by Beaches
Beaches - Seconds of Spring (PBS Feature Record)
Beloved Melbourne psych-rock quintet Beaches return with third LP Second of Spring, a sprawling double LP released through local stalwart Chapter Music. Second of Spring picks up where 2014’s She Beats left off – the enduring influence of working with kosmische legend Michael Rother of Neu on their previous full length evident across many of this record’s 17 tracks. Beaches draw upon motorik rhythms and shoegaze dynamics but it’s an undeniable pop sensibility that propels the record forward and brings Beaches’ myriad influences together. And while the double LPs of old were often more filler than killer, there’s no excess here.
LCD Soundsystem - American Dream (featured on The Breakfast Spread)
Comeback albums are never easy – the list of records inflicted upon the world by reuniting legacy acts is long, and there aren’t all that many in the ledger that have added to said legacy. Given LCD Soundsystem's rather ceremonious departure from the music biz – with a farewell tour, documentary and epic live album to mark their demise – the pressure of the comeback album might have weighed even heavier on James Murphy and his band. LCD Soundsystem were one of the definitive bands of the 2000s, with their dancefloor-oriented amalgam of post-punk and disco, and yet American Dream feels somehow more in touch with the zeitgeist than their early output.
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