New Music Friday - December 3, 2021

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

	Arca - KICK ii Watch: "Born Yesterday" (featuring Sia) Watch: "Prada”/“Rakata"
	Marissa Paternoster - Peace Meter Watch: "White Dove" Watch: "I Lost You"
	Pile of Love - Pile of Love Listen: "Those Things" Listen: "The Ride"
	Tom Morello - The Atlas Underground Flood Watch: "Warrior Spirit" (featuring Rodrigo y Gabriela) Watch: "The Lost Cause" (featuring Manchester Orchestra)

Other Full-Length Releases

Arca - KicK iii Watch: "Electra Rex" Listen: "Bruja"

Arca - kick iiii Listen: "Whoresong" Listen: "Lost Woman Found"

Arca - kiCK iiiii Listen: "Tierno" Listen: "Sanctuary" (featuring Ryuichi Sakamoto)

Failure - Wild Type Droid Watch: "Submarines" Watch: "Headstand"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Boss - "Cash ‘Em In"/"Red Signal" Listen: "Cash ‘Em In" Listen: "Red Signal"

Chastity Belt - "Fake"/"Fear" Watch: "Fear" Watch: "Fake"

Cults - Cults Vinyl Reissue Listen: "Beach Ball" Listen: "Bad Things"

Hilary Woods - Feral Hymns Listen: "I" Listen: "IV"

Khalid - Scenic Drive Watch: "Present" Watch: "Scenic Drive"

Oneohtrix Point Never - Magic Oneohtrix Point Never (Blu-Ray Edition) Watch: "Tales from the Trash Stratum" (with Elizabeth Fraser) Watch: "Lost but Never Alone"

Rostam - Changephobia Remixes: Part I + II Watch: "From the Back of a Cab" (Ben Böhmer Remix) Listen: "4Runner" (Backyard Version)

Tierra Whack - Rap? Watch: "Meagan Good" Watch: "Millions"

West Side Story Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Listen: Kali Uchis & Ozuna - "Another Day in America"

Youth Lagoon - The Year of Hibernation Deluxe Edition Listen: "Goodbye Again" (Live on XMU) Listen: "Posters"

New Music Friday - April 7, 2017

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Alexandra Savior - Belladonna of Sadness Alexandra Savior is a young singer from Portland who's become a bit of a protegé of The Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner. She co-wrote a track on The Last Shadow Puppets album last year and Turner, in turn (heh), contributed writing to this debut from Savior. She draws inspiration from a variety of sources, ranging from Otis Redding to Adele, and has even found inspiration in Terry Gilliam's films. Watch: "Mystery Girl" Watch: "M.T.M.E."

Arca - Arca This self-titled album is the third album overall for this Venezuelan artist. His first two albums focused on his production, this record is the first to feature his vocals, presented entirely in his native language and entirely improvised. He had not initially intended to sing on the record, the suggestion came from Björk (a friend and collaborator of Arca's). The shift has paid off for the artist, earning an already-praised musician some of the best reviews of his career. Watch: "Reverie" Watch: "Anoche"

Future Islands - The Far Field Thanks in no small part to frontman's Samuel Herring's unique dance moves, Future Islands had a big 2014 with their fourth album, Singles. Despite following up that album, aspects of this release are more closely tied to their third album, In Evening Air. Both albums share a cover artist (Kymia Nawabi) and source of inspiration for the title (the poems of Theodore Roethke). Still, the album sees the band reaching for ever greater heights. Watch: "Ran" Watch: "Cave"

Karen Elson - Double Roses It's been a little while since we've last heard from Elson, at least on the music front. The model and musician released her first album, The Ghost Who Walks, in 2010,  but has been more active in the fashion world since. She has released one-off singles, often for the Record Store Days, and done some touring. She started working on her second album in 2015. The album features an impressive set of guests, including fellow Brit Laura Marling, Father John Misty, and Patrick Carney of The Black Keys. Watch: "Call Your Name" Listen: "Distant Shore"

The New Pornographers - Whiteout Conditions I don't think I will ever stop loving The New Pornographers. The indie supergroup has released seven albums, each as amazing as the last. I was a little worried about this album before it was released. The band announced that member Dan Bejar (who is also a member of Destroyer and Swan Lake) would not be appearing on the record. His voice is one of my favorites of the group, but the group doesn't suffer in his absence; of course, Neko Case cures all ills. This is another great album from the band! Watch: "High Ticket Attractions" Listen: "This Is the World of the Theatre"

Other Full-Length Releases

Cold War Kids - L.A. Divine Watch: "Love Is Mystical" Watch: "Can We Hang On?"

