At the moment there's no word on a title, collaborators, tracklists, or anything else of the sort, but after rumours surfaced of Kanye West releasing a new album in June after he made a tweet saying "June Eighteen", it's all but been made official. Now according to Rap Radar's Elliott Wilson, Def Jam Records (via Chris Atlas) have confirmed that it is in fact a new album that's coming out, and it will in fact be released on June 18th. That's only six weeks away, folks. Six weeks until we [...]
If you've slept on Amateur Best 's great debut album, No Thrills , you're missing out. Released in the cold month of February, the album offered a warm respite of groove-led, off-kilter dance tunes. Plus, the opening track, "Ready for the Good Life," is one of the year's best dance tunes. Another highlight from it, "Pleased," now has a video to go along with it, though I'm not sure if anyone is actually "pleased" to be [...]
For a long time I avoided Majical Cloudz . I mean, Majical Cloudz for Pete's sake. Then something made me listen to his gorgeous Turns Turns Turns EP from last year and I was converted. Those 18 minutes are some of the most quietly stunning music I've heard in a while, especially the title track. From then on, his debut album, Impersonator , has moved toward the front of my personal "highly anticipated" list, and we're now at just under a [...]
Robert Pollard is an indie rock legend. As the driving force behind the Dayton, Ohio group Guided by Voices , his output has not only been of exceptional quality, but exceptionally prolific. English Little League is the band's 20th studio album since their formation in ’83 – and making twenty LPs in that amount of time is no mean feat, especially if you discount their recent 6-year hiatus. They were most celebrated at the midpoint of the ‘90s, when they put out modern classics such as [...]
Not much is left to say about Colin Stetson , but if you haven't gotten caught up yet, here's a brief rundown: Colin Stetson is a musician on a whole new level for musicians. He plays saxophone (and pretty much everything else with a reed) like a professional athlete, wrestling, pushing, and generally torturing his instrument, utilizing a technique called circular breathing to play for, sometimes, 15 goddamn minutes straight! Wikipedia has generously compiled a list of artists he's recorded and performed with, and it's even larger than I recalled: [...]
You can't ask Kid Cudi to be any more than who he is - a proud stoner, actor, and, most notably, an electronica-addicted rapper and producer. That kind of integrity within may be good for him on a personal level, but when it comes to music, he doesn't seem to have risen to the occasion. On his latest record, Indicud, he has moments of genius that recall his earlier work, but he never fully commits, or grows beyond the Kid Cudi [...]
Arriving in a signature swirl of Farfisa organ, "Voodoo Moon" starts out like a lost gem of West Coast psychedelia by Love , The Seeds or The Doors . Even the artwork harks back to the Nuggets era, with its B-movie horror-poster animation and font. Instead, it's the third single by young Liverpool band The Wicked Whispers , prominent surfers on the crest of a new psychedelia wave. The video, shot by Microcosm 's Mike Snowdon, harks back far farther than the band's image and sound, featuring a [...]
Back in 2010 the Vancouver, Canada quartet Dead Ghosts released their debut album S/T on the Florida's Dying label, but it wasn't until a friend made a mixtape for me in 2012 that I was introduced to the band's music, with their album opener "When It Comes To You" . The '60s garage-surf-rock vibe is a vein of music I'll always love, perhaps due to how good it sounds on vinyl, so I was instantly smitten, especially since I'm [...]
Marina and the Diamonds and Charli XCX are about to embark on a joint tour of the US in what is sure to be one of the most fun nights of the year for those in attendance. Leading up to the upcoming performances, the underground pop stars have decided to join musical forces in the form of a new song, "Just Desserts." It falls firmly in the sonic space between the two artists' respective styles: it's a bit darker than Marina's usually glamorous pop, but it's a bit brighter than [...]
It's been quite the week for Vampire Weekend , having just performed live for Amex Unstaged, directed by actor Steve Buscemi, and played two new cuts "Obvious Bicycle" and "Everlasting Arms" for the first time. Tonight their performance on Later With Jools Holland aired where they played a rousing version of first single "Diane Young" as well as "Unbelievers" , previously aired on late night TV a couple [...]
