AKA William

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Pork is back, folks! That’s right, Pork returns to AKA William with his weekly post bringing you the best of this week’s new music releases.

Greetings, earthlings. Happy Tuesday? Allow me to walk you through the record store shelves to discover some new releases that might make it even happier.

Muse is back to throw you and your mind into a full on frenzy from big, bad sounds with enough lyrical Orwellian themes to have you looking for Big Brother. Their fifth album, The Resistance, is a highly electronic affair blended with some shimmery shiny glamrock. Bass and synth progressions chug along to a pace that can evoke both Blondie and Goldfrapp, but once Matthew Bellamy’s vocals are added to the mix we’re introduced to something much more epic. Electronic Symphonic Rock? They’re leading the charge. This is the kind of music that borders on obnoxious, but upon repeated listens reveals itself as relevantly appropriate. Yes, their music is as complex as my sentences. Hear it for yourself above in the opening track, “Uprising”:

For those looking for a more in-depth view into the mind and music of Tim Buckley, today could be your lucky day as a DVD called Tim Buckley: A Critique and Review of the Man and His Music has hit the streets (and web.) Amazon describes it as featuring “musical performances by Tim Buckley reviewed and re-assessed by a team of esteemed experts, obscure footage and rarely seen photographs of Tim, and brand new and exclusive interviews with the people who knew Buckley the best,” so I’m thinking it sounds like an essential watch.

Of major note today is a new release, Manafon, from David Sylvian, an uncategorizable English artist/former lead of group Japan who brings a romance to music that’s seldom heard. David worked with prominent figures in the field of electroacoustic improvisation to produce what an unnamed source calls “a completely modern kind of chamber music.” (Maybe this was David himself?)This will be essential listening for me this weekend since the musical descriptions are captivating and song titles like “Random Acts of Senseless Violence” and “Small Metal Gods” intrigue as well. Bring it, Sylvian.

Kid Cudi finally pauses the mixtape madness for a minute and drops his first full-length opus, Man on the Moon: The End of Day. This kid is a storyteller that’s not just looking to fill up an album with rhymes. It feels like honesty. Besides the regular guest stars (Kanye “Douchebag” West and Common) Kid Cudi shakes hip-hop up a bit more than Jay-Z was looking to by working with Ratatat and MGMT. Look out Jay and Waaaah!-nye. There’s a new slightly-lazy rap flower (that’s flow-er, not flower)/off-key singer in our sights…and sounds. Even if hip-hop isn’t necessarily your bag, this album is worthy of your attention. Maybe its first single, the breakthrough hit, “Day ‘n’ Nite,” caught your ear over the past year? Check out his performance of “Pursuit of Happiness” from David Letterman this past Friday, September 11th.