New Music Friday - July 1, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Bat for Lashes - The Bride Natasha Khan debuted a new project, Sexwitch, last year, but is already back with a new solo record. Following 2012's The Haunted Man, her new album is a conceptual piece, told from the perspective of a woman whose fiancé (spoiler alert) dies on the way to their wedding. The album was announced with materials that made me think that the artist may just be announcing her own wedding. I was pretty excited for her, but I guess this is cool, too! Watch: "In God’s House" Watch: "Sunday Love"

Blood Orange - Freetown Sound Blood Orange is Dev Hynes and Freetown Sound is his third album under the name, which he has been his alias since putting Lightspeed Champion on hiatus in 2010. The album, which was released a few days ahead of time, is meant to speak to people who find themselves at odds between their identity and other people's expectations of them. Watch: "Augustine" Listen: "By Ourselves"

Sara Watkins - Young in All the Wrong Ways Nickel Creek may have reunited two years ago for a new album, A Dotted Line, but that hasn't stopped its members from continuing in their solo careers. Both of her previous bandmates have released albums since and now Sara is back with her third solo record. Watch: "Move Me" Watch: "Young in All the Wrong Ways"

Other Full-Length Releases

GØGGS - GØGGS Listen: "Glendale Junkyard" Listen: "Needle Trade Off"

Metronomy - Summer 08 Watch: "Old Skool" Listen: "Back Together"

Stephen Steinbrink - Anagrams Listen: "Building Machines" Listen: "Absent Mind"

Terry - Terry HQ Listen: "Third War" Listen: "Chitter Chatter"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Adam Olenius - Looking Forward to the New Me Watch: "Feels Like Feels Right" Listen: "News Are Saying"

Nite-Funk - Nite-Funk Listen: "Let Me Be Me" Listen: "U Can Make It"

Porcelain Raft - Pressed Flowers EP Listen: "That's What I See When I See You"

Thee Oh Sees - Live in San Francisco

New Music Tuesday - 05/20/2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Archie Bronson Outfit - Wild Crush Archie Bronson Outfit don't seem to do anything haphazardly. This is their third album in eight years and just fourth overall since their debut in 2004. The new album comes with a slight lineup change, bassist Dorian Hobday is replaced by Kristian Robinson. The output is still as strong as ever, though, their deliberateness in making each record continues to show. Watch: "We Are Floating" Listen: "Two Doves on a Lake"

Billy Corgan - AEGEA Billy Corgan, frontman for the Smashing Pumpkins, has remains active with that band with an album in 2012 and two expected in 2015. He is also an active solo artist. He released his first album, TheFutureEmbrace, was released in 2005. Now, nine years later, comes a follow up, though it was recorded just two years after his first. Listen: "#3"

Conor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain Conor Oberst made his name as Bright Eyes and has been primarily known for recording in groups, from Bright Eyes to the Mystic Valley Band to Monsters of Folk. Over the past few years, though, he has become more comfortable using his own name. This is his first since 2008's self-titled record. Watch: "Zigzagging Toward the Light" Listen: "Hundreds of Ways"

Guided By Voices - Cool Planet These guys just aren't going to stop anytime soon. Despite a short lull last year, they are quickly getting back to their habit of releasing new albums every few months. Cool Planet was preceded by Motivational Jumpsuit in February. Listen: "Cool Planet" Listen: "Males of Wormwood Mars"

Le Butcherettes - Cry Is for the Flies Le Butcherettes is a female-led punk/garage band from Guadalajara, Mexico. They first came to my attention a few weeks ago with the release of a single featuring guest vocals from Shirley Manson of Garage. That's not the only big-name connection the band has, either. They have a sound reminiscent of early Yeah Yeahs Yeahs, have opened for the Dead Weather and been produced by Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of The Mars Volta. Not bad for a young band! Listen: "Shame, You're All I Got" (featuring Shirley Manson) Listen: "Demon Stuck in Your Eye"

The Roots - ...And Then Shoot Your Cousin It seemed that, when The Roots became Jimmy Fallon's house band in 2009, that would be their primary function. That turned out not to be the case. With ...And Then Shoot Your Cousin, they have released three albums since that time (five if you count the collaborations with John Legend and Elvis Costello). One, undun, is often considered one of their best. The band is easily capable of being the best late-night band and an incredible recording band. Watch: "Understand" Watch: "When the People Cheer"

White Sea - In Cold Blood White Sea is a frequent collaborator of French dream pop musician M83. She was also a child actress (appearing on 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd), is a contributor to movie scores and the front woman for her own band, The Romanovs. In Cold Blood is the first full length as a solo artist. Listen: "Future Husbands Past Lives" Listen: "Prague"

Other New Releases

Blood Orange - Uncle Ace Remixes Dev Hynes released his sophomore album, Cupid Deluxe, under the name Blood Orange last year. Now, one of the stand-out tracks from the album is getting its own remix EP. Listen: "Uncle Ace" (a/just/ed Remix) Watch: "Uncle Ace" (Kindness Remix)

The Flaming Lips - 7 Skies H3 7 Skies H3 was The Flaming Lips contribution to Record Store Day 2014. The recording was initially a 24-hour song contained in a real human skull (released in a limited set of 13). The release for Record Store Day was condensed to just 50 minutes of the original running time. Listen: "Forever Floating" Listen: "Radiation Wind"

