Optic Sink

Fresh off of last year's excellent "Lucky Number" LP, Memphis band Optic Sink is back in April with a new EP of analog synths and new wave beats with "Relentless Metamorphosis: An Original Score for the Films of Maya Deren."  Check out "A Study for Choreography" below and pre-order the record here from DIG! Records.

Cindy

San Francisco lo-fi psych folk outfit Cindy have a new album of wistful fuzzy gems heading our way in April.  Pre-order the upcoming "Another Country" LP here from Tough Love and listen to the wonderfully melancholy "Procession" below.

Friday Horror Trailer - Howling V: The Rebirth

Daily Jam - I Can't Rest

Here's a wonderful little piece of soul for what is a gray and dreary morning here in Central Texas.  Listen to "I Can't Rest" by Fontella Bass below, our Daily Jam.

Portrayal of Guilt

Oh hell yeah, we've got new music from Austin's Portrayal of Guilt heading our way next month.  One of the things i love about these guys is that they constantly push their particular brand of black metal into new and different and weird places with every release, whether it be stripping the guitars in favor of the most evil sounding string section you can imagine, or the bits of industrial and alternative rock that seem to be surfacing on new track "Ecstasy."  It works, and i've got to say i can't wait to hear the rest of "...Beginning of the End" in April.  Check the track out below and pre-order the LP here from Run For Cover Records.

Slow Crush

Belgium's Slow Crush make a heavy mix of shoegaze and post-rock that can be as hard hitting as it is dreamy and gorgeous.  Check out new tune "Que Du Noir" below and download it along with "Hallowed" here from Pure Noise Records.

Daily Jam - Boobie Miles

Back in the day, this song used to be my ringtone.  It was awesome.  Maybe i should bring it back.  Anyway, let's all listen to Big K.R.I.T.'s 2012 track "Boobie Miles."  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Carla dal Forno

It's been a few years since we last heard from Carla dal Forno, but the Australia-based dark indie pop artist has a new record on the horizon for our listening pleasure.  Check out the melancholy and kind of ominous "Going Out" below and pre-order the upcoming "Confession" LP here from the artist.

Daily Jam - Romance

Today was long for no real reason except that the people around me just made it that way.  Here's a beautiful jazz piece from Japanese artist Hiroshi Suzuki to cool down to.  Listen to "Romance" below, our Daily Jam.

Cashier

I caught Lafayette, Louisiana's Cashier last year on a whim during SXSW, and really dug their old school alt-rock sound.  The group has a new EP out next week, just in time for their triumphant return to Austin for this year's festival.  Pre-order "The Weight" here from Julia's War Recordings and listen to crunchy title track below.

Daily Jam - Babylon

It's my birthday today, and i'm now officially in my late-'40s.  To mark the occasion, here's a track from one of my favorite albums from my freshman year of college, way way back when i was 18 years old.  Listen to the industrial-tinted "Babylon" from The Tea Party below, our Daily Jam.

The Early Years

UK band The Early Years make a cool kind of alt-rock that's a blend of psychedelia, krautrock, indie, and pop.  New album "Modern Moonlight" is out in May.  Pre-order it here from Sonic Cathedral and listen to the album opening "A New Way of Living" below.

Daily Jam - Stock Exchange

Here's some throwback minimal, coldwave electronic from the early '00s to start your week with.  One of the things i love about Miss Kittin & The Hacker's first album is that it sounds like it could have come out at any time between 1980 and now.  Listen to "Stock Exchange" below, our Daily Jam.

Squarepusher

April brings us new music from OG IDM artist Squarepusher.  Check out the very cinematic, kinda proggy "K2 Central" below and pre-order the upcoming "Kammerkonzert" LP here from Warp.

Daily Jam - Ruiner

It's been 26 years since the last time i saw Nine Inch Nails in concert.  Remedying that tonight.  To celebrate, here's what might secretly be the best track on 1994's "The Downward Spiral."  Listen to "Ruiner" below, our Daily Jam.

HEALTH

Good morning.  Here's a cool and gothy new track from LA's electro-noise rock band HEALTH.  Listen to "Don't Kill Yourself" below and download it, along with the rest of the "R-Type I" EP here from Loma Vista.

Daily Jam - Comforting Sounds

Things have been very loud and chaotic here since 6PM last night.  Waiting on all the kids to be picked up by their parents.  And then silence.  Here's Danish band Mew and "Comforting Sounds," our Daily Jam.

