My Favorite Things of the Week (Ending April 4, 2020)

I know it has been quite a while since I've really posted anything. I will admit that I find it difficult to focus on this, work, and leisure activities. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get back to the pace of posting from my early blogging days, but I will try to check in and post something new every once in a while.

I am maintaining my Upcoming Releases page, check it out here!

Self-isolation seems to have become a creativity boom for many artists, and has led to a large number of new covers. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie has been posting frequent home concerts with dedicated covers sessions, and Ty Segall recorded an EP of Harry Nilsson covers. The stand-out for the past week, however, is a genre-bending cover of Nirvana's "Heart-Shaped Box" from Amber Mark.

Mavis Staples and Jeff Tweedy continued their musical partnership this week with a new song, "All in It Together." While available on streaming services, the track is also available for purchase. Proceeds of any purchases will go to My Block, My Hood, My City, which is a non-profit dedicated to helping seniors in Chicago deal with the current coronavirus pandemic. The track can be purchased here.

Fiona Apple has about a six-year album cycle. She released her last record, The Idler Wheel..., in 2012, so we have been a bit overdue for a follow-up. That record is easily one of my favorites from the past decade, and I was overjoyed when she announced Fetch the Bolt Cutters. We don't have to wait long either, the album will be released on April 17!

Also announced this week:

Art Feynman - Half Price at 3:30 (June 26)
Disheveled Cuss - Disheveled Cuss (June 12)
Field Report - Brake Light Red Tide (April 28)
Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes Reissue (August 21)
Headie One and Fred again.. - GANG (out now)
John Carroll Kirby - Conflict (out now)
July Talk - Pray for It (July 10)
Kilo - Maybe We Could (July 17)
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Chunky Shrapnel (April 17)
The Memories - Pickles & Pies (May 29)
Mountain Time - Music for Looking Animals (June 26)
The National - High Violet: 10th Anniversary Expanded Edition (June 19)
Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever - Sideways to New Italy (June 5)
serpentwithfeet - Apparition (April 24)
Trickfinger - She Smiles Because She Presses the Button (June 3)

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 - April 29, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Damon Albarn - Everyday Robots Damon Albarn has been incredible active over his 26-year career. He has fronted two bands, Blur and Gorillaz; worked with other musicians on various collaborative projects, including The Good, The Bad & The Queens; and scored operas. In all this time, though, he hadn't yet released a proper solo album. Everyday Robots perhaps plugs into Damon's most personal side and shows what he can do on his own. Watch: "Heavy Seas of Love" Watch: "Everyday Robots"

Fennesz - Bécs Christian Fennesz is an electronic guitarist from Austria who has been a frequent collaborator with many other artists, such as Jim O'Rourke, Tony Buck and Mark Linkous. He has also been an active solo artist, releasing seven studio albums since 1997. His latest record is being hailed as a return to the sound he developed on his 2001 breakout Endless Summer. Listen: "Static Kings" Listen: "Sav"

Nat Baldwin - In the Hollows Nat Baldwin is the bassist for the experimental indie rock band Dirty Projectors. He is also a solo musician who released his first album, Most Valuable Player in 2008. Last year, he released a collection of demos, Dome Branches, and is following that up with his latest studio record. Watch: "In the Hollows"

Olga Bell - Krai Olga Bell is another member of the Dirty Projectors, playing keyboards and providing backing vocals. Born in Moscow, she recorded her sophomore studio album in her mother tongue. Listen: "Perm Krai"

Pink Mountaintops - Get Back I never realized that the top of a black mountain would be pink in color! Pink Mountaintops is a side project of Stephen McBean of the Canadian psych-rock band Black Mountains. The band is a bit of a supergroup, also containing members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor!, Cold War Kids and Cat Power's band. Watch: "Ambulance City" Watch: "North Hollywood Microwaves"

Pixies - Indie Cindy The Pixies were one of the definitive alternative rock bands of the late 80s/early 90s, but disbanded in 1993. They reformed in 2004, but it wasn't until last year that they released new music. It started with the single "Bagboy" followed by three EPs released late last year and earlier this year. Their first proper studio album in over 20 years collects all of those tracks together on one collection. Watch: "Snakes" Watch: "Greens and Blues"

Ramona Lisa - Arcadia Carolina Polachek is a member of the band Chairlift, with which she has released two albums, including 2012's incredible Something. Polachek has also been performing secret shows under the name Ramona Lisa since last year. Her debut solo album features love songs told through the lens of nature. Watch: "Backwards & Upwards" Watch: "Arcadia"

Rodrigo y Gabriela - 9 Dead Alive Rodrigo y Gabriela are a pair of former heavy metal guitarists from Mexico. It was in Dublin, Ireland, though, where they developed the complicated, intricate, instrumental, dual-guitar sound for which they have become known. 9 Dead Alive is their fourth studio album and each song is dedicated to an important historical figure who has passed. Watch: "The Soundmaker"

Wye Oak - Shriek Baltimore-based band Wye Oak released four albums between 2008 and 2011. In the time since their 2011 release, Civilian, lead singer Jenn Wasner has been busy with side projects, including singles with Flock of Dimes and an eponymous album as Dungeonesse. Her return to her main band also brings with it a change of sound. In their previous albums, Wye Oak's sound has been guitar-driven, but the latest has more of an electronic base. They still sound like Wye Oak, though! Watch: "The Tower" Watch: "Glory"

