Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 5, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: The Afghan Whigs: “In Spades”–
Genre: Indie-Rock/Grunge/Alt-Rock // Label: Sub Pop Records
Background:
The Afghan Whigs returned to the scene after 16 years back in 2014 with Do To The Beast, an album that proved the band’s return was more than just a feel-good reunion. Playing some of their best music, the record found its way onto many rock fan’s best of 2014 lists. With In Spades, the band keeps that momentum rolling with what feels like an even bigger record. The Afghan Whigs’ latest sees them hitting their stride full speed, creating a through-and-through rock album with plenty of eastern influence. The band has been around long enough now to know when to use restraint, and In Spades feels like the ideal balance of riff-filled, in-your-face rockers and quieter, more reserved ballads. Modern rock bands everywhere should take note of The Afghan Whigs, because this is what the genre should sound like in 2017.
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 28, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
It’s been 7 years since Gorillaz dropped Plastic Beach and The Fall, and the demand for a new record from these guys probably couldn’t be any higher than it is at this point. With a handful of new tracks already released to varying levels of acclaim, the virtual quartet seems primed to cast all other mainstream releases under its shadow this week. With Humanz – an album that paints a fresh gleam on the group’s core sound – has them entering the chaotic and uncertain times of 2017 sounding both vibrant and purpose-driven. Time will tell if it lives up to the best Gorillaz albums, but no matter what it will be an interesting listen worthy of just about anyone’s time.
Listen to “Ascension” below:
– Full List of Releases: April 28, 2017 –
Aethere: Adrift
Genre: Death/Progressive Metal // Label: Tragic Hero
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All That Remains: Madness
Genre: Metalcore // Label: Razor & Tie
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 21, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: Woods: “Love Is Love”–
Genre: Indie-Folk/Psychedelic // Label: Woodsist
Background:
Woods have evolved quite a bit since they first formed twelve years ago, slowly turning their minimal indie-folk approach into more of an elaborate, psychedelic experience. With Love Is Love, the band continues trekking down that path with the added thematic twist of some post-election themes that the band has cited as their primary inspiration for creating the LP. Just one year after the release of City Sun Eater In The River Of Light, Woods figure to once again make a splash in indie, psychedelic, and folk circles as they continue to emerge as a prominent leader within their musical niche.
Listen to the title track below:
– Full List of Releases: April 21, 2017 –
Ancient Ascendant: Raise The Torch
Genre: Death/Black Metal // Label: Spinefarm/Candlelight
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Angaleena Presley: Wrangled
Genre: Country // Label: Mining Light Music
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 14, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
DAMN. marks Lamar’s first extended release since last year’s collection of demos (untitled unmastered), and his first formal album since 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly. Unlike past releases that have featured a host of impressive guest musicians, DAMN. has only three announced guest stars: U2, Rihanna, and Zacari – setting this record up to perhaps be his most straightforward, down-to-earth unveiling. For an artist of Kendrick’s stature, DAMN. makes for an automatically required listen. Garnering critical acclaim throughout his career, particularly with good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly, Lamar figures to keep a firm grasp on his reign atop hip-hop/rap with this latest record.
I missed the boat on the staff-wide feature thanks in part to a hectic work week, a desire not to cut-paste from my track reviews, and general laziness. In retrospect, that turned out pretty awesome (thanks in a large part to Jom’s orchestration of the feature) so I’ll have to do better and contribute to the Q2 playlist. But for now, I’d just like to get my favorite 10 songs from Jan.-Mar. 2017 out there for your consumption. I’d consider them all to be essential listens if you stay current week-to-week, especially in the indie-rock / indie-folk scene. I tend to be long-winded with everything I do, so below each track/artwork I’ve included 3 simple notions that represent feelings, memories, or lyrics I associate with experiencing that particular piece. Anyway, without further ado, here are my top 10 tracks of the year’s first quarter.
