Blog: The Needle Drop

Kurt Vile drops some visuals for the track "Never Run Away," which comes off the singer-songwriter's latest full-length, Wakin On A Pretty Day . Check a review for the album below:

The Haxan Cloak's new, sophomore album is possibly one of the scariest sonic experiences you'll have all year. WATCH THE REVIEW

Download: Chance The Rapper - Acid Rap Chicago Chance The Rapper's latest mixtape seems to be the emcee's breakout moment, and it's no surprise considering the tape's impressive, detailed production and solid feature list. But what's gonna keep people sticking through the thirteen tracks on this project is Chance's personality. The dude's got some eccentric vocals and ad-libs that I imagine are gonna be polarizing. But if you can manage to get past-or even enjoy-Chance's eccentricities, then his lyrics, stories, and singing voice are sure to impress. Grab [...]

I might not have been huge on the last Black Pus record , but Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale is still an absolute thrill to watch bang on the skins. He strikes the drums with the force of a gorilla and the speed of a ninja in this new session video, which you can watch vie the embed above. Enjoy!

Canadian saxophonist Colin Stetson delivers another breathtaking performance for La Blogotheque, featuring two songs from his latest full-length album, New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light . Check a review for the album below:

Download: GG DOOM - But How? Thanks to the good people at Rappcats for the download on this new collection of DOOM remixes that were put together by Grip Grand. The San Fran producer grabbed a series of DOOM acapellas and placed 'em over some pretty interesting beats-one of which actually remixes Frank Zappa's "Peaches en Regalia." Enjoy! / via /

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Singer-songriter Jenny Hval's sophomore full-length has its share of jumbled ideas with obvious inspirations, but sometimes her vocal expressions and songwriting are just enough to keep this album intriguing and somewhat moving. WATCH THE REVIEW

Blood Becomes Fire by BEASTWARS Hailing from New Zealand, Beastwars is a four-piece metal band specializing in the sludge variety and incorporating doom and stoner influences as well. Their sophomore LP is titled Blood Becomes Fire , and the first half of it is available to stream above via their Bandcamp, where you can also purchase it in its entirety. Beastwars' mission statement is simple: "obey the riff." It's a statement that certainly defines Blood Becomes Fire , which employs its guitar and bass to emphasize chugging, rumbling lines over thudding albeit [...]

Throughout an excellent debut LP and a handful of stellar EPs , Nicolas Jaar has proven himself worthy in a number of roles throughout the past few years: a producer with fine attention to detail, a justifiably patient songwriter, and a seductive singer. His skills extend to a live context as well, revealing him to be a coherent and focused DJ. This particular talent manifests itself in this set Jaar recently performed in NYC for Boiler Room, which marks the first time he has contributed to the established underground music show. Over the course [...]

The self-titled debut album from English duo Letherette is a colorful trip through a dusty, sample-driven take on house music and instrumental hip hop. "D&T" is a prime representation of the album's house roots, placing groove-laden drums under infectiously sliced vocal snippets and similarly chopped synthesizer bits. The aesthetic is one of its most appealing aspects, favoring an endearingly analog quality rather than venturing into overproduced sheen. When the song eventually peaks with a soaring guitar solo, its melding of the past and present comes fully into fruition, and with it is one of Letherette's greatest strengths: the ability to [...]

Stream: Mikal Cronin - MCII Mikal Cronin is bringing out the first truly summer ready album of the year. All of the songs embrace a brand of pop rock that will get your body moving and ready for the sun. Cronin clearly knows what he is doing with these songs as they feel beautifully full and warm just like the season they clearly embrace. Most importantly they are fun without losing the personality that can come from making music like this, while still having that dance happy tempo to them and soft instrumentation [...]

As you know by now the new album from The Knife is a pretty insane electronic pop ride, and now they're giving a look inside their minds with this new interview, which is also about as crazy as you'd expect. It really feels like this whole video was directed by David Lynch there is loop rewind and slowed down noises and confusing, but symbolic imagery as the Swedish duo talk of their experiences in making music and how they never intended to make another album. It also gives you a peek into the bands motivation behind their music and the [...]

Underground MC Illogic has united with producer Blockhead to make some old school hip-hop with a clear voice to it. The tracks on this album give me vibes from older Atmosphere albums, including the lyrical content and flow of Illogic is even close to Slug in some ways. Each song is consistent and has a lot of fun beats that can be expected by this point with Blockhead on them. It's exciting to see a lot of variety in the genre right now, with artists bringing back a particular 90s sound right here while others are going in [...]

• ManBitesDogRecords - Illogic & Blockhead Capture The Sun

Cloud rap producer Clams Casino drops a new instrumental which features some verses from the metal-faced villain, DOOM. Give a listen via the widget above, and enjoy!

• clammyclams - Bookfiend ft. DOOM

On The Stooges' latest full-length effort, the band is sounding tighter than they did on 20072s The Weirdness , but there's still no effort to fix what was ailing the band lyrically and vocally. WATCH THE REVIEW

On Colin Stetson's latest installment in the New History Warfare series, the Canadian saxophonist displays some tenderness in his incredibly technical solo compositions. WATCH THE REVIEW

A video that drops in on a bunch of albums and songs that I've been meaning to talk about. The reviews and mentions here are pretty cursory, so don't expect anything incredibly detailed. Just some simple reactions to some new stuff. WATCH THE REVIEWS

Stream: Savages - Silence Yourself Raw, dark, and visceral, the new Savages record is up and streaming on the band's website for all to hear. Away! Away with you! Click that sweet link! The UK post-punk outfit's full-length debut will be dropping on Matador Records on the 7th of May. Pre-order here .

Sister Crayon - "Cynic" from stereogum on Vimeo . Sister Crayon delivers a heavy dose of Björk-inspired whimsy against some shadowy visuals in this new video for the song "Cynic," which comes off the group's latest EP of the same title. This new release of theirs is out now via the Connecticut-based label Fake Four Inc., and can be sampled via SoundCloud . Enjoy!

• Sister Crayon - Cynic EP