The Blind Owls

I'm not sure how i've managed to never see Corpus Christi's Mod throwback The Blind Owls.  These guys capture their sound and image perfectly, like they were transported here from 1964 or something.  Listen to "Make Up Your Mind" below and the grab the upcoming "Four" 7" here via Hidden Volume.

Hiss Golden Messenger

There are, as i write this, important marches going on all over the country today.  Here's hoping that these wonderful kids can make real change.  Anyway, Hiss Golden Messenger has released a new single, "Passing Clouds," and he's donating all of the proceeds to Everytown, a non-profit organization working to end gun violence.  Download it, or order the "Hiss Golden Messenger Meets Spacebomb" here.

And learn more about the work that Everytown does here.

HIDE

Birthed from Chicago's DIY scene, HIDE make blistering, abrasive industrial electronic music to rattle your brain to.  New album, the wonderfully titled "Castration Anxiety," is out now on Dais Records.  Listen to the mellower "Come Undone" below.

Anaphylaxis

Anaphylaxis is the musical project of Chicago artist, author, and filmmaker Jason Coffman, experimental slices of sound that dabble in everything from ambient drone to moody, stark jazz.  New album "Dark Love, Dark Magic" uses often eerie swaths of sound, synthesizers and shadows to make something wholly cinematic and immersing.  Listen to "Shadow of a Witch" below and download the album here.

Sexores

Ecuadorian band Sexores have been making music for a few years now, pulling sounds and moods from shoegaze, dreampop, and darkwave synth pop to create airy, echoed bits of sound, pop music that hangs in the air like a smoky haze.  On their latest release, "East/West," the band push their synth tones further into the night, all dreamy and neon-tinted, occasionally disrupting the atmosphere with reverb-drenched guitars.  I am seriously stuck on this record right now, and loving every second of it.  Listen to "The City that Sorrow Built" below, the get the album on Buh Records here from the artist.

GosT

Of all the recent horror soundtrack indebted synth wave acts coming out of the ether these last few years, none seems to have skewed quite so techno as Dallas area artist GosT.  Combining a host of frenetic techno beats with screaming synthesizers, menacing tones, occasional blasts of black metal, and a whole lot of Satan, GosT's work sounds something akin to the godless thumps of the house DJ in hell.  Even at its poppiest, like "Sigil" from new album "Possessor," there's still evil afoot...and plenty of shaky, grinding, dancing as well.  Listen below, and get the album from Blood Music.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan

Every year during SXSW, i live by the mantra that you are going to miss out on something cool.  With so much going on everywhere, it is inevitable.  And so, last week i missed out on (among other things) the triumphant return of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, and their particular brand of whacked out, experimental, psych, metal, noise pop.  Color me bummed.  Anyway, the Canadian band's latest opus, "Dirt," is out today via Paper Bag Records.  Listen to the strange, ethereal, and shoegazey "Hungry Ghost" below, then get the album digitally here, or on physical media here.

Laura Jean

Well, it's Friday, so here's some dreamy synth pop from Australian artist Laura Jean.  Watch the video for "Touchstone" below and grab the upcoming "Devotion" LP here from Chapter Music, due in June.

Friday Horror Trailer - Phenomena (Creepers)

Young Fathers

I've always gotta give it up for uncategorizable pop, and Edinburgh trio Young Fathers are about as uncategorizable as they come.  Straddling a line between hip-hop, alt-rock, noise, pop, and some all around weirdness, the group's avant garde brand of music burrows into the brain, and then fucks things up for a while.  It's groovy.  Listen to "Lord" below and get the "Cocoa Sugar" LP here from Ninja Tune.

Also, kudos for the freaky, uber-memorable album art.