April CD Releases

Tuesday, April 4th

The Flaming Lips' At War With The Mystics

The much-anticipated album from experimental, psychedelic rockers The Flaming Lips, which President Bush was the inspiration for this. The Flaming Lips are known for their crazy and highly entertaining live performances, which feature animal costumes.

"The W.A.N.D." was released back in January and is currently available on iTunes. "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" will be the first single and will be commercially released on March 27th in the UK. The song was actually inspired by Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", which The Flaming Lips did a cover of on a tribute album. Highlights include "The Sound Of Failure / It's Dark... Is It Always This Dark??", "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion", and "It Overtakes Me/The Stars Are So Big, I Am So Small... Do I Stand A Chance?".

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Islands' Return To The Sea

Montreal's indie music scene keeps getting better and better. Formed 2005, this band features ex-Unicorns members, Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur, but The Unicorns do have its comparisons to the new band Islands. They've toured with Beck done a remix of his song, "Que Onda Guero", and now they are releasing their debut album off of Rough Trade in the UK and Equator Records in the US. Guest appearances on the album include Arcade Fire members and Arcade Fire is always a plus for me. "Rough Gem", the first track I heard from them, is fast paced with string plucking in the chorus. Other highlights include "Humans" and "Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby".


Tuesday, April 11th

Hit The Lights' This Is a Stick Up: Don't Make It a Murder

Sounds like old Fall Out Boy, which sounds just as good as the new FOB.

Tuesday, April 18th

Exit Music: Songs for Radio Heads

Cover songs of Radiohead. One song that definitely stands out is Alex Greenwald and Mark Ronson's "Just".

Thursday, April 20th

White Rose Movement's Kick

What a stunning debut from the synth-pop five-piece from the UK that seems to draw inspiration from bands like Depeche Mode. With a name taken from a movement against Nazi Germany, you cannot resist getting out of your seat and start dancing with a John Cusack silently playing in the background. Their first single, "Girls In The Back" has 80s written all over it, well actually the entire album does. Other highlights include "Kick", "Alsatian", eerie "Deborah Carne", and "Cruella".

Don't miss their performance at this year's Coachella in Indio, CA on Saturday, April 29th.

Tuesday, April 25th

The Secret Machines' Ten Silver Drops

"Space rock". I liked their last album and was excited to hear new material, but I have to say, I expected more from them this time around. There were moments on the album like harmonies in "All At Once (It's Not Important)", but overall it didn't spark my attention possibly because I've heard it all before not just from the US' Secret Machines, but from bands like Kasabian and Athlete. Highlights include "Alone, Jealous, and Stoned".