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It was heartbreaking to see Bethany Cosentino’s 2010 full-length debut, Crazy for You, questioned for lacking “overall intelligence.” How is it somehow more intelligent in a self-Instagramming world of LOLcats, weed, immature romance, and jobless depression that someone should not write a record about those very things? Those signifiers made it the rare indie totem straightforward enough to draw real sobs: “I’m sorry I lost your favorite T-shirt/I’ll buy you a new one/A better one” pleaded one of Cosentino’s characters, desperate to salvage the love she’s mishandled. The indeed more “mature” The Only Place (better-sung, slower, expansively produced by the canonical Jon Brion) relegates this pain to subtext as she sobers up. “I don’t remember what it means to be me,” Cosentino sings miserably on “Do You Love Me Like You Used To,” following the aptly titled “How They Want Me To Be” and “Better Girl.” Now that she sounds capable of leaving the house, it’s still refreshing to hear her call herself “dumb.” But has her craft ever bloomed. With Brion’s help, Cosentino opens up her beachy Phair-goes-girl-group pop with torch lounge (“Dreaming My Life Away”), jangle-punk (“Let’s Go Home”), and the uncharacteristically happy title tune, which matches Katy Perry in its unabashed Golden State boosterism. More intelligent, though. — The Phoenix

OTHER NEW RX CD RECOMMENDATIONS:

Tenacious D Rize of the Fenix
Willie Nelson Heroes
Squarepusher Ufabulum
mewithoutyou Ten Stories
Adam Lambert Trespassing
Santana Shape Shifter
Shadows Fall Fire From the Sky
Killer Mike R.A.P. Music
Sugarman 3 What the World Needs Now
Jazzanova Funkhaus Studio Sessions

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WIN A RARE GLOW-IN-THE-DARK VINYL VERSION OF BLOOM!

Beach House’s decision to call this record Bloom is almost too perfect. Over the course of four albums that’s exactly what this band has done. Two people from Baltimore started by making incense-smelling, curtains-drawn bedroom pop. Now, eight years later, they make luminous, sky-sized songs that conjure some alternate universe where Cocteau Twins have headlined every stadium on Atlantis. “Bloom” is also what these 10 songs do, each one starting with the sizzle of a lit fuse and at some fine moment exploding like a firework in slow motion. The word captures the music’s slow sonority: the round, gleaming edges of Alex Scally’s arpeggios and how, in Victoria Legrand’s unhurried mouth, all words seem to have a few extra vowels.

And here we thought they’d already bloomed. Two years ago, Beach House signed to big-time indie Sub Pop, started selling out larger rooms, and put out their first great record, Teen Dream. Brimming with lush sadness and lyrics that painstakingly documented the evaporation of a love (“It can’t be gone,” Legrand gasped on “10 Mile Stereo”, “We’re still right here”), Teen Dream was a break-up album, a clearer and more assured exploration of the exquisite, minor-key feelings the band had been mining since their self-titled debut. It felt like such a complete realization of the band’s potential that it had to make you wonder — a little worried, even — where could they possibly go from here?

Bloom suggests that this is the wrong question. “I hate it when bands change between records,” Scally admitted recently. “[T]hat’s not the way we work.” And he’s right: Beach House haven’t changed, or at least not much. Bloom doesn’t stray far from the structure or the emotional tenor of its predecessor. It finds the band making small, sharp adjustments to its craft, but these shifts are so subtle it takes a few listens for them to sink in. The songwriting is tighter, yet the atmosphere feels more diffuse; the lyrics are more straightforward, yet they’re somehow suggestive of larger things. By just about every measure, Bloom‘s wingspan is fuller than anything Beach House have done before. — Pitchfork

Talk about getting ready for summer: Beach House and Best Coast are releasing new albums on Tuesday, May 15, and The Record Exchange is celebrating with a day-long listening party and super-awesome prizes!

Here’s how it’s gonna work: We’ll be playing Beach House‘s Bloom and Best Coast‘s The Only Place multiple times throughout the day. Then at 5 p.m., we’ll raffle off two prizes: A limited-edition, super-rare glow-in-the-dark vinyl version of Bloom and autographed Best Coast poster! YOU MUST BE PRESENT FOR THE 5 P.M. DRAWING TO WIN.

You can enter to win by purchasing either/both of the two albums any time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on the 15th. We’ll also have Best Coast 7-inches (includes an exclusive Fleetwood Mac cover) and Beach House lithos to hand out free with purchase (while supplies last)!

Yay, summer!

Sigur Rós are proud to invite their fans to participate in Valtari Hour – a rolling, New Year’s Eve-style listening event celebrating the band’s new album, Valtari, which will happen worldwide on May 17 at 7 p.m. in every time zone around the globe, and The Record Exchange is one of a few independent record stores chosen to host an event! (VIEW VALTERI VIDEOS HERE.)

Valtari Hour is the special time when you can hear the band’s new record, which will be released in North America on May 29 on XL Recordings. Valtari Hour will allow the band’s fans worldwide to collectively experience their new album throughout the course of a twenty-four hour day.

If you cannot make it to The Record Exchange at 7 p.m. Thursday, at that time we will be posting the full album stream on our website, too. For those who choose to listen to Valtari at the RX with fellow Sigur Rós fans, an album pre-order will score you a limited edition Valtari print, and one lucky winner* will receive a Valtari prize pack, which includes a Valtari vinyl test pressing, a copy of the very-sold-out RSD exclusive Hvarf/Heim LP on clear vinyl, and a custom, limited print. (*Must pre-order the album to be eligible to win.)

Those listening to the album are encouraged to use the hashtag #valtarihour when discussing the album via Twitter, Instagram and other social networks. Tweets and images will be filtered into a special page on the band’s website – http://sigur-ros.co.uk/valtari/hour/ – where fans can live comment and participate in the conversation about the album’s incredible eight tracks.

1. Take Me To Your Leader, Mayday
2. Let’s Go Out Tonight, Curtis Stigers
3. Neck of the Woods, Silversun Pickups
4. Blunderbuss, Jack White
5. Little Broken Hearts, Norah Jones
6. Slipstream, Bonnie Raitt
7. A Different Ship, Here We Go Magic
8. OFF!, OFF!
9. The Legendary Demos, Carole King
10. My Head is An Animal, Of Monsters and Men
11. Boys & Girls, The Alabama Shakes
12. Best of Kokua Festival, Jack Johnson and Friends
13. The Waking Sleep, Katie Herzig
14. Stars & Satellites, Trampled By Turtles
15. Benchwarmers, Finn Riggins
16. Making Mirrors, Gotye
17. All 6′s and 7′s, Tech N9ne
18. Sun Midnight Sun, Sara Watkins
19. Master of My Make Believe, Santigold
20. Fear Fun, Father John Misty