New Music Friday - January 18, 2019

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Deerhunter - Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? Eight albums in and Deerhunter is as good as ever. It's been a minute since the band's last album, 2015's Fading Frontier, though we got an album from one side project (Moses Archuleta's Moon Diagrams released Lifetime of Love in 2017) and an instrumental tour-only cassette from the band. Their record includes production from Cate Le Bon and Ben H. Allen III, who they have worked with previously. Watch: "Death in Midsummer"

James Blake - Assume Form At the start of his career, James Blake's sound was more sonic, with his voice serving as an additional instrument, rather than being lyric-driven. That's gradually changed with each album, culminating in this record, which has many references to his relationship with actress Jameela Jamil. Watch: "Don’t Miss It" Watch: "Mile High" (featuring Travis Scott & Metro Boomin)

Ronnie Milsap - Ronnie Milsap: The Duets Ronnie Milsap has been an influential figure in country music for more than half of a century. On his 29th album, he partners up with some contemporaries and some younger artists for a collection of duets. Collaborators on the record include Luke Bryan, Dolly Parton, Kacey Musgraves, and Willie Nelson. Listen: "No Getting Over Me" (featuring Kacey Musgraves) Listen: "A Woman’s Love" (featuring Willie Nelson)

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow Across her previous four studio albums, Van Etten's sound has been an often-forlorn folk. On her fifth album, she's changing things up more than a bit. Written while she was pregnant with her child and delving into acting, its lyrics show someone more at ease in life and looking back a bit. It's also a more rock-driven sound, showcasing a different instrumentation than her previous records. Watch: "Comeback Kid" Watch: "Seventeen"

Toro Y Moi - Outer Peace Following the release of his 2017 album, Boo Boo, Chaz Bear eschewed the standard promotional tour in favor of playing a series of DJ sets. He's influenced by those club sounds for this latest record, his sixth. Watch: "Freelance" Watch: "Ordinary Pleasure"

Other Full-Length Releases

Buke & Gase - Scholars Watch: "Scholars" Watch: "Derby"

Future - The WIZRD Watch: "Crushed Up" Watch: "Jumpin on a Jet"

Guster - Look Alive Watch: "Don’t Go" Listen: "Look Alive"

Joe Jackson - Fool Watch: "Fabulously Absolute" Listen: "Big Black Cloud"

Lost Under Heaven - Love Hates What You Become Watch: "For the Wild" Watch: "Post Millennial Tension"

Maggie Rogers - Heard It in a Past Life Watch: "Light On" Watch: "Give a Little"

M. Ward - What a Wonderful Industry Listen: "Motorcycle Ride" Listen: "War & Peace"

Steve Gunn - The Unseen in Between Watch: "New Moon" Watch: "Vagabond"

The Twilight Sad - It Won/t Be Like This All the Time Watch: "VTr" Listen: "Videograms"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Jonny Greenwood - There Will Be Blood Vinyl Reissue Listen: "Open Spaces" Listen: "Future Markets"

Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Tides: Music for Yoga and Meditation Listen: "Tides I" Listen: "Tides II"

New Order - Total Vinyl Reissue Listen: "Ceremony" Listen: "Hellbent"

Prince - The Little Box of Prince Listen: "Let’s Go Crazy" Listen: "Computer Blue"

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 - October 28, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Creepers - Lush Creepers is a side project from Deafheaven's Dan Tracy and Shiv Mehra, who produce a mix of psychedelia, shoegaze, and prog rock. The band has been playing in San Francisco and the Bay area for some years, but the success of Deafheaven's Sunbather has allowed that band to further promote related projects. This album is being released on Deafheaven frontman George Clark's All Black Recording Company label. Watch: "Take You There" Listen: "Vanishing"

The Flaming Lips - With a Little Help from My Fwends The Flaming Lips have always been strange, but they seem to have allowed themselves to get to downright WTF-levels of weird in the past couple of years. The music itself has gotten stranger, but they've also chosen strange ways in which to release their music (gummy fetuses, for example), and have had some interesting bedfellows (like Miley Cyrus). Even as a full album of Beatles covers, their latest release is the most straightforward they've been in a while. Watch: "Lucy in the Sky" Listen: "A Day in the Life"

French for Rabbits - Spirits French for Rabbits is a dream pop band out of Waikiku Beach, New Zealand, who have been active since 2012. Over the past couple of years, they have built up their name primarily through touring in their home country and across Europe. This is their debut album. Watch: "The Other Side" Listen: "Woke up to a Storm"

HAERTS - HAERTS HAERTS is a truly international band. Members hail from Germany, England and the US, met at school in Iceland, but became a band in Brooklyn. This is their debut album, which follows an EP, Hemiplegia, which was released in 2013. They are an indie pop band, though they pull in some old school classic rock elements. Watch: "Giving Up" Listen: "Hemiplegia"

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - Dust This gothic/classic rock band first got together in 2003, but took an eight-year break following the release of their 2006 debut album Fear Is on Our Side. Despite the amount of time that has passed, the band has not sacrificed anything; they maintain a similar sound, the same record label (Secretly Canadian) and the same producer (Paul Barker) for their sophomore release. Listen: "Faust" Listen: "Come Undone"

Nick Oliveri's Uncontrollable - Leave Me Alone Nick Oliveri is the former bassist for Kyuss, Dwarves, and, perhaps most famously, Queens of the Stone Age. His break away from QotSA has not been negative (he still sometimes performs with the band), but has merely served as an opportunity to explore his sound outside of the band. He has previously released music as the frontman for Mondo Generator, but this is his first release with this project. Listen: "Keep Me in the Loop" Listen: "Luv Is Fiction"

