New Release Tuesday: Ola Podrida, Sa-Ra & Grails

Ola Podrida (Plug Research)

David Wingo splits his time between Brooklyn and Austin composing the soundtrack to the Polaroid taking, scarf wearing community of slow-moving coffee sippers and film lovers. Literally. His work with director David Gordan Green (All the Real Girls, Snow Angels) has provided him with an outlet for his soft and subtle odes, but his new project under the name Ola Podrida offers a bit of a broader spectrum, at least for the listener. That bit is pretty small, though. Wingo's songs walk a thin line between background music and mixtape bliss, offering up-to-the-minute nostalgia with shakers and piano and moments of false crescendo, and though indistinctive, the songs are pleasant and full.

Ola Podrida MySpace
Preview the album (mp3)
Ola Podrida @ Plug Research
Ola Podrida @ the Peacock, Austin (YouTube)

Grails Burning Off Impurities (Temporary Residence)

With their first proper release since 2004, Portland-based Grails have done it up right with a double LP / CD on respectable post-rock hide-out, Temporary Residence. In what seems to be a dwindling genre, Grails have attempted to push the envelope a bit past dramatic pause/loud resolution and into a more comprehensive era. Fusing ambient, experimental and noise elements into their instrumentals. Think Popol Vuh, Led Zep, Sabbath (when Sabbath rocked), and our own local post-rock pioneers, My Education, but don't let the heavy-hitting influences scare you away: this is as much a classic rock album as it is a post-rock CD dropped in the middle of a burgeoning genre: interesting, fluid and brilliant.

Grails MySpace
Grails Official
Grails "Dead Vine Blues" (mp3)

Sa-Ra Creative Partners The Hollywood Recordings (Baby Grande)

We love the dramatic empire that hip-hop has become: successors, heavy-handed nods, geographical institutions and yes, prequels. Sa-Ra Creative Partners carry the J Dilla torch with able ease, and Hollywood Recordings is a brilliant indication of the work they've been quietly doing for the hip-hop community for the last five years just under the radar. That being said, the partners have indicated that it's merely a prequel to a proper release (a major label one, in case you're wondering what makes a release "proper" or a "debut" when you've been putting music together for many years). Sa-Ra continues their trend of blending traditional hip-hop elements with funky beats and just a jazz of outer space-ish references.

Sa-Ra Official
Sa-Ra MySpace
"Big Fame" track review @ Pitchfork

Magazine Reissues & Remasters

Howard Devoto's life post-Buzzcocks began with the formation of Magazine in 1976. In 1978, their debut album, Real Life, was released by Virgin and signaled Devoto's break from the festering punk scene of the day. Although the rough edges still hung tight with singles like "Shot From Both Sides" and "Touch and Go", the arrangements became more composed, leading the charge towards what many argue was the beginning of post-punk. Alongside artists like Iggy Pop, David Bowie (think Low, not Ziggy) and other acerbic songwriters like The Psychedelic Furs and PiL, Magazine opened the floodgates between punk and new wave across five albums, four of which have been treated to the remaster and reissue double whammy this week.

The missing link is Play, a live collection. What you do get, however, is Real Life (1978), Secondhand Daylight (1979), The Correct Use of Soap (1980), and Magic, Murder and the Weather (1981). We'd recommend skipping that last one, and picking up Real Life and ...Soap.