Since last week’s Rooster Roundabout, we lost one of rock ‘n’ roll’s truest gods … Mr. Lou Reed. I can’t speak for others, but he had a profound effect on how I listen to music, and he showed the immense beauty that exists when poetry and rock meld together seamlessly. It’s a practice few can master. And no one did it like Reed. You can read the obituary his wife, Laurie Anderson, wrote here. This one’s for you, Lou.According to the folks over at Pitchfork, Beck has signed with Capitol Records and will be releasing a new album (Morning Phase) in February 2014. This has been sort of a long time coming, as his last full-length release was back in 2008, and it wasn’t one of his best. They also stated that a good amount of personnel on this new record worked with Beck on 2002’s Sea Change, so this should be interesting. Okay, I’m obviously playing favorites at this point, but I can’t help it. Savages is still very much on my radar with their stellar release Silence Yourself. And now they’ve come out with a new video for album closer “Marshal Dear,” one of the best tracks on the album. Then again, all of the tracks on the album are fantastic. Okay, okay … I’ll stop gushing. Just watch the animated, conceptually war-torn video.Oh those relentless psych-garage rockers! First Ty Segall and now Thee Oh Sees. The latter band is coming out with a third Singles Collection that’s scheduled to drop on Nov. 26. They’ve also made the track “What You Need” available, so get those boomboxes (assuming you still got one) prepared for this probably-pretty-good compilation. James Blake has one of those magnetic voices that just needs to be heard. It operates on a wavelength that mixes beautiful tones with a soulful prowess rarely seen in male vocalists. Maybe that’s why Blake won the 2013 Barclaycard Mercury Prize for his album Overgrown. For those who don’t know, the Mercury Prize is given once a year for the best British or Irish album. Past winners include Primal Scream, PJ Harvey and Antony & The Johnsons. Dancing at numerous parties in Austin, Texas, it was natural to stumble upon Calle 13, a Puerto Rican outfit who’ve been steadily releasing albums for years to much acclaim. They’ve also garnered 19 Latin Grammies. Not bad, eh. Now the group has announced a new single that’ll hit the streets on Nov. 13, and a new album that will come out in March, though they’ve stated that they plan on releasing it independently. So we’ll see how that goes. You can hear their awesome track “Atrevete te te” below.Lady Gaga has unleashed another derivative disco pop-infused club track, titled “Venus,” to the masses. Can we not have a little time to digest the last one, Gaga? Sheesh. Either way … the track is now available for listening via the world wide web. Gaga’s ARTPOP is slated for a Nov. 11 release, so keep that pocket change jingling. Devendra Banhart came out with a substantial release this past year (Mala). It was a release that showed him recycling his worldly sentiments and regurgitating them in a sonically forward-moving motion. Now Banhart has released a music video for the track “Für Hildegard Von Bingen.” You can view that below.A week ahead of the release of The Marshall Mathers LP2, Eminem has shared his collaborative track with Rihanna, titled “The Monster.” If the song isn’t a groundbreaking attempt to boast marketable partnerships, it’s at least an okay iteration of Eminem’s prowess as a rapper. And at this point, can we hope for anything more? [Editors Note: By the time this was scheduled to go up, Eminem also made his collaboration with Kendrick Lamar available, so you can hear that as well.]
Rooster Roundabout: This Week’s Music Highlights
4 min read
