July 10, 2006

Free Range Music: JAMC, Sufjan Stevens, Squarepusher

Jesus And Mary Chain -- Psychocandy>> As we said in this week's episode of Rack And Opinion, it's a surprisingly big week for new releases considering it is almost the dead of the summer. So it should be no surprise that this week's batch of AOL Music pre-release album streams is piping hot, poppin' fresh. Or as we said in the '80s, it's "boss." We've already linked to NME's stream of Radiohead fronter Thom Yorke's solo record, but AOL is giving you another shot in case you feel like today's review at PorkFork is harshing your mellow. But after hitting a few streams this afternoon, we've determined that the real deal this week is the second coming of Sufjan Steven's Illinois, otherwise known as The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album. It's got a few additional versions of "Chicago," and we're giving all of them the thumbs up. While the whole set is aural manna, our favorite jam has to be "No Man's Land." It is perfect AM gold acid paisley baroque layered crazy sugary dreamy pop in Wonka-vision. The song is like a fractal. Of cuteness.

The other stream we really enjoyed was AOL's amalgamation of various cuts from the Rhino DualDisc reissues of Jesus And Mary Chain's catalog. Is there anything more glorious than the notoriously surly Scotsmen's "Happy When It Rains"? How hard does "Blues From A Gun" rock? If you don't remember, or if, Yahweh forbid, you're not familiar with the JAMC catalog, AOL is here for you. Those and other interesting streams are linked below.

Thom Yorke -- The Eraser -- XL

Sufjan Stevens -- The Avalanche: Outtakes And Extras From The Illinois Album -- Asthmatic Kitty

James Figurine -- Mistake, Mistake, Mistake, Mistake -- Plug Research

Jesus And Mary Chain -- Reissues Sampler -- Rhino

>> Wanna hear a new track from drill 'n' bass luminary Squarepusher? Hit this link to the Warp Records front page -- it's streaming right there, dig?

>> Hey, did you know defunct early '90s D.C. indie rock act Black Tambourine has a MySpace page?

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