"Group draws on the tradition established by other fine Chicago jazz-inflected exports over the years (Rotary Connection, Tortoise, Earth, Wind & Fire) while also pushing beyond categorical boundaries to create a debut that is soulful and ear-catching" - Pitchfork says in it's review of Resavoir's eponymous album (grade 8,2 out of 10). Simply put, Resavoir […]
Mark Beaumont in his latest NME column writes about how he thinks Snow Patrol's 'Chasing Cars' (the most played song on UK radio this century) is shallow and empty, but there's no need to read about what he dislikes, especially when there's a text about what he does like. The latter being the latest Flaming […]
"Emily Sprague recorded 'Emily Alone' about a year after she moved to Los Angeles. When Sprague moved, her mother had just died, and she’d just ended a serious relationship. That’s three life milestones — the death of a parent, a major breakup, a cross-country move — all piled on top of one another. Any one of those […]
"'Nighttime Stories' is a solid record from a unique band. Purely instrumental records may be difficult to pull off, but Pelican has more than enough brains and brawn to show how well it can be done" - PopMatters says about first new album by the Chicago post-metal quartet in six years. Listen to album at BandCamp.
"Good time, a good time / We gonna have a time" - the very first lyrics on South Carolina Ranky Tanky's title song, and album's leitmotif. PopMatters puts it simply: "Life can be rough, but it is essential to create your own good times".
It's hard to listen to, raw and sometimes vulgar in language, very serious, and - worth listening to, ambitious and thought through. Not everybody is going to like it, but everybody should listen to it, as there is beauty behind it's brutality. The Quietus says "it is an album of baroque intensity and gothic flamboyance […]
"Maxo’s father serves as both a muse and foil, popping up throughout the record as both a character and a presence" Pitchfork says in their review of Texan's rapper Maxo Kream new album 'Brandon Banks', named after his father. "Mirroring the album cover, a collage of their faces, Maxo builds stories around their points of […]
LA musician Erin Birgy published her fifth album 'Dolphine' as Mega Bog - "a 36 minutes and 36 seconds of shimmering dirges which could just as easily soundtrack ancient woodland or the night sky as the deepest imaginable depths of the sea". The Quietus compares her album to Julia Holter, Cate Le Bon and Aldous […]
A very good selection of best songs of the week by the Brooklyn Vegan (or maybe a good week in general). LA trio Automatic will publish their first album for Stones Throw in September and 'Too Much Money' presents them as pop kraut-rock band, Ezra Furman goes in modern punk direction with 'Evening Prayer', Working […]
Glitchy folktronica and crunching beats by Bon Iver in 'Faith', total thumper in 'I Drive' by Lower Dens, hazy, summer evening by Boy Pablo & Jimi Somewhere in ‘Never Cared’, stonking chunk of psychedelic-flecked rock in 'Black Finch' by Goon, catchy R&B tune 'Simmer' by Mahalia, total sugar rush in 'Hey' by Oscar Lang, festival-ready […]
"'Les étoiles vagabondes' is a masterclass in poetic devices and through exceptionally crafted efforts... Nekfeu makes a compelling case for his pen being the finest in la Métropole... Multifaceted, exhilarating and ultimately inspired body of hip-hop" - PopMatters totally likes new album by Parisian rapper Nekfeu.
The choice: Rosalia's 'F*cking Money Man' because it defies"the notion that effortlessly fun pop music must be shallow by default", Bon Iver and 'Faith' for sounding "exultant", Jenny Hval with 'Ashes to Ashes' - "a bit of dark synth-pop that is far more fun to dance to than dissect", Pharmakon with 'Self-Regulating System' because "self-cannibalism", […]
British musician Haxan Cloak, aka Bobby Krlic, made the soundtrack for Ari Aster's 'Midsommar', a horror movie about five young Americans who are visiting Sweden to take part in a 90-year-old solstice festival, and it doesn't really end well for them. The plot might be well known, but Haxan Cloak's take on creepy folk music […]
Pitchfork gave Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire's new album high grade of 7,8 (out of 10). Why? - "his lyrics have always offered savvy political commentary and catharsis for those prepared to hear it".
