My Favorite Things of the Week

Check out my Upcoming Releases page for more new music!

The soundtrack for Peaky Blinders was released this past Friday and includes new songs from a number of amazing musicians, including Laura Marling, PJ Harvey, and Queens of the Stone Age. It also features a new song from Anna Calvi, "You're Not God." The song doesn't feature her vocals much, aside from audible breaths and growls, but instead focuses on her incredible guitar work.

FKA twigs recently appeared on BBC 1 to perform songs from her new album, Magdalene. In addition to "home with you," and "cellophane," she also performed a cover of Gershwin's jazz classic "Summertime." Despite the song's 85 years as a jazz standard, she manages to bring something new with her distinctive breathy vocals.

Every music video released by Rosalía has been amazing, usually featuring colorful costumes and well-choreographed dance sequences. These don't feel like typical pop videos, though. There's something to the camera work and cinematography, and of course her music, that elevates her videos above the fray.

This week, Moses Sumney announced a two-part album, græ.

stereogum.com

He released an incredible debut album, Aromanticism, in 2017, followed up by the Black in Deep Red EP last year. Based on the first track from the album, "Virile," he is only building on the loose song structure and jazz-influenced vocals that made his earlier work so amazing. Part one of the album will be released in February, and part two and the physical release coming on May 15.



Also announced this week:

Action Bronson - Lamb Over Rice (November 22)
Andrew Bird - HARK! (out now)
Andy Stott - It Should Be Us (out now)
Animal Collective - Ballet Slippers (November 22)
Annie Hart - A Softer Offering (December 13)
Black Lips - Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart (January 24)
C.Y.M. - C.Y.M. (out now)
Camila Cabello - Romance (December 6)
Grimes - Miss Anthropocene (February 21)
Free Nationals - The Free Nationals (December 13)
Hamerkop - Remote (February 7)
The Homesick - The Big Exercise (February 7)
Katie Gately - Loom (February 14)
Lee Ranaldo & Raül Refree - Names of North End Women (February 21)
Noel Gallagher’s High-Flying Birds - Blue Moon Rising (March 6)
Of Montreal - UR FUN (January 17)
Okay Kaya - Watch This Liquid Pour Itself (January 24)
The Rentals - Q36 (June 2)
Rose Cousins - Bravado (February 21)
The Secret Sisters - Saturn Return (February 28)
Tinashe - Songs for You (November 22)
Walter Martin - The World at Night (January 31)
Wiki - OOFIE (out now)
Wolf Parade - Thin Mind (January 24)
Yorkston/Thorne/Khan - Navarasa: Nine Emotion (January 24)

fka twigs - "Good to Love"

I think it's safe to crown fka twigs the queen of music videos. She self-directs the majority of them, incorporates her incredible dancing, and it doesn't hurt that the music is amazing. Her latest is an intimate video of her doing some subtle moves while laying in bed wrapped up in sheets. It's a simple image, but one that pairs perfectly with the song.

There's no word yet on whether this track will be included on an upcoming release; fka twigs last released the EP M3LL155A in August of last year.

The Dead Weather - "The Impossible Winner"

The members of The Dead Weather take a very strange ship ride (or is it a train, it's a little hard to tell). They're imprisoned by a pair of imposing, and sometimes deformed, guards who seem to enjoy screaming at their captives. The prisoners have some deformities as well, showing them off as they go about their lives in their cells.

The Dead Weather's third album, Dodge and Burn, was released back in September.

The Chemical Brothers - "Wide Open" (featuring Beck)

This week, The Chemical Brothers released a video for their collaboration with Beck, "Wide Open," from their latest album.

The video features dancer Sonoya Mizuno, who you may recognize from Ex Machina. She, of course, dances in the video, but as she's dancing, parts of her body are transformed into an open mesh. I can't even begin to understand how they made this happen, but it's a stunning video.

Born in the Echoes was released on June 17 of last year.

TV on the Radio - "Trouble"

In their video for the Seeds cut "Trouble," TV on the Radio show a series of poignant portraits of a variety of individuals. There's a sense of melancholy in each shot, everyone seems sad or worried about something. Then, the song's message comes in: "here comes trouble," but "everything is going to be ok." It's a simple video, but the song's lyrics seem to be just the message that the figures in the video, and perhaps the viewer, needs to hear.

TV on the Radio released their fifth studio album, Seeds, in November of last year.

