New Tunes Tuesday #16

Each Tuesday we will feature new music that should (or whatever) be on your radar.

Standouts:

1. Magnetic Fields - "Distortion" - From what we can tell, Magnetic Fields are a huge hit in San Francisco as their two-night stint at Noise Pop 2008 has been sold out since December. (The only way to get tickets is to buy a badge!) Now we haven't had the pleasure to actually preview/review this album, but with a 8.0 Pitchfork rating, we think we can recommend this. "Distortion's aesthetic conceit-- conveyed by its title-- is worn well, and its blown-out sound breathes life into a collection of songs that brings together many of the best ideas from Merritt's back catalog." Popmatters, also gave the album an 8, saying "Meanwhile, Merritt does what he always does. He writes clever songs that are sweet and bitter, comforting and subversive." Hell yeah.

2. Jon Foreman - "Fall and Winter": Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, is taking on the seasons, starting with fall and winter. Foreman seems to be jumping back to his acoustic roots and focusing on his personal connection with nature. Fall and Winter is a full-length release consisting of two E.P.'s (see track-listing after the jump). There will be two more E.P.'s consisting of Spring and Summer which will be available later this year. According to Foreman the songwriting and production of these E.P.'s were creatively intertwined. “Most of these songs were written and recorded the same night,” said Foreman. “I would sing and play my guitar late at night until I got a take that captured what the song meant to me. From there I would add instruments to the vocal to see what would be appropriate. It was a very therapeutic, lonely, cleansing process.” That's exactly what comes across in this album: therapeutic, a bit lonely, but still emotionally cleansing. Not one track "stuck" out, instead they all seemed to melt together to create a natural organic experience - something, we think, that Foreman was looking for. Look for the Spring and Summer, later this year - this will complete your "seasons" collection and give you something to listen to the entire year.

Take the jump to see what other CD's are coming out today...