New Music Friday - March 10, 2017

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Hurray for the Riff Raff - Navigator Hurray for the Riff Raff is a Americana, folk and blues band fronted by Alyndra Segarra. Influenced by a wide range of artists from Bob Dylan to David Bowie, their sixth album stretches the bounds of their past work. It is part autobiography, part political essay, and part concept album, loosely following the character of a Puerta-Rican punk-folk musician named Navita. The content and risks that the album takes has earned an already-celebrated band even more rave reviews! Watch: "The Navigator" Watch: "Hungry Ghost"

Jay Som - Everybody Works 2016 was a year of hype for Jay Som, aka Melina Duterte. A collection of songs that were initially posted to Bandcamp in 2015 got re-released twice as her debut, Turn Into; initially released in July of last year. She is a true bedroom musician, recording all of her music in a bedroom studio. Where her debut was a collection of demos not necessarily meant for release, her follow-up is more polished, more fully showing the strength of her music and lyrics. Watch: "Baybee" Listen: "1 Billion Dogs"

Laura Marling - Semper Femina I often forget, and find it surprising, that Marling has been so prolific for her age. She is 27 years old and Semper Femina is her sixth album. All of her records are spectacular and she is deftly capable of style progression with each one. She's grown on each release, but has yet to produce anything out of place in her discography. The album's title roughly translates to either "always a woman" or "a woman is a fickle thing," and is Marling's expert take on other women. Watch: "Nothing, Not Nearly" Watch: "Next Time"

The Magnetic Fields - 50 Song Memoir The Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt has been on this earth for 50 years and, for the band's 11th album, he has written a song for each of them. It's hardly the first time they have put out such a daunting collection of tracks, nor the biggest. That honor belongs to 1999's 69 Love Songs. The band started recording this album on Merritt's 50th birthday (February 9, 2015). It's autobiography presented in the form of music; Merritt is one of very few who could pull it off. Watch: "‘81 How to Play the Synthesizer" Watch: "‘83 Foxx and I"

Tennis - Yours Conditionally Yours Conditionally is the fourth album from this husband-and-wife duo. The pair are starting over following 2014's Ritual in Repeat. They are seeking the same inspiration that drove them at the beginning of their career, the sea. They have returned, somewhat, to the sound of their debut album, 2011's Cape Dory. I liked their early stuff, but was far more drawn to their sound on Ritual in Repeat. This is a good record, but not quite my favorite of theirs. Watch: "Modern Woman" Watch: "In the Morning I’ll Be Better"

Other Full-Length Releases

Cameron Avery - Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams Watch: "C’est Toi" Watch: "Wasted on Fidelity"

Century Palm - Meet You Watch: "Then You’re Gone" Watch: "King of John Street"

Damaged Bug - Bunker Funk Listen: "Bog Dash" Listen: "Unmanned Scanner"

Jacques Greene - Feel Infinite Watch: "Afterglow" Listen: "To Say"

Nathan Fake - Providence Watch: "RVK" (featuring Raphaelle) Watch: "HoursDaysMonthsSeasons"

The Shins - Heartworms Watch: "Dead Alive" Watch: "Name for You"

your old droog - Packs Watch: "Help" (featuring Wiki & Edan) Listen: "White Rappers (A Good Guest)"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Beauty and the Beast (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Watch: John Legend & Ariana Grande - "Beauty and the Beast" Listen: "Be Our Guest"

Blonde Redhead - 3 O’Clock Watch: "Golden Light" Listen: "3 O’Clock"

Charli XCX - Number 1 Angel Listen: "Babygirl" (featuring Uffie) Listen: "Dreamer" (featuring Starrah & RAYE)

Jim O’Rourke & Kassel Jaeger - Wakes on Cerulean Listen: "Wakes on Cerulean A" Listen: "Wakes on Cerulean B"

Mai Lan - Vampire EP Watch: "Vampire" Listen: "Pas D’Amour"

Thelma - Thelma Listen: "If You Let It" Listen: "Peach"

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending January 7)

Happy New Year everyone! Regardless of how we feel about last year, 2016 was a great year for music. 2017 is shaping up to be just as good; check out my Upcoming Releases page to see some of what will be coming out!

This week, The Shins announced their first album in five years, Heartworms.

brooklynvegan.com

The Shins' previous record, Port of Morrow, itself came after a five-year break and massive shift in the band's lineup. Actually, frontman James Mercer was the only original member left after parting with (or perhaps firing) the other founding members.

This follow-up sees a similar shift, only one new member who came on board for Port of Morrow, Yuuki Matthews, is still around. Perhaps this was due to Mercer's desire to return the band's earlier sound for the record.

We'll find out if he succeeded when the album is released on March 10.

