Dig into this week’s Saturday Alternative playlist! The Fitting Room album was Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino by Arctic Monkeys, out now on Domino.
When one learns of a new Arctic Monkeys album, it’s generally safe to assume there will be some sort of evolution or reinvention of sound from Alex Turner and company, who skyrocketed to international acclaim with a fiery burst of garage rock over a decade ago. That said, no one anticipated the drastic shift from 2013’s riffy, hooky, groove-driven AM, to the laid-back, piano-centric sounds of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.
Mostly composed on his Steinway Vertegrand, the sultry story-teller vibe is one you might expect more from Turner’s other band, The Last Shadow Puppets. The other Monkeys even suggested he turn these songs into a solo album, but it’s a good thing they didn’t as it’s their creative backdrops that focus Turner’s grand themes and ideas and bring them to life. The album is already dividing fans, but something tells me they already knew that would happen when they decided to release a loungy, sci-fi concept album… and they did it anyway. Regardless of how you feel about the album, you’ve got to respect a band that takes those kinds of risks.
-hour 1-
Lake Erie – Wild Pink – Yolk in the Fur
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Numb – Meg Myers
Bitter Red – Pianos Become the Teeth – Wait For Love
Bunny’s Blues – Lost Under Heaven
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This Party – Houndmouth
Count It Up – Field Music – Open Here
Little Dark Age – MGMT – Little Dark Age
Intro of Light – FAN – Barton’s Den
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Allocate – Damien Jurado – The Horizon Just Laughed
Best Of The Best Of Times – Darlingside
Golden Wings – Gabriel Garzon-Montano
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Last Girl – Soccer Mommy – Clean
Petals – TOPS – Sugar at the Gate
-hour 2-
The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs – Wye Oak – The Louder I Call, The Faster It Runs
Happy Man – Jungle
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Mardi Gras Beads – Parquet Courts – Wide Awake
Orthodox Man – Blaenavon – That’s Your Lot
I Don’t Have To – Sibille Attar – Paloma’s Hand EP
Plastic Skeletons – Jealous of the Birds – The Moths of What I Want Will Eat Me In My Sleep EP
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Dance AM – Pinkshinyultrablast – Miserable Miracles
Fair – Animal Flag
Champagne – My Brightest Diamond – A Million and One
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All Or Nothing – Reuben And The Dark – Arms of a Dream
Magnetism – Vacationer
Home Away From Home – Cut Chemist Feat. Laura Darlington – Die Cut
Break-Thru – Dirty Projectors
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Are You Electrified? – Arthur Buck
MDM – Jo Passed
-hour 3-
Into the Night – Death By Unga Bunga
Pressure – Flasher – Constant Image
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Break Me – DMA’s – For Now
It Keeps Us Dancing – The Family Crest – The War: Act 1
Purple Hearts – Jeremey Messersmith
Casanova – Rayland Baxter – Wide Awake
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—-FITTING ROOM—-
Star Treatment – Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Four Out of FIve – Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
The Ultracheese – Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
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Excuses – Shakey Graves – Can’t Wake Up
Cold As Ice – Bekon – Get With The Times
Phoenix – Rhye – Blood
Ringing Bell – Maps & Atlases
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Seven Falls – Laura Veirs