New Music Friday - March 23, 2018

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Alice Bag - Blueprint Bag is a titan of the punk scene, sitting at the forefront of the riot grrl movement. She founded Bags in 1977, and was involved with a number of bands over the following decades. She released her first solo record, Alice Bag, in 2016. Watch: "77" Watch: "Se Cree Joven"

Courtney Marie Andrews - May Your Kindness Remain Andrews cites Aretha Franklin as the figure who helped her teach herself to sing, though she does not cite the legendary performer or her contemporaries as influences. Her style combines folk and country, with a throwback feel to the 70s. There's a bit of soul and gospel thrown in there, too. Watch: "Kindness of Strangers" Listen: "I’ve Hurt Worse"

Erika Wennerstrom - Sweet Unknown Erika Wennerstrom is the frontwoman for Heartless Bastards. The band is still together, but she is breaking out with a solo career for the first time in the band's 15-year span. We had the chance to see her perform when she returned home (the band is from Cincinnati) for a show. She was amazing and super nice; I am excited for this first solo outing! Watch: "Extraordinary Love" Watch: "Twisted Highway"

The Messthetics - The Messthetics Fugazi were a post-hardcore band out of DC who were one of the earliest proponents of the DIY sound. They've been on hiatus since 2003, but two members, Brendan Canty and Joe Lally, have now formed this new band. This is the first project for both since their other band's hiatus and they are currently touring behind this debut album. Listen: "Quantum Path" Listen: "Serpent Tongue"

Other Full-Length Releases

Bonny Doon - Longwave Watch: "Long Wave" Listen: "I Am Here (I Am Alive)"

Cavern of Anti-Matter - Hormone Lemonade Watch: "Phase Modulation Shuffle" Watch: "Make Out, Fade Out"

George Ezra - Staying at Tamara’s Watch: "Saviour" (featuring First Aid Kit) Watch: "Paradise"

Guided By Voices - Space Gun Watch: "Space Gun" Listen: "Flight Advantage"

Jack White - Boarding House Reach Watch: "Connected By Love" Watch: "Over and Over and Over"

Field Report - Summertime Songs Listen: "Never Look Back" Listen: "Summertime"

Preoccupations - New Material Watch: "Disarray" Watch: "Antidote"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin Reissue Watch: "No One’s Gonna Love You" Watch: "Is There a Ghost"

Ben Frost - All That You Love Will Be Eviscerated Watch: "All That You Love Will Be Eviscerated" Listen: "Self-Portrait in Aquamarine"

Bob Dylan - Folksinger’s Choice Radio Broadcast Listen: "Death of Emmett Till" Listen: "Lonesome Whistle Blues"

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention - Live…San Francisco

Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won Remastered Listen: "Immigrant Song" (Live) Listen: "Whole Lotta Love " (Live)

Mark Pritchard - The Four Worlds Watch: "Come Get Us" (featuring Gregory Whitehead) Watch: "Glasspops"

Miles Davis & John Coltrane - The Final Tour

Tom Waits - Blue Valentine Reissue Listen: "Red Shoes By the Drugstore" Listen: "Blue Valentines"

Tom Waits - Closing Time Reissue Listen: "Closing Time" Listen: "Lonely"

Tom Waits - Foreign Affairs Reissue Listen: "Foreign Affair" Listen: "Barber Shop"

Tom Waits - The Heart of Saturday Night Reissue Listen: "(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night" Listen: "New Coat of Paint"

Tom Waits - Heartattack and Vine Reissue Listen: "Heartattack and Vine" Listen: "Jersey Girl"

Tom Waits - Nighthawks at the Diner Reissue Listen: "Eggs and Sausage" Listen: "Better Off without a Wife"

Tom Waits - Small Change Reissue Listen: "Small Change (Got Rained on with His Own .38)" Listen: "The Piano Has Been Drinking"

New Music Friday - June 10, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Amy Klein - Fire Amy Klein was a member of Titus Andronicus, and even took the name Amy Andronicus, from 2009 to 2011. Despite leaving, in part, to work on her MFA, she continued her music career, releasing Reasons to Live in 2013 with the band Hilly Eye, as well as performing with an forming an additional three bands. Through all of these projects, she had never recorded under her own name. This is her debut album performing as herself. Watch: "Valerie" Watch: "Fire"

