Peter Silberman - Feeling Yourself Disintegrate

Day 12 from Our First 100 Days brings us a beautiful rendition of one of my favorite Flaming Lips songs from Antlers member Peter Silberman.  Listen to "Feeling Yourself Disintegrate" below.

Thou - Don't Let It Bring You Down

Benefit albums and songs are popping up all over the place these days (we are after all experiencing the crumbling of western civilization as we know it), but here's another one.  Being that i am a Louisiana native, the "Many Waters" compilation is one i can solidly get behind.  Featuring an array of Baton Rouge artists like Thou, Caddywhompus, SUMAC, Old Man Gloom, and more and benefiting the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, the compilation looks to aide folks affected by last year's devastating floods in the area.  Get it here via Thrill Jockey and listen to Thou's take on Neil Young's "Don't Let It Bring You Down" below.

The Mountain Goats - The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones

If the internet is to be believed, The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle has been trying to convince "Star Wars: Episode VIII" director Rian Johnson to subtitle the film "The Ultimate Jedi Who Wastes All the Other Jedi and Eats Their Bones."  That would have been amazing.  At any rate, the director encouraged the artist to write a song about it, and he did.  Listen to the song below.  According to Johnson, it is now canon.

Entrance - Not Gonna Say Your Name (A Cappella Mix)

Our First 100 Days continues to release an excellent song everyday.  Go here to pre-order the whole thing (100 songs in all).  Day 10 comes from Entrance, an A Cappella version of "Not Gonna Say Your Name."  Listen below, and remember all the money raised goes to organizations that need it.

Delicate Steve

Delicate Steve makes instrumental music that feels lo-fi and quirky, but classic and nostalgic at once.  New album "This Is Steve" is out now on Anti.  Watch the video for "Tomorrow" below.

Pallbearer - Thorns

As per usual, March is shaping up to be a huge month for new releases from amazing artists all over the spectrum.  And now it appears that Arkansas doom metal band Pallbearer are joining the fray with a new LP on Profound Lore called "Heartless."  First single "Thorns" finds the band locked in their signature sound, pairing crushing Sabbath-inspired riffs with flashes of triumphant classic guitar wail.  Listen below.

Pond

Pond is the new psych rock project from former Tame Impala bassist Nick Allbrook.  New album "The Weather" is due in May on Marathon Artists, and if "Sweep Me Off My Feet" is any indication, Pond will be traversing the synthy, poppy waters of his former band's "Currents" LP.  That's a good thing.  Watch the video below.

Hair

Here's some fuzzy garage rock from Chicago's Hair.  Listen to "Comfortable Living" below and snag the self-titled 7" in February from Tall Pat Records.

Gnod

Freaky UK psych rock outfit Gnod have been making krautrock-infused noise for years...and now they sound pissed.  The band's new album, the subtly titled "Just Say No to The Psych Right-Wing Capitalist Fascist Industrial Death Machine" is out in March on Rocket Recordings, and it's safe to say they are discontent with the current state of the world.  And i don't blame them.  Listen to the scorching "Bodies for Money" below.

Cate Le Bon

The incomparable Cate Le Bon has a new EP out tomorrow on Drag City.  "Rock Pool" is a companion of sorts to last year's "Crab Day," a short collection of quirky, guitar rock songs.  Watch the video for the title track below.

No Joy - Califone

Canadian shoegaze band No Joy are releasing a string of EP's throughout the year, and the next one, "Creep," is due in February on Grey Market.  Watch the trippy video for the lush and swirling "Califone" below.

You'll Never Get to Heaven

The last we heard from Canada's You'll Never Get to Heaven was their floating and beautiful "Adorn" EP all the way back in 2014.  It seems like a lifetime ago now.  Anyway, the duo are readying their new "Images" LP for release in March on Yellow K Records, and the title track is a dreamy gem.  Listen below and pre-order here.

Tonstartssbandht - Sorcerer

You sure gotta love bands and their gibberish names, and none gets more gibberishier than sibling duo Tonstartssbandht.  "Sorcerer" is the band's first release since 2011, and the single of same name is a groovy mix of lo-fi guitar strum and hazy dreampop aesthetics.  Listen below and get the record in March from Mexican Summer.

Real Estate - Darling

I've got to be in the right mood for Real Estate, but when i'm there, it's wonderful.  Check out the video for new tune "Darling" from the upcoming "In Mind" LP below and groove on the jangly guitars and airy synths.  Get the record in March from Domino.

Father John Misty - Pure Comedy

People seem to be pretty torn on Father John Misty, the artist's stage act and trolling tendency often overshadowing his take on Americana pop.  And that's a shame, because while i too am irritated by trolls, the music is stellar.  New album "Pure Comedy" is due in April on Sub Pop.  Watch the very political video for the piano and horn driven title track below.

