Rick and Morty Season 3 Trailer

Rick and Morty return one month from today, with season 3 beginning on July 30th.  Who else is stoked?  Wubba Lubba Dub Dub!  Watch the television trailer below.

Arthur Vint & Associates

If we're all honest, there's really nothing much better than Ennio Morricone's film scores.  I could listen to the Maestro all day, everyday, and still be consistently blown away by his body of work.  That being said, it's also pretty cool to hear other artists' take on the great composer.  Brooklyn based drummer Arthur Vint gives us a groovy country-jazz collection of Morricone jams on his latest album "Death Rides a Horse," taking on songs from "The Man with No Name" trilogy as well as "Once Upon a Time in the West."  Listen to "For A Few Dollars More" below and pre-order the album here via Ropeadope.

Vessels featuring The Flaming Lips

Electronic collective Vessels have a new album, "The Great Distraction," out in September on Different Recordings.  New jam "Deflect the Light" features The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne doing what he does with his oft magical vocals in the mix.  Listen below.

Wand - Plum

With three amazing albums released over a year's time, LA psych rock band Wand quickly became one of my favorites back in 2015.  The last couple of years has seen band members working on different projects, but they're back together again with a new album, "Plum," due in September on Drag City.  Watch the video for the title track below.  The band has dialed back the psychedelic stomp a little bit, but it's still great.

Nine Inch Nails on Twin Peaks

Eight episodes in to the return of "Twin Peaks," and there's been a veritable bevy of amazing music and bands featured on the show so far.  Last night Nine Inch Nails made an appearance performing "She's Gone Away," and...it was pretty fucking awesome.  Anyway, watch below.

Saba Lou

Doesn't it just make you sick when someone decades younger than you is infinitely better at something than you are?  Berlin artist Saba Lou has been recording music since she was 6 years old, and her debut full length, the upcoming "Planet Enigma," which she recorded at 15, is due next month on Ernest Jenning Record Co.  The record features folks like King Khan (who happens to be her father) and Ryan Sambol among others, which just makes it more awesome.  Anyway, listen to the wistful little piece of psych folk, "Lost and Found," below, and marvel at how far beyond her years the artist sounds.

Love Theme

One of my favorite artists of the last few years was the strange and lo-fi, rockabilly drone of Dirty Beaches, the project of Alex Zhang Hungtai.  That project has been defunct for a little while now, but the artist has remained busy, playing tenor sax for Trouble on "Twin Peaks" for one, and now with a new experimental and cinematic drone and electronics trio.  Love Theme make haunting stuff, and listening to "Desert Exile" is like painting a surreal night in ominous tones, driving through a dark city and observing its denizens silently through the window.  Listen below and grab the self-titled album here from Alter.

HEALTH and Preoccupations

Noisy LA electro-rock band HEALTH periodically release dancey remixes of their work.  They're a lot of fun, and the third installment, the aptly named "DISCO 3," has been out for a couple of months, but just made it to vinyl today (i think).  Anyway, as per usual it does not disappoint.  Listen to Preoccupations' remix of "Men Tomorrow" below and get the album from Loma Vista.

Ex Eye

Saxophonist, experimental artist, and all around cool dude Colin Stetson makes some of the most amazing and mind bending music as both a solo artist and collaborator, and now he's put together a fusion of jazz, metal, and more with his new project Ex Eye, a project which band members have described as "post everything."  I dig it.  Listen to the noise of "Xenolith; The Anvil" below and get the self titled record from Relapse tomorrow.

Century Palm

A couple of months late to the party on this, but Toronto's Century Palm have a kind of new wave/post punk/krautrock thing going for them that i would be remiss not to dig into.  The band's "Meet You" LP is out now on Deranged Records, but you can listen to "Then You're Gone" below right now.  Do it.

Dead Cross - Seizure and Desist

I am very much looking forward to the self-titled debut from hardcore supergroup Dead Cross in August, and watching the video for new single "Seizure and Desist" just makes it more so.  It's awesome.  Watch it below and pre-order the album here from Ipecac.

Tobacco - Got Wet in The Bomb Shelter

Always stoked to get new music from Tobacco or Black Moth Super Rainbow.  Listen to the former's latest single "Got Wet in the Bomb Shelter" below.

Hercules and Love Affair and Sharon Van Etten

New Wave disco project Hercules and Love Affair have a new album of heady, booty quaking jams on the horizon with the upcoming "Omnion" LP.  The title track features vocals from guitar wielding chanteuse Sharon Van Etten (fresh off of a spellbinding appearance on "Twin Peaks," and is a fairly subdued and warbly piece of work, a moving and oozing statement of vulnerability.  It's quite lovely.  Listen below and pre-order the record here.

