New Music Tuesday - December 16, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Brian Chippendale & Greg Saunier - Brian Chippendale & Greg Saunier Usually, when members of different bands get together to record a collaborative album, they play different instruments. Brian Chippendale and Greg Saunier, though, are both drummers, they play for Lightning Bolt/Black Pus and Deerhoof, respectively. Their debut collaborative album features two side-long improvisational pieces. Watch: Checking in at 20 documentary

Charli XCX - Sucker Charli XCX had a pretty spectacular year in 2014. She guested on one of the biggest tracks of the year, Iggy Azalea's "Fancy," and scored her first Billboard top 10 single with "Boom Clap." It's only fitting that she's topping off her best year with her sophomore album. While certainly retaining her pop sensibilities, she incorporates elements of punk music into this record. Watch: "Breaking Up" Watch: "Break the Rules"

Chief Keef - Nobody It's rare for a hip hop album to lack a football team's worth of guest artists, but Chief Keef chose to scale things back on his latest album. Of the album's 12 tracks, Kanye West is the only big name guesting. He's self-releasing this effort, as he was dropped by Interscope a couple of months back. Listen: "Nobody" Listen: "Ain't Just Me"

D'Angelo & The Vanguard - Black Messiah You know, everyone made a big deal over Beyoncé's surprise album last year, but she's been an active and consistent artist over the past few years. This release is even more surprising and even more spectacular. D'Angelo became known for his 2000 album Voodoo (and that body), but soon became more known for his lack of a follow-up and unfulfilled promises of a new record. Finally, with very little forewarning, he released this incredible album in mid-December. Listen: "Really Love" Listen: "Sugah Daddy"

Geotic - Sunset Mountain Geotic is the side project of musician Baths, which he started to explore more ambient sounds. He put out his previous release under the name, Morning Shore, in July of this year. Both albums are part of a Eon Isle trilogy; with each record based around a different instrument. The first focused on guitar, while this one is solely based on samples of his own vocals. Listen: "Up a Narrow Trail in the Woods" Listen: "Flit Around the Rivulets"

Mike WiLL Made-It - Ransom I feel a bit like 2014 was the year that producers made their voices more heard in the music they helped create, especially in hip hop. Many times, their presence was pretty obvious and somewhat intrusive (think DJ Mustard's "Mustard on the beat, hoe" on all of his tracks). Mike WiLL Made-It is another producer with a distinctive sound, but lays a bit lower on his tracks. He has worked with Juicy J, Rick Ross, and Big Sean; and some of his collaborators are also featured here. Watch: "Someone to Love" Listen: "Buy the World"

Nicki Minaj - The Pinkprint Nicki Minaj has become well-known for her body, a fact that she doesn't shy away from or try to hide. While it would be easy to dismiss her as little more than T&A (and I certainly have), she does seem to have more to offer. On her third album, she lays bare things she's been dealing with more privately. Her candidness has paid off, she's scored the most critically-loved album of her career so far, but hasn't lost the fans either. Watch: "Anaconda" Watch: "Only"

Other New Releases

Ice Choir - Pure Holiday The pre-holiday season inevitably brings with it a large slew of new Christmas albums, EPs, and singles. It doesn't seem to matter whether someone is a mainstream or independent artist, everyone puts one out at some point in their careers. Ice Choir is a project started by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's Kurt Feldman. This pair of singles is their first output since their debut album, Afar, from 2012. Listen: "It's Different Now" Listen: "Cut Down the Tree"

Inherent Vice: The Soundtrack Inherent Vice is a new movie from Paul Thomas Anderson starring Joaquin Phoenix, and one I really want to see. The music for the film was composed by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, who has previously produced scores for such films as There Will Be Blood and The Master. Listen: "Shasta" Listen: "Spooks"

