Dungen & Woods

Mexican Summer's Marfa Myths has been a pretty interesting little festival these last couple of years, and someday i'm really going to have to venture west into the desert to check this music and art gathering out.  The lineups are always great, both sonically and visually, the whole thing seems like this really cool and intimate affair.  So far, each year has spawned a collaborative record from a pair of artist released on the record label as a kind of series called "Myths."  2015 gave us work from Connan Mockasin and Dev Hynes from Blood Orange and 2016 was an almost madrigal pairing of Ariel Pink and Weyes Blood.  2017's effort, which comes out in March, is a collection of poppy, folksy psych jams from the boys in Dungen and Woods.  Listen to "Turn Around" below and pre-order the record here.  Also, get tickets to the festival here if you are so inclined.  This year's collaboration will be from Deerhunter/Atlas Sound main man Bradford Cox and Cate Le Bon.

Luke Reed - I'm Dreaming

Singer/songwriter Luke Reed has been releasing absolutely stellar lo-fi pop gems for the last year or so, and he looks to continue doing so in 2018.  First single of the year is "I'm Dreaming," a jangly dreampop ditty to maybe wash away some of the State of the Union stink from last night.  Listen below and download it here via The Native Sound.

C-Gak

I have long been a fan of synth scores to imaginary films.  They just hit the right buttons for me.  Anyway, here's one from C-Gak, the synth-driven project of RX Bandits member Christopher Tsagakis.  Listen to "Title Sequence" below and get "The Alternate Reality Synthesizer" EP here.

King Tuff - The Other

It's been almost 4 years since we last heard from King Tuff, his 2014 album "Black Moon Spell" apparently kicking all the asses.  Anyway, the artist is back with a new single, "The Other," and gone are the rip-roaring guitar riffs and boogie beats, replaced by a piano and keyboard driven 6-minute ballad about depression.  It's quite a turn, and also quite amazing, revealing a different facet to the rocker.  Watch the video below.

Ultimate Painting

Ultimate Painting have been kicking it around for a few years now, releasing 3 great albums of Velvet Underground-indebted pop rock.  New album "Up!" looks to keep the trend around.  Watch the video for "Not Gonna Burn Myself Anymore" below and get the new record in April from Bella Union.

Launder

Launder is the dreamy, wistful, low-key project from LA artist John Cudlip.  Debut EP "Pink Cloud" is due in March, and it features production from Day Wave's Jackson Phillips, guitar work from DIIV's Zachary Cole Smith, and vocals from French artist Soko.  That's quite a lineup.  Listen to "Fade" below and pre-order the album here.

Mind Over Mirrors

Experimental artist Mind Over Mirrors has been making consistently interesting and challenging music for a number of years now, and this April brings the latest, an album called "Bellowing Sun" that serves as both a new record and the soundtrack to a collaborative visual art project involving a large zoetropic sculpture and lighting design.  Whoa.  Anyway, take a listen to the first bit of music released from the record, the synthy, proggy "Matchstick Grip," featuring some guest vocals from Eleventh Dream Day's Janet Bean, and pre-order the record here from Paradise of Bachelors.

Habibi

Whenever i'm feeling like i need some of that 60's sunshine psych/jangly surf/girls-in-the-garage style pop rock, the universe always seems to answer.  And so we have the latest from New York quintet Habibi, and their upcoming double 7" EP, "Cardamom Garden."  First taste "Nedayeh Bahar" floats and caresses, a kind of hazy faux mysticism paired with cigarettes and beer in some old Southern California garage.  It's excellent.  Listen below and pre-order the EP from Modern Sky Entertainment here.

Sunwatchers

Get your socially conscious, interstellar groove on with the sun-blasted, sax-riffing brand of cosmic boogie from New York ensemble Sunwatchers.  New album "II" is due next week on Trouble In Mind, but you should definitely listen to the searing "Silent Boogie" below.

Friday Horror Trailer - Fade to Black

Bonny Doon

Here's a low key, Americana-tinged number from Detroit band Bonny Doon.  "I Am Here (I Am Alive)" has just the right amount of jangle to shake the dust off, like driving on a long stretch of highway, all alone, the mountains and the endless pavement ahead of you.  Listen below and get the upcoming "Longwave" LP from Woodsist in March.