Women - Group Transport Hall (Alternative Version)

If you haven't already pre-ordered the wonderful charity compilation "Our First 100 Days," then what are you waiting for?  So far we've had releases from Angel Olsen, PWR BTTM, Avey Tare, and Jason Molina.  Today brings us an unreleased track from gone-but-not-forgotten Canadian band Women (one of my favorites from the last 10 years, and now carrying in on in the form of Preoccupations and Cindy Lee).  Listen to "Group Transport Hall (Alternative Version)" below.

The Myrrors

The latest from Arizona psych purveyors The Myrrors comes in the form of a wonderful split release with Swedish band Centralstödet, courtesy of Sky Lantern Records.  Listen to the sun-scorched desert drone of "Rayuela" below and get the album next month.

Emma Ruth Rundle - Forever, as the Setting Son

Apparently i live in a country with "alternative facts."  The future is fucking terrifying folks, and Orwellian doublespeak is only the beginning.  Anyway, check out the stark and heartbreaking "Forever, as the Setting Son" from Emma Ruth Rundle of Marriages and Red Sparrowes.  Listen below and get it here.  All proceeds go to Planned Parenthood.

Arcade Fire and Mavis Staples

Here's the new track from Arcade Fire that came out a couple days ago.  "I Give You Power" features singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples providing additional vocals, giving the tune a sense of immediacy in our current political climate.  It's also kind of dancey and soulful.  Listen below.

This Land Is Your Land

A few years ago, the late Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings recorded a wonderful rendition of Woody Guthrie's classic protest song "This Land Is Your Land."  Today only, Daptone Records is offering up a download of the song for free.  Get it here, listen below, and read label head Gabe Roth's description below:

"This land is your land
This land is my land

Though it has often been co-opted as a benignly patriotic campfire sing-a-long, "This Land Is Your Land" was actually written by Woody Guthrie in 1944 as a subversive protest song in biting response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." At my sister Samra's urging, we recorded our version in 2004, during the George W. Bush presidency, in an effort to re-establish it as a song about social justice.

Ironically, when Woodie Guthrie resided in Coney Island in 1950, his landlord was none other than Donald Trump's father, the infamously racist real estate mogul Fred Trump, about whom Guthrie composed his poem "Old Man Trump," including the lines:

I suppose that Old Man Trump knows just how much racial hate
He stirred up in that bloodpot of human hearts
When he drawed that color line 
Here at his Beach Haven family project

Using a dark re-harmonization of "Yankee Doodle Dandy" as an intro, the Dap-Kings re-arranged "This Land" as a rough blues-y march, setting the tone for Sharon to tear into the lyrics of the song with the fiery gusto of a revolutionary. However, it was the inclusion of Guthrie's rarely-heard original verses that really enabled Sharon to reclaim the song as an urgent and unambiguous demand for equality and human dignity in a nation rife with social injustice and patriotic hypocrisy.

Today, as we inaugurate a rapacious billionaire to the highest office in the land, those original verses resonate with us as loudly as the day they were written:

There was a big high wall there
That tried to stop me
The sign was painted
Said 'Private Property'
But on the backside
It didn't say nothing
This land was made for you and me

One bright sunny morning
In the shadow of the steeple
By the relief office
I saw my people
As they stood hungry
I stood there wondering
If God Blessed America for me

We are grateful to Woodie Guthrie and to Sharon Jones, two friends of the people and bitter foes of the Trumps, who have given us an essential soundtrack to our struggle. When times get dark, let us not crumble in fear and bigotry. Let us honor the unbreakable spirit of those tireless fighters who have fallen before us. Let us rise to the fight, and let us help each other never to forget this noble truth:

This land was made for you and me."

-Gabe Roth

Angel Olsen - Fly on Your Wall

Well, as of noon today, we now have a vengeful clown leading our country.  It's all so dark and surreal, but we are indeed in real life, and vengeful clowns tend to push vengeful clown agendas, none of which are good for anybody...except other vengeful clowns.  So, we all need to get out there and help where and how we can.  And one way to do that is with our hard earned dollars.  There are going to be a lot of organizations and services that dearly them over the next 4 terrifying years.  If you've got $30, i highly recommend ordering the music contributions of Our First 100 Days.  The project will see a whole slew of artists (like Angel Olsen, Toro y Moi, PWR BTTM, The Mountain Goats, and many, many more) release new, rare, and/or unheard music over the new president's first 100 days in office.  All the proceeds will go towards helping the various organizations working for women's rights, LGBTQ rights, climate change, immigration, and on and on.  They are going to need your help.  And you need this music.  Day 1 brings us a fantastic new song from Angel Olsen.  Listen to "Fly on Your Wall" below and order here.