Laura Marling - "Gurdjieff's Daughter"

In the video for Short Movie stand-out "Gurdjieff's Daughter," Laura Marling's plays an erratic, though maybe not entirely welcome, house guest. She breezes into a home wearing a simple black dress and interacts with everyone there in some way. Some smile and embrace her, other react coldly and try to ignore her. The video shows a somewhat playful side to an artist who can sometimes come off in a fairly serious manner.

Marling's latest album, Short Movie, was released in March of this year. It's a truly incredible album, which you should check out if you have not already.

Run the Jewels - "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)"

It seems that, recently, tensions between law enforcement and people of color have been at an especially high level. Many artists have tackled the issue through their work, and Run the Jewels are among the latest to allude to those tensions both in their music and their videos.

They present a bit of a twist on the concept, though. We are presented with two men, a white police officer and a black suspect. At first, it appears that the cop is attempting to arrest an uncooperative suspect, but the fight stretches beyond the course of the afternoon and into the night, far longer than one would expect before an arrest is made, backup is called, or someone is dead. By the end, we're left questioning the nature of the relationship between the men.

Run the Jewels released their amazing sophomore album, Run the Jewels 2, last year. This particular track, a standout from the record, features a guest verse from Zack De La Rocha, formerly of Rage Against the Machine.

Carnage - "I Like Tuh" (featuring iLoveMakonnen)

Following a long setup featuring twin drug dealers, the music video for Carnage's "I Like Tuh" starts to look like just about any other hip hop music video set at a house party. The girls are sexy, the liquor is flowing, and everybody's dancing. After taking some of the dealers' mysterious drug, heads start exploding. It's not a great song, but it comes with a pretty cool music video.

Azealia Banks - "Wallace"

It's a shame that Azealia Banks has become so well known for her beefs and twitter battles. The focus on that aspect of her persona diverts attention away from some amazing music and really cool music videos.

Recently, she released yet another amazing video for the track "Wallace," taken from her debut album. She's jumped onto the interactive video bandwagon. Like many interactive videos, this one makes use of the viewers camera to control Banks' movements on screen. It's just a simple yet stunning shot of her shoulders and face, and the result is really cool.

The interactive video can be viewed here.

Banks' long-delayed debut album, Broke with Expensive Taste, was finally released in November of last year.

clipping. - "Summertime"

clipping. is one of the most interesting hip hop groups out there, but as great as their music is, the accompanying videos are just as amazing. On the surface, their latest just seems to collect (possibly illicit) footage of people working, enjoying the beach, and driving around. However, everyone's mouth and eyes has been replaced with those of MCs Daveed Diggs and King Tee. The effect is pretty cool, though a little unnerving.

clipping. released their sophomore album, CLPPNG, in June of last year.

Ingrid Michaelson - "Time Machine"

In her latest music video, Ingrid Michaelson gets upstaged by her male co-stars. She fights for screen time with actors Donald Faison, Brian Baumgartner, David Koechner, Rainn Wilson, among several others. Eventually, she's able to regain control and be the deserved star of her own video.

Ingrid released her latest album, Lights Out, in April of last year.

Willis Earl Beal - "Coming Through"

It doesn't seem like Mischa Barton has been doing much since the end of The O.C. in 2007. She's had a series of minor roles, but nothing much of note. Last year, she did get a gig in a very strange music video for Willis Earl Beal's "Coming Through," in which she joins the (hopefully fictional) Church of Nobody.

"Coming Through" was released on Beal's 2013 album Nobody knows, though he released a limited edition album, Noctunes, earlier this year.

New Album Tuesday - February 10, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Albums

Caught on Tape - Full Bleed Former Sonic Youth frontman Thurston More engages in some freak-out noise rock improvisational sessions with John Moloney (who he collaborated with as Chelsea Light Moving). It follows his 2014 solo album and the album with Chelsea Light Moving released the year before. Listen: "Full Bleed" Listen: "Age Limit"

Death Grips - The Power That B This should, theoretically, be the last release from Death Grips, who "broke up" last year (though this is their second release this year). The new album completes a double album project, the first half of which, Niggas on the Moon, was released in June of last year. Technically, its companion record, Jenny Death, has not yet been released, but presumably those tracks are featured here. Watch: "Inanimate Sensation" Listen: "Up My Sleeves"