Les Arcanes

French band Les Arcanes make grungy, shoegaze-tinted alt-rock that feels just right for a Friday evening before a gaggle of 9 and 10-year old boys descend upon your house.  Or maybe that's just me and my youngest's impending sleepover.  Shudder.  Anyhoo, check out "HMK" below and snag the "D.D.P." cassette here from Stellar Frequencies.

Friday Horror Trailer - Annabelle

Daily Jam - Oh the Guilt

Here's an awesome, kind of obscure Nirvana track from a split 7" the band released with The Jesus Lizard back in 1993.  Listen to "Oh the Guilt" below, our Daily Jam.

Ben Vince

London-based experimental musician and saxophonist Ben Vince dropped new album "Street Druid" last week, a mix of otherworldly, sometimes airy, sometimes noirish tracks of tape loops, electronics, and sax.  Check out the spacey "Peace Spell" below and grab the LP here from AD 93.

Daily Jam - Now, We Just Slowly Circle the Draining Fish Bowl

Here's a real downer of a track from one of my all time favorite albums, The Paper Chase's 2004 opus "God Bless Your Black Heart."  Listen to "Now, We Just Slowly Circle the Draining Fish Bowl" below, our Daily Jam.

Lucid Express

And now for some dreamy new shoegaze from Hong Kong's Lucid Express.  Check out the swirling "Something Blue" below and snag the new "Instant Comfort" LP here from Kanine Records.

Daily Jam - Comme

Here's a gentle, gorgeous track from the lovely and wonderful Francoise Hardy.  Listen to "Comme" below, our Daily Jam.

Magus

Here's some damn near whimsical psych rock from Pennsylvania band Magus.  Take a quest and listen to "Exodus" below and pre-order the "Music for Mandrax" LP here from the band.

Daily Jam - Exit Music (For a Film)

It's been unfortunate to discover over the last couple of years that Jonny Greenwood is a bit of a cunt.  His pro-genocide views make it really, really hard to enjoy his music.  Let's go back 29 years ago when he was just another member of Radiohead.  Listen to "Exit Music (For a Film)" below, our Daily Jam.  "We hope that you choke.  That you choke."

Population II

Montreal's psych and prog-tinged post punk band Population II have a new EP headed our way in April with the upcoming "Gimmicks."  Listen to the excellent "Magouilleux" below and pre-order the vinyl here from Bonsound.

Daily Jam - Baby's on Fire

Working through the brain fog, or trying to at least.  Here's some Brian Eno.  Listen to "Baby's on Fire" below, our Daily Jam.

Heel

Here's some new shoegaze out of College Station, Texas of all places.  Aggieland.  Check out Heel and "Honeycomb" below and download the band's "Segmentation" album here.

Daily Jam - Blank Generation

A week later and most of my covid symptoms are gone, but the main one that still remains is a general feeling of exhaustion.  I'll take the garbage to the curb and feel like i just ran a marathon.  It sucks.  Anyway, here's an old track from Richard Hell & The Voidoids for your Sunday.  Listen to "Blank Generation" below, our Daily Jam.

Inner Magic

Adam Miller project Inner Magic just dropped a couple of new dreamy tracks for our listening pleasure, and the A-side "Underground" finds him reunited with his former Chromatics bandmate Ruth Radelet on vocals.  Check it out below and get it here from the artist.

Daily Jam - Grendel

Over the last several months, i've been going through old CD's, LP's, and downloads and listening to a bunch of music i haven't listened to in years.  To be honest, Sunny Day Real Estate's "Diary" has never been too far from my ears for over 30 years now, but a few weeks ago, i listened to it from start to finish for the first time in a long time, and i was immediately a shy, insecure 15-year old all over again.  I don't want to be so maudlin as to say that the album "saved me" or whatever...but it was certainly a life raft of sorts for those days.  Here's the penultimate track "Grendel," our Daily Jam.

Ingrina

Here's some almost cosmic post-metal from French band Ingrina.  New album "Nåværende Lys" is out now.  Get it here from Medication Time Records and listen to the dark, abyssal "Time" below.

NIMF

Irish experimental artist NIMF combines dark ambient tones, dungeon synth vibes, and old, worldly folk music to craft a fantasy sonic world on new album "Sirnoscape."  And opening track "Solar Excess Sacrificial Ecstasies (Willie O' Winsbury, Sumer is icumen in)" completely immerses you in that world.  Check it out below and pre-order the album here from the artist.

Friday Horror Trailer - The Chill Factor

AKA "Demon Possessed."

Daily Jam - C'mon Collapse

Here's a track from a post-Failure/pre-reunion side project of Ken Andrews for your Friday.  Listen to "C'mon Collapse" by ON below, our Daily Jam.

