Ghost

In August, we will be graced with a new record from Swedish metal band Ghost (or Ghost B.C. is some circles).  As far as i'm concerned, that's fantastic news, as we need more Satan-hailing, triumphant guitar licks in our world.  Listen to first single "Cirice" below and get the "Meliora" LP from Spinefarm Records.

Fun Fun Fun Fest X

Fun Fun Fun Fest released their lineup for this year's festival...two days ago...and yes, i'm just now getting around to posting about it.  It's a good lineup though...lacking some Faith No More of course, but i'll be seeing them soon enough when they sweep through Texas in July.  But anyway, stoked for Ride!  Wu-Tang!  Babes in Toyland!  Skinny Puppy!  And so much more.  And Jane's Addiction is playing "Ritual de lo Habitual" in its entirety, which hopefully means no "Jane Says."  God, how i hate "Jane Says."  Get more info here, and maybe i'll see you in Austin in November.

Postiljonen

Hey, we've got some new music from Sweden dreampop act Postiljonen!  I was just thinking about these guys the other day.  And just in time for summer.  Listen to "Wait" below and get it from Best Fit Recordings on Monday.

Pentagram Home Video

At times i'm like a skipping record, but i sure do love synthesizer-laden horror movie score homages.  The new album "Slumber," from London's excellently named Pentagram Home Video is no exception.  Groove to the darkness of "We still can come out of this as heroes" extended version below and get the album here.

Stig of the Dump

Seeing Kate Tempest earlier this year at SXSW has reopened my ears to the often wonderful world of British hip-hop.  It's like it's thirteen years ago, and i'm discovering The Streets again.  Anyway, the interestingly named Stig of the Dump have a new album of smooth and stoned jams coming our way in June called "Kubrick."  It flows and bounces just right.  Listen to "All in Blind" below and pre-order the album here.

Neon Indian

It's been a long time since we last heard from Neon Indian.  After the "chill-wave" bubble of five years ago burst, i had kind of forgotten all about them.  Well, they're back with a bouncy, poppy new single, "Annie."  No word on a new album yet.  Listen below.

Barnett and Coloccia

It's storming like a mofo outside, so here's a new dark and droney jam from Barnett and Coloccia called "Dreamsnake" from the duo's upcoming "Weld" LP on Blackest Ever Black.  Enjoy.

Ultimate Painting

The duo of Jack Cooper and James Hoare, otherwise known as Ultimate Painting surfaced last year with an album of late era Velvet Underground influenced pop rock that soothed the mind and soul...and they're already back with a new record that perfects that sound even further.  Listen to "Break the Chain" below and grab the "Green Lanes" LP from Trouble in Mind in August.

Surfin' Mutants Pizza Party

I don't know where they're from, or who they are, or anything about their lineup.  It does not matter.  The band is called Surfin' Mutants Pizza Party, and they make lo-fi, scuzzy, surf-rock jams...and that's what really matters.  Get "The Death of Cool" cassette from Fleeting Youth Records and listen to the title track below.

Thee Oh Sees

Hey everybody!  Because we've all be good, and because John Dwyer is pretty damn prolific, we've got a new album from Thee Oh Sees coming out next week on Dwyer's own Castle Face Records.  Listen to the subdued trek through the psychedelic swamp that is "Sticky Hulks" below and grab "Mutilator Defeated at Last" on Tuesday.

Destroyer - Dream Lover

It feels like it's been forever since we last heard from Dan Bejar and Destroyer, and though i still spin 2011's "Kaputt" is a fairly regular basis, it's nice to finally get some new tunes on the horizon.  "Dream Lover" comes from the upcoming "Poison Season" LP, due in August on Merge.  Listen below and dig on all those celebratory horns.  It's like announcing a glorious return.

Elvis Depressedly

Two months ago, during the windstorm of SXSW, one band name that i kept seeing pop up everywhere, but that i was never able to catch was Elvis Depressedly.  I kind of forgot about them until their latest album, "New Alhambra" surface last week.  It's a wonderfully, warbly mix of off-kilter, lo-fi bedroom pop, bored, downtrodden psychedelia, and sweet and smooth melodies.  Listen to "Thou Shall not Murder" below, download the record from the band here (name your price), and get a physical copy from Run for Cover.

La Casa al Mare

Italian shoegaze band La Casa al Mare are back with a new EP of fuzzed-out, noise-layered anthems for our collective earholes with "This Astro."  Take a listen to "I Don't Want To" below, a My Bloody Valentine-indebted pop nugget that feels as if it may degrade and fall apart at any moment.  Get the EP here.

Warm Soda

"Symbolic Dream" is the latest album from lo-fi garage rock band Warm Soda, and is packed to the brim with throwback, sing-songy teenage anthems, jangly guitar rock wonderlands of old.  Listen to "I Wanna Go Fast" below and grab the record from Castle Face Records.

The Parrots - I'm Not Alone

Here's a new crunchy garage rock gem from one of my favorite acts of this year's SXSW, Madrid trio The Parrots.  "I'm Not Alone" comes from the band's upcoming "Weed for The Parrots" EP, out in June on Luv Luv Luv Records.  Listen below.

The Starry Mountain Singers

There's nothing flashy about it, just a group of voices singing in harmony without any musical accompaniment, harking back to an older time.  Sometimes stripping elements away from music until you're just left with the barest of essentials creates magic.  And so we have "Gordon," the opening track from The Starry Mountain Singers' self-titled album.  It's gorgeous and haunting, and makes me feel like i'm lost in some version of wild America that saw its end decades ago.  Listen below and buy the album here.