The Dø - Shake Shook Shaken The Dø is a French/Finnish indie pop group with a fairly obvious nod towards Björk's unique brand of pop. I found out about them following a feature of lead singer, Olivia Merilahti, in Lucky magazine. I didn't know anything about them, but was intrigued by the magazine's description of their music. I've loved them ever since. Shake Shook Shaken is their third album. Watch: "Despair, Hangover & Ecstasy" Listen: "Miracles (Back in Time)"

Father John Misty - I Love You, Honeybear Father John Misty, real name Josh Tillman, continues his swaggering indie folk persona on his second album under the newer name. The album is a concept record about himself; it deals with his personal life, regretted behaviors, and his relationship with his wife. Watch: "Chateau Lobby #4 (in C for Two Virgins)" Listen: "Bored in the USA"

Jefre Cantu-Ledesma - A Year with 13 Moons Jefre Cantu-Ledesma is a multi-instrumentalist and record label owner who has been involved with a number of bands during his career. He has also worked with many other artists in the drone and ambient community, including Grouper and Oneohtrix Point Never. Cantu-Ledesma is extremely prolific and A Year with 13 Moons follows a long string of both solo and collaborative work. Watch: "Pale Flower" Watch: "Love After Love"

Rhiannon Giddens - Tomorrow Is My Turn Rhiannon Giddens made a name for herself as a member of the Grammy-winning Americana group, the Carolina Chocolate Drops. She was also the sole female member of The New Basement Tapes, who released an album of songs based off of unrecorded Bob Dylan lyrics last year. She is following that up with her first solo album, which consists of songs previously made famous by other female artists. Listen: "Black Is the Color" Listen: "Shake Sugaree"

Rone - Creatures Rone is a French electronic musician with three studio albums and six EPs under his belt. In 2013, he collaborated with The National on their album Trouble Will Find Me, providing electronic instrumentation. He gets some help in return for his latest album; one of the band's twin guitarists, Brian Dessner, features on a track. Listen: "Elle" (featuring Brian Dessner) Listen: "Ouija"

William Ryan Fritch - Revisionist William Ryan Fritch is one of an increasing number of musicians affiliated in some way with Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). He played with Volcano Choir member Jon Mueller in Death Blues. This is his sixth studio album. Watch: "Thankless Deeds" Watch: "Still" (featuring Esmé Patterson)

Other New Releases

St. Vincent - St. Vincent Deluxe Edition St. Vincent released one of, if not the best album last year, and won her first Grammy earlier this year for it! The album is getting the reissue treatment this year, with the two songs she released for Black Friday Record Store Day, along with a few other new tracks, added to the record. Listen: "Bad Believer" Listen: "Pieta"

The Twilight Sad - "I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want" The Twilight Sad released the long-winded Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave in October of last year. The second longest song (title-wise) after the title track is getting released as a single this year, backed with a much shorter new song from the Scottish band. Watch: "I Could Give You All That You Don’t Want" Listen: "The Airport"

Zola Jesus - "Hunger"/"Compass" Zola Jesus also released her latest album in October of last year. Her newest single release comes with a brand new song of her own. Watch: "Hunger" Listen: "Compass"

New Music Tuesday - February 3, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Albums

Big Noble - First Light Big Noble is the side project of Interpol's Daniel Kessler with sound designer Joseph Fraioli. Their first album takes on the interplay between "popular music and sound design" and uses field recordings, guitar, and sound manipulation. Watch: "Peg" Watch: "Stay Gold"

Bob Dylan - Shadows in the Night Bob Dylan has been active for more than half a century and, as one of our most celebrated songwriters, has seen much of his music covered by various other musicians. This time around, he is the one doing the covering. His latest record features songs originally sung by Frank Sinatra. Dylan is far from a crooner, he has his own distinctive voice, which lends a unique style to these songs. Listen: "Stay with Me" Listen: "Full Moon and Empty Arms"

Mount Eerie - Sauna Sauna is the fifth full-length album from Mount Eerie and their first in three years. The album is meant to evoke the feel of an actual sauna, stuffy and heavy, but still very relaxing. The album was recorded in a reclaimed church in Washington state. Watch: "Sauna" Watch: "This"

Murder By Death - Big Dark Love Recently, Bloomington-based band Murder By Death relocated a couple of hours south to Louisville. The band has settled into a well-established sound over their 15 years and seven albums together. Their latest sees them experimenting a bit on their sound, but still holding to their whiskey-voiced folk rock. Listen: "Big Dark Love" Listen: "Solitary One"

