“Sufjan, follow the path – it leads to an article of eminent death.”

“Sufjan, follow your heart – follow the flame or fall on the floor.”

“Sufjan, the panic inside – the murdering ghosts that you cannot ignore.”

 

So goes “Vesuvius” and the mantra on The Age of Adz, Stevens most primal, explosive, and all-encompassing record to date. From the opening song, “Futile Devices,” Sufjan’s vulnerable voice both echoes from the record’s production and the themes he’s dealing with: apologies, finding true love, concerns of future failure, distractions, overcoming demands, aging, death and the divine. It’s dangerous, sexy and provocative. The bombastic synthesizers rarely let up, pushing beats, dissonance and shrills without ever abandoning Stevens’ trademark melody, fluttering keys and orchestral punches.

Blonde Redhead

Penny Sparkle

4ad Records

It’s hard to be critical of Blonde Redhead. The longtime New York trio always has gorgeous vocals, unique instrumentation and an otherworldly sound. Even at their weakest, this is a band that never lacks taste.

That’s my long disclaimer for this: I am disappointed by Penny Sparkle. I’m not mad at it. It doesn’t make me want to puke. It’s just that it seems to lack the depth and range of emotion of 23 and Misery is a Butterfly — and I think Blonde Redhead fans need that diversity. Because when Kazu Makino, the band’s singer, is sad, she’s suicidal. And when the band picks her up off the ground and speeds things up, she’s still no cheerleader.

The thing that gets me every time — be it on a Bad Seeds’ album, in his fiction or with Grinderman — is how human Nick Cave is. He is a flawed, soft-fleshed mortal creature, just like the rest of us. His humanity comes out in the way he sings like he’s speaking in tongues, repeating a word or a phrase over and over again until he’s wrung all the blood and fluids from it. The way he growls and hums lyrics. And the way he talks of the nightmares in his head: of eating inchworms, of swearing off God, of black unicorns, slave dwarves and Steve McQueen.

Deb Yager didn’t start playing guitar until she was in her mid 30s, but you wouldn’t know that by listening to the smartly crafted folk numbers on the six-song EP that she recorded in her former hometown of Austin, Texas. Yager has been in Bend for the past five years, playing music with her band Little Fish, which includes her husband, Bo Reynolds, while creating songs of her own on the side.

It’s a soundtrack for a movie about being a teenager. In love. And beating the shit out of the world and shoving it in his pocket. At least, that’s what I gleaned from the trailer — and even more so, the soundtrack. The Twilight franchise

shocked everyone with its (admittedly) amazing soundtracks, and Scott Pilgrim’s tunes follow suit here. Beck happily throws himself back to his bizarre Midnite Vultures phase as the fictional band Sex Bob-omb for four super-fuzzed, video-blippy garage rock tracks.