Fyrnask

You know what black metal needed?  Germans.  Check out the full on sonic assault of "Vigil" from one man band Fyrnask's sophomore effort "Eldir Nott."  The whole thing is cold and chilling and ominous.  Think Blut Aus Nord or Wolves in the Throne Room.  Also, i can't understand a word being screamed, and as this black metal created by a mysterious German guy, i hope i haven't just posted something abhorrent.  Get it on Temple of Torturous.

Lustre

Because metal is beautiful and so are you, here's a cut from Swedish one man band Lustre's new album "Wonder."  "Green Worlds" is part classical composition, part sweeping ambience, and part fuzzy, droning guitars.  It's wonderful and beautiful and solid proof that any and every genre should be as malleable as possible.  Listen below and look for the album from Nordvis Produktions.

Sensum and Clunch

I'm just never going to jump on board with the cassette tape revival that's rising like a phoenix in the underground, but Austin's Holodeck Records just keeps putting them out...and goddammit, they're good.  Their latest release comes from Sensum and Clunch, and the duo's self-titled EP is four glorious tracks of synthesizer soundscapes (it's like they want me to buy it or something).  Awesome stuff.  Take a listen to "Stealing Reason" below and get the tape or download here.

World's Fair

Here's a new track from Queens hip-hop collective World's Fair.  "Sammy Sosa" comes from the upcoming "Bastards of the Party" LP out next week on Fool's Gold.  The jam is a slow, at times foreboding, tune that hangs in the air like so much pot smoke.  I dig it and you should too.  Listen and download below.

Tony Molina

Historically i post a lot of really long songs.  I love sprawling, epic tracks, but every now and then it's refreshing to kick in a little brevity with some nice power pop.  San Francisco's Tony Molina delivers with "Breakin Up," a new track off of his upcoming "Six Tracks EP" on Matador.  Think Dinosaur Jr, but a little less fuzzy or Guided By Voices, but a little less lo-fi.  Excellent and fun stuff.  Listen below.

R. Lee Dockery

I would be remiss if i didn't throw up a little promotion for my friend R. Lee Dockery and his latest release...get ready for it...it's a mouthful, "Wishing Light Are On the Rise, That of the Flying, Cannot the Long Time Not Put & the Flight Not to Append the Foreign Body."  Whoo.  Long titles aside, the cassette, soon to be released on Marmara Records, is an oozing, crawling work of drone, ambient tones, and at times, some almost sinister vibes.  This is music to lie on your back for.  Take a listen to album opener "Monk Shoot Monk" below and get the cassette next month (it's super limited, so act fast).

FIDLAR covers Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

While i have no idea what the image above is supposed to mean, the foul mouthed, beer swilling kids of FIDLAR have recorded a nice, stomping version of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' creepy murder song "Red Right Hand."  It works nicely.  Listen below, and check out the band's tumbler page.

'Drumgasm'

Three drummers.  35+ minutes.  Percussion only.  Drumgasm.  Not for the casual listener or faint at heart, but three awesome drummers, Janet Weiss (Quasi, Sleater-Kinney, Wild Flag), Matt Cameron (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam), and Zach Hill (Hella, Death Grips) combine their collective talents to create a sprawling, intense ode to the drums.  Get it now on Jackpot Records and watch the amusing trailer for the album below.

Kyson

I've always been a fan of trippy electronic music, and Berlin by way of Australia producer/musician Kyson serves it up just right.  Check out "How Long" from his upcoming "The Water's Way" LP on Friends of Friends.  It pulses and oozes its way into a blissful crescendo, finally fading away in a sea of computer bleeps and tics.

M. Geddes Gengras

I don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to writing about M. Geddes Gengras.  Ambient tracks.  Drone.  Analog synthesizers.  A collaborative album with Sun Araw.  I really should have touched on this guy a long time ago.  Anyway, the LA musician just released a compilation of different instrumental tracks that he's recorded over the years, and it's lovely.  Listen to "Resistor" below and look for "Collected Works Vol. 1: The Moog Years" on Umor Rex.

Found Vinyl: Sewer Zombies - Reach Out And...