Ricked Wicky - I Sell the Circus The once-impossibly-prolific band Guided By Voices broke up last year, but it looks like their members will remain active on their own. Former frontman Robert Pollard is busy with a new project, Ricked Wicky. Pollard takes the name from his first made-up band name from his youth and brings in former collaborators Todd Tobias and Nick Mitchell to help. Listen: "Mobility" Listen: "A Real Stab"

Other New Releases

Billie Holiday - At Storyville The latest release from the legendary Billie Holiday was recorded at the Storyville Club in Boston in October 1951 and October 1953. More than half a century after the original recording, the music is getting a new release. Purchase: Amazon

Built to Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future Reissue Built to Spill are getting set to release a new album in April of this year. First, they are re-releasing their fifth album which was originally released in 2001. Listen: "Strange" Listen: "The Host"

Fifty Shades of Grey Original Motion Picture Soundtrack It seems like a lot of movies that are otherwise uninteresting to me are getting really good soundtracks. Fifty Shades of Grey is the latest such film. It's unlikely I'll ever see it, but with new tracks from The Weeknd, Sia, and Jessie Ware, I may have its soundtrack on repeat. Watch: The Weeknd - "Earned It" Listen: Jessie Ware - "Meet Me in the Middle"

Hiss Golden Messenger - Southern Grammar EP Hiss Golden Messenger released his fifth album, Lateness of Dancers, in September of last year. He's following that up with a short new EP, which features two new songs, and a live version of the title track. A studio version of the title song was on his previous album. Listen: "He Wrote the Book" Listen: "Brother, Do You Know the Road?"

Hodgy Beats & Don Cannon - DENATAPE 2 Mixtape We may have already had the first Odd Future release of the year with Award Tour II last week, but Hodgy Beats is not far behind with his own follow-up mixtape. He released his first mixtape, DENATAPE, in 2009 and is releasing his follow-up to that this year, though he's released other mixtapes in the time between. Listen: "Self Titled" Listen: "Miyagi’s Prime"

Joni Mitchell - Newport Folk Festival 19th July 1969 The second-oldest live recording this week comes from Joni Mitchell and her 1969 performance at the Newport Folk Festival. The show came towards the beginning of her career and saw her performing songs that would become classics, as well as some of her rarer tracks. Listen: "The Circle Game"

Kali Uchis - Por Vida EP Kali Uchis is a Colombian singer-songwriter who has been featured on songs from Tyler, the Creator in the past. On her latest release (available as a free download from her site), Tyler returns the favor. The release also features production from Kaytranada and BADBADNOTGOOD. Watch: "Know What I Want" Listen: "Lottery"

Ty Segall Band - Live in San Francisco Ty Segall's prolific slate of new releases continues with his latest live album. The album was recorded over the course of two nights at The Rickshaw Shop and covers several years' worth of output. Listen: "What’s Inside Your Heart"

Guided By Voices - "Planet Score"

In this music video from the now-defunct Guided By Voices, Matt Jones (who you may recognize from Breaking Bad) is just some dude playing basketball in the park, and he kind of sucks. Unfortunately, the only other guy there knows it and berates him for it. Rob Corddry steps in to help him hone his skills and defeat his hot dog opponent.

The, likely, last album from Guided By Voices, Cool Planet, was released in May of last year, though this song appeared on their February album, Motivational Jumpsuit. Fear not fans, a new album from the band's former frontman under the name Ricked Wicky, I Sell the Circus, was just released!

Son Lux - "Alternate World"

The video for Son Lux's "Alternate World" follows are pair of former lovers who spot each other on a train. The encounter sets off their memory of an equally passionate and tempestuous relationship.

Son Lux released his third album, Lanterns, in October of last year. It ended up being one of my favorites of the year, as well.

Emilana Torrini - "Tookah"

Directed by the visual artist group Shynola, Emilíana Torrini's video for "Tookah" features her animated head (and sometimes hands) seemingly floating in water. About halfway through the video, the face begins to distort and multiply. The animation is amazing, though it definitely crosses the uncanny valley and becomes a little creepy. Still, an incredible video from a great collection of artists.

Emilíana released her latest album, also titled Tookah, in October of last year.

Savages - "Strife"

In the video for Savages' "Strife," two half-naked men come together on the beach for an intense bare knuckled fight to the death. Will the young or old man come out on top?