Pianos Become the Teeth - Keep You This is the third album from the Baltimore post-hardcore band. However, even after guesting on hardcore punk band United Nation's The Next Four Years earlier this year, they are dialing back their sound a bit. The band is part of the "The Wave" movement in punk music, which aims to produce music with "emotionally-centered lyrical content, dual musical emphasis on both melody and distorted intensity." Their latest album sees them pulling that intensity back some, and focusing more on the lyrics and melody. Watch: "Repine" Listen: "Late Lives"

Restorations - LP3 Restorations is a punk rock band out of Philly, who seem to embody the working class ethos that has come to define much rock music out of the city. As the album's title suggests, this is the third album from the band. Their latest sees them further pulling some of the heartland rock elements that were previously lurking in the background on prior releases. Watch: "Separate Songs" Listen: "Misprint"

Run the Jewels - Run the Jewels 2 This is easily already my favorite hip hop album of the year, and one of my favorites all-around. It's the second go-around as Run the Jewels for Killer Mike and El-P, who released Run the Jewels last year. Both are amazing artists on their own, but create something special when they get together. Their sophomore record deals heavily with issues of police brutality and redemption, but manages to find lighter moments with sex, love, and more than a few vulgar jabs. Watch: "Blockbuster Night Part 1" Listen: "Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)"

The Twilight Sad - Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave A couple of weeks ago, I said I love a good Scottish brogue in regards to We Were Promised Jetpacks' latest record. True, those guys employ a good brogue, but this band turns that up to 100. I first got into the band after the release of their incredible third album, No One Can Ever Know. While maintaining their dark, brooding, and emotional lyrics, this album may be even better. Watch: "Last January" Listen: "There's a Girl in the Corner"

Other New Releases

The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen at 21 Anniversary Edition After a 16-year hiatus, The Afghan Whigs regrouped last year and released the incredible Do to the Beast. They don't want us to forget the amazing music that they released in the past, though. Their fourth album is finally old enough to drink and is getting reissued to celebrate that milestone. Watch: "Gentlemen" Watch: "Debonair"

Cass McCombs/Meat Puppets - "Night of the World"/"(Hey Baby) Que Paso" Cass McCombs and the Meat Puppets are currently in the middle of a tour together. They have also gotten together to record a split 7" with two new songs from each artist. Listen: Cass McCombs - "Night of the World" Listen: Meat Puppets - "(Hey Baby) Que Paso"

HAIM - "My Song 5" 7" HAIM released their debut album, Days Are Gone, in October of last year. Their latest single shows just how big they've become leading up to and since that release. A new version of the track features A$AP Ferg, and its video features cameos from Ferg himself, Ezra Koenig, Vanessa Bayer, Grimes, and Kesha. Watch: "My Song 5" (remix featuring A$AP Rocky)

How to Dress Well - “What Is This Heart?” Reissue This may be one of the quickest reissue flips yet, Tom Krell released his third album in June of this year, so this reissue comes after just four months. There are no real changes in the album itself, though the reissue will come packaged with a remix compilation, detailed below. Watch: "Face Again" Watch: "Childhood Faith in Love"

How to Dress Well - “What Is This Heart?” Remixes This is the collection of remixes coming with the reissue of How to Dress Well's latest album. Tracks from the record are reimagined by A.G. Cook, The Range, Dubbel Dutch, and Cyril Hahn. Listen: "Repeat Pleasure" (A.G. Cook)

Led Zeppelin - House of the Holy Reissue This has been a busy year for Led Zeppelin reissues, though this is the last batch for the year. House of the Holy was the band's fifth album, originally released in 1973. Listen: "Dancing Days" Listen: "No Quarter"

Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV Reissue Led Zeppelin IV was probably Led Zeppelin's most famous album containing the tracks "Rock and Roll," "Black Dog," and "Stairway to Heaven." As the name indicates, it was their fourth record, and saw its original release in 1971. Watch: "Rock and Roll" Listen: "Stairway to Heaven"

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West Reissue Another reissue for this week, this time from a more contemporary band. Modest Mouse formed just over 20 years ago and released The Lonesome Crowded West, their second album, in 1997. The album is often considered to be one of their best and one of the best indie rock albums of that decade. Listen: "Heart Cooks Brain" Listen: "Doin' the Cockroach"

Paul McCartney - New Reissue At 72, Paul McCartney remains one of the most enigmatic performers alive, putting many of those even a third of his age to shame. Despite having released his 16 solo records, it should be no surprise that he's still got a lot of new material left in him. His latest album's reissue includes three new tracks, as well as a few live cuts. Watch: "Early Days" Watch: "Appreciate"

Panda Bear - Mr Noah EP Noah Lennox has made incredible music both as a member of Animal Collective and as a solo artist under the name Panda Bear. He will be releasing his fifth album, Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper, in January, but first we get a little tease of new material from him. Watch: "Mr Noah"

Ryan Adams - Vampires 7" Ryan Adams is still going strong with new material for 2014. This is the latest in his Pax Am EP series, featuring a great new track, "Vampires," along with a few others. Listen: "Vampires"

Swans - Filth Reissue Swans have all but positioned themselves for a place in many year-end best-of lists with the release of To Be Kind earlier this year. But right now, they're looking back to their beginnings by re-releasing their very first record, first put out in 1983. Listen: "Weakling" Listen: "Stay Here"

The Who - The Who Hits 50! It's been a long career for iconic British rock band The Who, 50 years since the beginning! Their new album celebrating their time time together, The Who Hits 50!, isn't a typical greatest hits release. While it does include many of their top singles, it also brings in less popular singles, unreleased cuts, b-sides and even a new song. Listen: "Be Lucky"