New Music Friday - June 24, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Broods - Conscious Broods is a duo out of New Zealand who released their first album, Evergreen, in 2014. On their second album, they get some help from some other pop superstars; including Tove Lo and fellow New Zealander Lorde, who co-wrote one of the album's singles, "Heartlines." Watch: "Free" Watch: "Heartlines"

Deerhoof - The Magic Deerhoof has always enticed fans with their experimental noise pop sound. They began to scale that back a bit over the past couple of albums, opting for a simpler sound, but never straying far from what they've become known for. They take it back another notch on this record, looking to the music they listened to as kids for inspiration. Of course, they have different backgrounds with members from both the States and Japan. The result is bound to still recall a variety of styles and genres. Watch: "Criminals of the Dream" Watch: "Debut"

Delorean - Muzik Delorean's music has always had elements of dance music to, though they still primarily used guitars in their work. Their latest album, which follows 2013's Apar, abandons guitars almost completely. Instead, they incorporate synths and rely more on Ekhi Lopetegi's vocals. Watch: "Crystal" Watch: "Muzik"

Nice as Fuck - Nice as Fuck Nice as Fuck (also known as NAF or Nice as F***) is Jenny Lewis' latest project since the end of Rilo Kiley five years; she previously released a solo album, The Voyager, in 2014. Her new band also includes Erika Forster of Au Revoir Simone and Tennessee Thomas of The Like. The debut album was surprise-released following a few performances in the earlier part of the year. Watch: "Door" Listen: "Guns"

Other Full-Length Releases

The Avett Brothers - True Sadness Watch: "Ain’t No Man" Listen: "True Sadness"

DJ Shadow - The Mountain Will Fall Watch: "Nobody Speak" (featuring Run the Jewels) Watch: "The Mountain Will Fall"

Marian Hill - ACT ONE Watch: "I Want You" Watch: "I Know Why"

Mick Harvey - Delirium Tremens Watch: "Dont Say a Thing (Ne Dis Rien)" (featuring Xanthe Waite) Listen: "A Violent Poison Thats What Love Is"

River Tiber - Indigo Watch: "West" (featuring Daniel Caesar) Listen: "Acid Test"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Alt-J - Live at Red Rocks Watch: "Left Hand Free"

Jay Som - "I Think You’re Alright"/"Rush" Listen: "I Think You’re Alright" Listen: "Rush"

Jim O’Rourke & Fennesz - It’s Hard for Me to Say I’m Sorry Listen: "I Just Want You to Stay" Listen: "Wouldn’t Wanna Be Swept Away"

Lion Babe - Sun Joint Listen: "Endless Summer" Listen: "Rain Drums"

Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On Listen: "What’s Going On" (featuring BJ the Chicago Kid)

Tyondai Braxton - Oranged Out EP Watch: "Oranged Out"

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending April 16)

Today is the day of the biannual Record Store Day, which falls on the third Saturday of April and Black Friday each year. It is a day that various artists release "exclusive" singles, reissues, and other records for independent record stores around the world. You can look here for the exclusive releases and then visit my Upcoming Releases page to see non-exclusive albums coming to the masses over the coming months!

This week, a little band from Spain named Delorean, announced their fifth album, Muzik.

stereogum.com

Hailing from the Basque region of Spain, Delorean got their start in 2000 and released their self-titled debut album in 2004. It wasn't until 2010's Subiza, their first released internationally, that they began receiving widespread acclaim, including a Best New Music tag from Pitchfork.

Their latest album was produced by Pional, a fellow Spaniard who frequently works with John Talabot, and sees them holding to their Balearic house-influenced synthpop. The announcement of Muzik was accompanied by the album's title track.