Fitz and the Tantrums - Fitz and the Tantrums With each album, Fitz & the Tantrums have adopted a more modern sound. They started with 60s-inspired soul on their 2011 debut, Pickin' Up the Pieces, and moved to an 80s-tinged sound in 2013 with More Than Just a Dream. On their third album, they're fully within the modern age. I still love the Motor City sound most of all, but can appreciate that a band needs to avoid being too pigeon-holed into one style. Watch: "HandClap" Watch: "Roll Up"

Garbage - Strange Little Birds After more than 20 (almost-continuous) years together, Garbage still look and sound amazing. Strange Little Birds is their second album since returning from hiatus in 2011 and their second under their own label, Stunvolume. The album has been described by some band members as a move back toward their debut, and by others as a departure from their previous work. Watch: "Even Though Our Love Is Doomed" Watch: "Empty"

Oyinda - Restless Minds Oyinda is a British singer, born to Nigerian parents, and currently based in New York City. Combining R&B, electronic, and shoegaze sounds, she's made a pretty big splash to her short career so far. After a couple of years of hype built on her early singles, she is releasing her debut record. Watch: "Never Enough" Listen: "Flatline"

Wye Oak - Tween Surprise records are par for the course these days, and even independent acts are not immune to the practice. Wye Oak's fifth album pulls together tracks initially written for their previous two records, 2011's Civilian and 2014's Shriek. Watch: "Watching the Waiting" Listen: "No Dreaming"

Other Full-Length Releases

Alexis Taylor - Piano Watch: "I’m Ready" Listen: "Repair Man"

Astronoid - Air Watch: "Air" Watch: "Up and Atom"

Band of Horses - Why Are You OK Watch: "Casual Party" Watch: "In a Drawer"

Clarke:Hartnoll - 2Square Watch: "Better Have a Drink to Think" Listen: "Single Function"

The Invisible - Patience Listen: "So Well" (featuring Jessie Ware) Listen: "Love Me Again" (featuring Anna Calvi)

Jackie Lynn - Jackie Lynn Listen: "Alien Love" Listen: "Chicken Picken"

The Monkees - Good Times! Watch: "She Makes Me Laugh" Watch: "You Bring the Summer"

Mumblr - The Never Getting Down Watch: "Three Leg Dog" Watch: "Microwave"

Nick Jonas - Last Year Was Complicated Watch: "Close" (featuring Tove Lo) Watch: "Bacon" (featuring Ty Dolla $ign)

The Temper Trap - Thick as Thieves Watch: "Fall Together" Watch: "Burn"

Yung - A Youthful Dream Listen: "Pills" Listen: "Uncombed Hair"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Air - Twentyears Watch: "So Light Is Her Footfall" Watch: "Sing Sang Sung"

M83 - "Do It, Try It" Watch: "Do It, Try It" Listen: "Do It, Try It" (Loframes Remix)

Paul McCartney - Pure McCartney Watch: "Say Say Say" Listen: "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"

New Music Tuesday - 02/11/2014

New Full-Length Releases

Doug Keith - Pony Doug Keith has been a member of Sharon van Etten's touring and recording band since at least 2011. I got to see him in action backing her up when I saw her in Columbus. Keith has also had an active solo career, though he hasn't received the same level of attention as van Etten. Hopefully, his latest album will see him getting some more attention for his own work! Listen: "Pure Gold in the 70s" Listen: "You Can't Stand to Be Alone"

Fanfarlo - Let's Go Extinct Fanfarlo has been one of my favorites since 2009 and the release of their debut, Reservoir. At the beginning, their sound reminded me of Neutral Milk Hotel, but they progressed beyond that with 2012's Rooms Filled with Light, taking on a more post-punk/alternative sound. With the latest, they change it up even more, bringing some dream pop into their sonic mix. We'll see if they can maintain being one of my favorites with this one! Watch: "Landlocked" Listen: "Let's Go Extinct"

