New Music Friday - February 5, 2016

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

Essential Full-Length Releases

DIIV - Is the Is Are Following their well-received debut, Oshin, in 2012, DIIV hit a rough patch. They had an unfruitful recording session with Chet White, their bassist said some really stupid things online, and two members of the band, frontman Zachary Cole Smith and drummer Colby Hewitt, struggled with drug addiction; leading to Smith's arrest and Hewitt's departure from the band. The experiences fed into the band's music, which earned them another praised record. Listen: "Bent (Roi’s Song)" Listen: "Dopamine"

Junior Boys - Big Black Coat Following their previous album, 2011's It's All True, the two members of Junior Boys embarked on a series of side projects. They came back together with Yellow Magic Orchestra and Robert Hood as inspirations and wrote an album about the lonely guy downtown. The "big black coat" is a metaphor representing an escape from the bleakness of life. Watch: "Over It" Watch: "Big Black Coat"

Other Full-Length Releases

Field Music - Commontime Watch: "The Noisy Days Are Over" Listen: "Disappointed"

Future - EVOL Listen: "In Her Mouth" Listen: "Ain't No Time"

John Cale - M:FANS Watch: "Close Watch" (featuring Amber Coffman) Listen: "Thoughtless Kind"

Luther Dickinson - Blues & Ballads (A Folksinger’s Songbook Volumes I & II) Listen: "Hurry Up Sunrise" Listen: "Ain’t No Grave" (featuring Mavis Staples)

Majid Jordan - Majid Jordan Watch: "King City" Watch: "Something About You"

Mass Gothic - Mass Gothic Watch: "Every Night You’ve Got to Save Me" Watch: "Nice Night"

Nap Eyes - Thought Rock Fish Scale Listen: "Lion in Chains" Listen: "Mixer"

Shirlette Ammons - Language Barrier Listen: "Aviator" (featuring Amelia Meath) Listen: "Earth Intro" (featuring Indigo Girls)

Trae Tha Truth - Tha Truth Pt. 2 Listen: "All Good" Listen: "Spray" (featuring Jay'ton)

Working for a Nuclear Free City - What Do People Do All Day? Listen: "Bottlerocket" Listen: "New Day"

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

Holy Ghost! - "Crime Cutz" Watch: "Crime Cutz"

Jherek Bischoff & Amanda Palmer - Strung out in Heaven Listen: "Space Oddity" Listen: "Ashes to Ashes"

Nick Grant - ‘88 Listen: "Royalty (Remix)" (featuring Killer Mike & Big K.R.I.T.) Listen: "Somethin to Say"

The Soft Moon - Deeper Remixed Vol. 1 Listen: "Desertion" (Phase Fatale Remix) Listen: "Being" (Ancient Methods Remix)

New Music Tuesday - May 12, 2015

Be sure to view a list of upcoming releases here!

This week, I will begin to try out a new format for these posts. Writing up an increasing number of releases weekly has become a time-consuming and often unrewarding (for me) process. Starting this week, I will select a number of "essential releases" for each week and provide more detailed write-ups on those, then present the remaining albums and other releases without commentary. My aim is threefold; first, I would like to re-energize myself and my blog. The second goal is to make it clearer which artists and albums I feel are a little more worth your time. Finally, I just want to get caught up.

Essential Full-Length Releases

Crocodiles - Boys Crocodiles is a lo-fi and new wave band out of San Diego, California. The band's last album, Crimes of Passion, was released in 2013, but since then, frontman Brandon Welchez released a collaborative album with Dee Dee Penny of the Dum Dum Girls (his wife) as Haunted Hearts. Now the band is back with their fifth album. Watch: "Foolin’ Around" Watch: "Crybaby Demon"

Pfarmers - Gunnera Members of The National haven't been especially active in side projects, with the exception of Bryce Dessner, who has become known as a composer. Now, drummer Bryan Devendorf is branching out on his own as well. His new projects partners him with members of Menomena, and the backing bands for St. Vincent and Sufjan Stevens. Listen: "The Ol’ River Gang" Listen: "You Shall Know the Spirit"

Roísín Murphy - Hairless Toys Roísín Murphy took a long break after her last album, 2007's Overpowered. Though she began work on a new album seven years ago, and recorded many tracks, it wasn't until last year that fans got any new music from her, in the form of her 2014 EP Mi Senti. Watch: "Exploitation" Listen: "Evil Eyes"