La Luz

Seattle's girl surf-rock band La Luz are releasing a new, Ty Segall-produced record called "Weirdo Shrine" in August on Hardly Art, and if first single "You Disappear" is any indication, it's going to be a hazy, sunburned pop gem to end our summer with.  Listen below and pre-order here.

Nacho Picasso and 88 Ultra

Seattle rapper Nacho Picasso just released a pretty nifty little dark hip-hop album with 88 Ultra (one half of production duo Blue Sky Black Death) called "The Witchtape."  Check out the Julee Cruise and Angelo Badalamenti sampling "City Streets" below and download the album here.

Pye Corner Audio

Experimental electronic artist and analog synthesizer enthusiast Pye Corner Audio have a new 10" single out on Death Waltz/Mondo...and it's already sold out, though you can probably still procure one at your local independent record store...if you have one near you.  Anyway, listen to A-side "Stars Shine like Eyes" below and get lost in your own audio space.

Blanck Mass

Blanck Mass is Benjamin John Power, one half of the experimental electronic prog act Fuck Buttons, and new album "Dumb Flesh" sounds a lot more like that project than it does previous Blanck Mass efforts.  That is not a bad thing, as i'm all for the occasional forays into noise and chaos as well as the beautiful sweeping synths and samples that the record contains.  Listen to album closer "Detritus" below and get the record from Sacred Bones.

Mac DeMarco - The Way You'd Love Her

Mac DeMarco has a new "mini-album" called "Another One" due in August on Captured Tracks.  Listen to the typically swirly and warbly "The Way You'd Love Her" below.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!

Night Drive cover Radiohead

This actually came out last summer, but i've been trying to get myself excited about the (sub par in my opinion) lineup for this year's Austin City Limits Festival, by immersing myself in the music of the middle and lower end bands that i've never heard of.  I haven't been in a few years due to out-of-town weddings and having a baby and such, but we're doing it this year.  And so, here's Houston synth-pop duo Night Drive doing a pulsing, throbbing cover of Radiohead's "Where I End and You Begin" from 2003's "Hail to the Thief."  I'm pretty hooked on it.  Listen and download below.

Kamasi Washington

Full disclosure: i am not a jazz aficionado.  When it really comes down to it, i'm a total novice with the genre, but that doesn't mean that i don't enjoy it, or that i'm not drawn to it.  I just can't wax all knowledgeable or philosophical on the subject.  But hey, i was born in New Orleans.  This shit should be in my blood right?  Enter Kamasi Washington, and his brain-melting, 3-hour opus, appropriately called "The Epic" on Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder label.  The three CD set feels like 60 or 70 years of influence boiled down into one expansive saga.  There are nods to Coltrane, homages to Miles, and so on.  The whole affair feels grand and timeless...and dare i say hip even.  I'm not expecting the kids to start digging on old jazz records any time soon, but it's nice to know that it never completely went away, that its influence is still there, albeit buried in the underground.  Listen to "Miss Understanding" below and order the album here.

We Jam By Condos

Austin record label Monofonus Press have lone been purveyors of awesome local music and art, and next week, they have a compilation album of Austin artists called, fittingly enough, "We Jam By Condos" coming out to please our earholes.  Featuring an assortment of bands and styles, like Spray Paint's hard-edged post-punk and SURVIVE's analog synthesizer soundscapes, it's looking to be a comp to remember.  Listen to the synthy goth loveliness of Troller's "Destruccion" below and pre-order the record here.

Hundred Visions

I have to say i feel a little bit like a heel for not writing about Austin garage rock band Hundred Visions yet...like i'm letting my home scene down or something.  So, better late than never i guess.  I'm really digging on the band's raucous 2014 album "Spite," and all of the loud and noisy psych gems therein.  Listen to "You're Gonna Cut Me Loose" below and grab the album from Pau Wau Records.

Ducktails

Good new everybody!  There's a new Ducktails record coming out in July.  Matt Mondanile's Real Estate side project has always garnered more of my attention than his main band.  Ducktails are just a little weirder, a little quirkier, and that just feels right.  Dig on the warped AM pop of "Headbanging in the Mirror" below and get the "St. Catherine" LP from Domino.

Phantasm

Alright!  Fred Myrow's and Malcolm Seagrave's score to Don Coscarelli's weirdo-horror masterpiece "Phantasm" is coming back into print after a 35 year absence.  Mondo unveiled the thing at last weekend's Frightmare in Dallas at a screening of the film, and it should be available online in the very near future.  This is an amazing score for all of you horror soundtrack nerds out there.  Listen to "Main Title" below and rejoice.

Violet Cold

Here's a glorious and triumphant black metal exclamation from Azerbaijan's Violet Cold, a one man band who has released a string of singles and EP's touching on everything from techno to ambient, grind to jazz, and now this.  "La Petite Mort" sounds like victory.  It sounds like rising from the ashes after battle.  Listen below and download the "Desperate Dreams" album here.

Goblin Rebirth

Italian funky horror prog maestros Goblin are back...well...kind of.  Goblin's rhythm section of Fabio Pignatelli and Agostino Marangolo are back with the help of some recruited musicians in the guise of Goblin Rebirth.  And they've got a new record of spooky, cinematic prog rock coming out in June on Relapse.  All Goblin news is good Goblin news, and their Giallo-tinged jams are a surefire cure for the blues.  Check out the "teaser trailer" for the record below.

Cheena

Here's a bleary-eyed and fuming new jam from New York band Cheena.  "Did I Tell You Last Night?" is a hard-drinking, hard-smoking mix of dust and glam that feels like partying in the big city.  It also features noise artist Pharmakon (Margaret Chardiet) on guitar...and that's pretty cool.  Listen below and grab the self-titled 7" from Sacred Bones.