New Music Friday - May 28, 2021

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

	Bachelor - Back of My Hand Watch: "Stay in the Car" Watch: "Sick of Spiraling"
	black midi - Cavalcade Watch: "John L" Watch: "Slow"
	DMX - Exodus Watch: "Hood Blues" (featuring Griselda) Listen: "Walking in the Rain" (featuring Nas, Exodus Simmons, & Denaun)
	Patrick Paige II - If I Fail, Are We Still Cool? Watch: "Whisper (Want My Luv)" (featuring Steve Lacy, Allen love, & Durand Bernarr) Watch: "Big Plays" (Westside McFly)

Other Full-Length Releases

Beachy Head - Beachy Head Watch: "Michael" Watch: "Hiddensee"

Kele - The Waves Pt. 1 Watch: "The Heart of the Wave" Listen: "From a Place of Love"

Lou Barlow - Reason to Live Watch: "Over You" Watch: "In My Arms"

Porter Robinson - Nurture Watch: "Look at the Sky" Watch: "Musician"

UV-TV - Always Something Listen: "Always Something" Listen: "Back to Nowhere"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

A. G. Cook - Apple vs 7G Watch: "Xcxoplex" (with Charli XCX) Watch: "Lifeline" (Ö Remix)

Moby - Reprise Watch: "Natural Blues" (featuring Gregory Porter & Amethyst Kiah) Listen: "Porcelain" (featuring Jim James)

Modern Love Listen: Helado Negro - "Sound and Vision"

New Music Friday - September 22, 2017

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Amadou & Mariam - La Confusion Watch: "Bofou Safou" Watch: "La Confusion"

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun                           Watch: "16 Psyche" Watch: "The Culling"

Jhené Aiko - Trip         Watch: "Sativa" (featuring Rae Sremmurd) Listen: "Moments" (featuring Big Sean)

Kele Okereke - Fatherland                       Watch: "Yemaya" Watch: "Do U Right"

Moses Sumney - Aromanticism Watch: "Indulge Me" Watch: "Doomed"

Other Full-Length Releases

Ben Stevenson - Cara Cara Watch: "Honeycola" Listen: "Cara Cara"

The Blow - Brand New Abyss Watch: "The Woman You Want Her to Be" Listen: "Get Up"

Cut Copy - Haiku from Zero Watch: "Airborne" Watch: "Standing in the Middle of the Field"

DJ Kay Slay - The Big Brother Listen: "Wild One" (featuring Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, & Meet Sims) Listen: "Cold Summer" (featuring Kendrick Lamar, Kevin Gates, Mac Miller, & Rell)

Fergie - Double Dutchess Watch: "You Already Know" (featuring Nicki Minaj) Watch: "Save It Til Morning"

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Luciferian Towers Listen: "Anthem for No State, Pt. III" Listen: "Undoing a Luciferian Towers"

Hiss Golden Messenger - Hallelujah Anyhow Watch: "When the Wall Comes Down" Listen: "Domino (Time Will Tell)"

The Horrors - V Watch: "Machine" Watch: "Weighed Down"

Howard Ivans - Beautiful Tired Bodies Watch: "Come On" Watch: "King of Careless"

Jaws of Love - Tasha Sits Close to the Piano Watch: "Jaws of Love" Watch: "Love Me Like I’m Gone"

The Killers - Wonderful Wonderful Watch: "The Man" Watch: "Run for Cover"

Macklemore - Gemini Watch: "Good Old Days" (featuring Kesha) Watch: "Glorious" (featuring Skylar Grey)

Rapsody - Laila’s Wisdom Watch: "Power" (featuring Kendrick Lamar & Lance Skiiiwalker) Listen: "Laila’s Wisdom"

Lily & Horn Horse - Next to Me Listen: "Next to Me, Pt. 1" Listen: "Scumbag’s Apprentice"

Linda Perhacs - I’m a Harmony Listen: "Winds of the Sky" Listen: "The Dancer"

METZ - Strange Peace Watch: "Cellophane" Watch: "Drained Lake"

Omni - Multi-task Watch: "Southbound Station" Listen: "Equestrian"

Peach Pyramid - Repeating Myself Watch: "Trying" Watch: "Repeating Myself"

Phoebe Bridgers - Stranger in the Alps Watch: "Motion Sickness" Watch: "Funeral"

