Sunday, October 30, 2016

New Music Friday - September 23, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



Devendra Banhart - Ape in Pink Marble

I remember the days when all that I knew about Devendra Banhart was that he was dating Natalie Portman, then I discovered his music. I was already into the genre termed "freak folk" at the time, but loved the elements of Latin music that he brought in. On his ninth album, he softens that sound bit, but all of the elements are still there. His style benefits from an understated approach, and he's delivered another amazing record.

Listen: "Middle Names"
Listen: "Saturday Night"




Flock of Dimes - If You See Me, Say Yes

Flock of Dimes is only one of Jenn Wasner's multiple music projects. In addition to Wye Oak, she's released music as Dungeonesse and Flock of Dimes. The latter started in 2012 with a series of singles. The project was silent in the interim, Wasner instead released more music with Wye Oak and an album as Dungeonesse. If You See Me, Say Yes is her first full album under the Flock of Dimes project, and the first collection of music released under the name since the 2012 run of singles.

Watch: "Semaphore"
Listen: "Everything Is Happening Today"




Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam - I Had a Dream That You Were Mine

This is like a combination made in heaven; members of two of my favorite bands, The Walkmen and Vampire Weekend, together for a collaborative album. With The Walkmen on an indefinite hiatus and Rostam no longer a permanent member of Vampire Weekend, a bit of new music from the pair is a most welcome listen. Yes...it's been on repeat since it came out.

Watch: "A 1000 Times"
Listen: "In a Black Out"




Warpaint - Heads Up

One could be forgiven for not expecting a new album from this band following their 2014 release of their self-titled sophomore album. In the time since, multiple members embarked on side projects; contributions to other artists, a new supergroup, and a solo album. But they came right back with this third record, citing the experiences as giving them a new perspective when writing the record. It pays off, with a third album that's just as incredible as the two that preceded.

Watch: "New Song"
Listen: "White Out"


Other Full-Length Releases



Beach Slang - A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings

Watch: "Atom Bomb"
Watch: "Punks in a Disco Bar"


Boxed In - Melt

Watch: "Jist"
Watch: "Forget"


Giraffe Tongue Orchestra - Broken Lines

Watch: "Crucifixion"
Watch: "Blood Moon"


How to Dress Well - Care

Watch: "Can’t You Tell"
Watch: "What’s Up"


LVL UP - Return to Love

Watch: "The Closing Door"
Listen: "Hidden Driver"


Merchandise - A Corpse Wired for Sound

Watch: "Lonesome Sound"
Watch: "End of the Week"


Mick Jenkins - The Healing Component

Watch: "Drowning" (featuring BADBADNOTGOOD)
Listen: "Fall Through"


Tim Presley - The WiNK

Watch: "Long Bow"
Listen: "The Wink"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Damaged Bug - "Soggy Terminus"

Listen: "Soggy Terminus"


David Bowie - Who Can I Be Now?




Dirty Projectors - "Keep Your Name"

Watch: "Keep Your Name"


Trolls (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Watch: Justin Timberlake - "Can't Stop the Feeling"
Listen: Anna Kendrick & Justin Timberlake - "True Colors"


Ty Dolla $ign - Campaign

Watch: "Zaddy"
Watch: "??? (Where)"

New Music Friday - September 16, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



AlunaGeorge - I Remember

AlunaGeorge have always been a band built on collaborations. Even before their debut album, 2013's Body Music, they had worked with Disclosure on the track "White Noise." On their sophomore album, they bring in another young production powerhouse in Flume, and rappers Leikeli47 and Popcaan, along with many others.

Watch: "Mean What I Mean"
Watch: "I Remember"




Cymbals Eat Guitars - Pretty Years

Thanks to gradual line-up changes since the band formed in 2007; only one original member of Cymbals Eat Guitars remains on this record, frontman Joe D'Agostino. It's clear that D'Agostino was the primary arbiter of the band's sound, the album is a sensible continuation of their style. The album also sees the band working with another influential producer. After two records with John Agnello, they join up with John Congleton for the first time.

Watch: "4th of July, Philadelphia (SANDY)"
Listen: "Wish"




Kishi Bashi - Sonderlust

Kishi Bashi is Kaoru Ishibashi, a violinist and songwriter who has toured and played with Regina Spektor, Sondre Lerche, and of Montreal. He released his debut album, 151a, in 2012, following it up with Lighght two years later. He seems to be holding to a two-year album release schedule. He gets some help from of Montreal in return on this one, Kevin Barnes provides bass on a track.