RIP Prodigy

The first concert i ever took my oldest son to was an instore performance by Mobb Deep at Waterloo Records.  He was 9 or 10 months old.  So, it is with heavy heart to report that the group's member Prodigy was discovered dead this morning.  No word yet as to cause of death.  RIP Prodigy.

Cloakroom

Indian metal band Cloakroom play heavy, crunchy, doom-laden riffs against airy, ethereal, shoegazey vocals, and on upcoming new album "Time Well," add a dusty layer of Americana to the mix as well.  These are all things i can get solidly behind.  Watch the video for "Seedless Star" below and pre-order the record from Relapse.

Kedr Livanskiy

Russian artist Kedr Livanskiy will be releasing her full-length album "Ariadna" in September on 2MR.  Pairing a dreampop floatiness with an 80's electronic aesthetic, the record is looking to sound like an Eastern Bloc interpretation of sounds gone by.  Listen to the album's title track below, and if you're only going to be influenced by one Russian this year, make it this year, make it this Russian.

L.A. Witch

I do love the girls in the garage.  L.A. Witch, a trio from LA naturally, are set to release their debut of fuzzy garage rock nuggets in September via Suicide Squeeze.  Listen to "Untitled" below and be sure to pre-order the self-titled record.

Hot Flash Heat Wave

Part psych pop, part 90's alt-rock, part doo-wop, and surf rock, San Francisco's Hot Flash Heat Wave just released the very summery and dreamy "Soaked" LP via OIM Records.  It sounds like a day at the beach or an evening by the pool.  Get it here and listen to "Raindrop" below.

Planetary Peace

In 1980, the husband/wife duo of Will and Kalima Sawyer built a mail order Serge synthesizer together at their home in London, and then recorded an album of quirky, devotional, cosmic new age in their living room on a Teac tape machine.  The end result was "Synthesis," which the pair released on a very limited run of cassettes (mostly to friends and family) under the moniker of Planetary Peace.  Unearthed a couple of years ago at a yard sale in New Mexico, the album recently got a reissue from Love All Day...which unfortunately is now sold out in all physical formats.  But, you can still download the whole album here for a dollar.  And you should do that because it's wonderful.  Listen to "Silence of Night" below.

LINGUA IGNOTA

Equally surreal, haunting, and abrasive, the music on Rhode Island artist LINGUA IGNOTA's new album "All Bitches Die," sounds akin to a coven of witches using everything within their power to hex the world and smite their enemies.  Extended moments of eerie stillness supplanted by cacophonous noise and shrieks, a cauldron bubbling over, and death everywhere.  Listen to "All Bitches Die (Bitches All Die Here)" below, and snag the album here.

Rips

New York band Rips channel the sounds of the late 1970's NYC punk scene into fuzzy, chugging riffs and late night excursions.  The band's self-titled LP is out now on Faux Discx.  Listen to "Psychics" below.

Washed Out - Hard to Say Goodbye

Here's another new track from Washed Out's upcoming new album "Mister Mellow."  "Hard to Say Goodbye" feels like a call back to the artist's earlier work from almost a decade ago, feeling a bit like an old school "chill wave" (a moniker i still despise as it was coined by a smarmy, annoying blogger who isn't me) jam.  Listen below and get the album (with accompanying videos) at the end of the month from Stones Throw.

Chelsea Wolfe - 16 Psyche

Dark chanteuse Chelsea Wolfe has always drawn plenty of inspiration from heavy metal for her Gothic folk output, but her latest, the upcoming "Hiss Spun," finds the artist almost going full on crushing doom metal.  Listen to "16 Psyche" below and get the record from Sargent House in September.

Joseph Shabason

Here's a dreamy, mellow jam from Joseph Shabason, noted for his stellar sax work for Destroyer.  The artist's new solo record, "Aytche," is due in August on Western Vinyl.  Listen to the title track below and try not to float away.

Aldous Harding - Blend

I caught New Zealand singer/songwriter Aldous Harding earlier this year at SXSW, and honestly was somewhat perplexed by her mix of quirky folk and bizarro strands of pop.  But it works.  And it works well.  Aping on the Playboy bunny USO scene from "Apocalypse Now," the artist's new video for "Blend" finds her decked out in a cowgirl bikini outfit, dancing a go-go, all in front of a blank, white background.  Given the low-key and subdued nature of the song, the effect is eerie.  Watch the video below, and get Harding's "Party" LP from 4AD.

Guerilla Toss

I remember a few years ago when i stumbled into a Guerilla Toss show in the middle of the afternoon at SXSW, knowing nothing of the band.  And they were something else, an unwieldy cacophony of scuzzy punk and disjointed noise.  As time has passed, they've toned things down just a little bit, and on new album "GT Ultra," they've got a grooving, sneering disco punk thing going.  Listen to "Betty Dreams of Green Men" below and get the record from DFA.

