April 17, 2006

Free Range Music: Be Your Own Pet, Dresden Dolls, Ladytron

LadytronAOL Music's batch of pre-release and recently released album streams is particularly strong this week, so you are going to need to get a jump on your listening. What with the peculiar Massachusetts state holiday, the baseball game on TV and the long ongoing project of moving all our CDs from jewel cases to substantially less space-consuming vinyl sleeves (we're up to Joe Jackson!), we're plowing through many of the streams already. There are must-listens this week from Ladytron, Be Your Own Pet and Dresden Dolls.

Ladytron's Extended Play, which features exclusive remixes and U.K. b-sides and comes with a bonus DVD carrying 35 minutes of video, takes the British electronic act's notable 2005 set Witching Hour and pumps it full of darker, fresher beats. We suspect it will rank highly when we are compiling our Product Placement list for tomorrow. No need to talk about how great the Maritime record is, since we've already gushed at length a couple other times. We think that one's already been out a couple weeks, but if you haven't heard it yet by all means click that thing. And if you've been sleeping on Be Your Own Pet as we have since they started heating up last year, check out the band's rocking Summer Sensation EP. It's American Good Rock. OK, plug in those headphones and get started.

Be Your Own PET -- Summer Sensation EP
Calexico -- Garden Ruin
The Dresden Dolls -- Yes, Virginia
Ladytron -- Extended Play
Maritime -- We, The Vehicles
Richard Butler (of Psychedelic Furs, you know) -- Richard Butler

1 comment:

JeremyS said...

I love Ladytron. I just wish they'd play more gigs.
I saw them in a small venue in Manchester a couple of years ago and was so impressed by how well their transferred their recorded sound to a live performance.
FWIW I think they spend a lot of time doing DJ-sets and the like nowadays.