New Music Friday - December 2, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

John Legend - Darkness and Light Sonically and thematically, John Legend doesn't stray far from 2013's Love in the Future on this album; many of the songs still read as love letters to his wife. One difference on his fifth album are the range of musicians he worked with. Some aren't too surprising, with other R&B/hip hop impresarios like Chance The Rapper and Miguel. Others I found more unexpected; Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes and Will Oldham (aka Bonnie "Prince" Billy), two artists I wouldn't have expected to be on Legend's radar. Watch: "Love Me Now" Listen: "Penthouse Floor" (featuring Chance The Rapper)

Vaults - Caught in Still Life Vaults formed in 2013 and makes synthpop that feels like the midway point of Poliça and Chvrches. They first caught my ear with their early singles, "Lifespan" and "Vultures." They've released two EPs, 2014's Vultures and Cry No More last year. Caught in Still Life is their debut full-length. Watch: "Lifespan" Watch: "Poison"

Other Full-Length Releases

Peter Doherty - The Hamburg Demonstrations Watch: "I Don’t Love Anyone (But You’re Not Just Anyone)" Listen: "Kolly Kibbler"

The Rolling Stones - Blue & Lonesome Watch: "Hate to See You Go" Watch: "Ride ‘Em on Down"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Bob Dylan - The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert Listen: "Tell Me, Momma"

Hamilton Mixtape Listen: Usher - "Wait for It" Listen: Nas, Dave East, Lin-Manuel Miranda, & Aloe Blacc - "Wrote My Way Out"

Jean-Michel Jarre -Oxygène 3

Kweku Collins - "jump.i" Watch: "jump.i"

Lady Lamb - Tender Warriors Club Listen: "See You" Listen: "We Are Nobody Else"

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Dream Synopsis EP Watch: "Le Cactus" Watch: "Is This What You Wanted"

The Magnetic Fields - The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees Remastered Listen: "Lovers from the Moon" Listen: "The Saddest Story Ever Told"

Nathan Fake - "Degreeless" Watch: "Degreeless" (featuring Prurient)

Permit - Vol. 1 Listen: "Track #6" Listen: "Track #5"

Star Slinger - We Could Be More Listen: "We Could Be More" (featuring D∆WN) Listen: "Pardon" (featuring Tunji Ige)

New Music Tuesday - September 2, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Blonde Redhead - Barragán Four years after the release of Penny Sparkle, Blonde Redhead are attempting to reinvent their sound. Over their nine albums and 21 years together, they've moved towards a quieter, softer sound. This may be a disappointment for some fans, but I feel that most bands and musicians are more interesting if they evolve their sound over time. Listen: "Dripping" Listen: "No More Honey"

Earth - Primitive and Deadly Earth is a well-established drone metal band who released their first album in 1993. They separated for six years in 1997 and they've been pretty active since. Their latest features guest vocals from Mark Lanegan. Listen: "From the Zodiacal Light" Listen: "Even Hell Has Its Heroes"

Jeezy - Seen It All I've known the name Jeezy for quite awhile, but never been particularly interested in the music. While I'm exploring more hip hop artists and finding any that I liked, I'm also finding that they work with each other... a lot. I'm still not enthralled by his music, but his latest record includes contributions from Future, Rick Ross, and Jay-Z. Watch: "Me OK" Watch: "No Tears"

Sinkane - Mean Love Sinkane is the stage name of Sudanese musician Ahmed Gallab. He worked as a studio musician for such artists as Eleanor Friedberger, Caribou, and Yeasayer. He released a few EPs and albums starting in 2008, but broke out with the release of 2012's Mars. It was a great record, but he's recreating (even improving on) that magic. His music is a fusion of styles, influenced by the cultures that he grew up in, and the music he loves. Watch: "How We Be" Listen: "New Name"

Steven James Adams - House Music Steven James Adams has been performing for more than ten years and was a founding member of the Broken Family Band. This year, though, he's breaking out as a solo musician and enlisting some help from Emily Barker and The Vaccines. Watch: "Tears of Happiness"

The Vines - Wicked Nature The Vines rode in on the garage rock wave of the early-2000s and, like many of their contemporaries, faded into seeming obscurity for several years. It's been shorter than it seems, though, their previous record, Future Primitive, was released in 2011. This is still being pitched as a come-back record and is marked by a few big changes in the band. Lead singer Craig Nicholls takes producing credit for the first time and there's been some changes in the band's lineup. Watch: "Metal Zone" Listen: "Everything Else"

Zammuto - Anchor Nick Zammuto part of the duo The Books with Paul de Jong until the project ended in 2012. He released his first solo album following the disbandment, self-titled, in 2012. Anchor is the follow-up, recording with a full band. Watch: "IO" Watch: "Great Equator"

Zoot Woman - Star Climbing Zoot Woman is an electronic synthpop trio from England. They've been together for nearly twenty years, though this is just their fourth album. The band promises that this record is a departure for them, and has allowed them to incorporate all of their individual styles. Watch: "Don't Tear Yourself Apart"

Other New Releases

God Help the Girl: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack God Help the Girl has been a long-term project for Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch. The project was begun in 2009, when Murdoch brought together a group of female vocalists. That incarnation released a few singles, an album, and an EP; but he had larger sights set. He began developing a script for a movie that starting filming in 2012 and was released this year, starring Emily Browning as the main character. Watch: "God Help the Girl" Watch: Trailer

Julianna Barwick - Florine Reissue Julianna Barwick has become a bigger name in indie music over the past few years, but is not forgetting where she came from. She's re-releasing her first two EPs this weel. Florine was her second release, which originally came out in 2009. Listen: "Cloudbank" Listen: "Anjos"

Julianna Barwick - Sanguine Reissue Sanguine was the performer's very first release, coming out in 2006. It was where she first displayed her use of vocal loops and use of sounds over lyrics. It also serves as a show of how she creates music, allowing ideas to come to her spontaneously, rather than going through writing and re-writing processes. Listen: "Dancing with Friends" Listen: "Scary Cat"

Sam Smith - I'm Not the Only One Remix EP Sam Smith released his debut album, In the Lonely Hour, in June, riding in on a wave of hype created through early singles and guest appearances. He's releasing one of the songs, "I'm Not the Only One," from that record, with a few remixed versions. Watch: "I'm Not the Only One" Listen: "I'm Not the Only One" (Armand van Helden Remix)

Vaults - "Lifespan" Vaults were one of my newly-discovered favorites recently. I absolutely love their take on synthpop and, while they only have a few singles out as of yet, am looking forward to the release of their first record. Watch: "Lifespan"

Check Out: Vaults

Ever since seeing Poliça live at The Southgate House Revival, I've become more obsessed with female-led synthpop. While Poliça may be the best entry in the genre (tied, perhaps, with Chvrches), several other bands have popped up as great examples.

Vaults is one of the latest bands to come around. So far, the band has released just a couple of singles, but were recently signed to Virgin EMI and will be putting out their first single for the label in early September!