{"id":9469,"date":"2012-02-14T19:57:09","date_gmt":"2012-02-15T03:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/?p=9469"},"modified":"2012-02-14T19:57:09","modified_gmt":"2012-02-15T03:57:09","slug":"damien-jurados-fantastic-new-album-mariqopa-streaming-on-a-v-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelefortreport.com\/blog\/2012-02\/damien-jurados-fantastic-new-album-mariqopa-streaming-on-a-v-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Damien Jurado’s Fantastic New Album, “Mariqopa,” Streaming on A.V. Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As reported here<\/a> back in November, one of our most anticipated albums of 2012 is Damien Jurado’s Mariqopa<\/em><\/strong><\/em>, which will finally be released next week on\u00a0Secretly Canadian<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Jurado’s 2010 album,\u00a0Saint Bartlett<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, made our Top Albums list for 2010 and his album, Rehearsals for Departure<\/strong>, is one of our all-time favorites<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As can be immediately heard on the opening track, Nothing Is the News<\/strong><\/em>, Jurado’s recent comrade on Saint Bartlett, the ascendant producer Richard Swift<\/strong> (Mynabirds, Gardens & Villa, etc.), has taken Jurado’s usual highwater songwriting and expanded his sound palette in fittingly ambitious ways to lift his songs even higher.\u00a0 Jurado has never hidden his appreciation for Neil Young<\/strong> and has subconsciously (at a minimum; just listen to that falsetto) paid homage to Young over the years in his songs.\u00a0\u00a0 So it’s not a great surprise that at times on Mariqopa<\/strong>, Swift seems to be to Jurado as Jack Nitzsche<\/strong> was to Neil Young on Young’s seminal Harvest<\/strong> album.\u00a0 Nitzsche reached high on the Harvest songs he produced, and the rest is beautifully bombastic musical history.\u00a0 On Mariqopa<\/strong> we hear Nitszchean strings, waves of guitar, children’s choirs, keyboards, flutes, horns and most of the rest of the kitchen sink.\u00a0 The Swift one also brings Phil Spector<\/strong> and Dave Fridmann<\/strong> production elements to the mix, though at the right times rightfully defers to Jurado’s vocals.<\/p>\n

Highlights off the album<\/strong> (so far):\u00a0 Reel to Reel<\/strong><\/em> (with its Flaming Lips<\/strong> feel), Working Titles<\/strong><\/em> (with its pointed lyrics and Motown-ish backup vocals), the very Young-ian<\/strong> Mountains Still Asleep <\/strong><\/em>and Everyone a Star, <\/strong><\/em>the poignant So On, Nevada, <\/strong><\/em>and Museum of Flight <\/em><\/strong>(with its propulsive rhythms and fab falsetto vocals).\u00a0 That’s right, we didn’t leave many songs off the highlights list.\u00a0 That’s because it’s a tour de force from stem to stern.\u00a0 He’s one of our best.\u00a0 Check it out.<\/p>\n

Go stream Mariqopa<\/strong> over at the A.V. Club HERE.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 And then pick up the album when it comes out next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As reported here back in November, one of our most anticipated albums of 2012 is Damien Jurado’s Mariqopa, which will finally be released next week on\u00a0Secretly Canadian.\u00a0 Jurado’s 2010 album,\u00a0Saint Bartlett, made our Top Albums list for 2010 and his album, Rehearsals for Departure, is one of our all-time favorites. As can be immediately heard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t