The Fault in Our Stars: Music from the Motion Picture One of the latest popular book phenomenons is getting its own film. The movie's soundtrack features tracks from Grouplove, The Radio Dept., Charli XCX and Lykke Li. Watch: Charli XCX - "Boom Clap" Watch: Lykke Li - "No One Ever Loved"

Future Islands - Wave Like Home Reissue Future Islands blew up earlier this year with an incredible album and everyone's favorite David Letterman live performance. Wave Like Home was their first album, released in 2008, and getting reissued now. Listen: "Little Dreamer" Listen: "Old Friend"

Oasis - Definitely Maybe Reissue While Oasis hit their biggest year nearly two decades ago (and are no longer together), their debut album is getting reissued, as well. The re-release comes in the year of the album's 20th anniversary. Watch: "Supersonic" Watch: "Cigarettes & Alcohol"

R.E.M. - Complete Rarities: Warner Bros. 1988-2011 R.E.M. ended their 21-year run three years ago, but we've been getting a fairly steady stream of unreleased material and re-releases since. The latest pulls together demos, live recordings and covers from 1988 to the end. Buy: iTunes

R.E.M. - Unplugged 1991/2001 ...and during their 20+ years, the band performed on MTV Unplugged twice, ten years apart. In addition to the rarities collection, recordings from those two live sessions are getting released. Listen: "Losing My Religion" Listen: "Imitation of Life"

SBTRKT - Transitions II Transitions is SBTRKT's 2014 project, being released in three separate EPs. The first portion was released two weeks earlier and the final will be out two weeks following. Watch: "Kyoto"

Upset - "Linus" Upset is the new project of former Best Coast and Vivian Girls drummer Ali Koehler. The band released their first album, She's Gone, in October, and are following it up with a new single. Listen: "Linus"

Wild Beasts - "A Simple Beautiful Truth" Remixes Wild Beasts released their fourth album, Present Tense, earlier this year. One of the tracks from the album is now getting its requisite remix treatment, with contributions from Lone and Djrum. Watch: "A Simple Beautiful Truth" Listen: "A Simple Beautiful Truth" (Lone Remix)

New Music Tuesday - 11/19/2013

New Full-Length Releases

Blood Orange - Cupid Deluxe Disregard the misleading title of this album, it is neither a reissued or remastered version of an already existing record. Blood Orange (Dev Hynes) has been performing for eight years. He started his career as a member of Test Icicles, then began a solo career under the name Lightspeed Champion, which is when I became familiar with his work. He released his first record under the current name in 2011. Each project has had a unique sound; in Blood Orange, it's a throwback to 1980s R&B. Listen/Watch: "Time Will Tell"

Ejecta - Dominae Ejecta is the electronic project of Leanne Macomber and Joel Ford. Macomber has performed as a member of Neon Indian's band and Ford has done much production work with Daniel Lopatin. As such, both bring unique and varied perspectives on electronic music to their new project. It will be interesting to see how they bring it all together. Listen: "Afraid of the Dark"

Other New Releases

Kallisti - Arc of Fire EP Kallisti is the project of Canadian musician Chris d'Eon, who has released music under his own name since 2010. He partnered up with fellow Canadian Grimes for 2012's Darkbloom. Arc of Fire is his first release under this name and sees him taking a slight turn away from his previous styles. Listen/Watch: "Arc of Fire"

Kurt Vile - Wakin on a Pretty Daze: Deluxe Daze (Post Haze) Kurt Vile released his excellent fifth solo studio album earlier this year. The requisite deluxe edition features some additional tracks along with a bonus EP, It's a Big World Out There (And I Am Scared). Listen/Watch: "Never Run Away"

Lily Allen - "Hard Out Here" Lily Allen has been away for quite some time. She released her last full-length, It's Not Me, It's You, in 2009 and has spent the interim starting a family and considering ending her music career. Thank god she hasn't because she's back with a great new single. The song and its accompanying video take a jab at the expectations of young female pop stars. Listen/Watch: "Hard Out Here"

M83 - You and the Night Soundtrack What's the point of having a musician brother if you can't have him score your movies? That's exactly what director Yann Gonzalez did for his film You and the Night. Yann is the brother of musician M83 (Anthony Gonzalez), who contributed his talents to Yann's film. Listen: "L'inconnu"

Prince - "Da Bourgeoisie" Prince has been releasing a series of singles lately, many under the name 3rdeyegirl. It's not yet clear if these releases are leading up to a new album from the legendary artist, but he certainly is showing that he's still got it going on. Listen: "Da Bourgeoisie"

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Cologne Queens of the Stone Age released their latest album, ...Like Clockwork, in June of this year. This release is a short live EP with a name and artwork that harkens back to that album. The songs on the EP were recorded when the band performed at Cologne's Kulturkirche Köln in September. Listen: "Make It Wit Chu" (Live Acoustic)

Rockin' Legends Pay Tribute to Jack White Since he released his first album with The White Stripes back in 1999. Just about everything that he has done has turned to gold, from that first band to The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather and then to his solo career. For this release, a number of legendary musicians have come together with covers of his songs. Included on the release are Bobby Vee, Los Straightjackets and Wanda Jackson. Listen: Wanda Jackson - "In the Cold Cold Night"

Yo La Tengo - Fade Deluxe Edition Another deluxe edition! This one from Yo La Tengo, who released Fade way back in January. This deluxe release added just one bonus track, "Oriole." Listen/Watch: "Is That Enough"