Surfer Blood - 1000 Palms 2015 has been a bit of a tough year for Surfer Blood. While he helped on the recording of this latest album, guitarist Thomas Fekete was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. The band went forward with a supporting tour, and collected money for his treatment on the road. Some of that money, as well as equipment, was stolen while they were near Chicago. Despite these setbacks, the band continues to make great music. Watch: "I Can’t Explain" Listen: "Grand Inquisitor"

The Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird Is Home The Tallest Man on Earth is the stage name of Kristian Matsson, a Swedish musician of average height. I loved his sophomore album, The Wild Hunt, when it was released in 2010 and he's already released one incredible follow-up to that record. His fourth record promises to be just as amazing. Listen: "Sagres" Listen: "Dark Bird Is Home"

Other Full-Length Releases

Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh Watch: "Dead Format" Listen: "Detritus"

Novella - Land Watch: "Land Gone" Listen: "Sentences"

Prurient - Frozen Niagara Falls Listen: "Dragonflies to Sew You Up" Listen: "Greenpoint"

Spirit Club - Spirit Club Watch: "Duster" Watch: "Still Life"

Tyondai Braxton - HIVE1 Listen: "Scout1" Listen: "Gracka"

Urban Cone - Polaroid Memories Watch: "Sadness Disease" Watch: "Come Back to Me" (featuring Tove Lo)

Singles, EPs, Soundtracks, etc.

The 2 Bears - Bears in Space Listen: "(Space) Money Man" (featuring Stylo G) Listen: "The Night Is Slow"

Bishop Nehru - The Nehruvian EP Watch: "User$" Listen: "Bishy in Japan 16 (Knowing Nothing)"

Holy Ghost! - Work for Hire Listen: Hanni El Khatib - "Two Brothers" (Holy Ghost! Remix)

Jordan Bratton - YOUTH EP Watch: "Danger" (featuring Fabolous) Listen: "Bound"

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Quarters EP Listen: "God Is in the Rhythm" Listen: "The River"

Leonard Cohen - Can’t Forget: A Souvenir of the Grand Tour Live Listen: "Never Gave Nobody Trouble" Listen: "Choices"

Lil Silva - Drumatic Listen: "Drumatic"

Mates of State - Greats Listen: "Palomino" Listen: "For the Actor"

Nicolas Jaar - Nymphs II Listen: "No One Is Looking at U"

Noel Gallagher's High-Flying Birds - "Riverman" Watch: "Riverman"

Sylvan Esso - H.S.K.T. Remix EP Watch: "H.S.K.T." Listen: "H.S.K.T." (Hercules & Love Affair Remix)

New Music Tuesday - September 10, 2013

New Full-Length Releases

2 Chainz - B.O.A.T.S. II: Me Time I feel like I'm starting to become a bit of a hip hop connoisseur. Before this year, there were only a handful of artists that I really paid attention to, but I've been giving a lot more love to the genre lately. 2 Chainz is one of those artists I've been paying more attention to, especially after he was featured on the GOOD Music release Cruel Summer last year. I don't know what exactly it is about him that I like so much...maybe it's the way he says his name! Listen/Watch: "Feds Watching"

Arctic Monkeys - AM The Arctic Monkeys started off their career as teenagers sounding a lot like their early-2000s indie rock predecessors like Babyshambles or The Strokes. Over time, they have grown and strayed more and more from that sound. Now, their style is more reminiscent of stoner/psychedelic rock bands...think Queens of the Stone Age. While changes in style can often alienate fans, I love when bands switch things up. Of course, it helps that I truly love their current sound! Listen/Watch: "Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?"

