New records 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.
The Silence Kit | Joan As Police Woman | Todd Terje | Paul St. Hilaire/Deadbeat
The Silence Kit | B+
If I thought for a second that Nick Cave listened to new music (or read newspapers), I’d tell him to check out Watershed (Azteca), the dashing new release by this moody, darkly groovy rock band. Surely he’d dig the way these Philly dudes do post-punk aggression and new wave pop drama. (Often it’s more The Cure than Bad Seeds, but Robert Smith is AWOL.) And hey Nick: You can download TSK’s entire back catalogue from Bandcamp for free and/or see them live at Bourbon and Branch on April 5.
—Patrick Rapa
Joan As Police Woman | B
The New York singer-songwriter (think a weirder, gutsier Feist) may be taking her shot at retro-style soul on her fourth album, The Classic (PIAS), but it’s hardly tradition-bound. She’s got a knack for confronting emotions from unpredictable angles; piling on the organs, wah-wahs and left-field metaphors and stripping it down, as with the title track’s carefree, a cappella doo-wop (Reggie Watts beat box!) or the lilting rock-steady closer.
—K. Ross Hoffman
Todd Terje | B+
When Norse disco god Todd Terje declares It’s Album Time (Olsen), he doesn’t just mean an extra-generous portion of his patented starry Eurodance floor-fillers. Rest assured, the party’s here — cherry-picked favorites from his beloved 12-inches alongside amenably bubbly newbies like the euphoric “Oh Joy” — but he’s gotta work his way to it, via assorted cosmic cine-schmaltz, Miami Vice funktasias, yacht-pop balladry (Bryan Ferry singing Robert Palmer, no less) and a truly inspired bit of Muppet-samba goofiness.
—K. Ross Hoffman
Paul St. Hilaire/Deadbeat | B
“What the heck dem expect from we?” mus-es semi-legendary dub techno vocalist Paul St. Hilaire (a.k.a. Tikiman) on this full-length collaboration with the equally iconic Canadian producer Deadbeat. Followers of the genre should know what to expect from this pairing: deep, smooth, richly detailed electronic dub. That’s what The Infinity Dub Sessions (BLKRTZ) delivers: a warm, roots-leaning set in contrast to the starker techno vibe of Deadbeat’s recent work, and a fully worthy successor to Tikiman’s pioneering material.
—K. Ross Hoffman
