll leave it to you to decide, however.

Also this week brings us a really impressive EP offering from Beirut entitled Lon Gisland. Zach Condon's gypsy troupe plays well for those of us who want to say we like world music without actually listening to world music. Jokes aside, the EP is a tight, pretty collection of songs that we're not afraid to be drawn to--songs that sort of make us want to go back and listen to Gulag again.

For those of you interested in the sort of crackling hip-hop that Anticon enjoys so much, or if you're a fan of Hood, you probably want to check out Bracken's We Know About the Need. Chris Adams is stepping out of the Hood to work on his own stuff, and his Leeds-based quartet gathers to form a pretty interesting version of this growing genre. One part lo-fi Tortoise, one part dub and one part drone make the album an interesting listen ... at least for four or five songs.

Oh, and Lily Allen. Let the media blitz do its thing for an album that's already been listened to by anyone who gives a shit: we're taking a nap. "Zzzzz."

CYHSY MySpace
Beirut MySpace
Bracken MySpace
Lily Allen MySpace