Saturday, April 20, 2019

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending April 20, 2019)

fka twigs recently announced a 10-city tour. While, of course, none of the dates are anywhere near me, a tour is a decent indication that new music is on the way. It's been five years since her incredible LP1. If a new album is announced, look for it on my Upcoming Releases page!

This week, Beyoncé announced and released a live album, Homecoming.

pitchfork.com

Homecoming was recorded at Coachella, where Beyoncé put on a massive set as the festival's 2018 headliner. Her set featured a marching band, step team, her Destiny's Child bandmates, and her sister Solange.

Netflix recently dropped a documentary covering her Coachella performance, also called Homecoming. That is available to stream now if you have Netflix (or access to someone's account).



Homecoming is out now.

Also announced this week:

Flying Lotus - Flamagra (May 24)
Kevin Abstract - Ghettobaby (out now)
Matt Martians - The Last Party (April 26)
ScHoolboy Q - CrasH Talk (April 26)
The Soft Cavalry - The Soft Cavalry (July 5)
YG - 4REAL 4REAL (May 3)

New Music Friday - April 5, 2019

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



Fémina - Perlas & Conchas

Fémina are a hip hop and folk trio from Argentina. They got their start, and their name, with the realization that there wasn't much female representation in their music scene. Their third album includes a feature from Iggy Pop.

Watch: "Resist" (featuring Iggy Pop)
Watch: "Plumas"




Ioanna Gika - Thalassa

Ioanna Gika is the frontwoman for the indie band Io echo, who have been releasing music since 2010. This is her first record as a solo artist.

Watch: "Out of Focus"
Watch: "Roseate"




Khalid - Free Spirit

Khalid came onto the scene at 18 years old with the song "Location." He released his debut album, American Teen, a year later in 2017. He's already had several hits, and looks to be continuing that success on this record, with lead single "Talk" performing well on the charts.

Watch: "Talk"
Watch: "Free Spirit"




Priests - The Seduction of Kansas

Priests is a post-punk band out of DC who released their debut album, Nothing Feels Natural, in 2017. The recorded their follow-up with celebrated  produced John Congleton.

Watch: "Good Time Charlie"
Watch: "Jesus’ Son"




Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

Titanic Rising is the fourth album from this artist, also known as Natalie Mering, and follows her spectacular 2016 album, Front Row Seat to Earth. Her baroque pop leanings are on full display on this record, and in the self-directed video for "Everyday."

Watch: "Andromeda"
Watch: "Everyday"


Other Full-Length Releases



Charlotte Cornfield - The Shape of Your Name

Watch: "Andrew"
Watch: "Silver Civic"


Control Top - Covert Contracts

Listen: "Chain Reaction"
Listen: "Covert Contracts"


Dessner-Labèque - El Chan

Listen: "3. Four Winds"
Listen: "Haven"


The Drums - Brutalism

Watch: "Body Chemistry"
Listen: "626 Bedford Avenue"


Guided By Voices - Warp and Woof

Listen: "Angelic Weirdness"
Listen: "Cohesive Scoops"


Patio - Essentials

Listen: "Boy Scout"
Listen: "New Reality"


PUP - Morbid Stuff

Watch: "Kids"
Watch: "Free at Last"


Ratso - Stubborn Heart

Listen: "Our Lady of Light" (featuring Nick Cave)
Listen: "I Want Everything" (featuring Yasmine Hamdan)


Rose Elinor Dougall - A New Illusion

Listen: "First Sign"
Listen: "Take What You Can Get"


Rozi Plain - What a Boost

Watch: "Symmetrical"
Watch: "Conditions"


Shana Cleveland - Night of the Worm Moon

Watch: "Face of the Sun"
Watch: "Don’t Let Me Sleep"


Sonny & The Sunsets - Hairdressers from Heaven

Watch: "Hairdressers from Heaven"
Listen: "A Bigger Picture"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



High Life (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Watch: tindersticks - "Willow" (featuring Robert Pattison)
Listen: stuart A. staples - "The Yellow Light"


New Order - Movement Definitive Edition

Listen: "Mesh" (Cargo Demo)
Listen: "Homage" (Western Works Demo)


Partner - Saturday the 14th

Watch: "Long & McQuade"
Listen: "Les ailes d'un ange"

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending April 13, 2019)

The Coachella music festival is currently going on and, as part of his set, Childish Gambino released a new short film, Guava Island, filmed with Rihanna. Maybe we can also get a collaborative album from the two... that would be pretty awesome. On the off-chance something like that ever happens, be sure to look for it over on my Upcoming Releases page!

A couple of weeks ago, The Raconteurs announced their third album, Help Us Stranger.

stereogum.com

The Raconteurs are one of Jack White's many non-White Stripes projects. He is joined in the band by The Greenhornes' Patrick Keeler (also of The Afghan Whigs) and Jack Lawrence, and Brendan Benson, who is primarily known as a solo artist.

White fairly reliably cycles through his various projects (save for The White Stripes) when releasing new material. We got a solo record in 2014, an album from The Dead Weather in 2015, and another solo record in 2018.

