Saturday, September 24, 2016

New Music Friday - August 12, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



of Montreal - Innocence Reaches

For his 14th album with of Montreal, Kevin Barnes seems to be bringing his style of music in line with his image. Through a variety of musical styles, ranging from folk to punk, his own persona has always had a glam element to it; the band's latest album finally sees him incorporating glam-pop. Barnes dropped names like Chairlift, Arca, and Jack Ü as influences on the record, a surprising statement from an artist who claims to have eschewed modern pop music.

Watch: "it’s different for girls"
Watch: "let's relate"




Rae Sremmurd - Sremmlife 2

I'm really not sure whether this young hip-hop duo is actually good, but I find their music to be fun as hell. They're part of a new wave a hip-hop, one that includes iLoveMakonnen and Future, that often feels more dedicated to style than substance. Things don't get any deeper than girls, drugs, and partying. That's ok though; sometimes I just want to bob my head and not think of anything. This is the perfect soundtrack for that.

Watch: "Look Alive"
Watch: "By Chance"


Other Full-Length Releases



Brendan Canning - Home Wrecking Years

Watch: "Keystone Dealers"
Watch: "Book It to Fresno"


JEFF The Brotherhood - Zone

Listen: "Punishment"
Listen: "Idiot"


Pfarmers - Our Puram

Watch: "Our Puram"
Listen: "Red Vermin"


Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits

Listen: "Plastic Plant"
Listen: "The Axis"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Day of the Dead 12”




Ducky - Don’t Give Up Yet

Watch: "Bliss"


Florence + The Machine - Songs from Final Fantasy XV

Listen: "Stand By Me"
Listen: "Too Much Is Never Enough"


Hell or High Water: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Listen: "Comancheria"
Listen: "Lord of the Plains"


M.I.A. - "Bird Song"

Listen: "Bird Song"


Pete’s Dragon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Watch: Lindsey Sterling - "Something Wild" (featuring Andrew McMahon)
Listen: St. Vincent - "Something on Your Mind"


Radiating Light: Orchid Tapes & Friends

Listen: Foxes in Fiction - "Extinguisher"
Listen: Owen Pallett - "Weird Honey"

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending September 24)

The MidPoint Music Festival is this weekend! It's one of the many highlights that has come out of living in Cincinnati. Sure, a lot of cities host music festivals, but the size and cost, along with the caliber of artists that they bring in, makes this one a great experience. Many of the artists playing have albums coming out soon, check them out on my Upcoming Releases page!

This week, Louisville-based Twin Limb announced their debut album, Haplo.

stereogum.com

I actually hung out a bit with frontwoman Lacey Guthrie towards the end of my college days; we had a mutual friend in someone I met while working at the student union. It's no surprise that she and her band are becoming known. I was always impressed with her songwriting, voice, and accordion-playing (and thought she was one of the coolest people I had ever met).

The band released their debut EP, Anything Is Possible and Nothing Makes Sense, late last year and garnered praise from two of my favorite resources for new music, NPR and Stereogum. The album's announcement was joined with a new video, for the track "The Weather."



I hope and expect for the band's successes to continue through this album and into the future. Haplo is set to be released on October 28.

Also announced this week:

Beck - Guero Reissue (October 28)
Beck - Odelay Reissue (October 28)
Beck - Sea Change Reissue (October 28)
Cavern of Anti-Matter - I’m the unknown (October 14)
Dirty Projectors - “Keep Your Name” (out now)
Hinds - Leave Me Alone Deluxe Edition (October 28)
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions - Until the Hunter (November 4)
Jim James - Eternally Event (November 4)
Lanikai - Lanikai (November 18)
Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker (October 21)
Nicolas Jaar - Sirens (September 30)
NxWorries - Yes Lawd! (October 21)
Only Yours - Only Yours (October 14)
Simian Mobile Disco - Welcome to Sideways (November 11)
Tori Amos - Boys for Pele Reissue (November 18)
Young Legionnaire - Zero Worship (November 25)

Sunday, September 18, 2016

New Music Friday - August 5, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



Dinosaur Jr. - Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not

It was upsetting to read recently that J Mascis and Lou Barlow aren't really on speaking terms with each other. This seems a bit strange considering that they continue to perform together. But, I guess it's good to see that, with whatever differences they have, they can still make great music. Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not is the band's fourth album since re-forming in 2005.

