Digging: Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues, i've played sun city creeps an unhealthy amount of times, despite not totally loving their last album. Dug the review and I could see this becoming my favorite Woods album, Album Rating: 4.0pretty excited for this. I can't stop listening to this because it's just so smooth and easy-going. Maybe that's why their last album, 2017's Love Is Love, was such a disappointment. Underneath it all, there's the persistent recognition of his own mortality -- that dreams, like life, slip by without warning. Strange to Explain is like stumbling into a neon-lit, magical forest. Can Queer Studies Rescue American Universities? Americana musician Elliott Park's second family-friendly collection brings his daughters along for the ride. Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z. Storyline Fever basically sounds like a Woods song but with Berman's vocals/lyrics, love it. It's there that he's able to visit departed friends ("Where Do You Go When You Dream?") Totally captures that warm, breezy summer aura with a touch of mystique. Christopher Anthony | July 6, 2020May 22, 2020 | Reviews. Album Rating: 4.0I can relate; I took the family out for a hike on memorial day and I listened to this in the car on the way to/from. Growth is good for all bands and perspective can also alter direction as Strange To Explain is Woods’ first album since singer Jeremy Earl became a father and longtime member Jarvis Taveniere relocated from Brooklyn to LA. Album Rating: 4.0Track isn't the one I truly wanted to embed, but had to work within the limitations. Woods released their first album in 2007, and over a dozen years later unveil their most mature work thus far, Strange to Explain, displaying the growth and work they have perfected over their 15-year period. The Purple Mountains release was one of my favorites from last year (I only recently found out that they did the instrumentals on that record for David Berman). Album Rating: 4.0Great to see such a warm reception to this. Review Summary: Smooth psych-folk with artful ambition and no tangible bounds. PopMatters recently dialed in with synthpop maestro Vince Clarke to discuss the 35-year history of Erasure and their most recent album, The Neon. Digging: Bendrix Littleton - Deep Dark South, Album Rating: 3.5sweet, last one was a bit disappointing for me but with light and with love is one of my faves of the past decade. Where Love Is Love was filled with mantras and positive affirmations, Earl is now quick to admit that wishing away darkness doesn't guarantee its departure. Album Rating: 4.0Awesome, didn't know these guys had a new one out. definitely has those laid back summery vibes. It's such an easy album to put on and just get lost in. We are the Sal Mineos and Natalie Woods in his orbit. But not all dreams end the way we'd like. "Into night, you look so far," he sings, "you might find just what you need." Strange to Explain is full of these moments, which makes for an enjoyable listen, if a predictable one. Heavenly sonic colors flow freely in RUI HO's artistic sanctuary, and the view from the audience is one of sheer euphoria. The partnership began when Berman, a legendary recluse who had infamously ended his band Silver Jews in 2009, reached out to Earl in a 3:00 am email, asking if Woods would work with him on a comeback album. Earl's lyrics explore the subconscious in search of answers to life's unsettling realities. "And you might fall apart any minute now," Earl sings, as Taveniere's guitar follows his melody. Los Angeles' Swerve share their new single "Escape", which marries 1970s-inspired aesthetics with contemporary sensibilities. It presents an extended moment of sweet reflection for the 15-year-old band, bouncing back to earth as something hopeful and weird and resolute. PopMatters have been informed by our current technology and hosting provider that we have less than a month, until November 6, to move PopMatters off their service or we will be shut down. Adam Weiner is the James Dean of our time. All rights reserved.PopMatters is wholly independent, women-owned and operated. They'd go together perfectly with camping. Unfortunately, like a lot of art made about the rise of Trump, Love Is Love was rushed and obvious. Purple Mountains would be Berman's final work before taking his own life a month after the album's release. 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