Newer Music:

Jose Gonzalez :  Local Valley

Winsome and unassuming Swedish indie singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez has released another welcome album of soothing, affirming modern folk music with his fourth LP titled Local Valley. Gonzalez, whose family immigrated to Sweden from Argentina a couple years before he was born, is perhaps best known for his soundtrack contributions to the Ben Stiller remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, as well as his cover of the classic indie track Heartbeats by fellow Swedish band The Knife. 

He rose to sudden notoriety in indie music circles with his acclaimed debut Veneer released way back in 2006, the record that featured the ubiquitous Heartbeats cover and his excellent debut single Crosses. Local Valley is his first full studio album since his Vestiges & Claws released in 2015. On this latest LP, Gonzalez doesn’t deviate much from his charming, successful formula of calming vocals over his skillfully-strummed acoustic guitar. Inspiring singles Visions and Head On fit the profile perfectly and are two of the strongest songs of his career so far. Sweet album closer Honey Honey is a standout track written with DJ Koze. A more uptempo beat is deployed on fun advance single Swing, but otherwise Gonzalez delivers well exactly what he does best. 

Standout Tracks: Visions; Head On; El Invento; Swing; Honey Honey

Modest Mouse :  The Golden Casket

Pacific Northwest indie rock stalwarts Modest Mouse have shockingly been around for nearly three decades in one form or another. Lead singer Isaac Brock remains the only constant from the beginning and his dominant personality and presence continues to define Modest Mouse now seven full albums into their long career. 

New LP The Golden Casket does not hit the commercial or artistic peaks of their early to mid-00s career highlights, but it includes more than enough solid indie rock to keep the fans happy and provide plenty of fresh modern sounds for Modest Mouse’s tour across America this fall. Lead single We Are Between is a top-tier Modest Mouse single featuring an inspired Isaac Brock vocal performance. Other highlights are the more straightforward indie rock of album closers Japanese Trees and Back To the Middle.

Brock will almost certainly never write another song as catchy and irresistible as Float On, but Modest Mouse has built more than enough of a solid discography and collection of solid singles to compare favorably to most American indie bands who’ve been operating since before the turn of the 21st Century. 

Standout Tracks: We Are Between; The Sun Hasn’t Left; Back To The Middle; Japanese Trees; Transmitting Receivers

Yves Tumor : The Asymptotical World EP

Eccentric, gifted electronic artist Yves Tumor released a pop-forward EP earlier this year called The Asymptotical World. Considered one of the most exciting newish artists in indie music, Yves Tumor’s 2020 record Heaven To A Tortured Mind didn’t quite deliver to expectations following the massive success and influence of acclaimed Warp-debut Safe In the Hands of Love in 2018. 

This new EP feels more closely aligned with the accessible songcraft of Safe in the Hands of Love. The first three tracks of the EP are great examples of the bold, inviting pop music Yves Tumor is capable of when they allow themselves to be poppy and accessible. Now apparently based in Italy, Tumor reportedly has another entire album worth of songs ready to go and will hopefully embrace the more straightforward, crowd-pleasing approach.

Standout Tracks: Jackie; Crushed Velvet; Secrecy Is Incredibly Important To The B; Tuck; Katrina

Throwback Selection: 

Beck : Sea Change

Last week, I had the chance to visit the new Amoeba Records location in Hollywood. The Amoeba Records locations in Hollywood and San Francisco are both must-visit record stores for any die-hard music fan. One of the items I picked up during my visit was an out of print CD version of the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab remastered version of Sea Change by Beck. 

Beck Hansen is a Top 20 favorite artist of all-time for me. Sure, I appreciated his single Loser from the peak-grunge days of the early to mid-90s, but it was his record Odelay in 1996 that did a fair amount of horizon-broadening of my music tastes. And while I still greatly appreciate his energetic records like Midnite Vultures and The Information, I have always gravitated more toward his reflective albums. 

A classic break-up record produced by Nigel Godrich, Sea Change is his masterpiece. Listening to this record transports me back to August 2002 and a memorable solo acoustic show Beck performed at the Rose Wagner Theater in SLC. At that show, Beck played most of Sea Change, including performances of album opener The Golden Age and highlight single Lost Cause that I still remember vividly.

Standout Tracks: Lost Cause; The Golden Age; Guess I’m Doing Fine; End of the Day; Sunday Sun

More Related Music You Should Also Check Out: The Knife : Deep Cuts; DJ Koze : Knock Knock; Johnny Marr : The Messenger; Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World : OST