Protomartyr - Under Cover Of Official Right. Catchy and angular guitar-based post-punk. A bit like The National, a bit like Disappears, a bit like The Walkmen, a bit like Bloc Party. I like it muchly.
Protomartyr - Come & See
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights. Part of the recent retro R&B movement. They're a bit more true to the original 60's and 70's soul sound than most of their peers. Very accessible, still. Fun and funky.
Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings "100 Days, 100 Nights"
Tommy Guerrero - Lifeboats and Follies. Instrumental, 70's inspired, funky, rock. Reminds me of the stuff the Budos Band currently does, or of some of those dank and funky instrumentals the Beastie Boys did on Ill Communication. Good stuff.
Tommy Guerrero - Cut The Reins
Opeth - Pale Communion. This was supposed to be my first peek at the current state of European metal. I'm not sure this counts as metal though. The first and last tunes on this particular album seem like a riff on late 70's prog rock (esp Red-era King Crimson), which I dig. The rest of it is also very proggy, but a bit less edge. It's all very, very, very crisp and tight and technical, very cleanly produced - nothing at all sounds out of place or accidental or spontaneous. It's good when I'm in the mood.
Opeth - Moon Above, Sun Below (Audio)
Y'all groovin on anything groovy?
I was supposed to go see Protomartyr the other night but came down with a terrible head cold and could barely move. Friends who went said they were great, but (true to form for a small punk bar on a wednesday night) went really, really late. The first band didn’t go on until 9:45 and Protomartyr didn’t finish until 1:45 AM…I’ve been trying to see them since their debut record came out, and this cold kicked my ass…I’m glad I didn’t try to be a tough guy and go, it would have been a misery, even healthy, that’s too late for my old bones.