New Music Tuesday - April 21, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Albums

Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color Alabama Shakes had a huge debut with Boys & Girls. There were some great tracks on the album, but as a whole it just fell somewhat flat for me. Still, I was excited for what a follow-up might bring. Thankfully, it means more of what was best about their sound; especially Brittany Howard's vocals and guitar works. The album is a much more solid bit of work from the young band, definitely an improvement on an already good debut. Watch: "Sound & Color" Watch: "Don’t Wanna Fight"

Built to Spill - Untethered Moon Three years after this band's previous record, 2009's There Is No Enemy, they recorded and were getting ready to release a follow-up. After some line-up changes (their rhythm section left) and a bit of burn-out, the album was postponed. Another three years and we now have the longest gap between albums for the band. But perhaps a bit of rest and some changes were good for them; Untethered Moon is being hailed as possibly their best since the 1990s. Watch: "Living Zoo" Watch: "Never Be the Same"

Passion Pit - Kindred The time following Michael Angelakos' second album was a difficult one for the performer. He suffers from bipolar disorder, and was hospitalized several times, forcing him to cancel shows. Rather than hide his illness, he was upfront about it and was honest with fans about the cancellations. But he also focused on getting better, something he's been able to achieve with the help of his wife. The album is largely dedicated to her and the songs reflect a kind of thankfulness to her role in his life. Watch: "Lifted Up (1985)" Watch: "Where the Sky Hangs"

Rocky Votolato - Hospital Handshakes Death Cab for Cutie's guitarist and keyboardist, Chris Walla, recently left the band in order to focus on his production work. Already doing production work for a number of artists, he has wasted no time in jumping back into that side of the music world. He produced this latest album from singer-songwriter Rocky Votolato, who he has produced for in the past. Hospital Handshakes is Votolato's eighth album. Watch: "The Hereafter" Listen: "Hospital Handshakes"

Speedy Ortiz - Foil Deer Speedy Ortiz burst onto the scene two years ago with Major Arcana, an album which garnered them a lot of praise. I started paying attention a bit later on, following the release of some incredible EPs and one-off singles; I love "Bigger Party," their single for the Adult Swim series. They easily live up to the quality of their previous work with this third album. Watch: "The Graduates" Listen: "Raising the Skate"

Other New Releases

50 Bands & a Cat for Indiana Equality The passage of the Indiana RFRA bill was extremely unpopular, both without and within the state. A number of prominent independent record labels are based in the state, including Asthmatic Kitty, Secretly Canadian, and Joyful Noise. With the help of a number of bands, as well as Lil' Bub, the Bloomington-based cat phenomenon, Joyful Noise has released this compilation to support LGBT groups in the state and work to get the law repealed. The recordings are available for purchase for a few more days. Listen: Thee Oh Sees - "The Ceiling"

The Alchemist & Oh No Present: Welcome to Los Santos There's been a seemingly endless parade of music being released in conjunction with the latest Grand Theft Auto game. The latest collection was curated by producers The Alchemist and Oh No. The album, whose tracks can be heard on various radio stations within the game, include contributions from Phantogram, MNDR, and Wavves. Listen: Gangrene - "Play it Cool" (featuring Samuel T. Herring & Earl Sweatshirt) Listen: MNDR - "Lock & Load" (featuring Killer Mike)

D’Angelo - Brown Sugar Reissue D'Angelo recently released his third studio album, his first in 14 years, but he made the long wait well worth it. Now, he's looking back to where he started and reissuing his very first album, which was originally released in 1995. The reissue celebrates the album's 20th anniversary. Listen: "Brown Sugar" Listen: "Cruisin’"

Mavis Staples - Your Good Fortune EP With the help of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, Mavis Staples has recently been extending the musical legacy of the Staples family. She released two albums produced by Tweedy and worked with him to complete and release her father's last album. Tweedy is not directly involved on this latest EP, but his influence on her music is still evident. Watch: "Fight" Listen: "Your Good Fortune"

Red House Painters - Red House Painters box set Red House Painters were a indie rock band where Mark Kozelek (aka Sun Kil Moon) got his start. The band released six albums in the 12 years that they were together. This box set collects the band's coveted and rare first four albums. Listen: "Katy Song" Listen: "Have You Forgotten"

