Grey Frequency

I just stumbled upon this one today and it's creeping into every synapse of my brain.  UK ambient artist Grey Frequency released "Ufology" back in January, a collection of eerie and beautiful sound creations inspired by a myriad of British UFO abduction stories.  Pairing droning synth tones with ambient field recording loops, the album is visceral and haunting, a soundtrack for unsettling occurrences.  Listen to "Rendleshem Forest (1980)" below and get the cassette or download here.

Daily Jam - Take Me Out

It's a gray and rainy morning, so something from Red House Painters seems appropriate for our Daily Jam.  In more recent years, Mark Kozelek has used a kind of stream of consciousness style of lyric making that's really set his later work apart from the old days.  He's also made a name for himself as being somewhat of a cantankerous asshole, but that's beside the point i guess.  Anyway, all these years later and the "rollercoaster album" (actually a self-titled record but referred to as "Rollercoaster" by fans to distinguish it from the other self-titled album) is still probably my favorite.  Sad bastard music for everyone!  Here's "Take Me Out," our Daily Jam.

Keiji Haino & SUMAC

Japanese artist Keiji Haino and metal supergroup SUMAC are back with another collaborative effort, the immense and immensely titled "Even for just the briefest moment / Keep charging this 'Expiation' / Plug in to making it slightly better" LP.  Experimental metal for everyone!  Listen to "Now i've gone and done it i've spilled holy water (just water) over that thing called healing music.................... / There was a faint 'Tsk' noise" below and get the album here from Trost Records.

White Manna

California psych rock band White Manna pull from all manner of genre to create their sound, elements of psychedelia, synth pop, krautrock, metal, noise, and drone adding multiple layers to the band's particular brand of music.  Listen to the mind melting sprawl of "Spirit of St. Louis" below and get the new "Ape On Sunday" LP here from the band.

Moon Duo

We're getting a new album from Portland's Moon Duo in September, and our first taste of the upcoming "Stars Are The Light" is the grooving psych pop/krautrock/disco hybrid title track.  It sounds like breezy, audio sunshine.  Take a listen below and pre-order the record here from Sacred Bones.

Why?

It feels like it's been ages since we last heard from Why?, the experimental, hip-hop, alt-rock project of rapper and artist Yoni Wolf.  And now August brings us the triumphant return with new album "AOKOHIO."  Listen to the subdued and kind of stoned sounding "Peel Free" below and pre-order the album here from Joyful Noise.

Blarf

Here's some weird and often jarring cut-and-paste hip-hop from LA artist Blarf.  Bits and pieces of samples all mixed and mushed together set the tapestry for the noise and chaos and (i guess we'll call it) groove that follows.  It's a strange mix of sound, but also kind of hypnotic and probably a reflection of the way most of our brains work these days.  Listen to "Badass Bullshit Benjamin Buttons Butthole Assassin" below and get the "Cease & Desist" LP here.

Daily Jam - Consider This

Overshadowed by just how big their first single "Hey Man Nice Shot" was, the rest of Filter's debut album "Short Bus" went pretty much ignored by the general populace.  And that's really too bad because it's an underappreciated gem of industrial tinged alt-rock.  I might just be the only person that feels this way, but that's okay.  Very much of its time, the '90s energy is strong on this one, but it still creeps into my normal rotation.  Here's the band's moody and driving "Consider This," our Daily Jam.

Too Old To Die Young

Anyone out there watching Nicolas Winding Refn's "Too Old To Die Young" series on Amazon Prime?  I'm two episodes in, and it's very good, but also very, very much a Nicolas Winding Refn kind of thing with plenty of silent protagonists, long pauses, neon noir, bursts of violence, and doses of toxic masculinity.  Your mileage on that may very, but i love it.  Anyway, true to form, Refn has again hooked up with Cliff Martinez to provide the score, a mix of brooding synths, classic Hollywood homage, and pulsing dread.  Listen to "Naked Guy Murder" below and get the soundtrack from Milan.