Joey Bada$$ - Land of the Free

Here's a new, politically charged, and very appropriate new jam from Joey Bada$$ called "Land of the Free."  The rapper's sophomore album "AABA" is out sometime in the near future.  Listen below.

Molly Burch

Last year, Austin via LA transplant Molly Burch released her "Downhearted" single, a lovely and infectious pop song indebted to old school country, folk, and 50's rock.  The singer/songwriter is now readying her full-length debut, next month's "Please Be Mine" on Captured Tracks.  "Try" features the same kind of smoky, hazy country sound that should propel the artist onto everyone's radar.  Listen below.

Ty Segall - Break A Guitar

Ty Segall's new self-titled record is due later this month from Drag City.  And new Ty Segall is always a good thing.  Listen to the second sampling from the album, the fuzzed out garage rock wail of "Break A Guitar" below.

Gorillaz (feat. Benjamin Clementine) - Hallelujah Money

There's a new Gorillaz album on the horizon, and the Damon Albarn led animated band just released a new song from said album featuring Benjamin Clementine called "Hallelujah Money," with an accompanying video filmed appropriately enough at Trump Tower.  Demon Days indeed.  Watch below and be on the lookout for the new record sometime in the near future.

Kelly Lee Owens and Jenny Hval

London producer Kelly Lee Owens teams with experimental musician Jenny Hval on the former's upcoming self-titled album, due in March on Smalltown Supersound.  Listen to the creeping, oozing "Anxi" below, bubbling, subdued electronics paired with Hval's haunting vocals.  It's an eerie forebear for 2017.

Clint Mansell - San Juniper OST

Though i'm way, way late to get on the bandwagon for this one, i watched the "San Juniper" episode from season 3 of "Black Mirror" the other day.  The episode had received a lot of hype, and rightly so, for its very human sci-fi story, its hopefulness, and its dynamic score from Clint Mansell.  I'll probably have to check the whole series out, as it has purported to foretell the rise of Trump in one episode, and former British Prime Minister David Cameron fucking a pig in another.  Anyway, the music from "San Juniper" is very good.  Get it here via Lakeshore Records and listen to "Faith, Hope, Fear, and Falling in Love" below.

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs

UK psych-metal band Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, aside from having quite possible the most amazing band name of any band ever formed, also make crunching, stomping, wailing psychedelic-tinged heavy metal, sounding like neo-Lemmy drowning in cranked up Sabbath riffs on acid.  Give me more please.  Watch the video for "Sweet Relief" below from their upcoming "Feed the Rats" EP on Rocket Recordings.

Paul White - Everything You've Forgotten

Paul White, the UK psych-tinged producer behind much of Danny Brown's "Atrocity Exhibition," one of my favorite albums of 2016, just released a 30 minute mix of beats and music that's a trippy mix of everything under the sun called "Everything You've Forgotten."  Listen to the whole thing below and grab it here.

PARTS

This actually came out way back in September (what a different world it was back then), but i've been digging on the self-titled EP from Grand Rapids duo PARTS today.  Synth pop that's equal parts ice and bubblegum.  Listen to "Pieces" below and grab the cassette from the band here.

Wear Your Wounds

I first heard Wear Your Wounds, the wonderful side project of Converge's Jacob Bannon, years ago on a split single with the band Revelator.  And honestly, it's been so long since i last heard from them, that i kind of thought it was a one and done kind of deal.  Thankfully, i was wrong and it's not, as a full-length LP is due in April on Deathwish Inc called "WYW."  Listen to the moving and epic "Goodbye Old Friend" below.

Iggy Pop - Gold

I was a big fan of last year's "Post Pop Depression," a return to form for Iggy Pop that saw him collaborating with Josh Homme of Queens of The Stone Age.  The pairing worked wonderfully, and i can only hope for more music from the duo in the future.  In the meanwhile, Pop recently recorded a new song, "Gold," for the upcoming Mathew McConaughey-starring film of the same name, this time around working with producer extraordinaire Danger Mouse, and now i want to hear more from these two as well.  The track has a Spaghetti Western vibe to it that hits in all the right places.  Listen below.

Xiu Xiu - Jenny GoGo

Longtime experimental weirdos Xiu Xiu are back in February with a new, pop-oriented album called "FORGET."  Always an interesting act, i'm stoked to see what their take on "pop music" is.  Get the record from Polyvinyl and watch the animated video for "Jenny GoGo" below.

Pharmakon - Transmission

Experimental artist Pharmakon's music sounds like getting your fingernails pulled off.  It sounds like the whole world on fire around you and being helpless to do anything about it.  So yeah, it sounds like the here and now.  New album "Contact" is due in March on Sacred Bones.  Listen to "Transmission" below.

Side note: I believe 2017 now has it's first entry into my favorite album artwork list.

