Ken Beck – PoOP 2014



Buy Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Wig Out at Jag Bags New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
Stephen Malkmus & The JicksWig Out at Jag Bags
The lyrical play, song craft and guitar wizardry is at an all-time high on this his fourth outing with the Jicks. How can one not chuckle with a song title like “Cinnamon and Lesbians”? Aside from Jeff Tweedy, I’d be hard pressed to find someone from the 90s this consistently great.



Buy Beck – Morning Phase New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
BeckMorning Phase
If Sea Change were heroin on the musical narcotic scale, Morning Phase would be morphine. Does that make me a bad dad for having this album as the going-to-bed music for my son for the past year?



Buy Mogwai – Rave Tapes New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
MogwaiRave Tapes
Up until now I hadn’t considered myself a fan of these Scottish post-rock/prog/krautian/math-rockers. Rave Tapes changed that with this their 8th album.



Buy Ty Segall - Manipulator New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
Ty SegallManipulator
I’d been hearing about this kid for a couple of years. Dabbled with 2012 “Twins,” which I was nonplussed about. “Manipulator” is the fully realized Ty Segall which all of his future releases will be measured against.



Buy Real Estate - Atlas New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
Real EstateAtlas
A subtle yet solid follow-up to 2011’s “Days”, Real Estate now occupies the void left by Luna’s departure.



Buy The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
The War on DrugsLost in the Dream
This album could have easily been released as the follow-up to Don Henley’s “End of the Innocence” or Tom Petty’s “Wildflowers”. But since it came out on indie label Secretly Canadian, it somehow makes it cool.



Buy TWEEDY – Sukierae New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
TWEEDYSukierae
Yep, more from the dad rock column. Probably didn’t need to be a double LP but it’s still thoroughly satisfying and the pacing is good. All the getting up and album flipping has left me winded.



Buy Nude Beach - 77 New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
Nude Beach77
On New Brunswick NJ’s Don Giovanni Records (go Jersey!), this record completely came as a surprise. Only mildly aware of them through their prior release on NYC’s Other Music in-house label. They’ve steadily digested the catalogs of The Byrds, Big Star, Badfinger and The Replacements and produced a leagues better double LP.



Buy TV on the Radio - Seeds New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
TV on the RadioSeeds
After their unremarkable 2011 contract-fulfilling album for Interscope, they return with one less band member, a new label (Harvest) and thoroughly reinvigorated.



Buy Goat – Commune New or Used via Amazon   Buy New or Used via Amazon          Rent via iTunes [?]
GoatCommune
If Brian Jones had lived and continued his world music explorations, this might have been where he’d end up.




Ken Beck
Cranford, NJ