50% Hipster: Black Mountain

Thursday, April 28, 2016

New Music Friday - April 1, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

Ash Koosha - I AKA I

Ash Koosha is an Iranian composer, producer and graduate of the Tehran Conservatory of Music. He is also a software designer for whom visuals and sound often overlap. He released his debut album, GUUD, in 2015 to critical acclaim. He has followed that up in short order with I AKA I, another collection of intricately-constructed tracks.

Listen: "Mudafossil"
Listen: "Biutiful"

Bleached - Welcome the Worms

Welcome the Worms is the second album from this three-piece punk outfit out of California. Since the release of their 2013 debut album, Ride Your Heart, they've experienced the less-pleasant side of life with loss of homes and relationships; experiences which influenced the writing of this album. With producer Joe Chicarelli, their sound also matures greatly on this record.

Watch: "Wednesday Night Melody"
Watch: "Keep on Keepin’ On"

Bombino - Azel

Omara Moctar is a Nigerian Tuareg guitarist whose music often addresses issues impacting his people. He risked his life in pursuit of art. The Nigerian government banned guitars for the Tuareg following the Tuareg Rebellion in 2007, and he saw fellow musicians executed. During a three-year exile, he met filmmaker Ron Wyman, who urged him to formally record his music. He released Agadez in 2011 and the Dan Auerbach-produced Nomad in 2013. His latest record was produced by David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors.

Watch: "Inar"
Listen: "Akhar Zaman"

Charles Bradley - Changes

Charles Bradley became a new recording artist around the same age that other musicians are thinking retirement. Though he had performed for over 40 years, he released his first album, No Time for Dreaming, in 2011 at the age of 62. Positive response to the record kicked off a wave of success for Bradley, who followed it up with 2013's Victim of Love and this latest record, which (of all things) includes a Black Sabbath cover!

Watch: "Changes"
Watch: "Change for the World"

Frankie Cosmos - Next Thing

Frankie Cosmos is the stage name of Greta Kline, daughter of actors Phoebe Cates and Kevin Kline. Despite famous parents, she has been making a name for herself since 2011. She has performed with the band Porches and released her debut album, Zentropy, in 2014.

Watch: "It Is Possible/Sleep Song"
Listen: "Sinister"

Other Full-Length Releases

Andrew Bird - Are You Serious

Watch: "Left-Handed Kisses" (featuring Fiona Apple)
Watch: "Capsized"

Babyfather - BBF Hosted by DJ Escrow

Watch: "Shook"/"Motivation"
Listen: "Meditation" (featuring Arca)

Black Mountain - IV

Watch: "Florian Saucer Attack"
Watch: "Mothers of the Sun"

The Field - The Follower

Listen: "Raise the Dead"
Listen: "Reflecting Lights"

The Heavy - Hurt & the Merciless

Watch: "Since You Been Gone"
Watch: "Turn Up"

Japanese Breakfast - Psychopomp

Listen: "Everybody Wants to Love You"
Listen: "That Woman Loves You"

John Congleton & The Nighty Night - Until the Horror Goes

Watch: "Until It Goes"
Listen: "Your Temporary Custodian"

Kaada/Patton - Bacteria Cult

Watch: "Imodium"
Listen: "Red Rainbow"

The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You’ve Come to Expect

Watch: "Everything You’ve Come to Expect"
Watch: "Aviation"

Moderat - III

Watch: "Reminder"
Listen: "Running"

Operators - Blue Wave

Listen: "Cold Light"
Listen: "Blue Wave"

Sasha - Scene Delete

Listen: "Bring on the Night-time" (featuring Ultraísta)
Listen: "View2"

Starwalker - Starwalker

Watch: "Le President"
Watch: "Holidays"

Terrace Martin - Velvet Portraits

Listen: "Think of You"
Listen: "Valdez Off Crenshaw"

Weezer - Weezer (White Album)

Watch: "California Kids"
Watch: "L.A. Girlz"

Yeasayer - Amen & Goodbye
Watch: "I Am Chemistry"

Listen: "Silly Me"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Battles - EP C/B EP Reissue

Listen: "B+T"
Listen: "SZ2"

Battles - Gloss Drop Reissue

Listen: "Ice Cream" (featuring Matias Aguayo)
Listen: "Futura"

Battles - Mirrored Reissue

Listen: "Atlas"
Listen: "Tonto"

Chelsea Wolfe - "Hypnos"/"Flame"

Watch: "Hypnos"
Listen: "Flame"

Fool’s Gold Presents: Night Shift

Listen: A-Trak & Ookay - "Only One"
Listen: KRNE - "I’ll Be Good"

Sia - Colour the Small One Reissue

Listen: "Breathe Me"
Listen: "Numb"

Small Circle - Melatonin EP

Listen: "Please Don’t Touch the Moon"

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois Reissue

Listen: "Chicago" (Demo)
Listen: "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois"

Twenty88 - Twenty88

Watch: "Out of Love"
Listen: "Déjà vu"

Willis Earl Beal - Through the Dark

Watch: "Through the Dark"
Listen: "Lost in a Dream"

Saturday, August 8, 2015

New Music Tuesday - June 23, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

New Full-Length Releases

Desaparecidos - Payola

Conor Oberst has had a lot of projects. He's best known for his work as Bright Eyes, but has also been a member of the supergroup Monsters of Folk (with Mike Mogis, M. Ward, and Jim Jones), and guested on numerous artists' songs; he has been focused on a solo career lately. He was a member of Desaparecidos in the early-aughts, though the band was on hiatus throughout much of the 2000s. They reunited in 2012 and are releasing their first album in more than a decade this year.

Watch: "City on the Hill"
Listen: "Backsell"

Everything Everything - Get to Heaven

This band with the kitchen-sink sound just get better and better with each album. Though they didn't have much praise for their sophomore album, Arc, is was one of my favorites in 2013. The quick turn-around on the new record is meant as a "fix" on something the band considered "broken," but I'm still excited for a new record.

Watch: "Distant Past"
Watch: "Regret"

Frank Zappa - Dance Me This

Frank Zappa may have passed away more than 20 years ago, he's been just as busy in death as he was in life. There have been over 30 albums released since his 1993 passing; sadly, this looks like it may be the last. The record comprises the last material he worked on before his death.

Listen: "Dance Me This"

Son Lux - Bones

2013's Lanterns was a beautiful, haunting, and overall incredible album from Son Lux. The album, which was the band's third, was recorded as a solo record for Ryan Lott. This time around, he gets some help from drummer Ian Chang and guitarist Rafiq Bhatia. He's a great collaborator (see his work as Sisyphus with Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti, as well as the rerecording of "Easy" with Lorde), so I hope that more musicians make things even better.

Watch: "Change Is Everything"
Watch: "You Don’t Know Me"

Other Full-Length Releases