Dig into this week’s Saturday Alternative playlist! The Fitting Room album was Wide Awake!, the new album by Parquet Courts – out now on Rough Trade.
There was reason to be a bit skeptical when it was announced that Parquet Courts would be teaming up with Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton for their new album, Wide Awake! Danger Mouse’s recent credits include U2’s Songs of Innocence and Portugal. The Man’s chart-topping Woodstock, while this band had become known for keeping it raw and real. It was out of that lo-fi punk rock mentality that a lot of the excitement came (of course, the songs have always been great, too).
Those concerns are put to rest immediately as the album opens. A balance is found, and the band’s energy is maintained, even amplified when it needs to be, with moments of Burton’s signature bluesy-pop sound and a level of restraint that benefits these songs greatly. There’s a range here that we haven’t heard from Parquet Courts until now, and it all works to serve the songs, and the messages. As stated in a press release, this is “an album about independence and individuality but also about collectivity and communitarianism.
-hour 1-
Supergiant – Valley Queen – Supergiant
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The Heart Is A Muscle – Gang of Youths
Turtleneck – The National – Sleep Well Beast
All Wordz Are Made Up – The Voidz – Virtue
Break-Thru – Dirty Projectors – Lamp Lit Prose
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Magazin – White Denim – Performance
My Smile Is Extinct – Kane Strang – Two Hearts and No Brain
Raindrop Blue – King Tuff – The Other
I’ll Be There – Michael Rault – It’s a New Day Tonight
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Fall Apart – Maps & Atlases – Lightlessness is Nothing New
Hallelujah (So Low) – Editors – Violence
I Need Your Love – Albin Lee Meldau – About You
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Ultimatum (feat. Fatoumata Diawara) – Disclosure
Masseduction – St. Vincent – MASSEDUCTION
–hour 2-
No Going Back – Yuno
Plastic Skeletons – Jealous of the Birds – The Moths of What I Want Will Eat Me in My Sleep
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Those Last Words – High Sunn – Missed Connections
Jesse – Frankie Cosmos
Something For Your M.I.N.D. – Superorganism – Superorganism
Happy Man – Jungle
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Limited Edition Heart – Gruff Rhys – Babelsberg
Strange Effect – The Shacks – The Shacks EP
God Save The Jungle – Benjamin Clementine – I Tell A Fly
For The Lonely Ones – Lucero
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21 – Samia
Side Tracked – Born Ruffians
Why – Animal Flag
Let’s Find An Out – Snail Mail – Lush
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Ocean (feat. Dave Gahan) – Goldfrapp – Silver Eye (Deluxe Edition)
Agree – POLICA – Music for the Long Emergency
Make Me Feel – Janelle Monae
-hour 3-
Hammer – Tune-Yards – I can feel you creep into my private life
Intro of Light – Fan – Barton’s Den
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Big Train – Pllush – Stranger to the Pain
Concrete – Shame – Songs of Praise
Shiggy – Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Sparkle Hard
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—-FITTING ROOM—-
Total Football – Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!
Before The Water Gets Too High – Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!
Wide Awake – Parquet Courts – Wide Awake!
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Four out of Five – Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Deadcrush – Alt-J – RELAXER
God Break Down the Door – Nine Inch Nails – Bad Witch
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Fruity – Rubblebucket
