New Music Friday - April 12, 2024

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

	English Teacher - This Could Be Texas Watch: "Albert Road" Watch: "Nearly Daffodils"
	Leyla McCalla - Sun Without the Heat Watch: "Sun Without the Heat" Watch: "Scaled to Survive"
	Nia Archives - Silence Is Loud Watch: "Unfinished Business" Watch: "Silence Is Loud"
	Shabaka - Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace Watch: "I’ll Do Whatever You Want" (featuring Floating Points & Laraaji) Watch: "End of Innocence"

Other Full-Length Releases

Bad Bad Hats - Bad Bad Hats Watch: "TPA" Watch: "My Heart Your Heart"

girl in red - I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! Watch: "Too Much" Watch: "DOING IT AGAIN BABY"

Maggie Rogers - Don’t Forget Me Watch: "Don’t Forget Me" Listen: "It Was Coming All Along"

METZ - Up on Gravity Hill Watch: "99" Watch: "Light Your Way Home"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

FACS - "North America Endless"/"Take Me to Your Heart" Watch: "North America Endless" Listen: "Take Me to Your Heart"

My Black Country - The Songs of Alice Randall Watch: Rhiannon Giddens - "The Ballad of Sally Anne" Watch: Adia Victoria - "Went for a Ride"

The Ophelias - Ribbon Watch: "Soft and Tame" Watch: "Black Ribbon"

Patrick Shiroishi - "A Sparrow in a Swallow’s Nest"/"The Light Is Not Afraid" Watch: "The Light Is Not Afraid" Listen: "A Sparrow in a Swallow’s Nest"

Bad Bad Hats & Hippo Campus in Covington

When: November 17, 2015
Where: Madison Live in Covington, KY

I've been excited about the St. Paul-based band Hippo Campus ever since I saw them on the most recent season of A.V. Club's Undercover; they masterfully performed ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down." I checked out their own work and was equally impressed by what they were able to write and arrange for themselves. They're only two EPs into their career, but have already produced some amazing tunes.

They've been touring this year to support the release of both EPs and stopped by the Cincinnati area to play at Madison Live, a new venue established by the owners of Madison Theatre in Covington, KY. It's right next door to the other venue, but serves smaller crowds.

I got a pleasant pseudo-surprise when we got to the venue that night; the opening band was another young group from Minnesota who I had been impressed by lately, Bad Bad Hats (I had forgotten that they were touring together until just then). The band played primarily from their debut album, Psychic Reader, released earlier this year. Their simple, sometimes humorous, indie pop sound was punctuated by a sort of absurd, dry humor from lead singer and guitarist Kerry Alexander.

After a great first set, Hippo Campus came on. Their style was a lot more upbeat (think Vampire Weekend, JR JR, or They Might Be Giants), and their lead singer, Jake Luppen, had a goofier onstage attitude to match. They're an impressive band, especially for a group so young (they graduated high school two years ago). It turned out to be a interesting show to attend; the venue and crowd were fairly small, but the fans were really into the band and some of the girls in the audience were definitely swooning over the boys (though I must admit, Jake was pretty cute).

I'm starting to realize that a lot of the bands that I'm getting into are made up of members much younger than me, which can be a bit strange. But it is exciting to see such an amazing amount of talent coming from those artists, these two bands are just the tip of the iceberg!

Mini setlist:

Bad Bad Hats - "Super America"
Bad Bad Hats - "Things We Never Say"
Hippo Campus - "South"
Hippo Campus - "Violet"

New Music Friday - June 17, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

The bird and the bee - Recreational Love The bird and the bee were a beloved band before the release of 2010's Interpreting the Masters, but it was that collection of reinterpreted Hall & Oates tracks that sealed my love for them. It's been a long wait between records from the band, who were dropped from their label and started families in the years since. This is a very welcome return! Watch: "Will You Dance" Watch: "Los Angeles"

Iron and Wine & Ben Bridwell - Sing into My Mouth I didn't know this before this album was announced, but Sam Beam (aka Iron & Wine) and Ben Bridwell (lead singer for Band of Horses) grew up together in central South Carolina. Though they've gone in slightly different musical directions, they were able to find time to get into the studio together to record this album of covers. The record collects songs originally by Talking Heads, El Perro del Mar, and Spiritualized, just to name a few. Listen: "Bullet Proof Soul" Listen: "No Way Out of Here"

Tame Impala - Currents Tame Impala had a lot of work to do to follow up on 2012's Lonerism (it was a favorite of mine and one of the best reviewed records that year). In a move that has the potential to alienate some fans, they're moving away from their psychedelic rock sound in order to incorporate synthpop and R&B. Frontman and songwriter Kevin Parker expressed a desire for the album to be a dance floor album, despite the personal nature of the songs' lyrics. Watch: "Cause I’m a Man" Watch: "Let It Happen"

Wilco - Star Wars Dad rock, sci-fi movies, flowers and cats...it's a combination that makes perfect sense, I guess. In a move that had previously been the domain of hip hop and R&B stars, Wilco surprise-released this album in mid-July for free. In explaining the interesting choice for the album's title, frontman Jeff Tweedy stated that he was not actually a fan of the films; he just liked how the words looked juxtaposed against the image of the cat. Listen: "Random Name Generator" Listen: "You Satellite"

Other Full-Length Releases

Bad Bad Hats - Psychic Reader Watch: "Midway" Listen: "Fight Song"

Camera Shy - Camera Shy Watch: "Your Only One" Listen: "Colors Radiate"

The Chemical Brothers - Born in the Echoes Watch: "Go" (featuring Q-Tip) Watch: "Sometimes I Feel So Deserted"

Future - Dirty Sprites 2 Watch: "Where Ya At" (featuring Drake) Watch: "Kno the Meaning"

MS MR - How Does It Feel Watch: "Wrong Victory" Watch: "Painted"

Ratatat - Magnifique Watch: "Intro" Watch: "Cream on Chrome"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Continental Drifters - Drifted: In the Beginning & Beyond Listen: "The Mississippi" (Early Version) Listen: "Side Steppin' the Fire"

Disclosure - "Holding On" Watch: "Holding On" (featuring Gregory Porter)

Wavves - "Way Too Much" Listen: "Way Too Much"