Watch: "Tiny"
Watch: "Goin Down"




Haley Bonar - Impossible Dream

Bonar got her musical start when she was barely out of her teens, when Alan Sparhawk (of Low fame) gave the upstart musician an opening spot on his tour. She went on to sign with his label, Chairkicker's Union for her debut album, before moving on to Afternoon Records and, now, Gndwire Records (with a few others in between). Impossible Dream is her sixth solo album.

Watch: "Kismet Kill"
Watch: "Called You Queen"


Other Full-Length Releases



Field Mouse - Episodic

Listen: "The Mirror"
Listen: "Out of Context"


Wild Beasts - Boy King

Watch: "Big Cat"
Watch: "Get My Bang"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



2 Chainz - Daniel Son, Necklace Don

Listen: "Big Amount" (featuring Drake)
Listen: "Ghetto"


The Bug - "Box"/"Iceman"

Listen: "Box" (featuring D Double E)
Listen: "Iceman" (featuring Riko Dan)


Jenn Champion - "No One"

Listen: "No One"


Kllo - Well Worn

Watch: "Walls to Build"
Watch: "Bolide"


LNZNDRF - Green Roses




Mass Gothic - Sub Goth

Watch: "Nice Night"
Listen: "A Run"


Restorations - "See"/"Sea"

Listen: "See"


Start Your Own Fucking Show Space

Listen: Thee Oh Sees - "Turned Out Light"
Listen: Screaming Females - "Wishing Well"


Suicide Squad: The Album

Watch: Skrillex & Rick Ross - "Purple Lamborghini"
Watch: Kehlani - "Gangsta"


Toro Y Moi - Live from Trona

Listen: "Still Sound"
Listen: "Divina"

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending September 17)

Have you ever seen Lip Sync Battle? I've never watched a full episode, but often enjoy the performance clips that they post to YouTube. It's a pretty cool show and many of the celebrities featured are pretty convincing, other are...less so. Still, nothing compares to seeing your favorite bands perform their own music. Check out some of mine with new music coming out on my Upcoming Releases page!

This week, the Christmas album announcements started to come in, including She & Him, who announced their second holiday album, Christmas Party.

pitchfork.com

She & Him are Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward, who have been performing together for a decade and have released five albums. The project is hardly a celebrity ego project for Deschanel, who has become best known for acting; she is an incredibly talented songwriter and vocalist. Of course, it helps to partnered up with M. Ward, who has his own celebrated music career spanning 17 years.

She & Him released their first Christmas album, A Very She & Him Christmas, in 2011. Most recently, though, they released Classics, a collection of standards, two years ago.

Christmas Party is set to come out October 28, lest we forget that the Christmas season now starts before Halloween.

They weren't the only artist to announce a Christmas Record this week, Kacey Musgraves will also be releasing one in October.

Also announced this week:

Amanda Palmer & Jason Webley - Sketches for the Music JIB (out now)
Beastie Boys - License to Ill Reissue (October 14)
Damaged Bug - “Smoggy Terminus” (September 19)
The Game - 1992 (October 14)
Justice - Woman (November 18)
La Sera - Queens EP (September 30)
Lady Gaga - Joanna (October 21)
Lazarus Cast Album (October 21)
Lizzo - Coconut Oil EP (October 7)
Lou Reed - Lou Reed - The RCA & Arista Album Collection, Vol 1 (November 18)
Luke Temple - A Hand Through the Cellar Door (November 11)
The Men - Devil Music (November 11)
Miles Mosley - UPRISING (January 27)
Peter Silberman - Transcendless Summer (out now)
Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl (November 25)
Pretenders - Alone (October 21)
The Time Is Now (October 7)

Thursday, September 15, 2016

New Music Friday - July 29, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



NAO - For All We Know

NAO is Neo Joshua, a soul and funk singer hailing from Nottingham, England. She studied jazz in college before going on to provide vocals for Kwabs and Jarvis Cocker. She also served as a member of The Boxettes, an a cappella group. She began her solo career in 2014, releasing an EP that neared the top of the British charts. For All We Know is her first full solo record.


