This Week's Album Releases (6/13)

Each week we list what we consider to be the most important albums coming out. Tomorrow, that Jimmy Fallon-look-a-like Neil Young releases archived recordings, Vetiver expands its musical repertoire with a new pop album and Marissa Nadler shows off her psych-folk stylings on a self-titled album.

Junior Boys – It’s All True
“If Junior Boys’ fourth It’s All True proves anything, it’s that the Ontarian, indie-electro originals will never be fully defrosted. Their stealthy, dampened beat-work has kept them remarkably suave in a subgenre that generally softens up to a dorkier demographic – and seven years since Last Exit the band is as frigidly unflappable as ever; progressing nicely through their expected idiosyncrasies, while continuing to sound effortlessly, and solitarily cool.” Read Luke Winkie’s upcoming review of It’s All True

Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler
“Nadler sings the way a ghost haunts a house, insinuating herself into the song and making familiar elements like “radio”—or, on “Alabaster Queen,” the word “queen”—sound uncanny. Perhaps that’s why she has been able to outlive the freak-folk trend of the mid-2000s, when more popular artists like Devendra Banhart and CocoRosie have lost much of their creative momentum. Even leapfrogging from one label to the next, Nadler has managed to find new corners of her psych-folk sound to explore, so that her somewhat limited range never sounds old, her songs never threadbare.” Read Stephen M. Deusner’s upcoming review of the self-titled album.

Neil Young – A Treasure
The fifth release from the Neil Young Archives series features a bunch of live recordings from Young’s 1984-1985 tour. The talented multi-genre star shows off why he’s the king with these tracks pulled from performances at county fairs and rodeos.

Thee Oh Sees – Castlemania
“Castlemania, which is something like Thee Oh Sees’ eleventy billionth release to date, is a nice combination of the band’s catchiest moments and its most head-scratching. Like a Robert Pollard for the Terminal Boredom set, Dwyer can be hard to keep up with. Case in point: the press materials for Castlemania include a quote from him about another album coming this fall, one that he calls “maybe our best yet.” And with that kind of prolific output, there are always ups and downs. For every near-perfect slab of garage-pop, such as 2009’s Help, there’s a tougher-to-sit-through, psych-folk influenced effort like 2010’s Warm Slime. Castlemania splits the difference, but mostly for the good.” Read Austin L. Ray’s review of Castlemania

Vetiver – The Errant Charm
Vetiver’s fifth full-length effort strays from the group’s traditional indie folk with upbeat and cheerful pop music. Recorded in front man Andy Cabic’s San Francisco hometown, this album has the laid-back feeling of a day spent laying out on a California beach.