Khruangbin, “Con Todo El Mundo” Available: Friday, Jan. 26, via Dead Oceans Records as a digital download on various high-quality formats (MP3 & FLAC), on cassette tape, and compact disc. Two delectable vinyl versions are also available for the collector and the hyper-collector among you: One on standard black vinyl and another on limited-edition off-white-flavored vinyl. Yum, indeed.
The first great week/end of record releases of the year is upon us! Do yourself and your local independent record store a solid and go spend some of your hard-earned monies bolstering that physical collection of yours. Desert noir greats Calexico have a new one I’m giddy to hear, DIY indie-noise core duo No Age have their first full-length in five years, and the hardest man/men working the garage-etcetera circuit, Ty Segall & Freedom Band, have a 19-track shape-shifting ripper that (in my opinion alone) will blow minds in addition to expectations.
Don’t be surprised if any of these three make the requisite Best of 2018 retrospective alongside Texas three-piece Khruangbin (read/pronounce: KRUNG-BIN). The sophomore effort from Laura Lee (bass), Mark Speer (guitar), and Donald “DJ” Johnson (drums) is the second release from the Secretly Canadian label conglomerate to make such an impression early on in the year. “Con Todo El Mundo” loosely translates to “With All the World” and appropriately so. The album seamlessly shifts in and out of a variety of musical styles and the geographic touchstones of classic world, neo-soul, psych, and dub with precision and a perceived cool indifference. Any album that moves in such a way is anything but blasé or pandering. There is serious, serious talent in a band that can slither in and out of styles, techniques, and tempos to make such a record of introspective badassery and cohesive beauty. This album will work in so many settings and appeal to disparate fans of aural artistry. Pick it up and tell yer friends. Neither you, nor they, will be disappointed.
Recommended for fans of Dengue Fever, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Sun City Girls, Calexico, Antibalas, or the Budos Band.
Jon E. Lynch[email protected]
