New Tracks From Leonard Cohen, The Magnetic Fields, and Of Montreal

That post title felt so great to write, let me do it one more time: "New Tracks From Leonard Cohen, The Magnetic Fields, and Of Montreal."

There is so much to love on this new single from Cohen's upcoming record Old Ideas.  The song starts with a little something for die hard Cohen fans...a simple nod to his wonderful track, "The Stranger" with a similar guitar plucking and rolling.  The guitar eventually interrupts itself and launches into a nice groove complimented by a dry bass and his famous deeper then deeper vocals.  If "Darkness" is the tone and feel of Cohen's Old Ideas, my excitement is reaching new heights.  Pre-order Old Idea from Cohen's website.

The announcement that the new Magnetic Fields' album, Love At The Bottom Of The Sea, will be the first since the early 00's that featured synths made this release very promising.  The band has always been at their best with bouncy synths off set by the morose vocal stylings of Stephin Merritt.  "Andrew In Drag" is catchy, smart, and features everything Magnetic Fields' fans love about the band.  A limited to 1,000 7" of this song with a  non-album B-Side is now available over at Merge Records.

If you pre-ordered the new Of Montreal offering Paralytic Stalks, then Polyvinyl made the entire record available for download.  I plan to review the the record in full, but I will just say this is Of Montreal's best offering in years and it's not an easy record...it demands multiple, start to finish, full spins.  The band has made available one of my favorite tracks, "Dour Percentage".  It's a track rooted in orchestral beauty, funk slickness, and the manic melody cutting that Of Montreal tinkers with at their best.  Limited edition wax of this record is still available at Polyvinyl.