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Speedy Ortiz - Rabbit Rabbit Watch: "You S02" Watch: "Plus One" |
The Natvral - Summer of No Light Watch: "A Glass of Laughter" Listen: "Summer of Hell" |
Slowdive - everything is alive Watch: "kisses" Watch: "skin in the game" |
Grandaddy - Sumday Twunny Listen: "Yeah Is What We Had" Listen: "Now It’s On" |
SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE - i’m so lucky Watch: "tapeworm”/“natural devotion 2" Watch: "really happening" |
 Half Waif - Lavender Synth-pop singer Nandi Rose Plunkett is a former member of Pinegrove and has been performing solo as Half Waif for six years. Lavender is her second album following last year's Probably Depths. Watch: "Keep It Out" Watch: "Torches" |
 Janelle Monáe - Dirty Computer Monáe steps away a bit from the thematic elements of her first two albums, though there's still some Cindi Mayweather around. In ways, it's a more typical pop album, but one only this artist could make. It's sexual, defiant, political, and (as she always is) amazing! Watch: "Make Me Feel" Watch: "Django Jane" |
 Okkervil River - In the Rainbow Rain In the Rainbow Rain is the ninth album from this band fronted by Will Sheff. The album follows 2016's Away, in which Sheff unpacked major changes to his personal and professional lives. This album sees the band incorporating a wide variety of new styles. Watch: "Don’t Move Back to LA" Watch: "Pulled Up the Ribbon" |
 Speedy Ortiz - Twerp Verse Twerp Verse is the third album from this Massachusetts band and follows 2015's amazing Foil Deer. The album and the videos that have accompanied it continue the DIY feel of their work. Watch: "Lucky 88" Watch: "Lean in When I Suffer" |
 Twin Shadow - Caer This is the fourth album from George Lewis, Jr., who performs as Twin Shadow. The album features collaborations with Rainsford and HAIM. Watch: "Little Woman" Watch: "Brace" (featuring Rainsford) |
 Forth Wanderers - Forth Wanderers Watch: "Ages Ago" Watch: "Nevermine" |  Post Malone - beerbongs & bentleys Watch: "Psycho" (featuring Ty Dolla $ign) Watch: "rockstar" (featuring 21 Savage) |
 Van Morrison and Joey DeFrancesco - You’re Driving Me Crazy Listen: "You’re Driving Me Crazy" Listen: "Everyday I Have the Blues" |  We Are Scientists - Megaplex Watch: "One In, One Out" Watch: "Your Light Has Changed" |
 Willie Nelson - Last Man Standing Watch: "Me and You" Watch: "Bad Breath" |
 Buzzy Lee - Facepaint EP Watch: "Facepaint" Watch: "Coolhand" |  Grouper - Grid of Points Listen: "Driving" Listen: "Parking Lot" |
 Kings: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Listen: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - "Saying Goodbye" Listen: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - "Waking Up" |  SONTALK - SONTALK: Act 1 Watch: "I Am a War Machine" |
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| pitchfork.com |
 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" |
 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" |
 Antemasque - Antemasque Antemasque is a new band made up from the members of the now-defunct bands At the Drive-In and The Mars Volta, with a little help from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They formed earlier this year and wasted no time in putting together their debut album. Flea may not be an official member of the group, but has lent some signature elements of his style to this new band. Listen: "4AM" Listen: "Drown All Your Witches" |
 Bleachers - Strange Desire Bleachers of the solo act of fun.'s Jack Antonoff. He began working on the project over the years of being on the road with him main act, officially announcing it in February with the release of this first single. He enlists some help from both newer and established indie performers; Yoko Ono and Grimes are both featured on the release. Watch: "I Wanna Get Better" Watch: "Shadow" |
 Fink - Hard Believer Fink is the performing name of English singer and songwriter Fin Greenall. He has been an active performer for more then 20 years. He's released some incredible albums with my introduction (and favorite) being 2006's Biscuits for Breakfast. He makes deep, brooding music, which seems to emanate from inside and builds on itself as the songs progress. He's been able to lend his style to other artists like Banks and John Legend, but really shines on his own. Watch: "Looking Too Closely" Watch: "Hard Believer" |
 Landlady - Upright Behavior Landlady is an New York-based band who have been inspired by some established favorites; Talking Heads, TV on the Radio, Dirty Projectors. They take those influences and create a percussive, experimental indie rock. Listen: "The Globe" |