Savages released their amazing debut album, Silence Yourself, in May of last year.

New Music Tuesday - September 2, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Blonde Redhead - Barragán Four years after the release of Penny Sparkle, Blonde Redhead are attempting to reinvent their sound. Over their nine albums and 21 years together, they've moved towards a quieter, softer sound. This may be a disappointment for some fans, but I feel that most bands and musicians are more interesting if they evolve their sound over time. Listen: "Dripping" Listen: "No More Honey"

Earth - Primitive and Deadly Earth is a well-established drone metal band who released their first album in 1993. They separated for six years in 1997 and they've been pretty active since. Their latest features guest vocals from Mark Lanegan. Listen: "From the Zodiacal Light" Listen: "Even Hell Has Its Heroes"

Jeezy - Seen It All I've known the name Jeezy for quite awhile, but never been particularly interested in the music. While I'm exploring more hip hop artists and finding any that I liked, I'm also finding that they work with each other... a lot. I'm still not enthralled by his music, but his latest record includes contributions from Future, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z. Watch: "Me OK" Watch: "No Tears"

Sinkane - Mean Love Sinkane is the stage name of Sudanese musician Ahmed Gallab. He worked as a studio musician for such artists as Eleanor Friedberger, Caribou, and Yeasayer. He released a few EPs and albums starting in 2008, but broke out with the release of 2012's Mars. It was a great record, but he's recreating (even improving on) that magic. His music is a fusion of styles, influenced by the cultures that he grew up in, and the music he loves. Watch: "How We Be" Listen: "New Name"

Steven James Adams - House Music Steven James Adams has been performing for more than ten years and was a founding member of the Broken Family Band. This year, though, he's breaking out as a solo musician and enlisting some help from Emily Barker and The Vaccines. Watch: "Tears of Happiness"

The Vines - Wicked Nature The Vines rode in on the garage rock wave of the early-2000s and, like many of their contemporaries, faded into seeming obscurity for several years. It's been shorter than it seems, though, their previous record, Future Primitive, was released in 2011. This is still being pitched as a come-back record and is marked by a few big changes in the band. Lead singer Craig Nicholls takes producing credit for the first time and there's been some changes in the band's lineup. Watch: "Metal Zone" Listen: "Everything Else"

Zammuto - Anchor Nick Zammuto part of the duo The Books with Paul de Jong until the project ended in 2012. He released his first solo album following the disbandment, self-titled, in 2012. Anchor is the follow-up, recording with a full band. Watch: "IO" Watch: "Great Equator"

Zoot Woman - Star Climbing Zoot Woman is an electronic synthpop trio from England. They've been together for nearly twenty years, though this is just their fourth album. The band promises that this record is a departure for them, and has allowed them to incorporate all of their individual styles. Watch: "Don't Tear Yourself Apart"

Other New Releases

God Help the Girl: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack God Help the Girl has been a long-term project for Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch. The project was begun in 2009, when Murdoch brought together a group of female vocalists. That incarnation released a few singles, an album, and an EP; but he had larger sights set. He began developing a script for a movie that starting filming in 2012 and was released this year, starring Emily Browning as the main character. Watch: "God Help the Girl" Watch: Trailer

Julianna Barwick - Florine Reissue Julianna Barwick has become a bigger name in indie music over the past few years, but is not forgetting where she came from. She's re-releasing her first two EPs this weel. Florine was her second release, which originally came out in 2009. Listen: "Cloudbank" Listen: "Anjos"

Julianna Barwick - Sanguine Reissue Sanguine was the performer's very first release, coming out in 2006. It was where she first displayed her use of vocal loops and use of sounds over lyrics. It also serves as a show of how she creates music, allowing ideas to come to her spontaneously, rather than going through writing and re-writing processes. Listen: "Dancing with Friends" Listen: "Scary Cat"

Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One Remix EP Sam Smith released his debut album, In the Lonely Hour, in June, riding in on a wave of hype created through early singles and guest appearances. He's releasing one of the songs, "I'm Not the Only One," from that record, with a few remixed versions. Watch: "I'm Not the Only One" Listen: "I'm Not the Only One" (Armand van Helden Remix)

Vaults - "Lifespan" Vaults were one of my newly-discovered favorites recently. I absolutely love their take on synthpop and, while they only have a few singles out as of yet, am looking forward to the release of their first record. Watch: "Lifespan"