Watch: "Fool to Love"
Watch: "Bad Blood"




Trim - 1-800 DINOSAUR Presents Trim

The weirdly-named 1-800 DINOSAUR is James Blake's own music label. Though he specializes in electronic-tinged R&B, he's shown a great deal of love for hip-hop, both with his collaborations and the artists he signs to his label. Trim is one of his latest signees. Trim's been in the British rap game for over a decade, but this is his first proper album following a large number of mixtapes and EPs.

Watch: "RPG"
Listen: "Before I Lied"




True Neutral Crew - Soft Rules

Daveed Diggs is a busy man. He just ended his run as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson on Hamilton, released a new album and EP with Clipping., and somehow found the time to also release this new album with his other group, True Neutral Crew. This is the first album with this band, following EPs released in 2013 and 2014.

Listen: "Modern Art"
Listen: "More a Kid"


Other Full-Length Releases



Owen - The King of Whys

Listen: "Settled Down"
Listen: "Lost"


Steve Adamyk Band - Graceland

Listen: "Through My Fingers"
Listen: "Carry On"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Brian Wilson - Brian Wilson and Friends

Listen: "Fun Fun Fun"
Listen: "Our Prayer"


Father John Misty - "Real Love Baby"

Listen: "Real Love Baby"


The Land: Music from the Motion Picture

Listen: Nas & Erykah Badu - "This Bitter Land"
Listen: Pusha T & Jeremih - "Paid"


Massive Attack - "The Spoils"/"Come Near Me"

Watch: "Come Near Me" (featuring Ghostpoet)
Watch: "The Spoils" (featuring Hope Sandoval)


New Order - "People on the High Line"

Listen: "People on the High Line"


R.E.M. - Dead Letter Office Reissue

Watch: "Wolves, Lower"
Listen: "Gardening at Night"


R.E.M. - Eponymous Reissue

Listen: "Radio Free Europe"
Listen: "Driver 8"


R.E.M. - Life’s Rich Pageant Reissue

Listen: "I Believe"
Listen: "Begin the Begin"


Ramones - Ramones Deluxe Edition Reissue

Listen: "Blitzkrieg Bop"
Listen: "Beat on the Brat"


Star Trek Beyond: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Watch: Rihanna - "Sledgehammer"


Titus Andronicus - S+@dium Rock: Five Nights at the Opera

Watch: "69 Stones"

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending September 10)

We're all moved into the new house and have our entertainment room set up! That means I can now listen to my records on probably the best sound system I've ever had direct access to. It also means I'm back to buying new music. There are a lot of exciting on my shopping list, head over to my Upcoming Releases page to check them out!

This week, Sylvan Esso announced a new single, "Radio."

stereogum.com

Sylvan Esso, made up of Amelia Meath of Mountain Man and Nick Sanborn of Megafaun and Made of Oak, joined forces three years ago and released one of my favorite albums of 2014. Though they both came from folk-leaning bands, their music together has been anything but. It combines the electronic music that Nick employs as Made of Oak with Amelia's versatile vocals.

A follow-up album to Sylvan Esso is anticipated, though nothing's been announced yet. Hopefully, this track is a prelude to that sophomore record!



The 12" single is set to be released on November 18.

Also announced this week:

Kacey Musgraves - A Very Kacey Christmas (October 28)
Marissa Nadler - Bury Your Name (September 28)
Split Single - Metal Frames (November 18)
Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins Reissue (November 11)
Yoko Ono - Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions Reissue (November 11)
Yoko Ono - Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band Reissue (November 11)

New Music Friday - July 22, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Full-Length Releases



The Amazing - Ambulance

Watch: "Ambulance"
Listen: "Floating"


I.L.y. - Scum with Boundaries

Listen: "Disastrous Looks"
Listen: "Doing Thing That Artists Do"


Lil Durk - Lil Durk 2X

Watch: "LilDurk2X"
Watch: "True"


MSTRKRFT - Operator

Watch: "Runaway"
Watch: "Party Line"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Alex Bleeker - Bet Your Ass

Listen: "Bet Your Ass"
Listen: "Mesa Blue"


Fleetwood Mac - Mirage Deluxe Reissue

Watch: "Hold Me"
Listen: "Can’t Go Back"


The Saxophones - If You’re on the Water

Listen: "If You’re on the Water"
Listen: "Best Boy"