It's The Raconteurs turn now, with a new record announced on April 2. A few songs from the record have already been released, including a cover of Donovan's "Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)."



Help Us Stranger is set for release on June 21.

Also recently announced:

Aurora - A Different Kind of Human (June 7)
Carly Rae Jepsen - Dedicated (May 17)
Charlie Cunningham - Permanent Way (June 7)
Crumb - Jinx (June 14)
Hayden Thorpe - Diviner (May 24)
Holy Ghost! - Work (June 21)
Hot Chip - A Bathful of Ecstasy (June 21)
Julia Shapiro - Perfect Version (June 14)
The Lumineers - III (September 13)
Mark Ronson - Late Night Feelings (June 21)
Nearly Oratorio - A Comforting Fact (May 24)
Olden Yolk - Living Theatre (May 17)
Omar Apollo - Friends (out now)
Operators - Radiant Dawn (May)
Palehound - Black Friday (June 7)
Thee Oh Sees - Thee Hounds of Foggy Nation Reissue (May 24)
Titus Andronicus - An Obelisk (June 21)
Yeasayer - Erotic Returns (June 7)
Yohuna - Mirroring (June 7)
Zomby - Vanta (May 17)

Monday, April 1, 2019

New Music Friday - March 29, 2019

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases



Billie Eilish - When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

She may be 17, but Eilish has already been making a big splash over the past couple of years. She released her debut, don't smile at me, in 2017, which topped the U.S. alternative chart. It's early to say, but her follow-up may easily outperform on the charts, having already broken records to pre-adds on Apple Music!

Watch: "bury a friend"
Watch: "when the party's over"




Brutus - Nest

The pre-released singles for this album hit me hard and started a weeks-long obsession with this post-metal band from Belgium. I've spent that time listening to their debut, Burst, and playing "War" on repeat. I am beyond excited for this follow-up release and see it as an early contender for one of my favorites for the year!

Watch: "Cemetery"
Listen: "War"




Lion Babe - Cosmic Wind

Cosmic Wind is the second album from this duo of Jillian Hervey and Lucas Goodman, following 2016's Begin. This sees them parting ways with Interscope Records, with a self-released album featuring Leikeli47, Bilal, and Raekwon.

Watch: "The Wave" (featuring Leikeli47)
Watch: "Western World" (featuring Raekwon)




Marvin Gaye - You’re the Man

You're the Man is Gaye's first posthumous album since 1997's Vulnerable and was initially intended as a follow-up to What's Going On, though many of the songs have seen release on prior compilations. The album also includes a few new mixes of Gaye's songs, courtesy of Salaam Remi.

Listen: "You Are That Special One"
Listen: "Woman of the World"




Mdou Moctar - Ilana

Mdou Moctar is a Tuareg singer from Niger. He, along with Bombino and Tinariwen, has been an instrumental artist in the combination of traditional Tuareg music with modern pop and rock. He began his career in 2008 with Anar. Ilana is his fifth album.

Listen: "Kamane Tarhanin"
Listen: "Wiwasharnine"


Other Full-Length Releases



Beth Gibbons & the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra - Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)

Listen: "I. Lento—Sostenuto tranquillo ma cantabila"


C Duncan - Health

Watch: "Impossible"
Watch: "Health"


Chris Cohen - Chris Cohen

Watch: "Green Eyes"
Watch: "Sweet William"


Fennesz - Agora

Listen: "In My Room"
Listen: "We Trigger the Sun"


Good Cop Bad Cap - Good Cop Bad Cop

Watch: "Silk & Leather"
Listen: "When You’re Not Winning"


K Á R Y Y N - The Quanta Series

Listen: "EVER"
Listen: "YAJNA"


Laura Stevenson - The Big Freeze

Listen: "Dermatillomania"
Listen: "Living Room, NY"


Phil Cook - As Far As I Can See

Listen: "As Far As I Can See"
Listen: "If I Had a Needle and Thread"


Real Life Buildings - Ohio and West

Listen: "Bitter"
Listen: "An Expectation"


Quelle Chris - Guns

Watch: "Obamacare"
Listen: "Guns"


Show Me the Body - Dog Whistle

Watch: "Camp Orchestra"
Watch: "Madonna Rocket"


UNKLE - THE ROAD: PART II / LOST HIGHWAY

Watch: "Ar.Mour" (featuring Elliott Power, & Miink)
Listen: "The Other Side" (featuring Tom Smith)


White Denim - Side Effects

Listen: "Shanalala"
Listen: "NY Money"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.



Hanna: Season 1 - Music from the Amazon Original Series

Listen: Karen O - "Bullet with Butterfly Wings"
Listen: Geoff Barrow - "The Ghost of Her Mother"


John Frusciante - The Empyrean Reissue

Listen: "Unreachable"
Listen: "Central"


Keith Richards - Talk Is Cheap Reissue

Watch: "My Babe"
Watch: "Take It So Hard"


Liela Moss - A Little Bit of Rain

Listen: "I Can’t Stand the Rain"
Listen: "Here Comes the Rain Again"


Ty Segall - Deforming Lobes

Listen: "Love Fuzz"