Watch: "Hey Big Star"
Watch: "Say Yeah"




Mykki Blanco - Mykki

Hip-hop is often a hyper-masculine industry, but there are a few artists seeking to change that view of the genre. Mykki Blanco is one of them. He has described himself as transgendered and multi-gendered, and often touches on these subjects in his music. He's claimed that he may not continue his music career and would be interested in a career as an investigative reporter focusing on LGBT issues. If he does, it would not be before releasing this debut album.

Watch: "High School Never Ends"
Listen: "The Plug Won’t"




A Tribe Called Red - We Are the Halluci Nation

A Tribe Called Red is a group of Canadian DJs, all members of First Nations tribes. Their name is an homage to the hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest and, similar to that group, they tackle issues that impact their community. We Are the Halluci Nation is their third album and features contributions from Tanya Tagaq, Saul Williams, and Yasiin Bey.

Watch: "R.E.D."
Watch: "We Are the Halluci Nation"


Other Full-Length Releases



Chivalrous Amoekans - Fanatic Voyage




Dawes - We’re All Gonna Die

Watch: "When the Tequila Runs Out"
Watch: "From a Window Seat"


Deap Vally - Femejism

Watch: "Gonnawanna"
Watch: "Smile More"


El Perro del Mar - KoKoro

Watch: "In the Woods"
Watch: "Breadandbutter"


Hush Moss - It Takes a Lot

Watch: "It Takes a Lot"
Watch: "Slowly Disappear"


Kool Keith - Feature Magnetic

Watch: "World Wide Lamper" (featuring B.a.R.S. Murre & Dirt Nasty)
Watch: "Super Hero" (featuring MF DOOM)


Mac Miller - The Divine Feminine

Watch: "Dang!" (featuring Anderson .Paak)
Watch: "We" (featuring CeeLo Green)


Preoccupations - Preoccupations

Watch: "Degraded"
Watch: "Anxiety"


Sin Fang - Spaceland

Watch: "Candyland" (featuring Jónsi)
Listen: "Snow-blind"


Touché Amoré - Stage Four

Watch: "Rapture"
Watch: "Skyscraper" (featuring Julien Baker)


Trentemøller - Fixion

Watch: "River in Me"
Watch: "Redefine"


Usher - Hard II Love

Watch: "Rivals" (featuring Future)
Listen: "Missin U"


Willie Nelson - For the Love: A Tribute to Ray Price

Watch: "Heartaches By the Number"
Listen: "Don’t You Ever Get Tired of Hurting Me"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Amanda Palmer & Jason Webley - Sketches for the Musical JIB

Listen: "The Wolf Song"
Listen: "The Boat Song"


Bright Eyes - The Studio Albums 2000-2011




Communions - "Don’t Hold Anything Back"/"Eternity"

Listen: "Don’t Hold Anything Back"


Led Zeppelin - The Complete BBC Sessions

Watch: "What Is and What Should Never Be"


The Luyas - Says You

Watch: "Says You"
Watch: "Engineers"


MADEIRA - Bad Humors EP

Watch: "Manipulator"
Listen: "Come on Thru"


Peter Silberman - Transcendless Summer 
Listen: "ii"


Summer Moon - "With You Tonight"

Watch: "With You Tonight"

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending October 29)

Well, the saga is perhaps over and Bob Dylan has officially acknowledged his Nobel prize! He claims that he does want to attend the ceremony and will "if possible." Maybe the experience will influence some new work from the iconic artist; keep an eye out on my Upcoming Releases page to see if that happens!

This week, a member of the recently reformed Wolf Parade, Dante DeCaro, announced his first solo release, Kill Your Boyfriend.

exclaim.ca

Prior to his work with Wolf Parade, DeCaro was a member of Hot Hot Heat, which he left in 2005 when he joined Wolf Parade as guitarist. During his time with Wolf Parade, he also fronted Johnny and the Moon. He recorded two albums with Wolf Parade (he was not yet around for Apologies to the Queen Mary) and one with Johnny and the Moon.

He is hardly the only member of Wolf Parade to engage in side projects; Spencer Krug has Moonface, Dan Boeckner had Handsome Furs and is a member of Divine Fits and Operators. Of the members with side projects, though, he's the only that remained silent during the band's hiatus from 2011 to 2016. He returned with the rest of the band for their self-titled return EP earlier this year and their subsequent tour.

With the EP announcement on Wednesday, DeCaro also released a new song, "Love Like Thieves."