Ana Roxanne

Here's a longing new track from ambient and electronic artist Ana Roxanne.  Piano ballad "Keepsake" is a stark and yearning piece comprised of piano, voice, and just the right amount of ambient microphone hiss.  Check it out below and pre-order the upcoming "Poem 1" LP here from Kranky.

Billy Fulmer

With Beak> seemingly on hiatus, as a live band at least, the prog trio's Billy Fulmer is setting off for a solo adventure with his upcoming album "Fragments."  Our first taste is the wonderful mix of electronics and krautrock on "Rummer."  Listen to the track below and pre-order the album here from Invada.

Magic Wands

LA's Magic Wands have that sound that works its way to the very center of my psyche: kinda shoegaze, kinda darkwave, kinda lo-fi, kinda death rock.  Just cool, cool stuff all around.  Check out new single "Wishing Well" below and download it here from Metropolis Records.

Slow Dancing Society & City of Dawn

It's not even 10AM here yet, but i'm listening to the moodiest of midnight jams right now with "A City Asleep," a track from "The Dream Season," a collaborative LP between the excellently named Slow Dancing Society (Drew Sullivan) and City of Dawn (Damien Duque).  The album is a sleepy mix ambient electronica and subtle noirish vibes, a sonic picture of a city after dark.  Check the track out below and pre-order the download here from Past Inside the Present.

Daily Jam - Winterlong

Here's the Pixies covering Neil Young just because i love you.  Listen to "Winterlong" below, our Daily Jam.

White Flowers

UK band White Flowers have a new album heading our way in May.  Check out the delightfully catchy dreampop jam "Thinking of You" below and pre-order the "Dreams for Somebody Else" LP here from State51.

Rafael Anton Irisarri

"Points of Inaccessibility" is the latest from ambient composer Rafael Anton Irisarri.  The album originally came together as a performance art piece with visuals from Dutch media artist Jaco Schilp put on in the Netherlands at Uncloud Studio, a space located inside a former forensic psychiatric prison.  Check out the cold soundscape of "Signals from a Distant Afterglow" below and get the LP here from the artist.

Alabaster DePlume

Recorded during the middle of his tour last year with bassist Shahzad Ismaily and drummer Tcheser Holmes, saxophonist and composer Alabaster DePlume is dropping new EP "Dear Children of Our Children, I Knew: Epilogue" this spring, an epilogue of sorts to last year's "A Blade Because a Blade Is Whole."  Check out the wonderful new song "It's Only Now Once (Elbit Systems Windowpane)" below and pre-order the download here from International Anthem.  Also, be on the lookout for a limited vinyl pressing in April on Record Store Day.

Greg Weeks

Pennsylvania based psych artist Greg Weeks (Espers) dropped his latest solo effort, "If the Sun Dies," last month, bits of folk and Americana splashed in acid.  Check out the title track below and grab the LP here.

Touch Girl Apple Blossom

And now for a little jangle pop from Austin's Touch Girl Apple Blossom.  The band's new album "Graceful" is due in May.  Pre-order it here from Perennialdeath and listen to the sunshiny pop of "The Springtime Reminds Me Of..." below.

Daily Jam - In Your Veins

I've been sick the last few days, and it turns out i have covid.  Boooooo!  The wife has it too, but somehow the kids are both negative.  It's going to be a trial keeping it that way.  Masking at home and limited interactions for the foreseeable future.  For the moment though, while they're a way, here's some music from Swedish rock band The Soundtrack of Our Lives.  Listen to "In Your Veins" below, our Daily Jam.

Failure

We truly do live in an awful timeline, but one thing that it does have going for it is that '90s alt-rock band Failure are back together and releasing new music on the regular.  And today we get the word that new album "Location Lost" will be hitting our ears in April.  Check out new track "The Air's on Fire" below and pre-order the download here from the band or the vinyl here from Hello Merch.

Natural Magic

Here's a mellow mix of psychedelia, krautrock, and space rock from Portland, Oregon duo Natural Magic.  "Don't Look Back" feels like coming down, or maybe like something's just about to take off.  Pretty groovy stuff to listen to whilst light-headed from the flu.  Check the track out below and get the new "II" LP here from Optimo Music.

Nashpaints

Dublin artist Finn Carraher McDonald makes music as Nashpaints and just dropped the gorgeous new album "Everything Good Is Called Molly."  The record is a collection of dreamy, out-of-time, spectral pop, lullabies for daydreams and hazy memories.  Check out the absolutely lovely "23" below and grab the album here from MirrorWorld.