The Kinks - The Anthology 1964 - 1971 2014 felt a bit like a Kinks love fest at times, not that that's a bad thing. We just seemed to get a lot of reissues and anthologies from the band. This will be the last bit of it for this year. This one collects tracks from the first few years for the band. Listen: "You Really Got Me" Listen: "Lola"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Firstborn Is Dead Reissue This week sees a handful of reissues from Nick Cave's back catalog with The Bad Seeds. The Firstborn Is Dead was originally released in 1985; it's name alludes to the stillborn twin brother of Elvis Presley. The album was further influenced by the American South, with songs referencing John Lee Hooker and Blind Lemon Jefferson, and a cover of a song originally by Johnny Cash. Watch: "Tupelo" Listen: "Say Goodbye to the Little Girl Tree"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - From Her to Eternity Reissue From Her to Eternity was The Bad Seeds' first album, released in 1984 following the dissolution of Cave's previous project, The Birthday Party. They hit the ground running with this first release, garnering fairly universal critically acclaim, something that would be maintained throughout their catalog. Listen: "Avalanche" Listen: "Cabin Fever"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Kicking Against the Pricks Reissue Kicking Against the Pricks was initially released in 1986 and consisted primarily of covers of others' songs.  They included tracks originally by John Lee Hooker, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Lou Reed, and many others. This album's title came from Bible verses, Acts 9:5, 22:8b and 26:14; referencing a passage omitted in many modern translations. Listen: "Muddy Water" Listen: "I'm Gonna Kill That Woman"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Your Funeral... My Trial Reissue Your Funeral... My Trial is the final Bad Seeds album to be reissued this week and was also released in 1986, during which time Cave was struggling with a heroin addiction. His issues played into the somber mood of the album. Listen: "Sad Waters" Listen: "The Carny"

YG - Blame It on the Streets Blame It on the Streets is a new short film starring rapper YG. He has also released a soundtrack for that film. The soundtrack follows his debut album, My Krazy Life, released earlier this year. Watch: "2015 Flow" Listen: "Blame It on the Streets"

New Music Tuesday - November 11, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Azealia Banks - Broke with Expensive Taste Now, this is a release I thought we'd never see. After a run of successful singles, Azealia Banks was expected to release her debut full-length in the fall of 2013, but the record repeatedly got pushed back, until it eventually didn't have a set date at all. Earlier this year, she started asking to be removed from her label, Universal. After a summer 2014 release was also scrapped, she got her wish, and the rights to her album. Working with Prospect Park, she was able to release the album on November 6. Watch: "Chasing Time" Watch: "Yung Rapunxel"

Damien Rice - My Favourite Faded Fantasy This is another record I am surprised to see. I was a big fan of Damien Rice through his first and second albums in 2002 and 2006, but after eight years of relative silence, I thought that he may have resigned himself as a guest player rather than as a solo artist. Out of curiosity, I Googled him after re-listening to 9 this past fall; just to see what he was up to. Imagine my surprise when I discovered, in that very week, that he had announced a new record! This is a very welcome return for the Irish folk artist. Watch: "I Don't Want to Change You" Listen: "My Favourite Faded Fantasy"

Dirty Beaches - Stateless Recently, Alex Hungtai announced the end of his Dirty Beaches project. It won't end before this last album, their third. The album is entirely instrumental and comprises only a few long tracks. For fans Alex's music, there should be no fear, he plans to continue to release new music with new projects. Watch: "Time Washes Away Everything" Listen: "Displaced"

Dream Police - Hypnotized The Men have been together for six years and five albums, but recently, members Nick Chiericozzi and Mark Perro have embarked on a psychedelic side project under the name Dream Police. The project started four years ago with a two-song cassette, but was brought back into focus following The Men's Tomorrow's Hits earlier this year. Listen: "Hypnotized" Listen: "Pouring Rain"

Ex Cops - Daggers Ex Cops is a duo made up of Brian Harding and Amalie Bruun. Bruun has recently been revealed as the vocalist behind black metal Myrkur, and has been performing as a solo artist since 2006. Harding is the former frontman of the Brooklyn band Hymns. Together they make funky, synthy pop. Their sophomore album features some guest vocals from a somewhat unexpected source, Ariel Pink. Watch: "Black Soap" Listen: "Tragically Alright"

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - I'm in Your Mind Fuzz King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard is a garage psychedelic band out of Melbourne, Australia. They describe themselves, colorfully, as "completely fried theremin wielding psychopaths." They are signed to Thee Oh Sees frontman John Dwyer's Castle Face records. True to their own self-description, they produce some pretty trippy music, with visuals to match. Watch: "Cellophane" Watch: "Satan Speeds Up"

