Looking ahead, May 2010-July 2010
I can blame learning a new programming language for the dearth of content on this site.
A few weeks ago, I downloaded Visual Studio Express on a lark. I’d always casually thought about experimenting with developing desktop applications, even though my bread and butter is web development. I didn’t anticipate the rabbit hole through which I’d be falling.
I knew it was bad when I saw news about a new Cocco single, and I was too busy coding to post about it.
I think I’m starting to come out of that obsessive haze, if the fact I’m posting again is any indication. So here’s the release news I’ve missed since then.
Timothy Andres, Shy and Mighty, May 18
Nonesuch used to be considered a major classical label focusing on contemporary music, but label president Bob Hurwitz has gradually turned it into something far more cosmopolitan. As a result, it’s rare for modern classical releases on the label not to bear the names "Steve Reich", "Philip Glass", "Kronos Quartet" and "John Adams".
Recent Nonesuch releases have a fair degree of name recognition, but I know nothing about Timothy Andres. And that has me curious. The press release plays up his classical credentials and name drops some indie rock influences, which seems to be a more common occurrence these days. The cynic in me is thinking Nonesuch is trying to groom its own Nico Muhly.
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Magic Disc, May 26 June 2010
BOOM BOOM SATELLITES, TO THE LOVELESS, May 26
Quruli, Boku ga Sunde Itai Machi, May 26
Looks like May 26 is a pretty big release day in Japan. I don’t know what to expect from AKFG, but I would be pleasantly surprised if Magic Disc aimed for the level of quality as World World World. If it doesn’t surpass Surf Bungaku Kamakura, then the band should just call it quits.
[UPDATE, 05/01/2010] The album is actually slated for a June release. May 26 is the release of a single, as noted in comments.
I haven’t really listened to BOOM BOOM SATELLITES since Full of Elevating Pleasures, but I did hear them in an episode of Friday Night Lights once.
The Quruli release is a B-side collection. I’ve been listening to some of my old Quruli albums, and I have to say they don’t hold up very well. I didn’t like THE WORLD IS MINE when it came out, even though I recognized it as a really good album, but now my opinion has changed. Antenna, on the other hand, hasn’t fared as well at all.
Reneé Fleming, Dark Hope, June 8
Opera singer records indie rock album. I think I can accept this premise more readily than Sting singing John Dowland. The track list, though, is pretty impressive: Muse, Arcade Fire, The Mars Volta. All that’s missing is an original track by Thurston Moore.
You know what would really be a mindfrak? Audra McDonald covering Solange’s cover of the Dirty Projectors’ "Stillness Is the Move".
Cocco, "Niraikanai", June 9
It’s been 2 years and 7 months since Cocco released her previous single, and four years since she worked with long-time producer Takamune Negishi. Bounce.com reports the single might be similar to "Tsuyoku Hakanai Monotachi".
Fujifabric, SINGLES 2004-2009, June 30
Fujifabric, FAB BOX, June 30
Rarities, b-sides, an independent EP and singles make up these two posthumous compilations of Fujifabric material.
Kylie Minogue, Aphrodite, July 6
There are many things about gay culture I do not fathom. Kylie Minogue is not one of them. Of course, I’m not terribly interested in anything she’s done before Fever, so that probably tarnishes my barely-existent gay cred.
Updated dates
- Duran Duran, Duran Duran (Special Edition), May 18
- Duran Duran, Seven and the Ragged Tiger (Special Edition), May 18
- Duran Duran, Notorious (Special Edition), July 6
- Duran Duran, Big Thing (Special Edition), July 6