Also announced this week:

Amber Arcades - Fading Lunes (June 3)
Drake - Views from the 6 (April 29)
Freeway - Free Will (April 29)
Rae Sremmurd - Sremmlife 2 (June 24)
Ryan Adams - Heartbreaker Deluxe Box Set (May 6)

New Music Tuesday - June 23, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Desaparecidos - Payola Conor Oberst has had a lot of projects. He's best known for his work as Bright Eyes, but has also been a member of the supergroup Monsters of Folk (with Mike Mogis, M. Ward, and Jim Jones), and guested on numerous artists' songs; he has been focused on a solo career lately. He was a member of Desaparecidos in the early-aughts, though the band was on hiatus throughout much of the 2000s. They reunited in 2012 and are releasing their first album in more than a decade this year. Watch: "City on the Hill" Listen: "Backsell"

Everything Everything - Get to Heaven This band with the kitchen-sink sound just get better and better with each album. Though they didn't have much praise for their sophomore album, Arc, is was one of my favorites in 2013. The quick turn-around on the new record is meant as a "fix" on something the band considered "broken," but I'm still excited for a new record. Watch: "Distant Past" Watch: "Regret"

Frank Zappa - Dance Me This Frank Zappa may have passed away more than 20 years ago, he's been just as busy in death as he was in life. There have been over 30 albums released since his 1993 passing; sadly, this looks like it may be the last. The record comprises the last material he worked on before his death. Listen: "Dance Me This"

Son Lux - Bones 2013's Lanterns was a beautiful, haunting, and overall incredible album from Son Lux. The album, which was the band's third, was recorded as a solo record for Ryan Lott. This time around, he gets some help from drummer Ian Chang and guitarist Rafiq Bhatia. He's a great collaborator (see his work as Sisyphus with Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti, as well as the rerecording of "Easy" with Lorde), so I hope that more musicians make things even better. Watch: "Change Is Everything" Watch: "You Don’t Know Me"

Other Full-Length Releases

Nicolas Jaar - Pomegranates Listen: "Kapital" Listen: "Muse"

Richard Thompson - Still Listen: "Broken Doll" Listen: "Beatnik Walking"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Black Mountain - Black Mountain Reissue Listen: "Black Mountain" (demo) Listen: "Druganaut"

Bob Dylan & Johnny Cash - Dylan, Cash, and the Nashville Cats Listen: "I Walk the Line"

Class Actress - Movies Watch: "More Than You" Listen: "GFE"

Delorean - "Crystal"/"Bena" Watch: "Crystal" Listen: "Bena"

Editors - "Marching Orders" Watch: "Marching Orders"

HAERTS - "Everybody Here Wants You" Listen: "Everybody Here Wants You" Listen: "Animal"

Hellrazor/Spook the Herd Split Listen: "Wut"

Joy Division - Still Reissue Listen: "Ceremony" Listen: "Walked in Line"

Less Win - Further Watch: "Bayonet" Listen: "As of Today"

The National - A Lot of Sorrow Watch: MoMA Performance

One Hundred Thousand Voices Listen: Marissa Nadler - "Carnival" Listen: Lady Lamb - "Shoulders"

Ryan Adams - "Burn in the Night" 7" Listen: "Cop City" Listen: "Look in the Mirror"

Slow West: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Listen: Django Django - "Slow West"

Thundercat - The Beyond/Where Giants Roam Watch: "Them Changes" Listen: "Song for the Dead"

New Music Tuesday - September 10, 2013

New Full-Length Releases

2 Chainz - B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time I feel like I'm starting to become a bit of a hip hop connoisseur. Before this year, there were only a handful of artists that I really paid attention to, but I've been giving a lot more love to the genre lately. 2 Chainz is one of those artists I've been paying more attention to, especially after he was featured on the GOOD Music release Cruel Summer last year. I don't know what exactly it is about him that I like so much...maybe it's the way he says his name! Listen/Watch: "Feds Watching"

Arctic Monkeys - AM The Arctic Monkeys started off their career as teenagers sounding a lot like their early-2000s indie rock predecessors like Babyshambles or The Strokes. Over time, they have grown and strayed more and more from that sound. Now, their style is more reminiscent of stoner/psychedelic rock bands...think Queens of the Stone Age. While changes in style can often alienate fans, I love when bands switch things up. Of course, it helps that I truly love their current sound! Listen/Watch: "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?"

