It's harvest time, dear Cream readers! Among the slew of new tracks coming in are three records — two LPs and an EP, if ya wanna get technical — that'll get you primed and ready for the Halloween weekend that's just over the horizon.
First up, Aaron Lee Tasjan's new album Silver Tears comes out on Friday, and he'll celebrate with a release gig at 3rd & Lindsley (Brian Wright opens). "Since I’m a pop fan, I like the way ambitious musicians with a flair for form can seem to make pronouncements on reality while gracefully avoiding it," says contributor Edd Hurt, "and I think Nashville singer-songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan does that perfectly." Stream the whole thing below (via NPR's First Listen, available until Friday) and hear how Tasjan continues what Hurt calls "his quest to become an East Nashville Traveling Wilbury."
But what if you crave something a little grittier? Clear Plastic Masks' new LP Nazi Hologram, the debut release from local indie Soft Junk Records, might be just what the doctor ordered. "It’s a dynamic record, rocketing through jittering, up-tempo barnburner 'Hour of the Wolf' and slinky gambler’s tune 'Red 18' before easing into headier psych-folk songs like 'My Friend Liar,'" writes managing editor D. Patrick Rodgers in his Critic's Pick on their release show, which goes down Friday night at Soft Junk's headquarters on Gallatin Avenue. "All over Nazi Hologram are nods to Chuck Berry, Revolver-era Beatles and garage-rock legends Reigning Sound. These are comparisons that, I can assure you, I do not make lightly." The record premiered this week via Stereogum — give it a spin below.
When that witching hour approaches, all kinds of demons and hobgoblins are bound to come creeping out of the woodwork. And we all know dancing is the most foolproof way to scare them back where they came from, right? Well, it couldn't hurt, anyway, especially if you've got ace beatcrafter KDSML's tracks in your arsenal. He's got your back with a fresh EP, a seven-track collection called Lunchy. The cover art, in which Slimer makes s'mores out of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, is truly horrifying, but the jams more than make up for it. Stream below, or cop it on iTunes.