RIP Mark E. Smith

There are certain artists whose sound carries on long after they're gone, the mold set and left to future artists to revel in and expound upon.  I think one could certainly make that claim for legendary post-punk band The Fall, though with them, it's a little different since they were never gone.  Releasing over 30 albums from 1979 to 2017, and that's to say nothing of the slew of live records, compilations, EPs, etc., the band introduced a sound, perfected it, abandoned it for something different, perfected it again, revised, renewed, and perfected again ad nauseam.  But through all those different iterations, lineups, sounds, and experiments, the one constant was front man Mark E. Smith's dry and atonal delivery, an instantly recognizable style of talk/sing that was unique to Smith before inspiring dozens of artists afterward.  Sadly, Smith passed away this morning at the age of 60, but his legacy will certainly live on.  You can hear him across the decades, from classic 90's Pavement songs (Malkmus lovingly aped on Smith for years) to the music coming from newer bands like Ought and Parquet Courts.  But man, he's going to leave a hole, and there will never be another like him.  So, listen to something by The Fall today.  Maybe start with their first song that i really got into, "I Feel Voxish" from 1983's "Perverted by Language."  Give it a listen below.

RIP Mark E. Smith

The Nightcrawlers

Mexican Summer via their Anthology Recordings offshoot are set to release a collection of rare and hard-to-find music from Philadelphia ambient electronic act The Nightcrawlers.  "The Biophonic Boombox Recordings" collects material that the trio home-recorded and self-released on 35 cassettes from 1980 to 1991, creeping and oozing through the the ether and drawing from classical music, new age, kosmische, and ambient sound.  There's a cosmic vibe to the whole thing, and it's definitely worth checking out.  Listen to "Luv-Li-Musik" below and pre-order the record here.

Jorge Elbrecht feat. Tamaryn

Jorge Elbrecht has been a fairly prolific artist over the years, releasing music under a myriad of different monikers.  On his new album, "Here Lies," the artist appears to be combining them all into one grand and epic statement.  Check out the Tamaryn assisted title track below and pre-order the record in February here.

So Many Wizards

Here's some jangly little pop rock from LA band So Many Wizards.  "Millipede" is like a dreamy, lo-fi surf rock jam that was lost to time.  Listen to it below and download it here.

De Lux

Here's a little retro, post-disco bop from LA duo De Lux for jamming away deep into the night, or early into the morning hours if you will.  Listen to "Poorn in the Nightmare" below and get the group's "More Disco Songs About Love" LP here from Innovative Leisure.

drowse

I was a big fan of the "Memory Bed" cassette EP that Portland, Oregon lo-fi, shoegaze band drowse released back in 2016, so i'm stoked that the project now has a full-length LP on the way this March from the always outstanding The Flenser.  "Cold Air" looks to be a rumination of sorts about death and uncertainty set to reverbed melodies.  Listen to "Quickening" below and pre-order the record here.

Cavern of Anti-Matter

Stereolab's Tim Gane also makes music under the moniker Cavern of Anti-Matter, crafting quirky, motorik, kosmische pop with an array of modular synthesizers and drum machines.  It's good fun.  Listen to "Make Out Fade Out" below and pre-order the upcoming "Hormone Lemonade" LP due in March here from the band's own Duophonic label.

The Soft Moon

February brings us new industrial-tinged, synthy and gothy post-punk from the ever pulsing The Soft Moon.  Listen to "Choke" below and snag the upcoming "Criminal" LP from Sacred Bones in a couple weeks.

Hinds - New For You

Looks like we've got some new music coming our way from the lovely Spanish ladies in Hinds.  Watch the video for "New For You" below, pre-order the upcoming "I Don't Run" LP here, due in April, and be on the lookout for the band in a town near you, as they'll be touring the US and Europe throughout the spring.  They rule.

Friday Horror Trailer - The Prowler

Hot Snakes

Attention!  New music from Hot Snakes!  Attention!  New music from Hot Snakes!  Listen to "Six Wave Hold-Down" below and be on the lookout for new album "Jericho Sirens" in March from Sub Pop.

The Decemberists - Severed

I've never been the biggest fan of The Decemberists, their brand of Americana-drenched indie rock serving as so much background noise.  But you throw in super producer John Congleton and some synthesizers into the mix, and you've got my attention.  New single "Severed" sounds like the band spent some time listening to a bunch of New Order records and then decided to make one of their own, albeit with their Americana-drenched indie rock still intact.  It works way better than it probably should, and i feel it's only going to grow on me.  Watch the video below and look for new album "I'll Be Your Girl" in March from Capitol.

S.A.D

Here's some dancey, synthy, gothy post punk from Spanish trio S.A.D.  Propulsive beats, flowing washes of synthesizer, and punchy, catchy melodies to dance in the gray to.  Listen to "Money From Savages" below and get the "She's Gone" 12" here from Oraculo Records.