Ryan Adams - Ryan Adams: Live at Carnegie Hall And he just keeps going. The latest in the ever-growing list of releases from Ryan Adam is this live album. The album was recorded at Carnegie Hall on November 15 and 17 of last year. Listen: "Kim" Listen: "How Much Light"

New Music Tuesday - December 16, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Brian Chippendale & Greg Saunier - Brian Chippendale & Greg Saunier Usually, when members of different bands get together to record a collaborative album, they play different instruments. Brian Chippendale and Greg Saunier, though, are both drummers, they play for Lightning Bolt/Black Pus and Deerhoof, respectively. Their debut collaborative album features two side-long improvisational pieces. Watch: Checking in at 20 documentary

Charli XCX - Sucker Charli XCX had a pretty spectacular year in 2014. She guested on one of the biggest tracks of the year, Iggy Azalea's "Fancy," and scored her first Billboard top 10 single with "Boom Clap." It's only fitting that she's topping off her best year with her sophomore album. While certainly retaining her pop sensibilities, she incorporates elements of punk music into this record. Watch: "Breaking Up" Watch: "Break the Rules"

Chief Keef - Nobody It's rare for a hip hop album to lack a football team's worth of guest artists, but Chief Keef chose to scale things back on his latest album. Of the album's 12 tracks, Kanye West is the only big name guesting. He's self-releasing this effort, as he was dropped by Interscope a couple of months back. Listen: "Nobody" Listen: "Ain't Just Me"

D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah You know, everyone made a big deal over Beyoncé's surprise album last year, but she's been an active and consistent artist over the past few years. This release is even more surprising and even more spectacular. D'Angelo became known for his 2000 album Voodoo (and that body), but soon became more known for his lack of a follow-up and unfulfilled promises of a new record. Finally, with very little forewarning, he released this incredible album in mid-December. Listen: "Really Love" Listen: "Sugah Daddy"

Geotic - Sunset Mountain Geotic is the side project of musician Baths, which he started to explore more ambient sounds. He put out his previous release under the name, Morning Shore, in July of this year. Both albums are part of a Eon Isle trilogy; with each record based around a different instrument. The first focused on guitar, while this one is solely based on samples of his own vocals. Listen: "Up a Narrow Trail in the Woods" Listen: "Flit Around the Rivulets"

Mike WiLL Made-It - Ransom I feel a bit like 2014 was the year that producers made their voices more heard in the music they helped create, especially in hip hop. Many times, their presence was pretty obvious and somewhat intrusive (think DJ Mustard's "Mustard on the beat, hoe" on all of his tracks). Mike WiLL Made-It is another producer with a distinctive sound, but lays a bit lower on his tracks. He has worked with Juicy J, Rick Ross, and Big Sean; and some of his collaborators are also featured here. Watch: "Someone to Love" Listen: "Buy the World"

Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint Nicki Minaj has become well-known for her body, a fact that she doesn't shy away from or try to hide. While it would be easy to dismiss her as little more than T&A (and I certainly have), she does seem to have more to offer. On her third album, she lays bare things she's been dealing with more privately. Her candidness has paid off, she's scored the most critically-loved album of her career so far, but hasn't lost the fans either. Watch: "Anaconda" Watch: "Only"

Other New Releases

Ice Choir - Pure Holiday The pre-holiday season inevitably brings with it a large slew of new Christmas albums, EPs, and singles. It doesn't seem to matter whether someone is a mainstream or independent artist, everyone puts one out at some point in their careers. Ice Choir is a project started by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Kurt Feldman. This pair of singles is their first output since their debut album, Afar, from 2012. Listen: "It's Different Now" Listen: "Cut Down the Tree"

Inherent Vice: The Soundtrack Inherent Vice is a new movie from Paul Thomas Anderson starring Joaquin Phoenix, and one I really want to see. The music for the film was composed by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, who has previously produced scores for such films as There Will Be Blood and The Master. Listen: "Shasta" Listen: "Spooks"