"'Purple Mountains' is both a breakup album in the traditional sense and also a breakup album if all of life was one big, long breakup" - Consequence of Sound reviews the debut album by Purple Mountains, new band by David Berman, Silver Jews' frontman. "How can music be so sad and so catchy at the same […]
"Throughout 'Mechanical Flirtations', Saint Abdullah deal in weaponized compassion and empathy, tuning their boundless music to start fires. Theirs is a sound of protest and resistance, of warmth and reconciliation... Uncovers thoughts and truths that we try to suppress, leaving it to us to act" - PopMatters has nice words for Iranian band Saint Abdullah's new […]
'Misora' from 1972 is the only album thus far from Japanese singer-songwriter Sachiko Kanenobu - she left Japan and professional music in just before album's initial release. On 'Misora' (meaning 'Beautiful Sky') "she paints romantic portraits of nature, taps into wells of human emotion, and often ties the two together in beautiful ways", PopMatters says […]
The Quietus really likes third album by London funky/post punk band Trash Kit: "'Horizon' is a verdant late June day, green grass and green leaves buzzing and hissing with activity, before the hot mid-July sun burns everything golden. It sings to the seeming boundlessness of days like these - so limited in number, but so full of potential. […]
William Parker is a Bronx-born bassist and composer, and in Brooklyn's ShapeShifter Lab in 2017 he performed with his small band In Order To Survive. That show is out now, and Guardian chose it as their jazz album of the month because - it's "pithily inviting, contemporary and always welcome". Listen to a couple of songs […]
"Their minimal, shouty post-punk and grunge-tinted rock songs would fall flat if they weren’t performed with discernible gusto or infused with as much simmering rage or relatable sulk" - Paste Magazine says about Vancouver punk band Necking's debut album 'Cut Your Teeth'. Exclaim likes the 22-minute album because of "demolition derby of turbulent, sharp-tongued rock". […]
Fact Magazine likes electronic music, pop music with style, and hip-hop with substance, which is exactly to be found on their list of best 25 albums from April to July. Not all the names on the list are that well-known, which is the most worthy thing about it - finding out good music not many […]
"A document of cranking up the distortion pedals and bashing away in melodious fashion" - Stereogum says of their latest Album of the Week pick, third album by Columbus, Ohio indie-rock trio Van Dale. "The perfect American alternative album - When the Horn Blows reviews.
It's mostly albums we wrote about, some we didn't, but it's all albums worth checking out. PopMatters made it easier with links to Bandcamp and YouTube profiles/videos.
"All of her work smacks of unpretentiousness, and her writing has a direct quality... She’s young sure, but she’s mature" - the Quietus really likes first EP by British MC/singer Arwen. "She’s a songwriter that gets how to employ simplicity. Small feelings made big for an empathetic ear. 'Lemon Love' is an honest and big hearted record". […]
PopMatters gave Jane Weaver's new album 'Loops in the Secret Society' high mark of 9 (out of 10 stars) - "this music might better be received and approached as a kind of gestalt to which the best response is mere surrender and an acknowledgment that this is a sui generis musical experience, and that on occasion it approaches the […]
Moodymann is back, five years after his last album, and after spending time outside house music. Judging by Pitchfork review, it'll take time to get the grips on it: "Song by song - even moment by moment - it shows Dixon pulling in multiple directions. The music teems with small details, but it doesn’t feel […]
It's 100 albums, and nobody in the world has heard them all properly. It's interesting to start exploring, even if not all of those are really that great. TH has an audio file for every album, so - press play!
"'Tears of Joy' is a magnetic and loving tribute to his mother, who passed away recently. After years of shadowy raps, MIKE is at his most vulnerable in the face of tragedy, able to turn grief and frustration into an album rich with both musical and individual growth" - Pitchfork reviews new album by New York […]
"There’s a post-rocky atmosphere to 'Clairvoyant' and some beautifully melodic instrumentals, but it’s rarely a clean or quiet sounding album... They seem more like they could be the next Deafheaven" - Brooklyn Vegan says about the new album by State Faults. Sputnik Music likes it even more: "'Clairvoyant' is thunder and lightning, it’s felt before it’s understood, it’s […]
"What impresses me the most about ‘Magic Johnson’ is the way the album flows as a whole. This is what I call a ‘road trip’ album. Just put it on and let it play as you wind down the road" - Jammerzine says about the latest album by Californian rock band the Black Watch. The […]