Marianne Faithfull - Give My Love to London Marianne Faithfull has been at it for a long time. The 67-year-old singer has had a half-century-long career and is not slowing down. In the past, she's worked with Mick Jagger (with whom she was also romantically linked) and The Rolling Stones, Metallica, and PJ Harvey. For her 20th album, she adds Anna Calvi, Leonard Cohen, and Nick Cave to her already long list of collaborators. Watch: "Falling Back" Watch: "Sparrows Will Sing"

Oh Land - Earth Sick I first became introduced to Oh Land, who's name is a play on her middle name Øland, last year when she released her third album Wish Bone. She's back with a follow-up, which is a crowdfunded collaboration with PledgeMusic. 5% of the proceeds from sales for this record will go towards the Save the Arctic campaign. Watch: "Head Up High" Watch: "Nothing Is Over"

Parkay Quarts - Content Nausea Parquet Courts have been Parquet Courts since 2010, but have been releasing music under the homophonic name Parkay Quarts since last year. The altered name doesn't seem to indicate a shift in style, the songs they put together sound about the same. I guess maybe they just like to play with their fans. The band has already released one album this year (under the first name), Sunbathing Animal, but I will gladly take more from these rockers! Listen: "Uncast Shadow of a Southern Myth" Listen: "Content Nausea"

Pink Floyd - The Endless River When David Gilmour announced the release of this latest album, it came as a bit of a surprise for fans. It has been two decades since their last album, The Division Bell, and in the meantime,  two members of the band passed away and the only other still-living member, Roger Waters, left in the mid-80s. The album does not comprise newly-written material, it takes cuts primarily from that previous record. Gilmour does promise that this, truly, will be the last from Pink Floyd. Watch: "Louder Than Words" Listen: "It's What We Do"

Röyksopp - The Inevitable End The title of Röyksopp's fifth album is not just for the album, but it also a statement. The duo has stated that this will be their final album, though they would not be done making music...no word yet on what exactly that will entail. The Inevitable End continues the band's partnership with fellow Swede Robyn, introducing a new version of the collaborative track "Monument." Watch: "Monument" Listen: "Sordid Affair"

Sunbears! - Future Sounds While The Flaming Lips have been carousing with pop stars like Kesha (I'm to understand that the $ has been dropped) and Miley Cyrus, they have also been working with bands more like themselves. Sunbears! featured on The Flaming Lips recent Sgt. Pepper's covers album. But on their own, they've released three albums. Watch: "He's a Lie! He's Not Real" Watch: "Laughing Girl"

Other New Releases

Antony and The Johnsons - Turning Turning is a live-recorded soundtrack to a film of the same name. The film is a collaboration between Antony Hegarty and Charles Atlas, and is a performance documentary featuring a number of gay and trans artists who have worked with Antony. Watch: "Twilight" Watch: film trailer

Baauer - ß EP Baauer may be known for being behind everyone's least favorite meme of 2013, "Harlem Shake," but he's been making music since 2002. His latest EP contains four new tracks, including one with AlunaGeorge. Maybe the meme craze of 2015 will be started here (but hopefully not). Listen: "One Touch" (featuring AlunaGeorge) Listen: "Floreana"

BenZel - Men BenZel is production duo of Benny Blanco and Two Inch Punch. Both artists have worked with a wide variety of pop artists, from Katy Perry, to Sam Smith, to Jessie Ware. Their debut EP features guest vocals from Cashmere Cat, Stevie Earle, and Ryn Weaver. Listen: "Four" Listen: "Touch"

Cut Copy - Cut Copy Presents: Oceans Apart Cut Copy have become known throughout their career for infusing dance sounds into indie rock music, and they originated out of Melbourne, Australia. Given those two details, they are interested in promoting the dance music scene in their home city. This compilation serves as a primer for fans to that scene and includes tracks from Knightlife, Tornado Wallace, and Ara Koufax. Listen: Ara Koufax - "Brenda" Listen: Knightlife - "Don't Stop"

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains Reissue Cymbals Eat Guitars recently released an incredible third album, LOSE, in August. Now they are looking back to where they started with a re-release of their debut album, which was originally released in January of 2009. Listen: "And the Hazy Sea" Listen: "Indiana"

