New albums we listened to this week
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
La Sera | Sylvan Esso | Ramona Lisa | Sharon Van Etten
La Sera | B-
While the first two LPs from “Kickball” Katy Goodman’s solo(ish) guise were dreamily downcast affairs, Hour of the Dawn (Hardly Art) warrants its title: It’s easily the erstwhile Vivian Girl’s liveliest, jauntiest outing yet. There’s a gratifying newfound looseness and punky muscle; Goodman’s Zooey Deschanelish sweetness is tempered by just a hint of Corin Tucker wail.
—K. Ross Hoffman
Sylvan Esso | A-
This Durham duo — Amelia Meath of Mountain Man and Nick Sanborn of Megafaun — marries its infectious indie-pop playfulness (feistier than Feist; more toned-down than tourmates-to-be tUnE-yArDs) and crunchy synth grooves with the urbane slinkiness of ’90s girl-group R&B and some good old sing-along songs. (They manage to interpolate both “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” and Tommy James’ “Hanky Panky” without getting gimmicky.) All told, it’s a pretty lovable combination of things, and their self-titled debut (Partisan) is utterly swoon-worthy.
—K. Ross Hoffman
Ramona Lisa | A-
If Arcadia (Terrible) was made in 1987 — and it totally could’ve been, by some esoteric art-pop auteur like The Blue Nile, production by Eno, vocals by Tracey Thorn — it would’ve cost a few hundred thousand in a state-of-the-art studio. Caroline Polachek recorded it in hotel rooms using MIDI plug-ins and a built-in laptop mic. I guess that’s progress. The Chairlift singer’s woozy, carnivalesque synthetic pastorale works in the context of today’s vaporwave and experimental R&B, but it’d be enticing in any era.
—K. Ross Hoffman
Sharon Van Etten | B+
The biggest task facing SVE was not proving that she’s an agile singer who can write damning narratives, it was separating herself from producer Aaron Dessner and everybody else who helped shape 2012’s Tramp. On the largely self-produced Are We There (Jagjaguwar), she croons with lament and anxiety over lush instrumental tapestries that yield surprising elements of trip-hop (“Taking Chances”) and classic country balladry (“Tarifa”). She’s not “there,” she’s far past and on to something altogether bigger.
—Sameer Rao