Diet Cig - Swear I’m Good at This Watch: "Tummy Ache" Listen: "Barf Day"

Father John Misty - Pure Comedy Watch: "Ballad of the Dying Man" Watch: "Two Wildly Different Perspectives"

Guided By Voices - August By Cake Watch: "5° Degrees on the Inside" Listen: "Dr. Feelgood Falls off the Ocean"

Joey Bada$$ - ALL-AMERIKKAN BADA$$ Watch: "Land of the Free" Listen: "Rockabye Baby" (featuring ScHoolboy Q)

San Fermin - Belong Watch: "Belong" Watch: "No Promises"

Those Lavender Whales - My Bones Are Singing Listen: "Lose My Mind"

Timber Timbre - Sincerely, Future Pollution Watch: "Sewer Blues" Watch: "Grifting"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

LAMC #17 Listen: Damaged Bug - "Rubber Lips" Listen: Black Pus - "High Tide"

Njomza - sad for you Watch: "Intro" Listen: "Hear Me"

Resistance Radio: The Man in the High Castle Listen: Angel Olsen - "Who’s Sorry Now" Listen: Sharon Van Etten - "The End of the World"

Yumi Zouma - (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Listen: "Champagne Supernova"

New Music Friday - July 8, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Arca - Entrañas Arca has been on a pretty consistent kick since the release of his 2014 debut album, Xen. Entrañas is a new mixtape from the Brazilian producer, and follows his 2015 album, Mutant. Featuring contributions from Massacooraman, Total Freedom, and Micachu, it precedes an additional album, supposedly set to come out sometime later this year. Watch: "Sin Rumbo" Listen: "Think Of" (featuring Mica Levi & Massacooraman)

The Julie Ruin - Hit Reset The Julie Ruin is the current project of punk singer Kathleen Hanna, who is perhaps best known as the frontwoman for Bikini Kill through the 90s. Hit Reset is the sophomore album from the band. Although the project takes its name from Hanna's 1998 solo record, the music is a true group effort between her and her bandmates. Watch: "I Decide" Watch: "I’m Done"

Roísín Murphy - Take Her Up to Monto I never thought we'd be getting another new record from Roísín Murphy so soon after the last. She released her previous record, Hairless Toys, in May of last year following a long hiatus. Although recorded during the same sessions as Hairless Toys, the music here, as the artist puts it, has an "aggressively modern aesthetic." Watch: "Ten Miles High" Listen: "Mastermind"

ScHoolboy Q - Blank Face LP With his second major label album (and fourth overall), ScHoolboy Q gets some of the biggest guest spots of his career, including Jadakiss, Miguel, and Kanye West. The artist promoted the album with a series of fake-out album covers, including "blank" versions of Michael Jordan's and Trump's faces. The album has also been supported by a series of videos forming an amazing short movie! Watch: "THat Part" (featuring Kanye West) Watch: "By Any Means"

Shura - Nothing’s Real Shura is a British singer and songwriter from Manchester who made her name creating remixes of other artists' work; something she learned to do watching videos on using music production software. She got some good attention for her work, even capturing the ears of BBC and Talib Kweli. Nothing's Real is her debut album following a long series of singles. Watch: "The Space Tapes" Watch: "What’s It Gonna Be?"

Other Full-Length Releases

The Avalanches - Wildflower Watch: "Colours" Watch: "Frankie Sinatra"

BADBADNOTGOOD - IV Watch: "Chompy's Paradise" Listen: "Time Moves Slow" (featuring Samuel Herring)

Omni - Deluxe Watch: "Afterlife" Watch: "Wire"

Wymond Miles - Call By Night Watch: "The Curse" Listen: "Summer Rains"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Alex Somers - Music from the Film Captain Fantastic Watch: "Funeral Pyre" Watch: "A New Beginning"

Brian Fresco - Casanova Listen: "Higher" (featuring Chance The Rapper & Blue Hawaii)

Gone Is Gone - Gone Is Gone EP Watch: "Stolen from Me" Watch: "Violescent"

Towkio - Community Service 2 Watch: "Playin Fair" (featuring Joey Purp) Listen: "Tear drop"

Upcoming Album of the Week (Ending July 9)

This has been a tough week, and it's been difficult to find the right way to respond to these types of events. I find it easy to just be numb and distract myself with work, video games, or blogging. I'm realizing however, the need to take some sort of action, even if it's just showing up. At the same time, I think it's important to spend time doing things that bring you joy. Music, and writing about it, is something that I love, so I will keep at it!