Aside from the just about perfect 80's name (that also sounds like an excellent Roger Corman movie), Sewer Zombies and their 1985 album "Reach Out And..." blast out of a cannon with an outright barrage of out of tune noise.  It sounds like the illegitimate love child of hardcore punk and No Wave.  That being said, it's bizarre and fantastic.  Let's start with "Never" just to get an idea of where we're at.



Invigorating right?  And here's the strange and unsettling "Executive Execution."



This cacophony of shredding noise is probably more prevalent than it used to be, but Sewer Zombies are one of those bands that prove that with enough gusto and perseverance, anyone can make music.  I leave you with the awesomely titled "They Died with Their Willie Nelson T-Shirts On."

Ty Segall - Sleeper

The ever prolific Ty Segall dropped another album last week...and it's amazing.  Probably his most focused and personal release to date, "Sleeper" finds Segall exploring the emotions of loss and grief since the passing of his father.  It's a stripped down, acoustic psych rock effort, at times feeling like some long lost Donovan demo session.  Listen to the title track below and get the record from Drag City.  And if you're jonesing for the more raucous Segall, his stoner rock band Fuzz have a release on the horizon in October.  Hooray!

Captain Murphy, Viktor Vaughn, Earl Sweatshirt, and Thundercat

Adult Swim's annual summer singles series has really knocked it out of the park this year with tracks from Metz, Dan Deacon, Marnie Stern, Run the Jewels, and so, so many more.  A lovely assortment of genres and artists, they've really outdone themselves this time.  Listen to "Between Villains" below, a new jam from Flying Lotus alter-ego Captain Murphy, MF Doom alter-ego Viktor Vaughn, Earl Sweatshirt, and Thundercat, essentially an electro-hip-hop super group.  This track is sick.  Go here for all the downloads.  FOR FREE!!!

Blue Sky Black Death

Though the name sounds like they should be some sort of spiritual black metal act, Seattle duo Blue Sky Black Death actually create pretty and trippy electronic music for the late night set.  New album "Glaciers" flows and ebbs like moving shadows, great hovering clouds of rain pouring their contents on a grey and dirty city.  Take a listen to "II" featuring Child Actor below and look for the album on Fake Four.

Guzzlemug

If you have 30 minutes to listen to something amazing, here's "Nervously Counting Rosary Beads" from Chicago's Guzzlemug.  This daunting and epic track is a mix of prog rock, chanting, a capella singing, drone, metal, and grand, grand theatrics.  You really should listen to it.  And when you're done, go here to buy it.  Hooray!

And much thanks to 20 Jazz Funk Greats for unearthing this for us all.

Roosevelt

Here's some blissed-out dance grooves to start your weekend off from Germany's Roosevelt.  "Elliot" is the title track from the upcoming EP on Greco-Roman.  Listen below.

Death Grips - Birds

If you're not listening to Death Grips, you're missing out on one of the most interesting and controversial artists of the last several years.  An awesome and warped mix of hip-hop, punk, metal, and a basic "fuck you" indifference to everything, the group seem to constantly be making waves both musically (their albums are mind blowing) and by stirring the pot (dicks on album covers, public feuding with record labels, skipping festivals, performance art, etc.).  Supposedly, there is a new record in the works, an upcoming Fun Fun Fun Fest appearance (fingers crossed), and a new track, "Birds," that slipped in from the ether earlier today.  Take a listen and download below.

(And for the record, anything that involves Zach Hill is worthy of your attention.)

Medusa

Generally and lovingly known for their awesome reissues of soul obscurities, with occasional forays into folk, Americana, and power pop, the always fantastic, always amazing Numero Group have finally set their sights on obscure 70's metal.  The label just reissued the long, lost album "First Step Beyond" from Chicago metal band Medusa.  There's a total psych/metal/classic rock thing going on here, definitely following in the footsteps of Zep or Sabbath.  Great, fun stuff, and the record comes with a felt cover (just like God intended).  Listen to "Strangulation" below.