Flowers Must Die

I'm at a loss as to how to categorize Sweden's Flowers Must Die.  The band's music is something akin to taking a bunch of warbly old disco records, interstellar jazz albums, psych rock freakouts, post punk sneer, and prog rock boogie, throwing it all into a blender, and pressing puree.  And yet, the outcome is incredible.  Listen to "Hit" below and cop the "Kompost" LP here from Rocket Recordings.

Zola Jesus - Exhumed

I was unaware we were getting new Zola Jesus this year.  I'll take it.  New single "Exhumed" sounds like a culmination of everything the artist has made before, combining noisy goth balladry and sleek dark pop.  Listen to it below and get the upcoming "Okovi" LP from Sacred Bones in September.

Marnie

Ladytron's Helen Marnie has been releasing solo music under the moniker of Marnie for a few years now, and her latest, the upcoming "Strange Words and Weird Wars" is another collection of dancey and moody synth pop gems.  Listen to "Electric Youth" below and get the record here via Disco Pinata.

Trouble - Snake Eyes

I don't know about everyone else, but i've been enjoying the shit out of the "Twin Peaks" revival.  Truth be told, i'm kind of obsessed.  Anyway, if you've been watching, you've seen an array of different artists performing at The Bang Bang Bar, usually closing an episode out, and they've all been wonderful.  Episode 5 featured an assembled band called Trouble...and they make some of the most Lynchian music i can think of outside of Badalamenti or Roy Orbison.  And that makes sense seeing as the group consists of Lynch's son Riley, his longtime music supervisor Dean Hurley, and Incubator favorite Alex Zhang Hungtai of Dirty Beaches wailing on the tenor sax.  Listen to the marvelous and sinister "Snake Eyes" below, download it and another track here, and pre-order the 7" from Sacred Bones.

Hats off to Shawn for the heads up on this.

Oh Sees

John Dwyer and Co. have changed their name from Thee Oh Sees to just Oh Sees.  This isn't the first time the band's name has changed.  I remember way back when they were called OCS.  Anyway, it's going to the throw me off a little, but the ever prolific artist will be releasing his first album under the new moniker in August on Castle Face.  Listen to the frenetic "The Static God" below and be sure to snag the "Orc" LP when it's available.

Ariel Pink - Another Weekend

Hey guys, it's some new music from Ariel Pink, and just in time for summer too.  Listen the breezy little psych pop nugget "Another Weekend" below and snag the 7" from Mexican Summer.

Torres - Skim

I caught Torres perform a couple of years ago during SXSW, and really dug the 90's female alt-rock revival thing she had going for her.  She recently signed to 4AD and just released a new single called "Skim."  Check out the alluring video for it below.

Grace Sings Sludge

I'm still bummed that Bay area trio The Sandwitches called it quits a little while back, but it's nice to see the band's members still making solo music.  Grace Cooper's new project, Grace Sings Sludge, shares some similarities with the artist's former group, haunted, stripped down, psychedelic folk, but feels slightly less aloof than her previous work.  Listen to the wonderful "Dedicated 2" below and get the "Life With Dick" LP from Empty Cellar.

Loss

Here's some somber, funereal doom metal from Nashville's Loss.  Listen to "All Grows on Tears" below and get the band's new "Horizonless" LP from Profound Lore.

Hante.

Hante. is the solo project of Minuit Machine's Hélène de Thoury, an icy and gloomy collection of darkwave synth tracks.  The cold mood is palpable, drawing from bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, and more.  Grab the "Between Hope and Danger" LP here and listen to album opener "Le Point de Non-Retour" below.

Arcade Fire - Everything Now

Arcade Fire are hitting the waves again this year with an upcoming tour and a new album, "Everything Now," due at the end of July.  Pre-order from the band here and watch the video for the title track below.

Radiohead - I Promise

Radiohead's "OK Computer" is 20 years old.  Let that sink in for a minute.  Damn, i'm getting old.  Anyway, the band is issuing an expanded version of the album, "OKNOTOK," later this month featuring a whole slew of B-sides and other stuff recorded way back when.  Some of these songs have been issued on various releases in the past, most notably the tracks from the "Airbag/How Am I Driving?" EP, but there's some never-before-released jams to get excited about too.  Watch the video for "I Promise" below and order the records here (they've priced me out, but you do you).

Tess Roby

Italians Do It Better has just been killing it these last few weeks with a string of fantastic releases.  The latest comes from Canadian artist Tess Roby who makes a kind of gloomy dreampop.  Watch the video for "Ballad 5" below and snag the EP of the same name here.