"Burna’s compositions are all based in something he’s dubbed Afro-fusion—blending pop, American hip-hop and R&B, Jamaican dancehall, and hard UK rap with Nigerian music—and he puts Africa at the root of that expanding lineage while also pushing the more traditional sounds forward. The album is a splendid hour of jams, both personal and political, that […]
LA producer Maral made a new mixtape 'Mahur Club' where she combined Iranian folk, pop and classical music with reggaeton, dub and Jersey Club. As it turns out it's not just interesting, it's actually quite good. Worth a few listens. Listen to it here. Fact Magazine found it out.
They are a British duo consisting of delicate vocal lines that float over intricate electronic textures. Kieran Brunt stands behind those choral vocals, while filmic beats are product of heart and craft of Matt Huxley. Strange Boy's latest single 'Suburbia' comes from their latest EP of the same name, listen to the song at SoundCloud here, […]
"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 […]
"'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.
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 […]
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".
"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". […]
"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.
"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 […]
"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, […]
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.
"'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 […]
"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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