The Kinks - The Anthology 1964 - 1971 2014 felt a bit like a Kinks love fest at times, not that that's a bad thing. We just seemed to get a lot of reissues and anthologies from the band. This will be the last bit of it for this year. This one collects tracks from the first few years for the band. Listen: "You Really Got Me" Listen: "Lola"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Firstborn Is Dead Reissue This week sees a handful of reissues from Nick Cave's back catalog with The Bad Seeds. The Firstborn Is Dead was originally released in 1985; it's name alludes to the stillborn twin brother of Elvis Presley. The album was further influenced by the American South, with songs referencing John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson, and a cover of a song originally by Johnny Cash. Watch: "Tupelo" Listen: "Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - From Her to Eternity Reissue From Her to Eternity was The Bad Seeds' first album, released in 1984 following the dissolution of Cave's previous project, The Birthday Party. They hit the ground running with this first release, garnering fairly universal critically acclaim, something that would be maintained throughout their catalog. Listen: "Avalanche" Listen: "Cabin Fever"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks Reissue Kicking Against the Pricks was initially released in 1986 and consisted primarily of covers of others' songs.  They included tracks originally by John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Lou Reed, and many others. This album's title came from Bible verses, Acts 9:5, 22:8b and 26:14; referencing a passage omitted in many modern translations. Listen: "Muddy Water" Listen: "I'm Gonna Kill That Woman"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial Reissue Your Funeral... My Trial is the final Bad Seeds album to be reissued this week and was also released in 1986, during which time Cave was struggling with a heroin addiction. His issues played into the somber mood of the album. Listen: "Sad Waters" Listen: "The Carny"

YG - Blame It on the Streets Blame It on the Streets is a new short film starring rapper YG. He has also released a soundtrack for that film. The soundtrack follows his debut album, My Krazy Life, released earlier this year. Watch: "2015 Flow" Listen: "Blame It on the Streets"

New Music Tuesday - 03/25/2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

The Baseball Project - 3rd The Baseball Project is a side project of former R.E.M. member Peter Buck, who has released a number of solo records since the demise of his band. Also included in this project are Scott McCaughey (The Young Fresh Fellows), Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate), and Mike Mills (R.E.M.). As the name implies, their music revolves around that great-American past-time, with songs about Babe Ruth and the Oakland A's, just to name a few. Listen: "13" Listen: "They Are the Oakland A's"

Future Islands - Singles Future Islands has been getting a lot of attention in the run-up to the release of their fourth studio album (and first while signed to 4AD). I wasn't too set on checking them out until I caught a snippet of a recent interview and live performance on NPR. I knew I had to check them out and was hooked as soon as I heard tracks from the record. They remind me a bit of Greg Dulli, but with synth-pop music in place of dark indie rock. Watch: "A Dream of You and Me" Watch: "Seasons (Waiting on You)"

Glenn Kotche - Adventureland Glenn Kotche is the drummer of the band Wilco, but has also made a name for himself as an experimental percussionist (you can see some of his work in an ad for Delta Faucets). This is his fourth solo release, which collects various work that Kotche has done for ensembles. Listen: "Anomaly Mvt 2"

Johnny Cash - Out Among the Stars Johnny Cash passed away in 2003 so, of course, this is not a collection of newly-recorded songs. The tracks on this latest album come from a series lost 1980s recording sessions that were scrapped when Cash hit a lull in his career. In 2012, his son, John Carter Cash, found the old recordings and put them together for this release. Carter Cash promises that he has enough material for several more albums, so this will probably not be the last we hear from this legend. Watch: "She Used to Love Me a Lot" Listen: "Out Among the Stars"

Liars - Mess Liars change up their sound with each release, but never seem to lose the experimental edge to their music. The band specifically contrasted this record with their previous release, WIXIW, calling it "fun, instinctual and confident." Through their changes, Liars manages to maintain a strong fan base and high critical acclaim for all their records, which is no different with this release. Watch: "Mess on a Mission" Listen: "Mask Maker"

