"The 16-track 'VWETO II' is a foray into simmering, sun-drenched, bass-driven g-funk, seasoned with Muldrow's way-out arrangement sensibilities" Exclaim writes in a review of psychedelic/jazzy funk Californian's newest album (it's officially her 18th, counting in all). E! calls it "a balmy summer soundtrack for the cosmic funk faithful". You can listen to it on YouTube, […]
"Dreams, nightmares, and sleepwalking haunt the songs of 'ANIMA', Yorke’s most ambitious and assured solo album yet. It is the darkest and tenderest music he has released outside of Radiohead, floating uneasily through the space between societal turmoil and internal monologue.... Meaty, full-blooded, often a little menacing" - Pitchfork is really into Radiohead frontman's third solo […]
Sonically they're somewhere between shoegaze and post-rock, physically they're among the mighty Alps. Brooklyn Vegan says the Austrian's debut album, 'All That Ever Could Have Been', sounds "massive, majestic, imposing". The album is out tomorrow, June 28, listen to the band at Soundcloud.
"This is two guys who know each other well, pushing each other and pushing themselves. It works the same as a great jazz session — these two vastly different artists figuring out how to get into each other’s groove" - Stereogum writes about 'Bandana', new album by avant-garde hip-hop producer Madlib and a big-mouthy rapper […]
PM chose 14 new metal albums for this month's edition of MetalMatters, they vary from emo to grind-core. It's: Baroness with their most ambitious project; Cave In and Pelican who released works that were conceived and recorded under struggling times; The Austerity Program returned with one of its strongest works to date; Darkthrone unleashed record containing […]
"'Welcome Home' is a portrait of an artist amidst transition. As Cohen grapples with physical location, she creates a musical space where an exploration of identity is conducted with intimacy and vulnerability" - PopMatters says in a review of third album by New York singer and model.
The Raconteurs have a new album out, 'Help Us Stranger'; the critics seem to be inclined to like it, so it's overtly positive reviews: "The beauty is in the timeless joy of hearing two world-class songwriters, cut from two very different sides of a similar cloth, come together" - DIY Magazine "This album is timely […]
English poet Kate Tempest has a new album out, her fourth spoken-word LP, produced by Rick Rubin, and the critics say it's quite something: "A natural empath, she wraps warm words around the shoulders of lives made wretched by those who breathe easiest" - the Skinny "Emotionally, there's a lot to unpack, but the need […]
At the start of his career with the Birthday Party, Nick Cave's fans were trying to set him on fire or to piss on his bassist, and the fans themselves were leaving B'Party's shows with bloodied heads. On his latest 'Conversations With...' tour Cave is - talking to his fans, answering their questions, in an […]
"Moves buoyantly alongside bouncy instrumentation, determined to get somewhere, but willing to enjoy the journey along the way. And what a beautiful sounding journey it is" - Exclaim loves the second album by LA-based singer-songwriter Bedouine (born in Syria, raised in Saudi Arabia, hence the name). Variety compares her to Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake and […]
Whole lotta praise for Black Midi's debut album: "An experimental, genre-less and extremely noisy sound to exceptional results. Beyond weird... a legitimate one of a kind record... a masterpiece" - Paste Magazine. "Their determination to not bend to conventional song structure makes 'Schlagenheim' an engaging piece of work that will reveal its true nature over […]
"The show was a triumph for the World’s Greatest Rock & Roll Band, with Mick prancing all over the stadium in prime hip-shaking, troubadour-trapping fight mode" - Rolling Stone says of the first Rolling Stones show in a year, and a first since Mick Jagger underwent surgery in April to replace a heart valve. "Good […]
Prince's songs 'Manic Monday', 'The Glamorous Life', and 'Nothing Compares 2 U' made other artists famous (The Bangles, Sheila E., Sinead O'Connor), and Warner showed us this week how they sounded like at the start (quite similar to quite different). "Indisputably the best and the most accessible album to come from Prince’s vault yet... It’s […]
"Instead of pressuring themselves to explore totally new sonic territory, the five core members of Hot Chip deepen their existing sound, going down rather than out. The lush production of the album, in conjunction with the emphasis on positivity in the lyrics, creates an enveloping musical and emotional atmosphere" - PopMatters says of the new […]
"This quintet finds cross-cultural influences from traditional Korean music, post-rock, and atmospheric metal... The result is a project that interweaves diasporic influences just as heterophony interweaves distinct melodies" - PopMatters says in it's review of third album by Korean avant-rock band Jambinai (8 of 10 stars). Interesting and fun to listen music, in any case...