Sun Araw covers Neil Young

The ever challenging and mind expanding Sun Araw (that's war anus backwards kids!) have a 12" split release with Ralph White out now on Monofonus Press.  Sun Araw tackles Neil Young's "Thrasher," turning it into a 10 minute swirl of experimental psych weirdness.  Get it here and listen below.

Found Vinyl: The Passions - Thirty Thousand Feet Over China

The late 70's and early 80's were just rife with musical inventiveness and reinvention.  Punk and hip-hop and post-punk and new wave and probably dozens of other shapes and styles of music were just pouring out of the ether.  The post-punk scene on its own spewed forth a number of variations and sub-genres, one being a kind of sing-songy, dreamy psych rock thing that broke into the "mainstream" with acts like The Sundays and so on.  But first, there was The Passions, a short-lived group (78-83) out of the UK that blended elements of new wave and punk to pretty and melodic degree.  1981's "Thirty Thousand Feet Over China" captures the band's sound at its peak.  Take a listen to "Someone Special" below.



And here's "The Square."



And here's one more called "Small Stones."  The band sounds almost like a precursor to groups like The Bangles or other bands that came out of LA's 80's psych revival scene.

Ejecta

Here's an awesome electro-pop track from Ejecta, the new project from Leanne Macomber (Neon Indian/Fight Bite) and Joel Ford (Ford & Lopatin/Airbird).  "Jeremiah (the Denier)" grooves and bounces on a synthetic dream wave, like dancing in the cosmos.  Listen below and keep an eye out for an album on Ford's new Driftless label.

Slugbug

Weird compositions using analog synthesizers, old funky basses, spaced-out effects, and odd theatrical vocals are the bread and butter of Austin's Slugbug.  The band just released their "Truck Month" LP which you can grab here.  In the meantime, listen to "Macintosh Tapes" below.

Body/Head

Here's the first song from Kim Gordon's new noise project with Bill Nace, Body/Head.  "Actress" comes from upcoming album "Coming Apart," out on Matador next month.  It sounds about like what you'd think it would sound like.  With all these Sonic Youth ex-member releases coming out this year (see works by Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo), it just cements the fact that the band really is done...and that makes me sad.  Listen to "Actress" below.

Visionist and Fatima Al Qadiri

Producers Visionist and Fatima Al Qadiri have teamed up on a new spooky synth jam from the former's upcoming "I'm Fine" EP.  "The Call" sounds like the soundtrack to some goon lurking around the corner with nefarious notions on his mind.  Listen below and look for the EP next month Lit City.

Wolvserpent

Relapse Records has been kicking out the jams lately with slew of current and upcoming releases that just continuously kick me in the ass.  Wolvserpent is a duo out of Boise, Idaho who combine elements of ambient music, drone, black metal, post rock, and shoegaze to create dense, often unsettling, and foreboding pieces of music.  Listen to the sprawling and epic "In Mirrors of Water" below, and keep an eye out for the "Perigaea Antahkarana" LP next month.

Kelley Stoltz

The San Francisco psych and garage rock scene has no lack or artists creating new and interesting music everyday.  Kelley Stoltz has been making music for a number of years, even playing on tour with Rodriguez lately, but "Double Exposure" is his first on Jack White's Third Man label.  Look for the album late next month, but in the meantime, listen to the warm and dreamy, and wonderfully titled "Kim Chee Taco Man" below.

Far-Out Fangtooth

Somewhere between the ethereal, fuzzy bliss of shoegaze and the acid tripping sonic palette of psych rock lies the latest music from Philadelphia's Far-Out Fangtooth.  "Mother Nature Fetish" is a total ear bleeder (if played at the correct amplification), a fuzzed up surf rock stoner jam for the masses.  Listen below and look for the band's sophomore album "Borrowed Time" on Siltbreeze in October.

Fort Romeau

I've been really slow to jump on the Fort Romeau bandwagon, as there seem to be any number of artists and producers culling the deep waters of 80's synth tones and 90's house and trance music.  But i will admit that new jam "Stay True" from the upcoming "Stay/True" EP is a thumper, perfect for night driving and meandering through the decadent city.  Listen below and get the record from Ghostly.