Babyshambles - Sequel to the Prequel One of the Arctic Monkeys indie rock predecessors is also releasing a new album this week! It's been a little while since we heard from Babyshambles, so long that I actually thought that they had broken up. Not so, six years after Shotter's Nation, and a solo album from front-man Peter Doherty, they are returning! Unlike the Arctic Monkeys, I haven't gotten much of an indication that their sound has changed greatly from their first two releases, but there's nothing wrong in sticking with what you do best. Listen/Watch: "Nothing Comes to Nothing"

Body/Head - Coming Apart Since the breakup of both her band, Sonic Youth, and her marriage to Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon has been fairly quiet. 2013 seems to be her re-entry year; she will be guest-starring on Girls, will release two books and has started a new band with Bill Nace. Body/Head released an EP earlier this year, but this is their first full-length together. The band has a similar punk/noise rock sound to Sonic Youth, but with a bit more experimentation going on. Listen: "Actress"

Delorean - Apar I started listening to Delorean about three years ago following the release of Subiza. I loved their interesting mix of indie rock and dance music. Also, what's not to love about an indie band out of Spain (really, we don't see too much of that). I always find the albums immediately following those which caught my attention from a band to be particularly exciting; I like to see what they've maintained of what I love and how their sound has progressed. Listen/Watch: "Spirit"

Emiliana Torrini - Tookah Emiliana Torrini is an Icelandic artist (family by way of Italy). Given such, much of her music shows the same quirkiness it seems we often get from artists from that country (Björk or Sigur Rós, for example). The 2009 single "Jungle Drum," from Me and Armini, was what first caught my attention of her. I've been a fairly avid fan since and was extremely excited when she announced the new album. Listen: "Speed of Dark"

Goldfrapp - Tales of Us So, there was a period during my sophomore or junior year of college where I really started to get downtempo electronic music (I think I credit Zero 7 with the discovery and love). I quickly tried to check out any band I could in the genre. Goldfrapp was one of the few who captured a bit more of my attention and became a fixture in my music library. I've loved her ever since. Tales of Us is her sixth studio album and I expect even more to love! Listen/Watch: "Drew"

Holy Ghost! - Dynamics After the end of LCD Soundsystem a couple of years ago, I pegged Holy Ghost! as a band that did nearly as masterful a job in the electronic genre. It must be something that James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem also saw, since the band is signed to his record label, DFA. Like LCD, this band uses electronic beats to develop music with otherwise typical song structures. Their sound seems to lean more towards pure electronic, though. Listen/Watch: "Teenagers in Heat"

Janelle Monáe - The Electric Lady It's not often that artists jump into concept albums at the start of their careers. Janelle, however, jump-started hers with the Metropolis concept, which centered around an android named Cindi Mayweather. Although she's carried this concept through two EPs and two albums, it's never come off as hokey or silly, it's resulted in some really excellent work. For her latest album, she's proving her worth even more, bringing in some R&B heavy-hitters like Prince and Erykah Badu as guests. Listen/Watch: "Dance Apocalyptic"

Man Man - On Oni Pond This is one of those artists I have randomly decided to check out after seeing their name dropped on several of my favorite blogs and magazines. Honestly, I know very little about them, except that they've been getting some good response on this latest album. Sometimes, it can be a good thing to just check something out for the sake of doing so, so I'm hoping this one pans out for me! Listen/Watch: "Head On"

The Weeknd - Kiss Land This is The Weeknd's debut album. Despite that, it seems like he's been around forever. In 2011, he released three mixtapes, which were compiled into Trilogy last year. The mixtapes and compilation have gotten him a lot of attention and a lot of hype. Reviews seem to be mixed on whether this album quite lives up to the hype, but it is exciting to see him releasing his first proper studio album! Listen/Watch: "Belong to the World"

Willis Earl Beal - Nobody Knows OK, so I guess I decided that this would be my week to check out music that I wasn't already too familiar with. Willis is another artist who I don't know much about, though I remember reading a lot of great things for his debut album, Acousmatic Sorcery. A big reason I'm checking this out, though, is that a singer who released of my favorite albums last year, Cat Power, is featured on one of the songs. As I've said before, work with someone whose music I love, I will definitely check out yours, as well! Listen: "Coming Through"

Other New Releases

Frightened Rabbit - Late March, Death March EP Frightened Rabbit released their excellent Pedestrian Verse album earlier this year. Typically, artists will release two or three song singles to further promote the album and songs, but FR has been releasing longer EPs in support of the album's tracks. They first did it with "State Hospital" last year and are doing it for another track from the album, "Late March, Death March," this week. Listen: "Radio Silence"

The Road to Jajouka The Road to Jajouka is a tribute album dedicated to paying tribute to the Master Musicians of Jajouka, Morocco. The album features recordings by Flea, Billy Martin and Lee Ranaldo. Listen: Lee Ranaldo - "Boujeloudia Magic"