Don't mean to be a downer; check out my Upcoming Releases and whatnot.

This week, Venezuelan producer Arca announced and released a new album, Extrañas.

pitchfork.com

Arca got his start fairly recently, but has made a big impact and worked with a few other young and bright artists like fka twigs and Kelela. He released his debut, Xen, in 2014 and followed it up last year with Mutant.

In February of this year, he announced a third album, Reverie, but gave no other details on its release other than an accompanying teaser. It appear that this album is a distinct collection of songs than the previously-announced Reverie, which is still slated for release later this year.

Extrañas is out now.

Also announced this week:

Crocodiles - Dreamless (October 21)
LNZNDRF - Green Roses (August 5)
Pixies - Head Carrier (September 30)
Thom Sonny Green - High Anxiety (August 19)
Toro y Moi - Live from Trona (August 5)

New Music Friday - November 20, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Adele - 25 This year, Adele ensured that any artist who may have thought that 2015 was their year would be terribly wrong. Starting a couple of months into the second half of the year, it started to become clear that something was soon to come from the world's favorite singer. The general release timeframe was announced back in August. In the relatively short time time between its release and the end of the year, it had already broken many of the year's records. Watch: "Hello"

Shye Ben Tzur, Jonny Greenwood and the Rajasthan Express - Junun Jonny Greenwood is generally best known as the guitarist for Radiohead, but has had an active solo career with studio albums and composition work since 2003. Early last year, Greenwood traveled to Rajasthan, India to work with Israeli composer Shye Ben Tzur and the Rajasthan Express ensemble for a truly international new album. The recording process was captured in a documentary of the same name, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Listen: "Roked"

Other Full-Length Releases

Arca - Mutant Watch: "EN" Watch: "Vanity"

Bill Wells & Friends - Nursery Rhymes Listen: "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (featuring Satomi Matsuzaki) Listen: "Three Blind Mice" (featuring Karen Mantler & Yo La Tengo)

Cavanaugh - Time and Materials Listen: "Typecast" (featuring P.O.S., Hemlock Ernst, & Busdriver) Listen: "Pinky"

Hurricane #1 - Find What You Love and Let It Kill You

WoodzSTHLM - Lighthouse Listen: "Woman"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Baio - The Names (Expansion Pack)

Beach Boys - Beach Boys’ Party! Uncovered and Unplugged Listen: "I Should Have Known Better" Listen: "Blowin in the Wind"

Freddie Gibbs - Shadow of a Doubt Watch: "Fuckin’ Up the Count" Listen: "Packages" (featuring ManMan Savage)

Guided By Voices - Suitcase 4: Captain Kangaroo Won the War

iLoveMakonnen - iLoveMakonnen 2 Listen: "Second Chance" Listen: "Flippin All Night"

Indie for the Holidays Listen: Sondre Lerche & Jherek Bischoff - "Surviving Christmas" Listen: Robert Pollard - "What Begins on New Years Day"

Led Zeppelin - Mothership Listen: "Whole Lotta Love" Listen: "Immigrant Song"

M83 - Digital Shades Reissue Listen: "Coloring the Void" Listen: "By the Kiss"

M83 - Saturdays=Youth Reissue Listen: "Couleurs" Listen: "Midnight Souls Still Remain"

Natalie Prass - Side By Side Listen: "Sound of Silence" Listen: "REALiTi"

Punch Brothers - The Wireless Listen: "Sleek White Baby"

Queen - A Night at the Odeon Listen: "Bohemian Rhapsody" Listen: "White Queen"

Roger Waters - Roger Waters The Wall

Stevie Wonder - Someday at Christmas Listen: "Someday at Christmas"

Underworld - Second Toughest in the Infants Reissue Listen: "Juanita : Kiteless : To Dream of Love" Listen: "Pearl’s Girl"

Velvet Underground: The Complete Matrix Tapes Watch: "We’re Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" Listen: "Sister Ray"

The Who - Live in Hyde Park