Prawn - Run Watch: "Rooftops" Listen: "North Lynx"

Van Morrison - Roll with the Punches Watch: "Transformation" Watch: "Bring It on Home to Me"

Wand - Plum Watch: "Bee Karma" Watch: "Plum"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Björk - "The Gate" Watch: "The Gate"

Brian Wilson - Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology Watch: "Heroes and Villains" Listen: "Run James Run"

Burial - "Rodent" 10” Listen: "Rodent" Listen: "Rodent" (Kode9 Remix)

Jamie Lidell - Extended Beginnings Listen: "You Rewind" Listen: "Love Me Please"

The Lemon Twigs - Brothers of Destruction Listen: "Night Song" Listen: "Why Didn’t You Say That?"

Mastodon - Cold Dark Place Watch: "Toe to Toes" Listen: "Blue Walsh"

The Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request 50th Anniversary Reissue Watch: "Sing This All Together" Watch: "Citadel"

Sincerely, L. Cohen: A Live Celebration of Leonard Cohen Listen: Delicate Steve - "Hallelujah"

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending October 17)

Keeping up with the stream of album announcements can be an overwhelming task. Thankfully, I've done some of the hard work for you! Check out my Upcoming Releases page for a rundown.

A few weeks ago, I was starting to think that album announcements were going to slow down as we were moving closer to the end of year pageantry of best-of-the-year lists and music award nominations. I was wrong, and this week brought about some exciting announcements. One comes from a band back from a second hiatus (that word may be thrown around too much in music), Bloc Party.

Bloc Party started off strong with a one-two punch of excellent debut and sophomore albums, 2005's Silent Alarm and 2007's A Weekend in the City. Their third, Intimacy, wasn't too shabby either. Shortly after that album, the band went on their first hiatus, which would only last two years. In 2011, they released their fourth album, creatively titled Four. It was...well...a bit of a disappointment. It wasn't too long before they lost a couple of members and embarked on their second hiatus.

Now, they're back from that hiatus and have some new members, bassist Justin Harris of Menomena (!) and drummer Louise Hartle (heck yes, girl drummers!). Sure they've disappointed in the past, but I'm still beyond excited for new music from them. Hymns, their fifth album, is set to be released January 29.

Also announced this week:

Arca - Xen (November 20)
The Besnard Lakes - A Coliseum Complex Museum (January 22)
The Besnard Lakes - “Golden Lion” 12” (November 13)
BOSS - “I’m Down with That” (November 27)
Cass McCombs - A Folk Set Apart: Rarities, B-Sides & Space Junk, Etc. (December 11)
Chairlift - Moth (January)
Cool Uncle - Cool Uncle (November 13)
Jeezy - Politically Correct EP (out now)
JEFF The Brotherhood - Global Chakra Rhythms (November 13)
Liz - Big GRRRL Small World (December 11)
M83 - Digital Shades Reissue (November 20)
M83 - Saturdays=Youth Reissue (November 20)
M83 - Saturdays=Youth Remixes & B-Sides (out now)
METZ - “Eraser”/“Pure Auto” (January 22)
Swans - Love of Life & White Light from the Mouth of Infinity Reissues (December 4)
White Sea - “Never a Woman” (out now)

New Music Tuesday - October 14, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

The 2 Bears - The Night Is Young The 2 Bears is a side project of Hot Chip's Joe Goddard, with Raf Rundell, who was previously associated with the now defunct 1965 Records. The band was formed in 2009, and was initially intended to be a 3 piece (and be called The 3 Bears) with Metronomy's Joe Mount. At the beginning, they primarily produced remixes of songs by other popular artists, but released their first album, Be Strong, in 2012 Watch: "Not This Time" Watch: "Money Man"

Absolutely Free - Absolutely Free Absolutely Free is a psychedelic trio from Toronto. Their name may be inspired by the Mothers of Invention album of the same from 1967. Their music calls to mind modern acts like Dan Snaith and Tame Impala, and slightly older bands like those of the Elephant 6 collective. But they also seem heavily influenced by Frank Zappa's work around that time of the Mothers of Invention record. This is their debut album, produced by Mike Haliechuk of Fucked Up. Watch: "Beneath the Air" Listen: "Vision's"