Other New Releases

Disclosure & Friend Within - "The Mechanism" Disclosure have proven themselves as incredible musicians and have put out a number of awesome collaborative tracks. The latest partners them with UK producer Friend Within. Listen: "The Mechanism"

Haim - "If I Could Change Your Mind" Haim rode in on a wave of hype with last year's Days Are Gone. "If I Could Change Your Mind" was one of the stand-outs from that record and is now seeing its release as a single. Watch: "If I Could Change Your Mind"

Jacques Greene - Phantom Vibrate EP Jacques Greene is a Canadian producer who has made a name for himself remixing both new and classic tracks. This is his third collection of original material. Watch: "No Excuse"

New Music Tuesday - April 22, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Beverley Martyn - The Phoenix and the Turtle Beverley Martyn is a British folk singer who's been active for nearly five decades, though this is just her fourth album. Before his death in 1974, she recorded a song, "Reckless Jane," with Nick Drake. That track is getting released here, along with eight other original tracks. Listen: "Reckless Jane" (with Nick Drake) Listen: "Levee Breaks"

Black Prairie - Fortune Black Prairie is a bluegrass side project of the band The Decemberists including almost every member except frontman Colin Meloy. The band was started by Chris Funk and Nate Query during some downtime between touring. They released their first album, Feast of the Hunter's Moon, in 2010. Watch: "Let It Out"

DaVinci & Sweet Valley - Ghetto Cuisine Sweet Valley is the Wavves side project consisting of Nathan Williams and his brother, Kynan. They've released three free instrumental albums, along with a long-form song on their Bandcamp page. DaVinci is a Bay Area-based rapper who released his last album, The MOEna Lisa, two years ago. For this release, Sweet Valley are lending their production skills to back up the rapper's hooks. Watch: "I Got That Line" Listen: "Animal"

Future - Honest Future created his moniker when he was considered to be "the future" by his peers in his native Atlanta. He kicked off his career in 2010 with a series of mixtapes and released Pluto, his debut, in 2012. Leading into his second album, his personal life and career seem to be hitting a greater stride. He's about to have a child with Ciara, a relationship which influenced at least one track on the record; and he's already getting a lot of praise for this release. Watch: "I Won" (featuring Kanye West) Watch: "Move That Dope" (featuring Pusha T and Pharrell)

Iggy Azalea - The New Classic Iggy Azalea is set out to change the hip hop landscape and she's already working on the face of the genre. A white, female, Australian rapper is something fairly new. She first came to the US at the age of 16 and was involved heavily in the Atlanta hip hop scene, which is fairly apparent with a Southern affectation in her raps which serves to contrast her Australian accent. Watch: "Fancy" (featuring Charli XCX)

Margot & The Nuclear So and So's - Slingshot to Heaven Margot & The Nuclear So and So's is an indie band out of Indianapolis with two member that attended IU (Go Hoosiers!). That's not the only reason I like them, they also make some great music. They started with a chamber pop sound before moving towards a more rock-focused style with 2010's Buzzard. The release of this latest album was accompanied by a 16mm film containing performances from the band. Listen: "Long Legged Blonde Memphis" Listen: "Lazy"

Thee Oh Sees - Drop Thee Oh Sees went on an "indefinite hiatus" in December of last year. At first, it seemed that it would be so, with frontman John Dwyer releasing his own solo album under the name Damaged Bug. The band, however, soon started performed together again and announced this latest album in February, and it was released this past Record Store Day. Watch: "Drop" Watch: "The Lens"

Other New Releases

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Soundtrack The second film in the latest reboot of the Spider-Man franchise was released this past weekend, preceded by the film's soundtrack. Film composer Hans Zimmer produced the majority of the record, but there are also contributions from Alicia Keys, Pharrell Williams and Johnny Marr. Watch: Alicia Keys - "It's on Again" (featuring Kendrick Lamar) Listen: Pharrell Williams - "Here"

Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe Re-Package Chvrches released an incredible debut album last year. This year, the record is getting re-released with some bonus tracks and remixes. Watch: "Recover" Watch: "Strong Hand"

Farewell Transmission: The Music of Jason Molina Jason Molina, frontman for Ohia, passed away in 2013 after struggling with alcohol abuse. He has many fans, including other musicians, who felt a loss following his death. Some of those musicians have come together to release a tribute album to the late performer. My Morning Jacket, Murder By Death and Sarah Jaffe are just a few among many who contributed to this release. Listen: Memorial Electric Co. - "Trouble in Mind (Fade to Blue)" Listen: My Morning Jacket - "Farewell Transmission"

Fucked Up - "Year of the Dragon" Since 2006, experimental punk band has been releasing their Zodiac series 12"s. "Year of the Dragon" is sixth of the series, following 2012's "Year of the Tiger." Listen: "Year of the Dragon" Listen: "I Wanna Be a Yank"

Yuck - Southern Skies EP Yuck continues to prove that they do not need Daniel Blumberg to make great music. The band released a great sophomore album, Glow & Behold, in October of last year and are following it up with a short EP. Watch: "Another One" Watch: "Southern Skies"