Also announced this week:

Jens Lekman - Life Will See You Now (February 17)
Julien Baker - “Funeral Pyre” (March 17)
Paul Shaffer and The World’s Most Dangerous Band - Paul Shaffer and The World’s Most Dangerous Band (March 17)
Sleater-Kinney - Live in Paris (January 27)
Weyes Blood & Ariel Pink - Myths 002 (January 27)

New Music Tuesday - November 25, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Idris Elba - mi Mandela Idris Elba is well known as an actor, but has also been building up a career as a musician over the past eight years. His fourth album is inspired by his work as Nelson Mandela in the 2013 film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Watch: "You Give Me Love" Listen: "So Many People"

Rick Ross - Hood Billionaire Ross wasted no time in putting together his follow-up to March's Mastermind. He made no apologies in releasing two albums this year, telling The Breakfast Club that it was "how bosses do it." While I appreciate what he does, I continue to think that his work as a guest artist (for example on Pusha T's "Hold On") is more impressive than his own solo work. Watch: "If They Knew" Watch: "Keep Doin' That"

Other New Releases

Africa Express Presents… Terry Riley’s in C Mali Africa Express' latest release is a tribute to a piece written by Terry Riley 50 years ago. The organization brings together a number of musicians, including Damon Albarn, Brian Eno, and Nick Zinner, to produce a 41-minute long version. Watch: 5 Minute Edit

Beyoncé - Beyoncé Platinum Beyoncé released her epic surprise album around this time last year, which seemed to leave many music publications scrambling to include it in their year-end lists. Her reissue of the album comes with a few new tracks and also sees a broad release of the music videos released in conjunction with the record (videos were made for each of the album's tracks). Watch: "Mine" Watch: "7/11"

Björk - Björk: Biophilia Live Björk released her eighth studio album, Biophilia, in October of 2011. More recently, she has released a live-recorded concert film from her tour for the record. The set was recorded at London's Alexandra Palace on September 3, 2013. The film itself was directed by Nick Fenton and Peter Strickland. Watch: Trailer

Cursive - The Ugly Organ Reissue Cursive's fourth studio album was originally released in 2003. The reissue includes a number of b-sides from the album's singles and tracks from one of the band's EPs. Additionally, the album has been repressed on vinyl. Watch: "Art Is Hard" Watch: "The Recluse"

Flake Music - When You Land Here, It’s Time to Return Reissue Before The Shins were The Shins, they were known by Flake Music, a name they retired in 1999. They released one album under the name in 1997. With the reissue, several of the tracks with were originally left untitled now have names. Listen: "Spanway Hits" Listen: "The Shins"

Primitive Parts - "TV Wheels"/"The Bench" It's been awhile since we last heard from Male Bonding, three years since Endless Now, to be exact. Two of the band's members, Kevin Hendrick and Robin Christian, have started a new project. This is the band's second single. Watch: "TV Wheels" Listen: "The Bench"

Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Deluxe Edition This long-running hip hop group has been around since the early 1980s. They'll have a couple of reissues this year, the first is of their 1988 album. The reissue includes new liner notes written by ?uestlove of The Roots. Watch: "Bring the Noise" Watch: "Don't Believe the Hype"

Swans - Oxygen EP Swans released an incredible thirteenth studio album, To Be Kind, in May of this year. "Oxygen" was one of the tracks from the record. This new EP contains a handful of new versions of the song, including a version shortened from its original eight minute length, along with live, demo, and acoustic versions. Listen: "Oxygen" (Acoustic) Listen: "Oxygen" (Live at Primavera)

The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground Super Deluxe Box Set It's been 45 years since the original release of this iconic record. It's anniversary release comes packaged with a "lost album" from the band and a two-disc recording from The Matrix club in San Francisco. Listen: "Foggy Notion" Listen: "I Can't Stand It" (2014 Mix)

New Music Tuesday - 07/02/2013

New Full-Length Releases

Editors - The Weight of Your Love In the influx of new young British artists making their mark this year, it's easy to forget about some of the more established artists from across the pond. Editors were a part of the British indie rock invasion of the early 2000s. While many of those acts have since disbanded or experienced marked changes in sound, Editors are still going strong and still a rock band. This is the fourth album from them. Listen/Watch: "A Ton of Love"

Other New Releases

The Kills - Live at Third Man Records Jack White's Third Man Records in Nashville, Tennessee has become hugely influential in the past few years. Though few prominent artists are signed directly to the label, a huge number of great artists have performed there and released live albums of those performances. The Kills' invitation to Third Man makes good sense; Alison Mosshart has worked with Jack White as a part of The Dead Weather. Buy it here!

Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left Box Set Nick Drake lived a short life, but released three albums that would become very influential in the decades following his death. Two of those albums have been re-released as box sets recently. The third set in the series is for his debut album. Listen: "River Man"

The Shins - Live at Third Man Records I'm less sure of the connection that Jack White has with The Shins than that he has with The Kills. I guess one could argue that both he and James Mercer have worked with producer Danger Mouse, but that may be tenuous at best. Perhaps it's just that White loves getting other great artists to come to his studio and perform. And there is nothing wrong with that! Buy it here!