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"

New Music Tuesday - August 19, 2014

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Castanets - Decimation Blues My first exposure to Castanets was seeing 2004's Cathedral available to check out at the Bloomington Main Library. I was intrigued by the album artwork and picked the CD up. Over time, I realized the music didn't strongly appeal to me, but with this new record, I'm giving the band another try. After hearing just a few of the first tracks from the album, I knew I was more in love with their crazy folk style. Watch: "Tell Them Memphis" Listen: "Out for the West"

Electric Würms - Musik, Die Shwer Tu Twerk Electric Würms is a side project from Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips. The band was established as an outlet for music that was (somehow) too weird for the main project. The band's oddball association with Miley Cyrus is already starting to show through on the record's title, Musik, Die Shwer Tu Twerk translates (pretty much) to "music that's hard to twerk tu." Listen: "The Bat" Listen: "Transform"

Jason Feathers - De Oro When Justin Vernon isn't recording for his main project, Bon Iver; or one of his side projects, Volcano Choir or The Shouting Matches; or providing vocals for James Blake or Kanye West, he has yet another project. Here, he teams up with rapper Astronautalis, S. Carey, and Ryan Olson (of Gayngs) for his latest act, Jason Feathers.

jj - V jj is a Swedish indie pop band who became favorites of many music publications a few years ago with the release of their first single and album, nº 1 and nº 2. I never got around to checking them out at that time, but kept hearing their name pop up with nearly every new release of theirs. This time, I decided to jump into their music. And, yes, I do like it; indie pop seems too simple a description of their sound; it has a good beat and is a bit experimental. Watch: "All White Everything" Listen: "Dean & Me"

Kimbra - The Golden Echo Kimbra first rose to prominence providing duet vocals for Gotye's 2011 smash single "Somebody That I Used to Know." It was also around that time that she released her own debut record, Vows. The young New Zealander is now putting out her follow-up, full of catchy and upbeat pop songs. Watch: "90s Music" Watch: "Love in High Places"

Literature - Chorus Literature is a Philadelphia-based band with a sound reminiscent of a myriad of 1960s British rock and pop acts. The connection to 60s music is pretty strong; the band utilizes several recording techniques, such as true-tape flanging, which were created in that decade. Listen: "The English Softhearts"

Museum of Love - Museum of Love The end of LCD Soundsystem was sad for many fans of the iconic electronic band. Thankfully, the band lives on in other great acts, including Hot Chip, The Juan Maclean, and Museum of Love, which all include former members of the band. Museum of Love is made up of Soundsystem drummer Pat Mahoney and Dennis McNany. They released their first single, "Monotronic," about a year ago; this is their first album. Listen: "In Infancy"

Other New Releases

Captain Murphy - "Cosplay" Captain Murphy is the rapping alter-ego of producer and electronic musician Flying Lotus. Under this name, he is releasing the 11th entry in 2014's Adult Swim singles series. Watch: "Cosplay"

Julia Holter - "Don't Make Me Over"/"Hello Stranger" Julia Holter has become known for an experimental ambient sound with her dreamy, airy vocals; I wouldn't have guessed Dionne Warwick as one of her influences. She covers a song by the singer as an A-side to one of the tracks from her last album, Loud City Song, which itself is also an R&B cover (originally by Barbara Lewis). Listen: "Don't Make Me Over" Listen: "Hello Stranger"

Julia Holter - Tragedy Reissue Tragedy was Julia Holter's debut album, based on the play Hippolytus, which was originally released in 2011 (the album, not the play). Coming with the release of a couple of covers in her latest single; it's nearly the third anniversary of the record. Watch: "Finale"

Ryan Adams - 1984 Adams will be releasing his self-titled come-back album on September 9. But before that, he is putting out the follow-up to his 2003 single, "1974."

Zoot Woman - "Don't Tear Yourself Apart" Zoot Woman will be releasing their fourth album later this month. In anticipation of that release, they are putting out the first single from the record. Watch: "Don't Tear Yourself Apart"