Mount Eerie

Phil Elverum continues to explore and work out his grief over his wife's passing on new album "Now Only," the follow up to last year's stark and devastating "A Crow Looked At Me."  Listen to "Distortion" below and look for the new record in March on Elverum and Sun.

Amen Dunes

Damon McMahon's Amen Dunes project has traversed in all manner of sound, from lo-fi and mangled underground rock to dusty and hallowed Americana, each release revealing different layers of the artist both sonically and thematically.  March brings us a new record, "Freedom," which continues to push McMahon in new directions.  Elements of groove, grime, and funk move us to dark and personal spaces on what looks to be another stellar release from McMahon.  Listen to "Miki Dora" below and get the record from Sacred Bones.

Preoccupations

There's a modicum of ice on the roads today here in Central Texas, so naturally the whole area's been shut down.  I'm home.  Wife's home.  Kids are home.  I've got a fire going, watching news on the television of the 100 car accidents the city's already seen this morning, and now digging on the news that we've got a new album from Preoccupations heading our way in March.  Listen to the moody "Espionage" below and pre-order "New Material" from Jagjaguwar.

Gwenno

A couple of years ago at SXSW, one of my must-sees was the amazing Welsh singer and musician Gwenno performing her solo work away from The Pipettes.  True to form, she was amazing, as was her album "Y Dydd Olaf," and i've been waiting for new music ever since.  Well, today's the day.  In March, Gwenno will release "Le Kov," another album sung entirely in her native Cornish in March on Heavenly.  Color me stoked.  Watch the video for first single "Tir Ha Mor" below and pre-order the record here.

RIP Dolores O'Riordan

The music of my youth just keeps dying away.  RIP Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries.  Your music soundtracked many a moment of my high school years.  RIP.

Jack White - Connected by Love

Jack White has always been kind of hit or miss with me.  I really dig on a couple of the older White Stripes albums, and the man is a vinyl enthusiast's vinyl enthusiast, and even if he's not your bag, you have to admit he's got talent flowing from every pore, but sometimes his brand of blues indebted rock just doesn't do it for me.  Sometimes it sounds redundant to me.  That being said, new single "Connected by Love," from the upcoming "Boarding House Reach" LP sounds like nothing he's ever done before while totally still sounding like something in his regular repertoire.  And it's kind of weird.  And i dig it.  Synths and organs and blues and gospel and guitar stomp and piano balladry all in one big pot.  Check out the video below.  And check out the album art above.  There's some serious Marc Almond shit going on in that thing.  It's cool.  The record is out March 23rd on Third Man.

New Economy

Here's some lovely, airy, and meditative ambient pop from Indianapolis artist Gena Watson, otherwise known as New Economy.  Her new cassette, "Birth of Ergonomics," is out early next month on Warm Ratio, but in the meanwhile, check out the hypnotic visuals in the video for "Felt by Way of (An Emotionally Charged Aldous Huxley)" below.

Andrew WK - Music Is Worth Living For

It's been almost a decade, but eternal purveyor of positive energy and rock, Andrew WK is back in March with a new record, "You're Not Alone."  And somehow, there are only three songs with the word "party" in the title.  Listen to first single "Music Is Worth Living For" below.  It sounds like...well, it sounds like an Andrew WK song.  Also, be sure to catch the man live if ever given a chance.  He's unbelievably fun.  Party hard.

Friday Horror Trailer - Brain Damage

Tribulation

I saw Swedish metal band Tribulation a couple of years ago, and was kind of blown away by how overtly theatrical they were.  Combining aspects of death metal and black metal, but gothed up and played with earnest dramatic zest, the music and performance feels like theater kids aping our metal forebears but without a hint of irony.  They're buying into it, and so should you.  If you're only going to listen to one goth metal band today, make it Tribulation.  Watch the video for "The Lament" below and get the "Down Below" LP at the end of January from Century Media.

Louder Than Death

King Khan is a pretty prolific songwriter, releasing all manner of garage and psych rock for the eager masses to devour.  And every once in a while, he goes straight up punk rock, an always welcome endeavor from a highly entertaining artist.  Pairing up with Sean Spits and more for a snotty and abrasive project called Louder Than Death, the jams are sure to get you ready to throw a rock through a window.  Anyway, listen to "ABCs in Old Berlin" below and get the self-titled record from In The Red in March.