Jacques Greene - After Life, After Party EP Jacques Greene is a producer out of Montreal who has primarily released EPs throughout his career so far. His latest continues his stuttered, ethereal dance style and introduces a some new tracks, along with a couple of remixes of the EP's title track. Watch: "1 4 Me" Watch: "After Life, After Party"

Jon Hopkins - Asleep Versions EP Hopkins released his latest full-length, Immunity, in June of last year. This follow-up EP reworks several of the tracks from that release. As the EP's title should indicate, the songs have been slowed down and given a dream-like quality in their revisions. Listen: "Open Eye Signal" Listen: "Immunity"

The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies Legacy Edition I'm not sure why this Kinks record is getting multiple reissues, but I guess last year's re-release didn't quite hit the nail on the head. This years' is being released by the Legacy Recordings division of Sony and has been remastered and expanded with nine bonus tracks. Listen: "Muswell Hillbilly" Listen: "Alcohol"

Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes Prior to recording sessions for his Basement Tapes releases, Bob Dylan wrote a lot more lyrics than he would ever end up recording. Producer T-Bone Burnett got his hands on many of these lyrics and decided to bring together a group of younger musicians to interpret and record them. That is how The New Basement Tapes came together. The group is made up of Marcus Mumford, Rhiannon Giddons, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Elvis Costello. Watch: "Marries to My Hack" Watch: "Liberty Street"

Mark Kozelek - Sings Christmas Carols Kozelek announced this Christmas album nearly a year ago, even before releasing his wonderful Benji as Sun Kil Moon earlier this year.  In the time since, though, he eroded much of his reputation through a couple of live outbursts and a peculiar ongoing feud with The War on Drugs, which resulted in a diss track. Still, he's a great performer and has created some beautiful interpretations of classic holiday tunes. Listen: "Away in a Manger" Listen: "2,000 Miles"

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - "Give Us a Kiss" 10" Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds released one of my favorite albums of 2013, Push the Sky Away, in February of that year. This year, to coincide with a pseudo-documentary film starring the frontman, 20,000 Days on Earth, a live recording of one of the tracks from that album is getting released along with a new song. Watch: "Give Us a Kiss" Listen: "Jubilee Street" (Live from The Sydney Opera House)

Nick Drake - Remembered for a While 10" Remembered for a While is a new book on the life of the short-lived, but long-celebrated, career of singer-songwriter Nick Drake. It was compiled by Cally Calloman and Gabrielle Drake, his sister. The book includes a 10" pressing of a previously unreleased 1969 John Peel session from the artist. Listen: "Cello Song" (John Peel Session) Listen: "River Man" (John Peel Session)

Queen - Queen Forever This is the latest compilation album from this iconic glam rock band. It features "forgotten" tracks from the band and is the first release of previously unheard content from Freddie Mercury since his death in 1991. Rather than simply being a greatest hits record from the band, it is meant to show their progress over their career. Watch: "Forever" Listen: "Let Me in Your Heart Again"

Tears for Fears - Songs from the Big Chair Reissue Songs from the Big Chair was arguably the biggest album from this 80s band (who are still going strong, by the way). It peaked at number one on the Billboard charts when it was released in 1985, and included a few of their biggest hits, "Shout," "Head Over Heels," and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." This super deluxe reissue retains and remasters that original album, but also adds three discs of alternate versions, remixes, and live tracks. Watch: "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" Listen: "Head Over Heels"

Wild Original Motion Picture Soundtrack This latest film form director Jean-Marc Vallée starring Reese Witherspoon is getting a lot of praise. It also has a strong soundtrack backing it. The soundtrack features a new song First Aid Kit, as well as some classic tracks from Simon & Garfunkel, Bruce Springsteen, and Leonard Cohen. Listen: First Aid Kit - "Walk Unafraid" Listen: Simon & Garfunkel - "Homeward Bound"

YACHT - Where Does This Disco? EP The title track on this new EP from YACHT was released a couple of months ago. This longer release has a couple more new songs from the band, as well as a remix of the track from Jerome LOL. Listen: "Where Does This Disco?" Listen: "Works Like Magic"

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"