Friday Playlist: New Music Roundup

This week's Friday Playlist is a roundup of tracks from some albums that have come out in the last month or so (with 1 exception that falls under "if it ain't new, it might be new to you"). Yes, there are some notable exceptions: in particular, the new Wilco, Regina Spektor, and Mos Def albums seem like they should be represented here, but frankly none of those albums has really grabbed me yet. "Wilco (the album)" is growing on me very slowly, but "Far" has too much sap for my taste and "The Ecstatic" has too much beginner's Spanish.

Instead, this playlist features some new tunes from old favorites, some new bands who are probably going to become favorites, and hopefully, a little something for everyone. Enjoy!

1. It took me a while to come around to the new Eels album, but now that I have, I can recommend it whole-heartedly. Billed as a sequel to "Dog Faced Boy," this album is full of lust, passion, and pain. And Mark Everett told NPR the whole thing was inspired by his beard.
   
   
2. As many have noted before me, White Rabbits have benefitted greatly from Britt Daniel's production of their new album. The only drawback is, of course, that it sounds like a Spoon album pretty much from start to finish. But it's a fun, rocking Spoon album, so I'm not complaining.
   
   
3. The new Sunset Rubdown album is really, really great. Both of my regular readers may recall that I was a big fan of their last album, and this one is even better. They did a great (if a little too short) set at the Black Cat recently, though it was marred somewhat by horrible sound production which buried the vocals and all the intricacies of the compositions in a layer of unnecessary reverb. But still, great album.
   
   
4. This album is a few years old, but I was just introduced to it courtesy of Pandora. Thanks, Pandora! I love the opening to this song - the piano part sounds like it's from some ELO or Journey song and just got dropped in here by mistake. Awesome.
   
   
5. Yeah, yeah, everyone's talking about Passion Pit's new album. That doesn't mean it's not chock full of catchy electro-pop dance hits. Because it is. So there.
   
   
6. If you haven't read anything about the new Sparklehorse/Danger Mouse/David Lynch collaboration, go read up - it's pretty interesting stuff, from the bizarre marketing campaign to the blank CD-Rs for sale. Also, the music's pretty good, especially this song featuring Super Furry Animals lead singer Gruff Rhys.
   
   
7. Despite having some of the worst fashion sense I've ever seen in a rock and roll band, the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album is simply awesome. Cool synth sounds, those signature hiccup-y vocals, and great driving rock beats. Good stuff.
   
   
8. Everyone's also talking about the new Dirty Projectors album. I can't vouch for the whole thing, but I can promise that it's never boring. Every song is its own signature brand of weird, and this particular track is pretty un-representative of the rest of the album.
   
   
9. I recently discovered Black Moth Super Rainbow, thanks to a review in The Week, of all places. Their new album "Eating Us" is a nice gentle psychedelic ride that never gets dull and has some surprisingly beautiful melodies hidden inside.
   
   
10. CocoRosie is always reliable for making songs that sound like someone glued together pieces of other unrelated songs and then got Joanna Newsom drunk and asked her to sing over top of it. Their new album "Coconuts, Plenty of Junk Food" is no exception.
    
    
11. I am a latecomer to Metric - I simply can't keep track of all the Broken Social Scene side projects. But I'm glad I finally got hip to this particular jive, because "Fantasies" is a great album - melodic, loud, accessible but with an edge.
    
    
12. St. Vincent's new album "Actor" has been out for a little while now, but I recently gave it another listen and realized just how great it is. I liked her last album a lot, but this one really blows it away.

So what else is new? What new albums are you listening to these days? Let me know in the comments.