#10 – Teen Daze: “Cycle”
Genre: Indie-Folk | Listen if you like: Immersing your senses in nature
Melting snow
Leaves blowing in a spring breeze
“You are the only one that speaks into me”
#9 – SUSTO: “Far Out Feeling”
Genre: Indie/Americana | Listen if you like: Unexpected string sections
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 7, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: Father John Misty: “Pure Comedy”–
Genre: Indie-Folk/Americana // Label: Sub Pop Records
Background:
Few artists have enjoyed as much hype and general chatter surrounding a new release as Father John Misty in 2017. On the heels of 2015’s hit album I Love You, Honeybear, this week we will observe an even darker and more theatrical side of Josh Tillman. Embracing the piano and his penchant for sarcasm-riddled balladry, Pure Comedy offers a very different, often bitter view on mankind. Certain to be divisive (seeming the only way he knows), we’re not sure quite what to expect from this 74-minute behemoth of an album. All we know is that it is going to be talked about. A lot.
In 2013, Sufjan Stevens joined up with Nico Muhly, James McAlister, and The National’s Bryce Dressner to create a composition thematically centered around our solar system (I guess he is too big for states now). To date only performed in a live setting (the piece was debuted at Brooklyn Academy of Music over a multi-night span), it is finally being released as an official recording on June 9 via 4AD. It’s pretty much the most hipster thing ever. But before we get to that, the quartet has unveiled “Saturn”, the fourteenth out of seventeen songs on the track list and the album’s lead single.
Those who enjoyed Stevens’ bizarre but oddly affirming Age of Adz will likely be beside themselves with excitement on this one. The vocals are electronically altered for the entire run time, as is the instrumental canvas. The whole thing feels very futuristic, bombastic, and oddly warm. Stevens may sound robotic and distant, but lines like “take this body / blood shed for you” and the repeated “tell me I’m evil” have a boomerang effect, sending you far off into the cold, dark depths of space only to circle back with…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of March 31, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: Mastodon: “Emperor of Sand”–
Genre: Sludge/Progressive Metal // Label: Reprise Records
Background:
Sludge/progressive staples Mastodon are returning this Friday with their 7th LP, the follow-up to 2014’s Once More ‘Round The Sun. The record was again produced by Brendan O’Brien, whose work with the band dates back to their groundbreaking 2009 release Crack The Skye. According to drummer Brann Dailor, Emperor of Sand‘s themes revolve around one’s mortality — something that was inspired by them witnessing multiple family members and close friends undergo cancer diagnoses in recent years. You can hear the lead single, “Sultan’s Curse”, below:
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of March 24, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: Mount Eerie: “A Crow Looked at Me”–
Genre: Lo-Fi/Indie-Folk // Label: P.W. Elverum & Sun
Background:
Phil Elverum’s latest release is a heartbreaking tribute to his late wife, Geneviève Castrée, who died last summer from pancreatic cancer. Beginning with the lines “Death is real / Someone’s there and then they’re not/ And it’s not for singing about / It’s not for making into art”, A Crow Looked At Me sees Elverum grapple with the departure of his spouse and the life he once shared with her. Joining recent peers like Sufjan Stevens (Carrie & Lowell) and Nick Cave (Skeleton Tree), Mount Eerie’s 2017 LP is a marvel to behold, even as its creator writes from a place that none of us ever hope to venture to or endure.
– Full List of Releases: March 24, 2017 –
Art Of Anarchy: The Madness
Genre: Alt/Hard Rock // Label: Century Media Records
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of March 17, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Four years after Delta Machine, the fathers of electronic post-punk – Depeche Mode – have returned with their most politically charged record to date. It’s angry, bleak, and powerful. Most of all, it is aware of the times we live in and feels like a representation of this troubled era – at times even literally calling for revolution. The album drops tomorrow, but those who haven’t heard a glimpse of what Spirit has to offer should do themselves the favor of listening to “Where’s The Revolution” below:
Does it feel like summer yet? Weezer thinks so. Less than a year after the universally acclaimed White Album, everyone’s favorite nerd-rock band is back with a new single and – you know it – the announcement of a new album slated for a 2017 release. Anyone who has rode the euphoric wave that has been Weezer’s unprecedented return to relevancy will be understandably hyped. Well, at least for a few minutes. If you’d like to hold onto that enthusiasm a little bit longer, stop reading here.
