The Caretaker

Beginning almost 20 years ago, Leyland Kirby's The Caretaker project was originally a sonic homage and riff on the haunted ballroom from "The Shining," bits and pieces of music from old 78RPM records cut with static and spooky ambience to make a kind of otherworldly sound.  Since then, it has evolved into an exploration of dementia and memory loss, most notably with the artist's continuing 6-part album "Everywhere at the end of time."  Stage 4 is out now, as is Kirby's description thereof:

Post-Awareness Stage 4 is where serenity and the ability to recall singular memories gives way to confusions and horror. It's the beginning of an eventual process where all memories begin to become more fluid through entanglements, repetition and rupture.

Whereas Stages 1-3 had much of its musical samples and manipulations still somewhat intact, everything now begins to fall to pieces and vanish.  It can be a hard listen, but it's also achingly and devastatingly beautiful.  Listen to "Stage 4 Post Awareness Confusions" below and download the whole project so far here from History Always Favours the Winners.

Flowers Must Die

Noisy, Swedish psych rock weirdos Flowers Must Die have a new record coming out later this month, the follow up to last year's excellent "Kompost" LP.  "Där Blommor Dör" takes things even further, a trippy mix of noise and drone, hypnotic sounds and guitar freakouts, an inner head trip that ends in implosion.  Listen to "Oroa Dig Inte" below and order the record here.

Thousand Foot Whale Claw

Austin based experimental synth band Thousand Foot Whale Claw, a collective featuring members of S U R V I V E, Troller, Single Lash, and Future Museums, have a new album heading our way in June on Holodeck Records.  New age-y, electronic interstellar explorations to expand the mind with.  Pre-order "Black Hole Party" here and listen to the title track below.

Friday Horror Trailer - Razorback

Marissa Nadler - True Love Will Find You in The End

Folk singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler just put up a new album of various covers she's recorded over the years.  On "covers 2" she touches on everything from The Cure to Leonard Cohen to The Beegees.  Listen to her take on Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in The End" below, then get the album here.  Oh, and it's probably worth your time to check out the first installment as well, featuring the artist's stripped and haunted versions of songs by Radiohead, Duran Duran, The Magnetic Fields, and a whole lot more.

Mesarthim

Mesarthim is very easily my favorite Australian black metal band that works plenty of synthesizers into their sound, along with references to astrophysics.  Don't let the fact that they're probably the only band that does this dissuade you from giving them a listen.  They kill it on every release.  New album "The Density Parameter" is out now, and you can get it here from the band for a dollar.  Listen to "Recombination" below in the meantime.

Sudan Archives - Nont For Sale

I'm still kicking myself for not catching LA artist Sudan Archives when she was here for SXSW.  And her new single "Nont For You" just piles on the regret.  A smoky, airy R&B jam full of dreamy vocals, slinky beats, and plucked violin strings that appear out of the ether.  This is thick sonic haze at its finest, completely and utterly intoxicating.  And holy shit, that is some amazing single cover art.  Listen to the song below, get it here, and be sure to grab the upcoming "Sink" EP from Stones Throw in May.

MIEN

Austin's Levitation Festival is making its triumphant return this year, after getting cancelled last minute in 2016 due to bad weather and taking 2017 off entirely, this time around spreading its excellent lineup of artists among a slew of different venues in the city.  While i'm not going to be able to make it the festival at large, i was hoping to catch Slowdive and S U R V I V E performing on the same bill that Saturday during the fest.  Playing before the two of them however is a band called MIEN, and i had wondered just who the heck they were.  Well, now i know.  A supergroup of sorts featuring members of The Black Angels, The Horrors, The Earlies (!), and Elephant Stone, the band create a worldly and psychedelic swirl of droney, trippy rock.  Sitar abounds and it's awesome.  So now i think i will certainly be catching that show.  Anyway, listen to "Earth Moon" below and look for the self-titled album this Friday on Rocket Recordings.

Melody's Echo Chamber

Last year, French artist Melody Prochet announced the release of her recording project Melody's Echo Chamber's sophomore album "Bon Voyage," but then was in some kind of terrible accident that forced her to delay the record's release and cancel a whole bunch of live dates.  She's better now, and the psych pop record is now slated for release in June on Fat Possum.  Watch the trippy animated video for the album's second song "Breathe In, Breath Out" below.

Exitmusic

Dreampop duo Exitmusic have new music headed our way later this month courtesy of the always dependable Felte Records.  "The Recognitions" sounds big and cinematic in scope, layering plenty of shoegaze fuzz and post rock grandeur into the mix to create something lush and epic to swirl in your eardrums.  Listen to "Trumpets Fade" below and pre-order the album here.