Jonsi’s Go, the Sigur Ros frontman’s proper solo debut, finds the singer heeding his title. It opens with the kind of frenzied but soft-edged chamber-rock that Sigur Ros began experimenting with on tracks such as “Gobbledigook” — head-butting guitar chords and rapid-fire drums fueling ADD music intent to prove the notoriously sleep-inducing band could craft songs to wake up to. Despite the initial energy, as the album advances, the Icelandic musician goes back to his sonic standbys — “Grow Till Tall” is a building ballad that ends with chops of feedback, while concluding track “Hengilas” evokes the simplicity (or monotony) of 2002′s ( ) with a repeated four-chord motif. Those aside, much of the album revels in the kind of previously unanticipated sugar high that could only get cutesier if he was still singing in a made-up language (he gives English a try this time out, to marginally more intelligible effect). Jonsi, this release seems to reveal, is Sigur Ros’ pop guy — and with Go, he takes his new sound all the way.

Jonsi – “Go Do”: mp3

(Go is out now; Jonsi also contributes to the latest Made In Iceland compilation)

More: New Music | 2010 Album Release Calendar

Division Day at Spaceland / photo by David Greenwald

Didn’t take pictures at this one, but a quick note: Division Day, 2009′s Visitation behind them, played a short set in Origami Vinyl’s loft on Friday night to shake off a few cobwebs. The synth-heavy band debuted a few new songs that evoked a lower-budget Atoms for Peace, with singer Rohner Segnitz’s capable vox filling in for Thom Yorke’s haunting croon and drummer Kevin Lenhart offering a one-man take on the Radiohead offshoot’s percussion onslaught. The new stuff sounded promising, if a bit raw coming from the loft’s PA, and the band told me there’s more in the works — fingers crossed for a Radiohead-level LP3. (And also Radiohead’s LP8.)

Baths’ Cerulean is a bit of a throwback – a nod to the mid-‘00s pre-Justice/blog house intersection of hip-hop, folk and electronica practiced by artists such as Fog and Why. (It’s no coincidence that the album’s being released by left-field hip-hop label Anticon, which has been affiliated with both those artists.) Cerulean blends Shamu-sized beats with gentler melodies and acoustic arrangements, with stuttering, strobe-light production that might earn a chillwave tag – or at least comparisons to fellow young luminary Toro Y Moi. But Baths, luxurious as the band name sounds, hits too hard for mere relaxation.

Baths – “Maximalist”: mp3

(Cerulean is out now on Anticon)

“It has got to be out this year,” Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien said on BBC 6 today, according to At Ease. News! “We’re at the finishing line… now it feels it’s in touching distance… hopefully it will be a matter of weeks,” he continued. OK, that’s news. Rawkblog reported almost as much in February, when I ran down an exhaustive chronology of the road to the band’s follow-up to In Rainbows (at the time, the latest report was that the album wasn’t finished despite apparent weeks, maybe months, of studio time).

In related news, you can buy a pristine 11×14″ print of my Thom Yorke photo at left through the end of the month at Origami Vinyl.

Previously:
Radiohead’s LP8 (And Thom Yorke’s LP2?): What We Know
All Radiohead Posts

Update, 11/18: Here’s an updated, super-official post on III/IV.

***

So, there’s a bunch of news on III/IV, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals’ forthcoming double LP. At left, side one (red vinyl!), which features these tracks:

1. Breakdown/Resolve
2. Dear Candy
3. Death and Rats
4. Get Used To It Read the rest of this entry »

Ravens & Chimes’ follow-up to 2007′s Reichenbach Falls is done recording, frontman Asher Lack just blogged. The band reunited with dream team producers Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire) and Larry Crane (Elliott Smith) to track the sophomore effort, which should be due later this year. One track that will likely make the cut is “Carousel,” a mournful ballad that almost made the Eclipse soundtrack. The band will return to the stage with a June 26 gig at Bowery Ballroom. [Photo by David Greenwald]

Here’s an oldie to tide us over:

Ravens & Chimes – “January”: mp3

Previously: New Music: Ravens & Chimes – “Hearts of Palm” | All Ravens Posts

Good stuff this weekend: tonight, Rawkblog heroes Division Day will play a free gig at Origami Vinyl, where my RAWKSHOTS photos are still on sale; Saturday, Victoria Williams, The Chapin Sisters, Leslie Stevens of Leslie and the Badgers, Whispertown (Morgan Meyn), Red Cortez, The Tyde, Big Search (Matt Popieluch from Fool’s Gold and Foreign Born), comedienne extraordinaire Charlyne Yi and more are paying tribute to the Beach Boys for When You Awake‘s Backyard Benefit at Historic Monument 157 for the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.

More shows on the LA Tour Dates calendar, which you can add to your iCal/Google Calendar/etc.

(Division Day; photo by David Greenwald)

The Clientele have just posted a cover of the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band’s 1968 psych-pop nugget “As The World Rises and Falls” to their MySpace — it’s the first track we’ve heard from the group’s upcoming mini-album, Minotaur. It sounds like the Clientele, which is to say, tremendous. Hear it on MySpace.