HANDS - The Soul Is Quick HANDS is the side project of Axel Willner of The Field, another band that I've only recently become familiar with. The Field's music has been characterized by its busy-ness and a "lack of space." Here, he attempts to step away from that, but still maintains some of the darkness that he is known for. Listen: "Beelitz-Heilstätten pt6" Listen: "Beelitz-Heilstätten pt7"

Other New Releases

Band of Horses - Acoustic at the Ryman Band of Horses played at the iconic Ryman Auditorium two nights last April. They played a set of 13 bare bones songs from all of their albums. The recording of those shows is seeing a release, leading into another show at the Ryman for the band. Listen: "Detlef Schrempf" Listen: "Neighbor"

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - PRODUCE Mixtape Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. may make pop-tinged indie music, but that doesn't stop them from releasing a mixtape in a similar vein to what we often see from hip hop artists! The release sees them working with some interesting artists like Asher Roth and includes a Randy Newman cover. The mixtape is available as a free download from Datpiff.com! Listen: "Curtain Call" (featuring Asher Roth) Listen: "I Think It's Gonna Rain Today"

Endless Love Soundtrack Endless Love is a remake of the 1981 film of the same name. The reviews of the film aren't good and I'm not very likely to see it, but it does have some great songs on the soundtrack! Listen: Tegan & Sara - "Don't Find Another Love" Listen: The Tallest Man on Earth - "Leading Me Now"

Girls, Volume 2: All Adventurous Women Do "All Adventurous Women Do..." is the title of the third episode of HBO's Girls. I haven't yet started watching the show (it is on my list), but, like the first soundtrack, it's attracting some great artists to record original music! Watch: Lily Allen - "L8 CMMR" Listen: Jenny Lewis - "Completely Not Me"

The LEGO Movie Soundtrack The second soundtrack released this week to feature a new song from Tegan & Sara, but also another movie I'm not very likely to see. The majority of the soundtrack is comprised of the film's score by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. Watch: Tegan & Sara - "Everything Is Awesome!!!" (featuring The Lonely Island) Listen: Mark Mothersbaugh - "Escape"

The Moon Song EP Now for a movie that I do actually plan to see! Her is Spike Jonze's latest film and it includes an excellent song , "The Moon Song," penned by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O. The mini soundtrack includes several versions of the track, including the movie version sung by the film's stars. Listen: Karen O & Ezra Koenig- "The Moon Song" (Studio Version) Listen: Scarlett Johansson & Joaquin Phoenix - "The Moon Song" (Film Version)

The National - "I Need My Girl"/"Learning" The National's latest single from last year's excellent Trouble Will Find Me comes backed by a cover of a Perfume Genius song. While Matt Berninger's voice is much deeper than Mike Hadreas', he's able to bring the same sadness to it and it's an excellent addition to the band's repertoire. Watch: "I Need My Girl" Listen: "Learning"

Sweet Valley - "So Serene" Sweet Valley, the side project of Wavves' Nathan Williams, put out a number of sound experiment albums (all free) throughout 2012 and 2013. The latest is perhaps the most experimental and just consists of one 20+ minute track. Listen: "So Serene"

Tarka and Friends: Life Tarka Cordell was an influential British musician who took his own life in 2008. During his time here, he became good friends with a number of other musicians, who are now coming together to record some of his music in tribute. Listen: Lily Allen & Louis Eliot - "Shelter You" Listen: Imani Coppola - "13 Perfect Days"

Thurston Moore - "Detonation"/"Germs Burn" Thurston Moore has kept himself busy since the dissolution of his primary band The Sonic Youth a couple of years ago. He released a record as Chelsea Light Moving last year and is gearing up for a solo release early this summer! Listen: "Detonation" Listen: "Germs Burn"

Vampire Academy: Music from the Motion Picture OK...so this is another movie that I have no real plans to see, but has some amazing songs on its soundtrack. And yes, it was the Chvrches cover of the classic Bauhaus song that caught my ear on this one! Listen: Au Revoir Simone - "Crazy" Listen: Chvrches - "Bela Lugosi's Dead"