 Morrissey - World Peace Is None of Your Business To promote his tenth record, Morrissey took a slightly different approach than is typical. While he did release videos for a number of the album's tracks, the audio for the videos featured spoken word renditions of the lyrics (I erroneously thought that the record was spoken-word through and through). He released almost no tracks in the form in which they appeared on the record, aside from some early live recordings. Watch: "The Bullfighter Dies" Watch: "Earth Is the Loneliest Planet" |
 Puss N Boots - No Fools, No Fun Puss N Boots is a side project of Norah Jones, joining up with Sasha Dobson and Catherine Popper. Though two of the three members became known for singing jazz-style music, this record is all country. The group began performing together in 2008, but this is their first album. Listen: "Don't Know What It Means" Listen: "Always" |
 Richard Reed Parry - Music for Heart and Breath Richard Reed Parry is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter who has become pivotal in defining Arcade Fire's sound. As a solo artist, though, he errs on the same classical side as bandmate Sarah Neufeld. For Music for Heart and Breath, he composed the tracks, but enlisted other performers to record the songs to the beat of their own bodies (hence the album name)! Listen: "Duet for Heart and Breath" |
 Sébastien Tellier - L'Aventura Tellier may have just released his fifth album, Confection, in November of last year, but he's quick with the follow-up. Where that previous record came from a place of pain, it was inspired by the death of his grandmother, this one is lighter, inspired by Brazil. He brings in elements of Brazilian-styles of music to complement his own French pop/new wave style. Watch: "Aller vers le soleil" Watch: "L'adulte" |
 United Nations - The Next Four Years United Nations is a "scream" supergroup made up of members of Thursday, Glassjaw, and Acid Tiger, along with a few other bands. This is just their second album together following about nine years together. Listen: "Serious Business" Listen: "United Nations vs. United Nations" |
 Anna Calvi - Strange Weather Anna Calvi follows up her amazing 2013 album, One Breath, by teaming up with David Byrne for a covers EP. The singer and guitar virtuoso shows that she's equally inspired by those who have come after as well as before her. The album includes tracks originally performed by Connan Mockasin, FKA Twigs, and Byrne himself. Watch: "Strange Weather" Listen: "Papi Pacify" |
 Break Line The Musical It was reported way back in 2009 that Yeasayer's Anand Wilder was working on a musical with pianist Maxwell Kardon. Now, it's revealed that there may not be a musical per se, but a collection of songs written and compiled by the duo telling one cohesive story. Listen: "Wedding Day" Listen: "I'm to Blame" |
 Cowboy Jack Clement - For Once and for All "Cowboy" Jack Clement was a singer and songwriter who passed away last year at the age of 82. He was a prolific songwriter who wrote and produced hits for Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Ray Charles. His final record includes collaborations with some old friends, Emmylou Harris and John Prine; as well as some newer folks like The Secret Sisters and Dan Auerbach. Listen: "Got Leaving on Her Mind" |
 Kelis - Friday Fish Fry EP Kelis released her hunger-inducing sixth album Food, earlier this year. "Friday Fish Fry" is one of the tracks from that record, which is now getting released with a number of remixes of the track to go along with it. Listen: "Friday Fish Fry" Listen: "Friday Fish Fry" (Maribou State & Pedestrian Remix) |
 My Brightest Diamond - None More Than You EP My Brightest Diamond (aka Shara Worden) will be releasing her fourth album later this year. Before that, though, she is putting out a short EP of new music. Just something to give everyone a little taste of what is to come! Listen: "Dreaming Awake" (Son Lux Remix) |
 Speedy Ortiz - "Bigger Party" "Bigger Party" is the sixth installment in the 2014 Adult Swim singles series. The song is performed by indie rock band Speedy Ortiz, a follow-up to their 2013 debut album Major Arcana. Listen: "Bigger Party" |
 Wish I Was Here: Music from the Motion Picture Ten years ago, Zach Braff made a mixtape that changed how movie soundtracks were released. The soundtrack for his little indie film, Garden State, won a Grammy and made some of the featured artists big(-ish) names, especially The Shins. Zach is back and trying to recreate that magic with the soundtrack for his new film, Wish I Was Here. The Shins are, again, featured on the soundtrack. Listen: The Shins - "So Now What" Listen: Bon Iver - "Heavenly Father" |