Dads - I'll Be the Tornado Dads is a duo out of New Jersey with a punk/emo style. This is their second album; their debut, American Radass, was released in 2012. I only heard of them earlier this year through, of course, Stereogum, and it quickly seemed like I was seeing their name everywhere. I don't have a strong reference point for their earlier work, but early praise for this record backs up the quality of the work I heard when I first checked out the band. Listen: "But" Listen: "Grand Edge, MI"

Foxygen - ...And Star Power ...And Star Power is the third album from this psychedelic duo. While both of their previous records were well-received, 2013's We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace of Magic was one of the best reviewed albums of that year. The follow-up is a double album comprising 24 tracks. Watch: "How Can You Really" Watch: "Coulda Been My Love"

Greylag - Greylag This is the debut album from the folk-rock group, but it has been four years in the making. Although they're fairly new to the game, they have already been able to enlist one of rock's best producers, Phil Ek, who has also worked with Father John Misty, Band of Horses, and The Shins. Enlisting such a great producer implies some high praise for the band, but that praise is very well-deserved. Watch: "Yours to Shake" Listen: "Another"

Jen Wood - Wilderness Jen Wood began her career in 1992 as a member of Tattle Tale and contributed vocals to The Postal Service's first and only album a decade later. Her latest solo record was partially inspired by a change in her life; she recently got married and has been reflecting on the switch to being a homemaker after years of being on the road. Listen: "Run the Wild Ones"

Kele - Trick Kele's band, Bloc Party, broke up for the second, and possibly final, time about a year ago. He has been working as a solo artist since 2010, when he released The Boxer. His solo work is more in a dance and electronic style, which seems surprising at the surface, but considering that much of his work in Bloc Party has elements of that style, the genre is not such a stretch for him. Watch: "Doubt" Listen: "Coasting"

Kevin Morby - Still Life Up until last year, Kevin Morby had only performed as a member of a band; first with Woods and then with The Babies. Both bands remain active, but he first branched out as a solo artist with Harlem River last year. The title of his follow-up album are inspired by a piece of art by Maynard Monroe, which is also featured as the album's cover art. Watch: "If You Leave and If You Marry" Watch: "All of My Life"

Kindness - Otherness This is the sophomore album from Adam Bainbridge. His latest effort sees him going into a slightly different direction from his first album, World, You Need a Change of Mind; from disco-pop to neo-soul. He gets some help from impressive sources on his new album, including Kelela, Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange), and Robyn. Watch: "This Is Not About Us" Watch: "Who Do You Love"

Last Ex - Last Ex Last Ex is the side project of Simon Trottier and Olivier Fairfield of Timber Timbre. The formation of the project came after ambient music tracks developed for a 2012 horror movie were scrapped. Thanks to their discarded work on that score, the band found a new way to write and develop music, and decided to pursue the sound further on the side. Watch: "Girl Seizure"

Li Xi - Meet Me Somewhere Meet Me Somewhere is the debut album from this band led by Maryann Tran and James Vernon out of San Francisco. The band has a vintage, old-school sound which is aided by the use of vintage instruments. This is another wonderful Stereogum find, I love their upbeat, light sound. Watch: "Carriages" Listen: "Pluto"

Maggie Bjorklund - Shaken Maggie Bjorklund has began making a name for herself recently as the steel guitar player for Jack White's all-female backing band, the Peacocks. Outside of that, she has had an impressive career of her own. Shaken is her second album and, on both records, she has attracted some high-profile names as collaborators. Her latest features contributions from Jim Barr, John Parish, and Kurt Wagner. Listen: "Fro Fro Heart" Listen: "Walking"

Stars - No One Is Lost No One Is Lost is the seventh album from this long-running Canadian band. They have become known for exploring different musical ideas with each album; their latest sees them incorporating dance music. This is especially fitting, as it was recorded near a former discotheque in Montréal. Watch: "From the Night" Watch: "No One Is Lost"

Tony Allen - Film of Life Tony Allen is a 74-year-old Nigerian drummer who is considered to be one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre. He has been highly-regarded throughout his career, and has even been named "the greatest drummer who ever lived" by Brian Eno. He also has a big fan in Damon Albarn, with whom he worked on The Good, The Bad, & The Queen and Rocket Juice & The Moon, and who features on his latest album. Watch: "Go Back" Listen: "Ire Omo"

