Women

Women
Women
JagJaguwar

From Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart’s hometown Calgary, Canada comes this frequently intriguing slice of obscurant pop-noise. Women co-opt freak folk rhythms, but their lo-fi style of presentation keeps everything distinctly claustrophobic. Given that the record was recorded in the “basement, outdoor culvert and crawl space” of fellow Calgarian Chad VanGaalen, it’s not surprising that the overriding mood is close and pressured.

It’s an oeuvre that is never adopted for its own sake, however, and the ominous closeness serves the set of songs exceedingly well. The guitar motif in Lawncare is hypnotic and almost reassuring against the harsh, unfamiliar, reverb-soaked background of insistent drums and hidden vocals that spans the whole album. Black Rice, conversely, lands somewhere between Liars and Jefferson Airplane, and the echoes that obscure its melodies simply add to their mysterious charm.

It’s not a stretch to say that Women synthesise the wildly differing elements of the contemporary sphere of indie-and-beyond. There are elements of things in play here that couldn’t but be the result of a vast record collection taking in everything from 1950s melodrama to the latest Deerhoof record. The breadth of styles that appear under the common theme of the claustrophobic make this an album that diffuses its charms slowly but surely over multiple spins.

The Analogue Album Almanac 2009

Here’s abit of a run down of some brilliant albums you can expect to hear in 2009. I don’t know how far I’ll get with this as I can’t really see into the future… I haven’t included absolutely everything as I don’t really have time right now. Feel free to suggest ones I’ve left out in the comments below.

(Also bear in mind, that these dates are not set in stone and may vary)

January

Animal Collective
Merriweather Post Pavilion
Domino
Release date: 12th Jan

Antony & The Johnsons
The Crying Light
Rough Trade
Release date: 19th Jan

Tracklist:
1. Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground
2.Epilepsy is Dancing
3. One Dove
4. Kiss My Name
5. The Crying Light
6. Another World
7.,Daylight and the Sun
8. Aeon
9. Dust and Water
10. Everglade

Women
Women
Jagjaguwar
Release date: 23rd Jan

Black Rice Mp3
Group Transport Hall Mp3

Telepathe
Dance Mother
V2
Release date: 26th Jan

Tracklist:
1. So Fine
2. Chrome’s On It
3. Devil’s Trident
4. In Your Line
5. Lights Go Down
6. Can’t Stand It
7. Michael
8. Trilogy: Breath Of Life, Crimes And Killings, Threads And Knives
9. Drugged

February

Built to Spill
Untitled?
Warner
Release date: ?

I know that this is definitely happening some time in early 2009 because Doug Martsch told Darragh after their Whelans gig.

Andrew Bird
Noble Beast
Bella Union
Release date: 2nd Feb

Tracklist:
Oh No
Masterswarm
Fitz and the Dizzy Spells
Effigy
Tenuousness
Nomenclature
Ouo
Not A Robot, But a Ghost
Unfolding Fans
Anonanimal
Natural Disaster
The Privateers
Souverian
On Ho!

Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele
Paw Tracks
Release date: 3rd Feb

Fol Chen
Part 1: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made
Asthmatic Kitty
Release date: 3rd Feb

Tracklist:
1. The Believers
2. No Wedding Cake
3. You and Your Sister in Jericho
4. The Idiot
5. Red Skies Over Garden City (The Ballad of Donna Donna)
6. Winter, That’s All
7. Cable TV
8. Please, John, You’re Killing Me
9. The Longer U Wait (Version)
10. If Tuesday Comes

Cable Tv Mp3
The Believers Mp3

Here We Go Magic
Here We Go Magic
Western Vinyl
Release date: ?

Tracklist:
1. Only Pieces MP3
2. Fangela MP3
3. Ahab
4. Tunnelvision
5. Ghost List
6. I Just Want to See You Underwater
7. Babyohbabyijustcantstanditanymore
8. Nat’s Alien
9. Everything’s Big

Asobi Seksu
Hush
Poly Vinyl
Release date: 17th Feb

Tracklist:
01 Layers
02 Familiar Light
03 Sing Tomorrow’s Praise
04 Gliss
05 Transparence
06 Risky and Pretty
07 In The Sky
08 Meh No Mae
09 Glacially
10 I Can’t See
11 Me & Mary
12 Blind Little Rain

Sholi
Sholi
Quarterstick / Touch and Go
Release date: 20th Feb

First Aid Kit
Drunken Trees Ep
Wichita
Release date: 23rd Feb

March

Anni Rossi
Rockwell
4AD
Release date: 13th March

Bonnie Prince Billy
Beware
Domino
Release date: 13th March

Tracklist:
1. Beware Your Only Friend
2. You Can’t Hurt Me Now
3. My Life’s Work
4. Death Final
5. Heart’s Arms
6. You Don’t Love Me
7. You Are Lost
8. I Won’t Ask Again
9. I Don’t Belong to Anyone
10. There Is Something I Have To Say
11. I Am Goodbye
12. Without Work, You Have Nothing
13. Afraid Ain’t Me

There are lots more great albums coming out in 2009. I might update this when I remember/learn of more…