In what I wish was not typical “Weezer fashion”, the new single takes this band’s resurgent existence and, both forcefully and decisively, pulls the life support plug. “Feels Like Summer” is an auto-tuned, repetitive mess – channeling the worst of modern pop radio and fusing it with the pompous sense of stature that destroyed Make Believe. I wish such descriptors were merely a bout of frustration; hyperbole brought on by disappointment. However, it’s best you just decide for yourself:
It’s clear that Weezer has not learned from its own history. Instead of continuing to ride what they do best, pleasing fans and solidifying their own legacy in…
New Alt-J and Fleet Foxes? Don’t mind the double track review; some things in life are just necessary. In this case, only one day after hearing that Alt-J have a new single and an album titled Relaxer coming out June 9, Fleet Foxes said “all in” and revealed a new track of their own to accompany the announcement of Crack Up – their first album in six years due out June 16. Needless to say, it’s an exciting time to be a fan of all things indie. Here, we’ll review each track individually and see what, if anything, they can reveal about the upcoming LPs from whence they came.
We’ll begin with the Alt-J track “3WW” because it came out first. “3WW” is an absolutely captivating piece of lo-fi indie rock. Commencing with a thumping backbeat, gentle guitar plucks, and handclaps, it feels mysterious and warmly inviting all at the same time. One thing that both tracks on this feature have in common is that they both pick up where each respective artist left off. “3WW” easily could have been dropped in the middle of This Is All Yours and nobody would have blinked, aside from the fact that it’s stunning aesthetically and would have marked yet another highlight. Joe…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of March 10, 2017. Boxer Calvin Klein Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: The Shins: “Heartworms”–
Genre: Indie-Pop // Label: Columbia Records
Background:
The Shins have long been a cornerstone of their genre, going all the way back to their 2001 smash hit “New Slang” from Oh, Inverted World. You could fashion a convincing argument that the band peaked too early, as we’ve yet to really see them top that album which helped launch new millennium indie-pop. Chutes Too Narrow and Wincing The Night Away both proved to be worthy entries in their own right, but more recently, Port of Morrow saw the group at its most commercial and least appealing from an artistic standpoint. Calvin Klein Slip Everything about Heartworms screams for a return to form, from the classic indie-as-hell artwork to the singles released in advance of the record. The question of whether or not it is a ploy or a triumph remains to be answered however – an opinion that you can begin to form by streaming “Dead Alive” below.
Lorde is back, and she is following up on a four year wait with one of her most triumphant-sounding tracks yet – the bitterly scorned, irrefutably confident “Green Light.” The track was unveiled yesterday alongside the announcement of her sophomore record Melodrama, set to be released this summer. If the album is anything like the lead single, then we can expect a pretty stark change in Lorde’s approach. Whereas the whole of Pure Heroine possessed a rhythmic, downbeat atmosphere, “Green Light” has an elated chorus while the music video shows her dancing and writhing around the streets and nightclubs of a major city. It might not be the most well-advised comparison to make, but it actually reminds me a lot of Florence & The Machine’s “Shake It Out” (the video too), as darker themes bubbling under the surface are almost exorcised like some sort of ritualistic expulsion of all the demons that try to keep us weighed down in a pit of demise and self-loathing. While “Green Light” may draw from embattled emotions, it sounds as upbeat and inspiring as anything she’s written to date.
The lyrical content revolves around an apparent breakup, featuring lines like “she…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of March 3, 2017. Slip Calvin Klein Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. Bragas Calvin Klein Baratas As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
–Featured Release: Dia Frampton: “Bruises”–
Genre: Indie-Pop // Label: Nettwerk Music Group
Background:
Dia Frampton releases her long-awaited follow up to 2011’s Red, a pointedly under the radar indie-pop release that drew critical praise. Tanga Calvin Klein MujerBruises offers hauntingly beautiful atmospheres and vocals, continuing her upward trajectory as a songwriter to keep an eye [and an ear] on.
