LimeWire Music Blog

Here we are at the onset of the holiday record-release doldrums, when new albums start to get thin on the ground. Hey, what with the music industry collapsing around our heels and all, the folks whose careers are falling apart have got to kick back and have some fun around Thanksgiving, Christmas, et al, don’t they? You can live for a few weeks without being inundated by the usual dizzying blur of new releases, can’t you? Well, it should seem easier given the fact that you’ve got a handful of bewitching beauties like the ones below to tide you over until the cycle starts up again in 2010.

Various Artists – Daptone Gold
Don’t call it retro! Well, maybe a little bit, but the artists who keep the old-school spirit of funk and soul alive on Brooklyn-based Daptone Records aren’t on any kind of nostalgia trip. No, when the likes of Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Menahan Street Band, Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens, and the Budos Band grind out the kind of greasy grooves that have been an important part of American music for decades, what they’re doing is furthering the tradition rather than merely reviving it. And this label sampler gives you the lowdown on what that Daptone magic is all about.

Telepathic Butterflies – Wow & Flutter!
Those swirling psychedelic guitar lines, heavenly harmonies, and sparkling pop-savvy songs are flapping through the air in a way that can only mean one thing — Canada’s favorite psych-poppers are back. Telepathic Butterflies have been gliding through the air long enough to build up a cult reputation, not only amongst those who clutch their Nuggets box sets close to their hearts 24-7, but anyone who appreciates pure guitar pop the way God intended it, and here are the Butterflies once more, with a fresh crayon box of kaleidoscopic colors on Wow & Flutter!

Pixeltan – Yamarena-I
Haven’t heard from Pixeltan in a while? You’re not alone. A few years ago it seemed like these guys had the deck stacked in their favor — they’re from Brooklyn, they’re on DFA, they bang out a forward-looking but history-conscious mix of electronics, avant-garde splish-splash, and groove-minded post-punk, just the sort of thing that was still all the rage when last we heard from them. Well, the post-Animal Collective tribal-psych beardy crowd may have taken over since then, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still room for some funky, noisy weirdos with a new EP of head-turning tunes like these.

Reissue of the Week:

Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart

When Jawbox emerged back in 1994 (inexplicably landing themselves on a major label), they represented the next step forward for the D.C. punk scene. Today they may be celebrated chiefly as harbingers of post-hardcore, and emo’s darker side, but that’s selling them short. The band that rose up from the ashes of D.C. punk stalwarts Government Issue was a moody, intense art-punk outfit who built on what some of their members had helped establish and pointed a bold new way forward that still stands out as distinctive and daring all these years later. And hey, look — bonus cuts!