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Show life' MONDAY • JANUARY 29 • 2007 B4 CHAD HUNT usic noteworthy of A new year means a fresh chance for some excellent ..music. A number of artists are taking advantage of this by releasing their albums right away in the first few months of 2007. Numerous releases don't necessarily mean loads of LIFE WRITER excellent, listen-worthy mu- >. sic. To help alleviate somfe o r p ine stress of picking through what's promising and what wasn't.worth the cost of printing, there are some albums worthy of recommendation out there. Bright Eyes Cassadaga— April 1 0 Photo credit/amazon.com Conor Oberst is always able to impress, whether through his arsenal of evolving sound, or his witty, story-laden lyrics. Hopes are high that his new album will be no less impressive as his previous slew of releases. But it is still quite early to tell exactly what Cassadaga has in store as it isn't slated for release until April. Oberst isn't leaving fans hanging, though, prior to releasing the new, fulllength album; he's putting out an EP entitled Four Winds that is to be released in early March. "Four Winds," the first single from Cassadaga, will be accompanied by live other b-side tracks from the Digital Ash in a Digital Urn and / 'm Wide Awake It \s Morning sessions. The EP appears to favor the acoustic appeal of/ 'm Wide Awake, over the electronic feel of Digital Ash. This double whammy by Bright Eyes looks to reel in old and new listeners of Oberst and company hook, line and LP. Photo credit/www.saddle-creek.com One of Obersr's previous albums - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning Conor Oberst Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Some Loud Thunder Photo credit/myspace.com/dapyourhandssayyeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Independent heroes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah finally bring forth their much anticipated sophomore effort. Some Loud Thunder, which will hit stores tomorrow, Jan. 30. Though the sophomore effort seems quite different than their self-titled album, it maintains a familiar flavor, which should leave any true fan of the band truly satisfied. Tracks like "Satan Said Dance" and "Underwater (You and Me)," which have been circulating in cyberspace for some months now, are some stand-out tracks from the album, and these portray a good idea of what the album contains as a whole. What's Inore, however, is in another innovative move, the self-release has been offered for weeks on www.insound.com with a special promotion, which allows purchasers of Some Loud Thunder to download the album upon purchase. While owners of the downloads enjoy the digital album, a physical copy of the album is shipped to be received on the release date, creating yet another reason to keep a sharp eye on this non-conformist group of indie likeables. Photo credit/myspace.com/dapyourhandssayyeah Some Loud Thunder Arcade Fire Neon Bible Canadian-super-group Arcade Fire, masters of utilizing large numbers of instruments as opposed to digitally combining their sounds using technology, bring forth their new effort. Neon Bible, on March 6. Neon Bible rings true to the band's patent sound and seems to pick up where their initial release. Funeral, left off. Singles like "Intervention" and "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" make this effort seem like a very listenable al- Photo credit/myspace.com/absolutepunk.net Neon Bible Photo credit/myspace.com/arcadefireofficiaI Arcade Fire bum that will be worth the anticipation. In an effort to build some excitement about the release, earlier in January the band created a toll-free phone number which was answered by the first single of the album, "'Intervention." Though not the first to try this technique of getting a song into the public without the cliche' internet "leak," Arcade Fire is working hard to create a buzz about Neon Bible, which, hopefully, and likely, the album can match. |