I hear a new world: 1958-1962

As far as i can guess, "I hear a new world: 1958-1962" is a soundtrack for a book about experimental jazz musicians and such.  The album was compiled by Bläck charm nostalgi vassa tänder and features different Swedish artists like Death and Vanilla, Duga-3 and more.  It's a pretty excellent mesh of jazz and synth, and will likely be on repeat the rest of the afternoon.  Listen to it below or go here to download the whole thing for free.

together PANGEA

Here's a new shredder from LA's garage rock trouble makers together PANGEA.  "Snakedog" burns and scratches, and is a perfect jam to close out these last long and hot summer days of August.  Listen below and get the single from Harvest.

Earl Sweatshirt and Frank Ocean

The insanely hyped upcoming album from Odd Future's Earl Sweatshirt is very steadily turning into an event, as each subsequent single and leaked track proves to be even more awesome than the one that came before.  The latest jam "Sunday" features R&B crooner and fellow Odd Future member Frank Ocean actually taking a rap verse instead of singing (allegedly about perennial woman beater and crybaby Chris Brown), and it's damn good.  Listen to the song here.

Julia Holter

The lovely and talented Julia Holter was responsible for one of my favorite albums last year, and she's looking to try and keep the streak alive with her latest offering of off-kilter, left-of-center, avant garde pop music.  Holter's really hard to pin down as an artist, throwing elements of classical music, chamber pop, experimental synth tones, drone, and even show-tunes into her increasingly impressive tome of musical art.  New album "Loud City Song" is out next week via Domino, but listen the listless and gorgeous "Maxim's I" below.

Celestial Shore

Somewhat lo-fi, somewhat space rock, somewhat shoegaze, the music of Celestial Shore sounds like floating through the air in some homemade levitation apparatus.  Add some Kim Deal-sounding backing vocal harmonies into the mix, and i'm sold.  "10X" is out next month on Hometapes/Local Singles, but you can listen to "Swimmer's Sinking Feeling," featuring guest vocals from Empress Of's Lorely Rodriguez below.

New music from Quasi

Long-running Scottish pop duo Quasi have a new album coming out in October called "Mole City."  New Quasi is always good news.  Listen to "See You On Mars" below and get the album from Kill Rock Stars.  Hooray!

My Bloody Valentine at Austin Music Hall

Well, it took 20+ years, but i finally got to see My Bloody Valentine perform live.  And all of those stories you may have heard about them being almost unbearably loud?  Totally true.  They even handed out ear plugs at the entrance.  The closing wall of noise felt like sitting on the inside of jet engine.  Awesome show.  Here's a few pics of the band and opener New Fumes.

New Fumes

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

My Bloody Valentine

Julianna Barwick - One Half video

The lovely (often a cappella) Julianna Barwick has a new album out next week, and it's as lush and gorgeous as should be expected.  Watch the video for "One Half" below and look for "Nepenthe" next week on Dead Oceans.

A$AP Ferg

With the success of A$AP Rocky, it was only a matter of time before a member of his crew (i sound so stupid saying that) released a solo record.  A$AP Ferg's "Trap Lord" lurks and swells in the same murky production style as Rocky, and is a fun piece of work.  Originally slated to be a mixtape, RCA apparently swooped in to sign the man and put his record out legit.  Listen to "Shabba" featuring Rocky below, and look for the album next week.

Zola Jesus and JG Thirlwell

The dark and moody jams of Zola Jesus get the dark and moody re-arrangements form New York No-Wave composer and musician JG Thirlwell (the guy also responsible for the music on "The Venture Brothers."  Listen to "Fall Back," the one new song from "Versions" below.  The record is out later this month on Sacred Bones.

Found Vinyl: Mary McCaslin - Goodnight Everybody

Growing up, i listened to a lot of the old folk records that my father used to love, and thus i've always held folk pretty close to my heart.  I dig on the old traditional stuff, but i also love seeing the different directions that any number of artists take the genre in.  Mary McCaslin bridged a lot of the old country-influenced folk music with more contemporary sounds, incorporating some elements of pop and psych, and covering a variety of different songs.  1969's "Goodnight Everybody" is a mellow and wistful record, filled with heartache and longing.  It's fantastic, and features a moving cover of The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On."  Listen below.