!!!'s previous album, Stranger Weather, Isn't It? felt like the gasp of the dance-punk genre. With too much filler, stagnant beats, and a listless production, the record showed a band who appeared out of gas. So, it's with some surprise that Thr!!!er finds the group rejuvenated and energized, and creating a record that not only feels cohesive but is appearing right in-time for summer. Thr!!!er is a well-sequenced album that struts onto the [...]
Snoop Lion (a.k.a. Snoop Dogg , a.k.a. Snoop Doggy Dogg ) has taken quite a few surprising turns in recent years. First, there was his questionable guest verse on Katy Perry’s “California Girls” , which was definitely Snoop sounding his laziest, even if it did make the track more infectious. Then he convinced “Like a G6” stars The Cataracs to filter his voice through Autotune and crap out a hit single called “Wet” , which [...]
Do you know Wilsen ? You should get to know Wilsen. The New York folk four piece make the kind of beautifully haunting music that hits the sweet spot between feeling your heart breaking in two and a sort of uplifting, hopeful feeling. Lead single "Anahita" was released a few months ago - I remember trying to post it and life getting very complicated, and me being too busy hitting the replay button - and now Pigeons & Planes has premiered the band's next single: "Dusk." [...]
It may be the fact that I'm running on little sleep, but the video for Empire of the Sun 's "Alive" has left me a tad bit confused. I mean, I guess it was expected, given their track record, but still, this was just out of this world. Somehow, I think that's exactly what they were going for. In any case, there are some really nice shots throughout, as well as some wacky costumes (see above) and fist-pumping, but more than anything the video is great to revisit [...]
One of the defining bands of the indie rock explosion of the mid-00’s, Art Brut arrived with a style that was very unique for the time and, inevitably, is so overdone today. Their mix of thick-English-accented Sprechstimme and garage rock influenced music (imagine The Hives if they were from Bournemouth) influenced a flurry of bands after them, like The Fratellis and The Kooks . But Art Brut were not only the originals, but the best, with lead [...]
California five-piece The Neighbourhood burst onto the scene just over a year ago shrouded in mystery. In fact, for a while, their name was really all we knew. Over the next few months and especially after the release of their brilliant debut EP, I'm Sorry… , more information on the band trickled out , revealing a young band that had a clear sense of direction, vision, and aesthetic. Much was - and continues to be - made about their preference for black & white [...]
First Boards Of Canada announce their long-awaited new album Tomorrow's Harvest , and now Neutral Milk Hotel reunite? What a good Monday. As Consequence Of Sound points out, Jeff Magnum will be joining the rest of Neutral Milk Hotel for some tour dates next fall. While only five have been announced, their website says that there will be "more to come". It's the first time the band have played together since [...]
After launching a password protected website just this morning, the code was broken and access was granted, revealing a brand new album title and tracklist. Boards Of Canada will release Tomorrow's Harvest via Warp Records on June 10th/11th. The artwork is above, the tracklist is below, and once we have an actual, fully-formed piece of new music, you know we'll be posting it. The album will be the Scottish duo's first since 20052s The Campfire Headphase [...]
Photography by Jerome Toole About a year and a half ago, young electronic artist Jamie Isaac released a couple of demos on his Bandcamp page, and then was silent for almost all of the last 18 months. He did work with King Krule in that time, something that's immediately evident upon first listen to either of the three tracks below. "Wash" and "Blue Break" are the demos from Bandcamp, but the real gem is "Softly [...]
It only takes a brief glance down the shelves of your local record store to learn an important lesson: naming a band is hard. There's a delicate balance between capturing your aesthetic spirit, not sounding like an idiot, and remaining Googleable - a balance that all too few seem to achieve. I presume, though, that when your actual name is Cosmo Sheldrake , the issue is pretty much rendered moot. Not only is there precisely zero chance of anybody turning up the wrong search result, it also captures perfectly the air of distinctly English eccentricity [...]
Listen Before You Buy
MP3: Daft Punk – “Horizons” (RAM Japanese Bonus Track)
Daft Punk – “Doin’ It Right” ft. Panda Bear