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Unravelling While I had heard this Scottish band's name in passing, I only started to become interested in when a good friend and co-worker highly praised their music and shared some of his favorite tracks. Another big selling point for him were the strong accents used in the band's vocals, and I do love a good accent. Outside of their use of a brogue, though, they do make some excellent music; their third album is no different. Watch: "I Keep It Composed" Listen: "Peaks and Troughs"

Other New Releases

Boards of Canada - Hi Scores EP Reissue Boards of Canada is Scottish electronica/trip hop group who surprised a lot of fans last year with the release of a new album after an eight-year hiatus. The group is following that up with a re-release of their second EP, originally released in 1996. Listen: "Hi Scores" Listen: "Turquoise Hexagon Sun"

Danny Brown - Smokin and Drinkin EP Rapper Danny Brown has been making quite a name for himself over the past couple of years and has scored some great guests spots on a variety of others' music (including Rustie and Purity Ring). His latest release, "Smokin and Drinkin," is the latest single to be released from his 2013 third album, Old. Watch: "Smokin and Drinkin" Listen: "Smokin and Drinkin" (Boys Noize Smokin Mix)

Detroit Swindle - Boxed Out: The Remixes Here we have another set of remixes from these Amsterdam house producers, who released their Boxed Out album back in March. One track from that record, "64 Ways" has already gotten the remix treatment from other artists. This latest release pulls four other songs from that album to get remixed. Listen: "B.Y.O." (Jimpster Remix) Listen: "He's Just This Guy, You Know?" (MRSK Remix)

J Fernandez - Memorize Now J Fernandez is a pop experimentalist based out of Chicago. His latest EP was conceived after a friend told him about the disorder prosopagnosia, which impacts a person's ability to recognize faces. He applied the idea to the struggle to recognize a thought or idea for a song and build upon it. It appears he caught his thoughts for this one. the songs are beautiful, and complete ideas. Listen: "Cosmic Was" Listen: "Close Your Eyes"

The Kinks - The Essential Kinks The Kinks are a classic British rock band who were active from the 1960s until the 90s. They've been on a re-releasing kick recently, but are also the latest artist featured on Columbia's The Essential series, which collects some of the best and most popular songs from their career. Listen: "You Really Got Me" Listen: "Lola"

Kleerup - As If We Never Won Kleerup is a Swedish record producer who has worked with Robyn, Susanne Sundfør, and Lykke Li. He released his second album, Aniara, earlier this year. As If We Never Won is described as a mini-album (not sure how that differs from an EP); he plans to release another within the next year. Watch: "Let Me In" Listen: "Nothing Left to Die For"

Lucius - Wildewoman Deluxe Edition I wasn't at all aware of Lucius when they released their debut album about a year ago, but I've since heard a lot about them. The album made several prominent year-end lists and I began to see members showing up elsewhere. For example, the two female vocalists provided backing vocals for Tweedy's debut album. This re-release features a few new tracks, including a cover of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Watch: "Turn It Around" Watch: "Tempest"

Mansionair - Hold Me Down EP Chvrches may have only been around for three years and one album, but they already have themselves a record label, Goodbye Records. The label gives the band the opportunity to discover and promote the music that they love. This new EP from Mansionair is one of the first releases from that label. Listen: "Hold Me Down" Listen: "Second Night"

Say Lou Lou - "Games for Girls" Say Lou Lou is a twin sister duo of Australian and Swedish background who are the daughters of musicians Steve Kilbey and Karin Jansson. They will be releasing their debut album, Lucid Dreaming, early next year, but have been putting out a fairly steady stream of singles since 2012. Their latest single was produced by Lindstrøm. Watch: "Games for Girls"

What's Good Los Angeles? EP What's Good Los Angeles? is a collaboration between Vans and LA record label Friends of Friends. The EP features contributions from Hodgy Beats, Baths, Jerome LOL, and others on the LA scene. Listen: Baths - "Disorderly"

Wild Beasts - Present Tense Special Edition Wild Beasts released a pretty spectacular fourth album earlier this year. It is, of course, getting itself a quick-turnaround reissue. The "special edition" comes with a disc of remixes with tracks from Foals, The Field, and Factory Floor, to name a few. Watch: "Sweet Spot" Watch: "Wanderlust"