New Music Friday - May 20, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Adult Jazz - Earrings Off! While I appreciate when bands take some time between albums, I do love it when there's a quick return on a great record. Adult Jazz's debut, Gist Is, was one of my favorites of 2014, and they are back in almost no time with this new album. They haven't lost any bit of their strange, jazz-inflected brand of indie rock. It's a short album at just seven songs, but still a sweet listen. Watch: "Earrings Off!" Watch: "Eggshell"

Ariana Grande - Dangerous Woman Maybe it's my tastes that are changing, but I think pop music is better now than it has been in 20 years and miss Ariana herself is one of the bright points. She's attempting a "bad girl" re-branding on her third album. It's not very convincing, but that doesn't mean the music's not good, or that she doesn't sound the best she ever has. Watch: "Dangerous Woman" Watch: "Into You"

Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial Car Seat Headrest's Will Toledo may be young, but he's been incredibly prolific in his six-year career. At 23 years old, he'd already self-released 11 albums on his Bandcamp before his debut, Teens of Style, for Matador last year. While he doesn't regard his earliest releases as representative of his musical approach now, he does not shy away from their existence and they remain available for fans. While similar in name to his previous record, this album is not a sequel or outtakes record, but a new album in its own right. Watch: "Vincent" Watch: "Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales"

Marissa Nadler - Strangers Marissa Nadler employs a dreamy, doomed-sounding style of folk that makes her one of my favorite female folk singers. Her previous record, July, was a favorite of mine a couple of years ago. On her follow-up, she departs from telling her own personal stories of love and heartbreak, and focuses on stories of other characters, losing the first-person perspective. Watch: "All the Colors of the Dark" Watch: "Janie in Love"

Yuna - Chapters Yuna is a Malaysian pop singer who first started writing and performing songs as a creative outlet while she was in law school. Obviously, it has since become her career. She released her first album in 2008 in her native country. Over the past eight years, she has alternated between native and international releases. Chapters is her third international album, following the Malaysian release of Material, last year. Watch: "Crush" (featuring Usher) Watch: "Places to Go"

Other Full-Length Releases

Bob Dylan - Fallen Angels Listen: "Melancholy Mood" Listen: "All the Way"

Eric Clapton - I Still Do Watch: "Can’t Let You Do It" Watch: "Spiral"

Richard Ashcroft - These People Watch: "This Is How It Feels" Watch: "Hold On"

William Ryan Fritch - New Words for Old Wounds Listen: "Vantage Point" Listen: "Conflicted"

Xiu Xiu - Plays the Music of Twin Peaks Watch: "Into the Night" Listen: "Falling"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Boys - Love on Tour EP Listen: "Happy Hour" Listen: "All My Friends"

Braids - Companion Watch: "Companion" Watch: "Joni"

Day of the Dead Watch: Perfume Genius, Sharon van Etten, & Friends - "To Lay Me Down" Watch: Phosphorescent, Jenny Lewis & Friends - "Sugaree"

The Highwaymen - Live: American Outlaws Watch: "Desperados Waiting for a Train" Listen: "I Still Miss Someone"

The Highwaymen - The Very Best Of Watch: "Highwayman" Listen: "Big River"

MF DOOM - Live from Planet X Reissue

Songs from Lahore

Wolf Parade - EP 4 Listen: "Automatic" Listen: "Mr. Startup"

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"