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Showing posts from July, 2018

New Music Friday 7/27/18

Everything is a bit minimal this week, and for that, I apologize. However, I will be driving to Chicago to see Animal Collective perform Sung Tongs in its entirety when this goes live. It doesn't help that not a whole lot of new material was released today. But what did come out is good! Or at the very least interesting. Denzel Curry - TA13OO (Loma Vista Recordings) Tony Molina - Kill the Lights (Slumberland) Underworld & Iggy Pop - Teatime Dub Encounters (Caroline International) Thin Lips - Chosen Family (Lame-O Records)

New Music Friday 7/20/18

Pour one out for the recently deceased Week In Reverse. The only thing I will miss about writing it is the ability to complain and use a slightly different picture of a cat with headphones. Wild Pink - Yolk in the Fur (Tiny Engines) Brooklyn dream pop/indie rock outfit Wild Pink avoid the sophomore slump completely with their follow-up to 2017's self-titled effort. Described as an album about "protecting something vulnerable," Yolk in the Fur exemplifies the gorgeous chaos shown in the cover photo of the Kuwait oil fires. The record was produced by the band and Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Parquet Courts, Pixes). In addition to their debut, the band released a live Audiotree album. Singles include "Lake Erie" and "Love Is Better." Listen on Spotify here . Listen on Apple Music here . The Internet - Hive Mind (Columbia) Hive Mind is the fourth album from the Grammy-nominated funk and neo-soul band. Since releas

New Music Friday 7/13/18

After a brief one-week hiatus (not much came out last week), we're back in business. However, instead of a traditional NMF, I'm going to talk about the new Deafheaven album in detail. Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love (ANTI-) To say that I've been excited for this album would be an understatement. The fourth studio release from the California blackgaze band has topped my most-anticipated-releases list ever since they teased fans with some studio photos back in January. Then, we got two singles - "Honeycomb" and "Canary Yellow." The two lengthy tracks indicated a reintegration of some of the sounds that made their sophomore album, Sunbather , so incredible. Overall, the atmosphere was lighter, almost like the sun peaking through the clouds after an extended time in the dark (I'm looking at you New Bermuda ). The heaviness was still present, but it was being removed. OCHL seems to form the conclusion of a trilogy, an emotional p

Bora York Release New Single "Glowing"

After a three year break, Minneapolis indie-pop duo Bora York are back with a new single - "Glowing." The duo, consisting of Chris and Rebekah Bartels, described the song as a "summer love anthem." Over a delightfully hypnotic beat, they sing of unapologetic and unconditional love - for them, it's impossible to see the one you love as anything other than glowing. Despite the pop veneer, "Glowing" incorporates the group's more experimental tendencies. Blissed-out and glitchy vocals meld with chair squeaks and thumping drums. By ending their hiatus with a track like this, Bora York is "lay[ing] groundwork for a coming future of lush pop experiments." Welcome to a new era of Bora York. The duo's last album was 2015's Secret Youth . Earlier this year, they released a remix EP ( DreamYouth ), featuring contributions from Hot Dad among several others. "Glowing" will come out on Chris' Anthem Falls Music. Read more

Calvin Heights Discuss New Album on the Ear Coffee Podcast

The songwriting partnership of Brett Carey and Jordan Wipf has become an integral part of  Calvin Heights  sound. When the band's direction shifted on their last release Worst Calligraphy , Wipf and Carey were still trying to figure how to mix experimental music with a traditional song format. The pair really hit their stride with their upcoming album Talented Sun . Wipf said, "Brett's head is full of feedback and screaming. It's my job to take that sound and help shape it into something more accessible." During the production of 2017's Worst Calligraphy, Wipf was less hands on. Carey wrote and recorded most of the music and Wipf came in to play drums; however, this time around they spent a lot of time planning the story line and sound of the overall record. Talented Sun is mostly an album about change. Wipf and Carey are both in the middle of big life changes. Wipf just got engaged and is working on planning a wedding, and Carey is moving to the nex

Mudhoney Releases A New Single

Garage rock icons Mudhoney just released the first single from their forthcoming record Digital Garbage . The single is titled "Paranoid Core", and like all bands from the 1980s making music in the Trump era, it's extremely political. While this isn't the first time the band has gone political, it is probably the first time in 30 years the band has written a political song that has not been good. I'm guessing Digital Garbage refers to this first single more than anything else. If you need more proof than just listening to the song, the band decided the line "consumed by thoughts of thick black cock/hunt them down just like a cop" was something the world needed.  Digital Garbage will be out via Sub Pop September 28. Listen to "Paranoid Core" below.

In Pursuit Of Something Interesting: Another Heaven's "You Are Loved"

Summer is a time for light and upbeat songs that you can listen to while barbecuing or drinking beer on some roof top bar in a gentrified part of town. These tunes are as happy and free as a warm beach day. However, the band featured in this week's column is not that. It, in fact, is almost the opposite in the best of ways. Another Heaven (formerly known as Hollow Boys) have been churning out heavy music since 2016. Their sound is a compilation of sludge, doom, and shoegaze. In their bio, the band describes themselves as a sludgegaze/doom-pop band. Another Heaven is on the Minnesota label Modern Radio , which specializes in all things loud and sludgy. Since Another Heaven are label mates with Fury Things, I was more than willing to give their 2017 EP, You Are Loved , a listen. You Are Loved opens small but quickly grows as the guitars, bass, and synths coalesce into a dense wall of sound. Unlike other acts with elements of doom, Another Heaven maintains a level of articulat