Burial, Temple Sleeper
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2014 was an almost entirely silent year for the ever-enigmatic Burial, his only output being a contribution to the Hyperdub 10th anniversary compilation. New track Temple Sleeper sees its release on Keysound Recordings, the vinyl coming backed with a remix by label owners Dusk & Blackdown. This single doesn’t quite prove a match for any of the emotive highs reached on his last extended release, Rival Dealer, but new Burial is always a good thing. The track itself is a departure in that it’s a good deal more straightforward a piece of music than previous releases have been. Burial has often been described as producing dance music that you can’t dance to, so it’s refreshing to listen to this new 2-step shuffler that seems so squarely designed to be played in a club environment. Despite only being released last Thursday, one entrepreneurial character is already trying to hawk off a copy of the 12” for £1000 over at Discogs, but the record and the MP3 can be bought at much more reasonable price here. – FT
Toro y Moi, Empty Nesters
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After releasing Michael last year under his Les Sins moniker, Chaz Bundick returns to his Toro y Moi alias for a new LP, What For?, set to hit shelves April 7. Michael saw the artist exploring his more dance-orientated sensibilities last year, and this new album looks set to see him embrace his inner indie rockstar: a press release cites Weezer, Big Star and Talking Heads as influences. Empty Nesters is an interminably groovy tune, featuring jangly guitars, funky breakdowns, and the same wonderfully endearing sense of playfulness that characterises all of Bundick’s work. The single comes as a free download when the album is preordered, courtesy of Carpark Records. – FT
Modest Mouse, Coyote
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Coyote is the second single to be released from Strangers to Ourselves (out March 3), Modest Mouse’s first studio album in eight years. Where the first single Lampshades on fire showed the emphatic, exuberant side of their style, Coyote explores the more intimate and sentimental aspect to their music. The highlights of the song are the poetic lyrics and the instantly recognisable vocals of their frontman Isaac Brock. It is reassuring to hear that Brock, the band’s creative driving force, has lost none of his lustre since the last album in 2007. Eight years is a very long time to go without releasing an album, but Brock and Co. have retained their distinctive and entertaining sound well. – JK
St. Vincent, Bad Believer
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Picking up where she left off in 2014, Annie Clark, or St. Vincent, has released Bad Believer, a previously unheard track that will be released in a deluxe version of her self-titled 2014 album. This charged glamrock performance is packed with jagged guitar riffs accompanied by St. Vincent’s ever-powerful voice. Her tutelage under David Byrne, of Talking Heads, continues to pay dividends in terms of mainstream success, but it may be possibly at the expense of the emotional vulnerability and sincerity which marked her third album, Strange Mercy. This is a good song, but St. Vincent is undeniably treading water. While she can’t be blamed for going back to the same well, it would have been nice to see some new work to enlighten us to her plans for the future. – JK
Video of the Week
Flying Lotus, Coronus, The Terminator
Steven Ellison (Flying Lotus) appears to us a chalky inhuman apparition in his new video for Coronus, The Terminator, the first single from his 2014 album You’re Dead!. In this wonderfully dense five minute long video, we are presented with a surrealist slant on the whole album’s preoccupation: death. The video is meticulously shot in a spectral world matching this mournful song perfectly. – JK