Tokyo Police Club - Forcefield Forcefield is the fourth studio album from this Canadian indie rock band. The album was preceded by the release of the epic 9-minute single "Argentina." The band has always had a strong pop aesthetic to their sound, but seemed determined to bring some of the pomp often seen in other genres to their own sound. Watch: "Argentina (Parts I, II, III)" Watch: "Hot Tonight"

Wolfmother - New Crown Some bands spend months releasing singles, giving interviews and touring in order to promote a new record. Wolfmother did none of that, dropping this latest album as a surprise on their Bandcamp page and letting the fans discover it for themselves. It seemed that the Wolfmother name was dead after the release of a solo album from frontman Andrew Stockdale last year. This latest release proves that the band is still going strong and are as excellent as ever! Listen: "New Crown" Listen: "Enemy Is in Your Mind"

Other New Releases

Bob Dylan in the 80s The 80s weren't exactly the most highly-acclaimed decade of Bob Dylan's career. That doesn't stop a group of musicians from coming together to record covers of some of his tracks from that era. Included on this release are Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, and Built to Spill. Listen: Built to Spill - "Jokerman" Listen: Reggie Watts - "Brownsville Girl"

D'Angelo - Live at the Jazz Cafe, London: The Complete Show We're still waiting for a new studio album from this incredible singer. In the meantime, however, we get a re-release of his 1998 set at the Jazz Cafe in London. The re-release features six additional tracks not featured on the original. Listen: "Cruisin'" Listen: "Shit, Damn, Motherfucker"

De La Soul - Smell the D.A.I.S.Y. De La Soul is planning to release a new album, currently titled You're Welcome, later this year. Leading up to that, however, they are putting out a mixtape fully produced by J. Dilla. Listen: "Dilla Plugged In" Listen: "Goes with the Word"

Goldfrapp - Thea Remixes EP "Thea" was a stand-out track from Goldfrapp's latest album, Tales of Us. This remix EP contains reworkings of the track from Blood Diamonds, WAWA, Red Top, and Twin Shadow. Listen: "Thea" Listen: "Thea" (Twin Shadow Remix)

King Dude & Chelsea Wolfe - Sing More Songs Together... Well, I'm familiar with Chelsea Wolfe (thanks to her incredible 2013 album Pain in Beauty). I'm less familiar with her partner on this release, King Dude. This, however, is not their first recording collaboration, they released Sing Songs Together... in 2013. Listen: "Be Free"

Lotus Plaza - "Indian Paintbrush"/"Gemini Pt. 1" Cassette may not be the preferred listening method for most music fans, but it is seeing a bit of a resurgence of late. The latest release come from Lockett Pundt of Deerhunter and Lotus Plaza. The tracks here are some experimental improvisation on his guitar. Listen: "Indian Paintbrush" Listen: "Gemini Pt. 1"

Loud Dreams, Vol. 1 Sean C and LV are a production duo in the world of hip-hop. This release is a bit of a mixtape of some of their work, including tracks from Jadakiss, Fabolous, A$AP Ferg and Pusha T. Listen: Pusha T & A$AP Ferg - "Hand in My Pocket"

Miles Davis - Miles at the Fillmore This release is the third of a "bootleg" series of releases from Columbia, collecting various Miles Davis live recordings. He performed at the Fillmore in San Francisco many times, and there are a number of recordings out there with the same or similar names. However, these latest constitute some of the highest quality available. Information: miledavis.com

Noah: Music from the Motion Picture Make a movie about a story out of the Bible and you're just asking for controversy. While the film-makers admit to taking liberties with the well-known story of Noah and the ark, there are many who question whether the film should have been made. I have no opinion on that, but I'm happy that it's given us a new track from the incredible Patti Smith! Listen: Patti Smith - "Mercy Is"

Rio 2 Soundtrack Cartoons tend to be a lot less controversial, but this isn't one that I'm likely to see. However, it has given us a new song from another incredible musician, Janelle Monáe! Listen: Janelle Monáe - "What Is Love"

Sylvan Esso - "Coffee" Sylvan Esso is a side project of Amelia Meath of Mountain Man and Nick Sanborn of Made of Oak. The new collaboration developed somewhat surprisingly, and this is the first release from the project. From the sound of it, though, I hope there is more to come! Watch: "Coffee"