Friday Horror Trailer - Boar

Daily Jam - Suicide Is Painless

I love a good cover song, and way back in the '90s, Royal Trux did an excellent and messy, yet still moving, version of Johnny Mandel's and Michael Altman's "Suicide Is Painless," more commonly known as the "Theme from M*A*S*H*."  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Oh Sees

Let's see.  In the last few weeks, the prolific Ty Segall and King Gizzard have both announced new albums.  So if the trains are running on time, that means we should also be getting new music from Oh Sees...and we are.  The new double album "Face Stabber" is out in August on Castle Face.  Listen to the epic, 20+ minute "Henchlock" below and pre-order here.

Sampa The Great

Here's a new single from Australian rapper Sampa The Great.  "Final Form" feels like a triumphant statement, sampled soulful, cinematic horns calling to the heavens or announcing an arrival, as the MC flows on top of it with an assured coolness.  It's fucking rad.  Listen below and get it here from Ninja Tune.

Monster Rally

Here's a little psych and jazz tinged instrumental hip-hop from producer Monster Rally.  The "Adventures on the Floating Island" LP should be hitting sometime in September, but for now, listen to the "Menagerie" single below, and get it here from the artist.

Daily Jam - Giu La Testa Main Theme

I probably listen to something by Ennio Morricone everyday, the Maestro's immense body of film score work being one of my very favorite things.  Today is no different.  So let's listen to the Main Theme from Sergio Leone's "Giu La Testa," AKA "Duck, You Sucker," AKA "A Fistful of Dynamite," your Daily Jam.

Majeure

AE Paterra has been making music for years either as a solo artist, with synth prog duo Zombi, and under the moniker Majeure.  That last project sees a new release this September on Holodeck.  Check out the pulsing album opener, "Longing, Love, Loss," below and pre-order the upcoming "Mass Flashback" here.

HOO

Here's some synth laden shoegaze featuring some assists from current and former Slowdive members from UK band HOO.  "Centipede Wisdom" is out now on Graveface.  Get it here and listen to the wonderfully titled album closer "The End Is So Dark It's Boring" below.

Daily Jam - Shade and the Black Hat

Sunny Day Real Estate were one of my favorite bands in high school.  At the time, short lived and defunct, they felt like one of those bands that belonged only to me.  Of course this wasn't the case, especially given the excitement when they reunited a couple of years later when i was in college.  I was stoked alongside the rest of the crowd watching the band perform at Liberty Lunch in Austin, and i greedily bought up everything they deemed worthy to release, both as a band and as solo artists.  One of those solo releases was Jeremy Enigk's "Return of the Frog Queen," an alt-rock record recorded with an orchestra that may or may not be about Jesus.  I don't know.  I do know that it's a lovely record, and that the dramatic penultimate track "Shade and the Black Hat" is our Daily Jam.

Nicole Yun

Eternal Summers' Nicole Yun ventures solo on here new album "Paper Suit," an 8-song collection of catchy, poppy, alt-rock.  Listen to album opener "Tommie" below and get the record here from Kanine.

Daily Jam - Web in Front

Some days i really, really miss Fun Fun Fun Fest here in Austin, the now defunct music festival that stretched for 10 years and gave me so many wonderful performances.  Every year brought acts and artists i never thought i'd get the chance to see.  One of those was Archers of Loaf, in 2015 i think, and they were great.  Anyway, here's "Web in Front," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Orange Crush

I have a whole lot of favorite REM songs, but this REM song is my very favorite REM song.  It doesn't get much better than "Orange Crush," a perfect pop melody set politically minded lyrics.  Good stuff.  Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Rise

I don't care who you are or who you think you are, this song fucks.  So without further ado, Herb Alpert's "Rise," our Daily Jam.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard have made something like 15 albums in the last 6 or 7 years, one of which came out a couple months ago.  And now they've already lined up another with the forthcoming "Infest the Rats' Nest."  This time around though, their shedding a lot of the psych and pop and folk they've utilized over the years for something a little more...thrash metal.  And brothers and sisters, it works.  Watch the video for "Self-Immolate" below and get the record in August on Flightless/ATO.

Daily Jam - Road to Recovery

Hail Hail to the random old albums i picked up in the dollar bins over the years whose creators have managed to become my favorites.  The dancey, techno-laden, synth pop of Australian outfit Midnight Juggernauts is just such a group, particularly their debut full-length LP "Dystopia" from 2007 or 2008 (depending on where in the world you lived).  It's been in the regular rotation ever since.  Here's "Road to Recovery," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Know the Ledge

It's and Eric B. & Rakim kind of day.  Here's the duo's "Know the Ledge," our Daily Jam.