Babyshambles - Sequel to the Prequel One of the Arctic Monkeys indie rock predecessors is also releasing a new album this week! It's been a little while since we heard from Babyshambles, so long that I actually thought that they had broken up. Not so, six years after Shotter's Nation, and a solo album from front-man Peter Doherty, they are returning! Unlike the Arctic Monkeys, I haven't gotten much of an indication that their sound has changed greatly from their first two releases, but there's nothing wrong in sticking with what you do best. Listen/Watch: "Nothing Comes to Nothing"

Body/Head - Coming Apart Since the breakup of both her band, Sonic Youth, and her marriage to Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon has been fairly quiet. 2013 seems to be her re-entry year; she will be guest-starring on Girls, will release two books and has started a new band with Bill Nace. Body/Head released an EP earlier this year, but this is their first full-length together. The band has a similar punk/noise rock sound to Sonic Youth, but with a bit more experimentation going on. Listen: "Actress"

Delorean - Apar I started listening to Delorean about three years ago following the release of Subiza. I loved their interesting mix of indie rock and dance music. Also, what's not to love about an indie band out of Spain (really, we don't see too much of that). I always find the albums immediately following those which caught my attention from a band to be particularly exciting; I like to see what they've maintained of what I love and how their sound has progressed. Listen/Watch: "Spirit"

Emiliana Torrini - Tookah Emiliana Torrini is an Icelandic artist (family by way of Italy). Given such, much of her music shows the same quirkiness it seems we often get from artists from that country (Björk or Sigur Rós, for example). The 2009 single "Jungle Drum," from Me and Armini, was what first caught my attention of her. I've been a fairly avid fan since and was extremely excited when she announced the new album. Listen: "Speed of Dark"

Goldfrapp - Tales of Us So, there was a period during my sophomore or junior year of college where I really started to get downtempo electronic music (I think I credit Zero 7 with the discovery and love). I quickly tried to check out any band I could in the genre. Goldfrapp was one of the few who captured a bit more of my attention and became a fixture in my music library. I've loved her ever since. Tales of Us is her sixth studio album and I expect even more to love! Listen/Watch: "Drew"

Holy Ghost! - Dynamics After the end of LCD Soundsystem a couple of years ago, I pegged Holy Ghost! as a band that did nearly as masterful a job in the electronic genre. It must be something that James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem also saw, since the band is signed to his record label, DFA. Like LCD, this band uses electronic beats to develop music with otherwise typical song structures. Their sound seems to lean more towards pure electronic, though. Listen/Watch: "Teenagers in Heat"

Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady It's not often that artists jump into concept albums at the start of their careers. Janelle, however, jump-started hers with the Metropolis concept, which centered around an android named Cindi Mayweather. Although she's carried this concept through two EPs and two albums, it's never come off as hokey or silly, it's resulted in some really excellent work. For her latest album, she's proving her worth even more, bringing in some R&B heavy-hitters like Prince and Erykah Badu as guests. Listen/Watch: "Dance Apocalyptic"

Man Man - On Oni Pond This is one of those artists I have randomly decided to check out after seeing their name dropped on several of my favorite blogs and magazines. Honestly, I know very little about them, except that they've been getting some good response on this latest album. Sometimes, it can be a good thing to just check something out for the sake of doing so, so I'm hoping this one pans out for me! Listen/Watch: "Head On"

The Weeknd - Kiss Land This is The Weeknd's debut album. Despite that, it seems like he's been around forever. In 2011, he released three mixtapes, which were compiled into Trilogy last year. The mixtapes and compilation have gotten him a lot of attention and a lot of hype. Reviews seem to be mixed on whether this album quite lives up to the hype, but it is exciting to see him releasing his first proper studio album! Listen/Watch: "Belong to the World"

Willis Earl Beal - Nobody Knows OK, so I guess I decided that this would be my week to check out music that I wasn't already too familiar with. Willis is another artist who I don't know much about, though I remember reading a lot of great things for his debut album, Acousmatic Sorcery. A big reason I'm checking this out, though, is that a singer who released of my favorite albums last year, Cat Power, is featured on one of the songs. As I've said before, work with someone whose music I love, I will definitely check out yours, as well! Listen: "Coming Through"

Other New Releases

Frightened Rabbit - Late March, Death March EP Frightened Rabbit released their excellent Pedestrian Verse album earlier this year. Typically, artists will release two or three song singles to further promote the album and songs, but FR has been releasing longer EPs in support of the album's tracks. They first did it with "State Hospital" last year and are doing it for another track from the album, "Late March, Death March," this week. Listen: "Radio Silence"

The Road to Jajouka The Road to Jajouka is a tribute album dedicated to paying tribute to the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Morocco. The album features recordings by Flea, Billy Martin and Lee Ranaldo. Listen: Lee Ranaldo - "Boujeloudia Magic"