In our Moving
Units column, Mike Ramirez at Fort Lauderdale's Radio-Active Records
graciously keeps us up-to-date and comments on the current releases
flying out of his store each week.
In addition to the usual hip, young buzz bands, this week's top sellers feature two bands that have managed to remain cool for decades. Any remotely "dark" band from the past ten years that wasn't ripping off the Smiths -- and plenty of bands that were -- definitely picked up some posturing and song-structure tips from the Cure. Disintegration's "Fascination Street" features one of the best bass grooves ever created, and there's nary enough space to get into all of the other reasons this album is brilliant.
God bless Devo for reuniting and playing as loud live as anyone on Earth. Something for Everyone shows that something truly cool will always be cool. Get the full list below.
Radio-Active Records' Top 5 Releases for June 15-21:
1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today (4AD)
2. The Cure - Disintegration (Deluxe Edition) (Rhino) "Finally after two weeks of delay, the closet goths came out to propel the Cure to the number-two slot at Radio-Active. This was a highly anticipated rerelease as it is considered a milestone in their catalog. Worth the wait? It's a win/lose scenario. The remastering sounds superb, and to quote Patrick Bateman, "you can practically hear every nuance of every instrument." However, the bonus material is lacking once more, featuring an onslaught of soulseek-leaked demos and outtakes that we have all heard before and will never hear again. Regardless, it's a crucial record, and to have it available again in all its remastered glory is a bonus itself."
3. Devo - Something for Everybody (Warner Bros.) "How could we forget Devo? Their first album in over 20 years is a return to form; think Freedom of Choice had it been made today. This is their first album to feature drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese. Note: The energy domes are now BLUE!"
4. Foals - Total Life Forever (Sub Pop)
5. Jacuzzi Boys - Bricks or Coconuts (Mexican Summer)
Which albums will we be talking about next week?
"Be on the lookout for new releases: HEALTH's Disco2 (Lovepump United), Eminem's Recovery (Aftermath/Interscope), Chemical Brothers' Further (Freestyle Dust/Parlophone), Ozzy Osbourne's Scream (Epic), Danzig's Deth Red Sabaoth (Evilive), The Bullets' Sweet Misery (Jump Up), Sia We Are Born (Monkey Puzzle), Bloc Party frontman Kele's The Boxer (Wichita/Polydor), Stars' The Five Ghosts (Vagrant), Macy Gray's The Sellout (Concord), and more! Stay tuned!"