And, here's her bluegrass-tinged cover of "Blackbird."



Unfortunately, those are the only songs from the album i've been able to find for sampling purposes, but i implore you to seek the record out.  It's a fun one.

Blouse

Portland's Blouse are back this year with a new album of dark, left-of-center pop music.  Check out "A Feeling Like This," a sexy and throbbing jam that's just a tad unsettling.  Look for the band's "Imperium" LP next month from Captured Tracks.

Vattnet Viskar

I dare say that black metal is on the cusp of going almost mainstream these days.  Over the last couple of years, band like Wolves in The Throne Room and Deafheaven are pushing boundaries and changing perceptions on just what black metal is supposed to be.  Aspects of the genre are starting to bleed into releases by any number of different bands (see Sigur Ros), and some of the lines between metal and shoegaze are starting to break down.  I totally support this.  One act starting to make some ripples in the pond is Vattnet Viskar, a loud and reverby metal band out of New Hampshire.  Their "Sky Swallower" LP is due in September from Century Media, and it's brutal and melodic at the same time.  Be prepared.  Listen to "Mythos" below.

Pulp - This Is Hardcore

Pulp's 1998 album "This Is Hardcore" is one of my all-time favorite records.  Simultaneously a summation of the Brit-pop boom of the mid/late 90's and a signifier of its coming death knell, the record perfectly captured a moment of music pop culture on tape, and then transcended it.  Front man Jarvis Cocker was only 33 years old when the album came out, but he sounds like someone who has lived a lifetime of rock star decadence and regrets all of it.  Hearing this album for the first time at 19, it sounded like the end of everything.  Like the band knew something the rest of us didn't.  Like they would still party with us, but they knew we'd all wake up cold, naked, sick, and alone in the morning.  It's beautiful and devastating.  Every song seems like it's better than the one that came before it, so that you have to listen to it over and over again.  Essential.  This is one of those albums that i've never been able to get over...and the good folks over at Captured Tracks has been nice enough to reissue the thing on vinyl.  Get it here.  Go on, i'll wait.  In the meanwhile, watch the video for the title track below.

New music from Nothing

Last year, shoegaze purveyors Nothing released an excellent EP, "Downward Years to Come."  The band is following that up with a new full-length, "Guilty of Everything," on Relapse Records coming out early next year.  Listen to the first cut from that album below.  "Dig" is a swirling wall of beautiful noise, and should be played as loud as humanly possible.

Black Hearted Brother

Early 90's shoegaze act Slowdive have been one of my all-time favorite bands for a long time now, so any time former front man Neil Halstead gets involved in some new music, i take notice, especially when that new work is something as spacey and dreamy and beautiful as "(I Don't Mean To) Wonder," the first release from Halstead's new project with Mark Van Hoen (Seefeel, Locust) and Nick Holton called Black Hearted Brother.  The trio's "Stars Are Our Home" is out in October on Slumberland Records.  I cannot recommend this enough.  Listen below.

Dawn of Midi

A grand piano, an upright contrabass, and a drum kit are the instruments of choice of Brooklyn trio Dawn of Midi.  The band creates an interesting blend of post-rock and jazz that's really hard to define or pin down.  It's hypnotic, at times all over the place, at other times very succinct, it grooves, it transcends.  Listen to and download "Nix" below and get the trio's "Dysnomia" album from Thirsty Ear.

Haleek Maul - Lobo

Last year, Barbadian rapper Haleek Maul released an excellent mixtape with Chicago producer Supreme Cuts.  "Chrome Lips" was a groovy mix of murky production and subdued vocals.  Hell, they even sample King Crimson.  Maul seems to be continuing his thread of working with producers who compliment his flow perfectly, as evidenced by new jam "Lobo," featuring production by Forest Swords.  It's fantastic, and i can only hope that a full album's worth of material might be on the table.  In the meantime listen to "Lobo" below.