American band Mannequin Pussy went from hard and fast punk on their first album 'Gypsy Pervert' (2014) to playing punk-rock on their newest, 'Patience', out this week on Epitaph. Stereogum chose it for their newest Album of the Week because it's "the band’s most technically ambitious and dynamic album to date. 'Patience' is Mannequin Pussy, full-optimized".
"That they manage to exist in equipoise while in the midst of so many proliferating uncertainties is a striking balancing act, and it is therefore appropriate that their sound is neither fish nor fowl – jazz but not quite jazz, popish, but certainly not "pop" as we know it, avant-garde in the sense that it's […]
"While Titus Andronicus have been able to achieve grandiosity without the bombastic self-importance that lesser artists would gravitate towards, 'An Obelisk' is easily their most digestible and contained album yet" - Consequence of Sound writes, and gives ??' B+.
Since B-Vegan is indie-rock loving, it's not your "usual metal" list. They chose German post-rock/black metal of Downfall of Gaia ("bring the punks, the metalheads, and the Explosions in the Sky fans together"), Finnish orchestral-metal collective Waste of Space Orchestra ("use rock instrumentation to create music with movements that echo classical music"), Polish black metal with […]
"The whole album sounds like they have decided to take a small break from the inside of their heads and work their bodies a little bit. There is a much appreciated directness to their production that demands the listener take notice... Plaid may have foregrounded a darker, discordant side to their production, but this has […]
"Leif’s pastel atmospheres frequently give way to deep, chest-quaking drums: layer upon layer of thrumming hand percussion, sub-bass rumble, and sampled kit" - Pitchfork says about Leif's third full length, their latest choice for Best New Music. "The mood he evokes may be blissful, wistful, or simply serene, depending upon the listener’s headspace—but the constantly […]
"This is the sound of a new Radiohead taking shape" - NME writes about Radiohead 'OK Computer' leaks. They combed through 18 hours to find 10 songs worth the while. The Guardian gave the mini-discs 4 out of 5 stars, and said it's "endlessly interesting chronicle of a band reinventing the mainstream by rejecting it".
"Callahan writes about his happiness, and how much his happiness proves to be enlightening for us... 'Shepherd' feels like his most something album ever—his warmest, his most generous, possibly his most profound... It is a high note, fond and deep and sustained" - Pitchfork says of it's latest choice for Best New Music. Listen to the album at […]
American hard-rockers Baroness have a new album 'Gold & Grey' out, with a new guitarist, and the one to end the color-themed series. Consequence of Sound says the band finds "themselves in a place of great maturity, exhibiting superb musicianship", NME says it's "super-tight, slick and takes sonic soundscapes to the next level entirely", Exclaim's […]
"He is careful and meticulous, malleable and introspective. His sound totters between drill and pop, sometimes hard, sometimes smooth. Eventually, he blurs the lines between them. All of this is on full display on his brutal, powerful debut, 'Die a Legend'" - Pitchfork says about it's latest Best New Music choice, Chicago rapper Polo G's album.
"This is all so gripping, both as a time capsule and as a showcase for Dylan’s unique presence and glorious performances from Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and also from Patti Smith" - the Guardian reviews new Martin Scorsese's documentary about Bob Dylan 'Rolling Thunder Revue' (5 of 5 stars). "This is an immersive experience, like […]
American folk singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens' new album 'the is no Other' (lowercase and capitalisation are intentional), is a collaborative concept Italian jazz multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, merging Giddens' banjo playing with Turrisi, who draws on North African, Middle Eastern and Italian traditions. This cross-over shows "the ease with which the boundaries of genre and nationality can […]
German electronic producer Robag Wruhme has a new album out 'Venq Tolep' - it covers the "area between home-listening house, ambient, and half-remembered vestiges of IDM. Sometimes it feels like an attempt to fashion a new kind of songwriting, one less dependent upon lyrics than simple human presence", Pitchfork says in a review. "The album’s […]
Where Future Unfolds started life as a solo project for Chicago musician and activist Damon Locks, who used samples from civil rights era speeches and recordings in improvised performances with a drum machine. Over the past four years he gathered a band Black Monument Ensemble, and 'Where Future Unfolds' is a live recording of The […]
"It’s the sound of borders breaking, of traditions mingling, of a utopian closeness that so often seems so far away" Pitchfork says in review of Jai Paul's album 'Leak 04-13 (Bait Ones)'. It has leaked online six years ago ("looking back, it’s sad to think about what could have been, but it is what it […]