Friday Horror Trailer - Knife + Heart

Grotto Terrazza

Here's some weird and warped, lo-fi and experimental post punk from Munich artist Thomas Schamann, recorded and released under the moniker of Grotto Terrazza.  Infectious reverb and fractured riffs set to warbled vocal effects and a steady beat, this one can get under the skin and stay there indefinitely.  Listen to "Gestalt Bondage" below and get the "Stumpfer Gegenstand" cassette here from Maple Death.

The Soft Cavalry

Slowdive are one of my all time favorite bands, and i'm pretty much going to follow any of the members anytime they venture off to do another project, be they solo albums, other bands like Mojave 3 or Monster Movie, and so on.  Anyway, Rachel Goswell has a new project, the dreamy, shoegazey pop band The Soft Cavalry, and their self-titled debut is coming our way next month on Bella Union.  Watch the video for "Bullet Proof" below and get the record here.

Daily Jam - Summer's Gone

Summer's here.  It's hot as balls.  Here's a song called "Summer's Gone" by Chapterhouse, our Daily Jam...

Blood Cultures

Jersey band Blood Cultures are kind of hard to describe, a mix of warped pop, dreamy synths, dance rhythms, and occasional bouts of industrial noise.  They're also fairly mysterious, what with the bags over their heads and all.  Anyway, they've been slowly dolling out singles over the past few months, and now it looks like we're getting a new full length, "Oh Uncertainty! A Universe Despairs," coming out in September.  Listen to "Best for You" below and pre-order the record here.

Daily Jam - Jessica

For a jokey, quirky, novelty song, Adam Green's "Jessica" sure is pretty and melancholy.  Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Molly Burch

Texas dreamy alt-country artist Molly Burch has a new single coming out in August via Captured Tracks.  Listen to the lovely and romantic "Only One" below and order the "Ballads" 7" here (quickly as they're almost all gone).

Chelsea Wolfe

Goth folk and metal chanteuse Chelsea Wolfe has a new album headed our way in September on Sargent House.  "Birth of Violence" finds the artist shedding back some of her more harder edged metal elements for something a little more straight folk, though the doom and gloom remain.  Listen to first single "The Mother Road" below and pre-order the album here.

Daily Jam - Fama Allah

Every now and again, i find myself down a Youtube rabbit hole, listening to the all the obscure and exotic music from around the world that i can handle.  And those trips generally yield amazing results, one of which is this amazing 1978 track of hypnotic and frenetic desert psych from Malian music teacher Idrissa Soumaoro and his student band L'Eclipse.  Listen to "Fama Allah" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Berlin

Lou Reed's "Berlin" is one of those great, unsung albums that maybe never quite got its due.  Reed was working on a whole different level on that record and it can be a transcendent listen from start to finish if you let it.  Listen to the jazzy, lounge-ish, and contemplative album opening title track below, our Daily Jam...

扎克

I don't know a thing about producer/composer 扎克, nor can i really find much, other than someone describing him as a "healing sound propagandist."  And that's cool i guess, but what really matters is how soothing and meditative his "Orchestral Tape Studies" album is.  Utilizing orchestral loops of the quieter moments of classical compositions, the artist has has created a piece of work that feels like Philip Glass meeting William Basinski.  It's beautiful, maybe a little haunting, and very relaxing.  And i found it to be the perfect accompaniment to reading.  Listen to the whole thing below and get it here from Past Inside the Present.

Daily Jam - Right Where It Belongs

Listening to those Ashley O songs from Black Mirror made we want to listen to Nine Inch Nails' original version of "Right Were It Belongs," the closing track from 2005's "With Teeth," and a detached and depression-tinged song that's always struck a chord with me.  Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Ashley O

By now you've probably heard that in the new season of "Black Mirror," there's an episode featuring Miley Cyrus as a popstar whose songs might sound vaguely familiar.  Trent Reznor gave the series permission to reinterpret some Nine Inch Nails song into little pop ditties, and it all works strangely well.  Anyway, i have not had a chance to watch the episode yet, but it sounds like a potential highlight.  In the meanwhile, Cyrus has released two tracks under the persona of Ashley O, "On a Roll," a take on the seminal "Head Like a Hole," and "Right Where I Belong," a version of the lesser known Nails track "Right Where It Belongs" from 2005's "With Teeth" (coincidentally one of my all time favorite NIN songs).  Check out both songs below and watch the show on Netflix.