Also announced this week:

2 Chainz - Hibachi for Lunch (out now)
A$AP Mob - Cozy Tapes Vol. 1: Friends (October 31)
Allison Crutchfield - Tourist in This Town (January 27)
The Avalanches - Since I Left You Reissue (January 27)
Barbagallo - Grand Chien (October 28)
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife Box Set (December 9)
Drake - More Life (December)
Frankie Cosmos - Covers (November 13)
Hand Habits - Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void) (February 10)
Lady Lamb - Tender Warriors Club (December 1)
Meek Mill - DC4 (out now)
Minor Victories - Orchestral Variations (November 25)

Sunday, October 23, 2016

New Music Friday - September 9, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



Allah-Las - Calico Review

I'm not too big into music radio, but with the benefit of satellite radio in a rental car a couple of years ago, I first heard this band on an indie rock station. I know I like a lot of music, but there's not much I like immediately, and I liked this band the moment that I first heard them. Calico Review is their third album and does not see them drifting far from the sound they established on their first two records.

Watch: "Could Be You"
Watch: "Famous Phone Figure"




Clipping. - Splendor & Misery

Daveed Diggs has become a very busy and in-demand man. In addition to all of his projects, he looks to be adding "showrunner" to his resume, developing a pilot for ABC about a rapping mayor. Still, he sticks by his first musical venture. Splendor & Misery is the second album from Clipping., which also includes members William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes. He has also not compromised on the experimental sound of the band (and, of course, the incredible music videos)!

Watch: "Air ‘Em Out"
Watch: "Baby Don’t Sleep"




M.I.A. - AIM

This album has had a long promotion cycle behind it. The first track that would appear on the record, "The New International Sound (Pt. 2)," was released in June of last year. Overall, in 2015, she would release three tracks; the assumed name of the album was Matahdatah and no specific release date had been set. She released a few more songs this year, before providing more album details this summer, including its final name. It might be her last record, but if it is, she's going out on a high note.

Watch: "Go Off"
Watch: "Borders"




Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree

It's been a difficult couple of years for Nick Cave, with the loss of his teenage son, Arthur. On his latest record, the artist, who usually displays a stoic swagger, delves into the impact of his son's death on him and his family. The recording of the album was captured in the documentary, One More Time with Feeling, also released earlier this year.

Watch: "Jesus Alone"
Watch: "I Need You"




Okkervil River - Away

Okkervil River's latest record, their eighth, was also partially inspired by death; in this case, it was the death of frontman Will Sheff's grandfather. The period of time since The Silver Gymnasium also marked changes in the band's backing line-up, which played into the making of the record. The album features contributions from yMusic, Marissa Nadler, and Jonathan Meiburg (who used to be a full member).

Watch: "The Industry"
Watch: "Okkervil River R.I.P."


Other Full-Length Releases



D.A.R.K. - Science Agrees

Listen: "Curvy"
Listen: "Loosen the Noose"


Drugdealer - The End of Comedy

Watch: "Suddenly" (featuring Weyes Blood)
Watch: "Easy to Forget" (featuring Ariel Pink)


Grouplove - Big Mess

Watch: "Traumatized"
Watch: "Welcome to Your Life"


The Head and the Heart - Signs of Light

Watch: "All We Ever Knew"
Listen: "Library Magic"


Ice Choir - Design in Rhythm

Listen: "Unprepared"
Listen: "Variant"


inc. no world - As Light as Light

Watch: "Hymn 1"
Listen: "Waters of You"


July Talk - Touch

Watch: "Push + Pull"
Listen: "Touch"


Local Natives - Sunlit Youth

Watch: "Coins"
Watch: "Fountain of Youth"


Nots - Cosmetic

Listen: "Entertain Me"
Listen: "No Novelty"


Omar Rodriguez-López - Umbrella Mistress

Listen: "Tell Me What I Did Wrong"
Listen: "Umbrella Mistress"


Psychic Twin - Strange Diary

Watch: "Lose Myself"
Listen: "Hopeless"


Robert Pollard - Not in My Airforce

Listen: "Get Under It"
Listen: "Maggie Turn to Flies"


Teenage Fanclub - Here

Watch: "I’m in Love"
Watch: "Thin Air"


Wilco - Schmilco

Listen: "Someone to Lose"
Listen: "If Ever I Was a Child"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Cold Cave - The Idea of Love

Watch: "The Idea of Love"


David Nagler & Friends - Carl Sandburg’s Chicago Poems

Listen: Jeff Tweedy - "Theme in Yellow"


Gang of Four - Live…In the Moment

Watch: "Love Like Anthrax"


Jack White - Jack White Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016

Watch: "City Lights"
Listen: "Carolina Drama" (Acoustic Mix)


New Order - Singles
Listen: "Sub-Culture" (Edit)


The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones in Mono




Transpecos: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Listen: Aaron & Bryce Dessner - "Final Theme"
Listen: Aaron & Bryce Dessner - "Brothers"


The Verve - A Northern Soul Box Set

Watch: "History"
Listen: "A Northern Soul"


The Verve - A Storm in Heaven Box Set

Watch: "Slide Away"
Listen: "Star Sail"