Pilotpriest - Green

Pilotpriest put out one of my absolute favorite records last year (or more succinctly, Waxwork re-issued it), and they've got a couple of new tracks out now.  Listen to "Green" below for all of your synth wave needs today and then go download it here from the artist.

TR/ST - Destroyer

Word on the street is we're getting some new music from TR/ST (formerly Trust) this year, and that makes me happy as a moody clam.  Gothy synth pop for everyone!  Anyway, watch the video for "Destroyer" below, and i'll keep you abreast of new album news as it develops.

The Men - Maybe I'm Crazy

March is bringing us a new album from ever-evolving New York band The Men.  Listen to the mutated dance punk of "Maybe I'm Crazy" below and grab the upcoming "Drift" LP from the always dependable Sacred Bones on 3/2.

American Pleasure Club

It looks like last month's "I Blew on a Dandelion and the Whole World Disappeared" lo-fi tape release from the newly minted American Pleasure Club (fka Teen Suicide) was just a warm up for more new material in 2018.  "A Whole Fucking Lifetime of This" is due from the band in February on Run For Cover Records and finds the group still dabbling in lo-fi bedroom pop, and to an eerie degree on the album's first single, "Lets Move to the Desert."  Watch the video below and look for the album next month.

Johnny Jewel - Digital Rain

Dear God man, just give us a new Chromatics record already.  That's not to say that i don't wholly appreciate and love this current streak of sweeping, beeping, cinematic solo offerings from Johnny Jewel, i'm just needy.  Anyway, Jewel's "Digital Rain" LP is out at the end of this month on Italians Do It Better.  In the Meanwhile, watch the video for the stark and spacey title track below.

The Green Child

The Green Child is the collaborative project of Mikey Young (Total Control/Eddy Current Suppression Ring) and Raven Mahon (Grass Widow), and is full of analog synthesizer flair and wistful pop melodies.  Listen to the lovely "Her Majesty II" below and snag the self-titled record this Friday from Upset the Rhythm.

Moon Duo - Jukebox Babe

Here's Moon Duo doing a really motorik, krautrock version of Alan Vega's "Jukebox Babe."  It bumps and kills.  Listen below and get the 7" here from Sacred Bones.

The Shape of Water

I took the day off from work to go see this today.  I think i made the right choice.

Majeure

Here's some new music from Majeure, the side project of Zombi member A.E. Paterra.  "Phantasie" finds the artist courting a more ambient sound than usual, but it totally works.  Listen to "Macuma" below and grab the cassette release here via VCO Recordings.

Jeff Rosenstock

And it looks like we might just have our first essential release of 2018 with the surprise New Year's Day release of "POST-," the latest album from New York's Jeff Rosenstock.  A political record, but not overly nagging or annoyingly so, the album feels like a summation of all the frustration we've been feeling for the last year in this new post-satire, post-democracy, post-post-modernism world, using punk and pop and experimentation to get its point across and stick with you.  I'm pretty sure i'll be revisiting this one all year long.  Listen to "USA" below and then download or pre-order the vinyl here via Polyvinyl.

Oneohtrix Point Never and Iggy Pop

Where the hell was i last August?  Somehow i missed that Oneohtrix Point Never scored a film, and that he had Iggy Pop provide vocals on a track.  Seriously, where the hell was i last August?  Anyway, better late than never to the "Good Time" OST party.  Watch the video for "The Pure and The Damned" below and get the record from Warp.

Profligate

Experimental electronic artist Profligate is back with today's new album, "Somewhere Else."  An oozing and haunting mix of noise, drone, and darkwave synth, the record sounds akin to summoning neon demons in a smoky crypt somewhere in a dilapidated and crumbling city.  Listen to the title track below and grab the album here via Wharf Cat.

Friday Horror Trailer - One Dark Night

Sonny Smith feat. Angel Olsen

Sonny and The Sunsets main man Sonny Smith has a solo record on the way in March on Easy Eye Sound, a stripped collection of old, rock n' roll Americana.  Watch the video for "Burnin' Up" below, a wonderful duet with Angel Olsen, and pre-order the "Rod for Your Love" LP here.

Thor & Friends

If the last couple of weeks of the year are spent catching up on all of the things i missed out on at the beginning of the year, then the first couple weeks of the next year are spent catching up on all of the things i missed out on a the end.  Back in November, multi-instrumentalist and carpenter Thor Harris released "The Subversive Nature of Kindness" with his group/collective Thor & Friends.  The album is kind of an experimental new age record, but filtered through notions of folk rock, chamber pop, and ambient sound.  Listen to album opener "90 Metres" below and pick up the record from Living Music Duplication.