Reznor, for his part, his been super supportive of this whole thing.

Pinkish Black

Forth Worth's doom-tinged, experimental metal band Pinkish Black are back this month with a new record, this time around with a slew of synthesizers on board.  "Concept Unification" is a dark and moody opus that kind of sounds like an alien invasion and the end of the world.  Check out the title track below and get the record here from Relapse.

Burial - Claustro / State Forest

Enigmatic producer and electronic artist Burial released a new 12" yesterday of dark and dubby grooves.  Both tracks are great, but the B-side "State Forest" is the standout, a moody drone and ambient track that wouldn't feel out of place in a David Lynch film.  Listen to both below and download them here via Hyperdub.

Daily Jam - The Happening

I know i'm in the minority here, but i like The Pixies' "Bossanova" LP better than "Doolittle."  And i guess i'm prepared to die on that hill.  Anyway, here's "The Happening."  It's about aliens and stuff, and it's our Daily Jam.

Spotlights

My friend Shawn has been raving about New York trio Spotlights' latest opus over at his blog for the last week, and i finally sat down to give "Love & Decay" a good listen last night, and holy shit is it a beast.  A bombast of sound and beauty, the record is equal parts post metal, shoegaze, doom, post rock, and space rock, a heavy swirl of layered guitars atop pummeling drum blasts, crunchy, reverbed riffs, and buried, ethereal vocals that sound heavenly despite the cacophony surrounding them.  Listen to the album opening "Continue the Capsize" below and get the record here from Ipecac.

Friday Horror Trailer - The Addiction

Daily Jam - Moth

Failure have been one of my favorite bands since first hearing them in the '90s, from their peak with "Fantastic Planet," through their long hiatus, to their reunion and subsequent new material.  Here's a crunchy space rock track from their 1994 album "Magnified."  Check out "Moth," our Daily Jam.

Nebula

Speaking of bands that have been around forever but that i'm only just now hearing for the first time, LA stoner rock band Nebula have a new album of '70s heavy psych tinged nuggets out now via Italian label Heavy Psych Sounds.  Listen to the doom and stoner grunge of album closer "The Cry of a Tortured World" below and get the "Holy Shit" LP here in a variety of different colored vinyl.

Major Stars

Major Stars is one of those bands that's been around forever, in this case for over 20 years, that for some reason i had never heard of until now.  The Boston band make fuzzy and anthemic alt-rock, heavy on guitar riffs and with just the right amount psychedelic noodling throughout.  Their latest album, "Roots of Confusion Seeds of Joy," is out in August on Drag City.  Listen to "Out in the Light" below and pre-order the record here.

Christian Fitness

Christian Fitness is a one-man-band out of the UK that makes frenetic, lo-fi bedroom post punk.  It's rough edged and spastic, but also kind of funny.  New album "You Are the Ambulance" is out now.  Get it from the artist here and listen to the excellent album opening "Newly Colonised Moon" below.

J McFarlane's Reality Guest

Here's some quirky, experimental pop from J McFarlane's Reality Guest, the solo project of Twerps member J McFarlane.  "Your Torturer" is a weird and lo-fi mix of psych jazz, bedroom pop, and more, a kind of idiosyncratic piece of art pop.  Watch the video below and get the "Ta Da" record here from Night School.

Vanishing Twin

Stuck at work.  Shorthanded.  Nowhere to go.  Nothing to do.  So, here i am digging up all the new music i can handle before the day winds down.  Currently keeping me afloat is the wonderful new album from London band Vanishing Twin.  Listen to the kosmische indebted psych pop of "Magician's Success" below and grab the new "The Age of Immunology" LP here via Fire Records.

Kendra Amalie

Milwaukee's Kendra Amalie is one of the latest signees to the ever and increasingly wonderful psych rock label Beyond Beyond Is Beyond.  Her album "Intuition" is out in September, but in the meanwhile, watch the video for alt-rock and psychedelia hybrid "Breath Underwater" below and pre-order the record here.