The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?

BJM have not yet collapsed under the weight of their own strangeness. They return to semi-coherent form with their new release Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? The good news is that it’s actually got a lot going for it—driving spacey grooves (at times), more consistency as an album, a touch of Eastern instrumentation, and even a nod to Joy Division. The vocals are still a bit garbled, but overall, it’s a big step in the evolution of the “new” BJM sound.

Tempo 116.7 (Reaching for Dangerous Levels of Sobriety)

This Is the One Thing We Did Not Want to Have Happen

Super Fucked

30 Best Albums of 2009

1. The Flaming Lips

Embryonic

2. Andrew Bird

Noble Beast

3. The XX

XX

4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

5. Wilco

Wilco (The Album)

6. Jarvis Cocker

Further Complications

7. The Clean

Mister Pop

8. Bill Callahan

Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle

9. Super Furry Animals

Dark Days/Light Years

10. The Black Lips

200 Million Thousand

6.

11. Wild Beasts

Two Dancers

12. Pink Mountaintops

Outside Love

13. Real Estate

Real Estate

14. Grizzly Bear

Veckatimest

15. Beirut

March of the Zapotec / Realpeople Holland

16. God Help The Girl

God Help The Girl

17. The Black Heart Procession

Six

18. Peter Bjorn and John

Living Things

19. Papercuts

You Can Have What You Want

20. Atlas Sound

Logos

21. The Handsome Family

Honey Moon

22. Crocodiles

Summer of Hate

23. Magnolia Electric Co.

Josephine

24. Yeah Yeah Yeahs

It's Blitz!

25. Built To Spill

There Is No Enemy

26. Yo La Tengo

Popular Songs

27. Islands

Vapours

28. Girls

Album

29. Phoenix

Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix

30. Dirty Projectors

Bitte Orca

Real Estate - Real Estate

The Jersey Shore is the backdrop for the new self-titled release from Real Estate. But don’t let the song titles fool you into thinking that this is a soundtrack for the hot, sandy, folly of youth. Yes, the album does work on that level, but it’s also very considered music that will lilt effortlessly with a chilly autumn wind. Chocked full of reverb, their hazy, lo-fi sound feels off-the-cuff, but buttoned up–like a band that really understands their sound.

Black Lake

Fake Blues

Green River

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic

The Flaming Lips have ditched the affable jam band aesthetic they’ve worked so hard to create and put out a challenging listen that exhumes their weird, experimental roots. It’s worth the effort. On my first run-through, I was tempted to dismiss the over-modulated production as so-very-now gimmickry. But given a little time, the album sinks its meat hooks into you and drags you into its beguiling world.

Convinced Of The Hex

Evil

Powerless

Watching The Planets

The Black Heart Procession – Six

I admit I’m a fan. And strangely enough, I have a on a BHP tee this very moment. Of course I’ve been eager for the new release, especially given the label problems that have help things up for so long.

So any good you ask? Well the mood is still black as sackcloth, and much of the instrumentation and tempos are things we’ve heard before—but it’s good, almost great I say. As with most of their albums, there are a few throwaways, but at least half is gothic bliss, and that’s really all I need.

Wasteland

Rats

Heaven and Hell

Forget My Heart

The Clean – Mister Pop

Cheers to The Clean for a welcome return after eight years! The new album is quite good, and hangs on to the Kiwi Pop sensibilities that made the band so influential to begin with. It sounds, at once, both old and new. And when it’s The Clean, that’s kinda, exactly what you want.

Are You Really on Drugs

In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul

Asleep in the Tunnel

Factory Man

Wild Beasts – Two Dancers

Two words really sum up my thoughts about Two Dancers…strange and wonderful. On paper this album shouldn’t really work for me—what with the falsetto, the over-the-topness, and the sheer gayness of it all. But this strange brew comes together, and finds me coming back for more.

We Still Got The Taste Dancin' On Our Tongues

Two Dancers (II)

This Is Our Lot