Blanck Mass

Over the last few years, Blanck Mass (Benjamin John Power of Fuck Buttons) has made some stellar electronic music, using an array of analog synths, scrambled samples, chaotic, scorching techno, noise, and cinematic soundscapes.  Sacred Bones will be releasing the upcoming "World Eater" LP in March, but you should listen to the crunchy, scattered collage of sound that is "Please" below.

Slowdive - Star Roving

It's been 22 years since their last album, but the reunited Slowdive have been hard at work on new material since they started playing together again.  And today we get our first new jam, the driving and uplifting "Star Roving."  The band seem to be getting back to their shoegazey roots, leaving the more ethereal electronics of 1995's then swan song "Pygmalion" behind in favor of layers of guitar and floating vocals.  It's wonderful to have them back.  Listen below, download it here, and be on the lookout for a full-length hopefully in the very near future.

Grails

It looks like there's a new album from Grails on the horizon, the upcoming "Chalice Hymnal," due in February on Temporary Residence.  This will be the band's first in almost six years.  Hazaa!  Anyway, listen to the proggy "Pelham" below.

Ariel Pink & Weyes Blood

Frequent collaborators Ariel Pink and Weyes Blood have joined forces again for the upcoming "Myths 002" EP, out later this month on Mexican Summer.  The recording was made in conjunction with label's annual Marfa Myths festival, an art and music event i really need to make it out to one of these days.  Listen to the magical and almost medieval sounding "Tears on Fire" below.

Austra remixed by Jana Hunter

Canadian artist Austra has been creating wonderful synth pop for a few years (most notably for me at least as a former member of Trust), and her new album "Future Politics" is due later this month on Domino.  In the meantime, Jana Hunter of Lower Dens remixed the album track "Utopia."  It's quite nice.  Listen below.

David Bowie - No Plan

On what would have been his 70th birthday, the last three songs that David Bowie recorded, currently available on the "Lazarus" cast recording LP, get bundled into an EP called "No Plan" that you can get here.  Listen to and watch the video for wonderful, floaty title track below.

PILOTPRIEST

Originally self-released digitally in 2012, filmmaker Anthony Scott Burns' music project PILOTPRIEST is getting reissued onto vinyl by the wonderful Waxwork Records, their first foray into original, non-soundtrack music.  "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack," a synth wave album full of all the Carpenter and Tangerine Dream nods you can possibly handle, will be released as a triple LP in the near future by the label.  In the meantime, go here to listen to and download the whole thing, and listen to "Don't Look Now" below.

Flo Morrissey and Matthew E. White - Sunday Morning

I don't know who Flo Morrissey or Matthew E. White are, but the duo covered one of my favorite songs on their upcoming "Gentlewoman, Ruby Man" LP.  Listen to their upbeat, almost 60's girl group garage rock version of The Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" and get the record next week from Glassnote.

Naaahhh

From some back alley in London comes the trippy, droney, paranoid nightmare music from the mysterious project known only as Naaahhh.  The kind folks over at Blackest Ever Black are set to the "Themes" EP later this month.  In the meanwhile, listen to the creeping, crawling "Neck Devour" below.

Uniform

New York industrial noise rock duo Uniform are set to release their sophomore album, "Wake in Fright," on Sacred Bones in a couple of weeks.  Take a listen to the shredding "The Killing of America" below, and make sure you stick around for the end.

The Howling

It's no secret that i'm a total sucker for horror soundtracks, and Waxwork Records provides some of the best reissues out there.  So, before they begin to get their slated 2017 releases in the works, you should check out their final offering from 2016, the fantastic Pino Donaggio score for one of my favorite horror flicks "The Howling."  Order it here, listen to "Animal Magnetism" below, and dig on that Francesco Francavilla artwork above.

N O I S E

Ever the purveyors of excellent free music, the fine folks at Adult Swim just released a free compilation of scraping, screeching, moaning noise jams from a whole slew of awesome artists, titled appropriately enough, "N O I S E."  The comp includes tracks from clipping, Vessel, Pharmakon, Merzbow, Prurient, Wolf Eyes, and so many more.  Download it here and stream the whole thing below.

King Woman

It looks like we're getting some new glorious doom metal from King Woman this year, so at least we've got that going for us.  Listen to the crunchy "Utopia" below and get the upcoming "Created in the Image of Suffering" LP in February from Relapse.

Ash Borer

I want to try and stay positive as this year begins to unfold...but we all know it's going to be difficult.  And i feel like "The Irrepassable Gate," the latest from black metal band Ash Borer pretty much nails that dread and apprehension with haunting accuracy.  Equal parts atmospheric and brutal, the title track sounds off the cacophony to follow.  We are in strange and desperate times.  Listen below and get the album from Profound Lore.