093 ALTER.NATION.MiX weekly favtraX 28-06-2020

ALTER.NATION #93

Jessie Ware, Gordi, Céu, Bananagun, Pottery, Khruangbin, Sports Team, The Rentals, Haim, Nadine Shah, Derrick Hodge, Art Feynman

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"O o h  L a  L a"

ALTER.NATION #93 on DEEZER

Mature pop artist whose soul-steeped voice has guided a handful of LPs to the Top Ten in her native U.K. An assortment of guest appearances and solo singles in the early 2010s situated Jessie Ware in a line of sophisticated U.K. soul and left-field luminaries ranging from Sade Adu, Lisa Stansfield, and Caron Wheeler to Tracey Thorn and Róisín Murphy. 
Jessie Ware - What's Your Pleasure? / Ooh La La
Rhapsodic dancefloor intimacy became a new specialization for Jessie Ware with "Overtime," the first in a wave of tracks the singer released from 2018 up to the June 2020 arrival of What's Your Pleasure?, her fourth album  ...recontextualize underground club music with as much might and finesse as anything by Róisín Murphy.

Lush, pastoral electro-acoustic pop from Australian singer/songwriter Sophie Payten. Melding lush electronics with moody acoustic songwriting, Gordi emerged from Australia with a series of original songs and covers in the mid-2010s.
Gordi - Our Two Skins / Sandwiches [Alfalfa Mix]
Three years after Gordi's full-length debut, Reservoir, landed in the Top 20 in her native Australia, songwriter Sophie Payten returns with a more personal follow-up, Our Two Skins. It was informed by a series of major life events that included coming to terms with her sexual identity, ending a relationship, and even finishing her years-long studies to become a doctor. Some of the related feelings of isolation -- especially regarding identity -- led her to track the album in a cabin with no phone reception, Wi-Fi, or modern plumbing at her parents' farm in her remote hometown. Not entirely self-recorded, however, she did collaborate with co-producers Chris Messina (Bon Iver, Big Red Machine) and Zach Hanson (Bon Iver, Hand Habits)...

São Paulo-born chanteuse with an alluring and organic fusion of bossa nova, R&B, and Brazilian pop. Céu proved to one of the more internationally appealing singers to break out of Brazil around the time of her 2005 debut, ultimately winning both Latin Grammy and Grammy nominations for Best New Artist and garnering interest across Europe, North America, and finally Asia.
Céu - APKÁ! / Forçar o Verão
APKA!'s title translates as a metalinguistic cry of unrestrained joy by Céu's youngest son. Though a more minimally produced effort than Tropix, the euphoric effect remains, given Céu's treatment of the material. She employs the same crew as last time -- guitarist Pedro Sa, co-producer keyboardist Hervé Salters, bassist Lucas Martins, and drummer/co-producer Pupilo...  "Forçar O Verão" emerges as a shock, with synths and vamping guitars (courtesy of guest Marc Ribot alongside Sa) weaves a new wave aesthetic (a la Ze Records) and also references Fear of Music-era Talking Heads with the lithe salaciousness in Céu's vocal.

Members of Parsnip and Frowning Clouds merge the vintage sounds of psychedelia, Afro-beat, and Tropicalia. Drawing heavily from vintage psychedelia including Tropicalia, '70s Afro-beat, and summery retro-pop, Bananagun emerged out of Melbourne, Australia, in the late 2010s.
Bananagun - The True Story of Bananagun / Bang Go The Bongos
Representing yet another vibrant hue of Melbourne's thriving psychedelic scene are Bananagun, a lively five-piece combo whose arrangements are woven with the sounds of vintage Tropicalia, Afrobeat, garage rock, and sunshine pop... Citing a disparate array of influences from tonsured garage maniacs the Monks and Brazilian pysch-pop pioneers Os Mutantes to '90s hip-hop, Van Bakel and his crew manage a remarkably cohesive, if somewhat busy collection that ultimately pleases. Given their inspirations, it's no surprise that Bananagun place a major emphasis on rhythm and percussion. Opener "Bang Go the Bongos" speaks for itself...

Freewheeling Montreal indie rockers who borrow from post-punk, psych-rock, country, and more. Montreal's Pottery take a freewheeling approach to indie rock that borrows from cult heroes like Devo, Orange Juice, and Josef K and mixes in bits of garage rock, psych-rock, country, and whatever else they see fit with abandon
Pottery - Welcome to Bobby's Motel / Under the Wires
...Musically, the Montreal quintet's first full-length is surprisingly cohesive, coalescing around sweaty punk-funk that owes a heavy debt to LCD Soundsystem, Gang of Four, and especially Talking Heads... Motel lacks in stylistic wandering, however, it more than makes up for in restless energy and tricky structures; songs such as "Under the Wires" are packed with sudden tempo shifts and busy breakdowns and fills... The way Pottery throw themselves completely into their music often has more in common with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard than most of their more detached post-punk-inspired peers...

Jet-setting Texas trio whose smooth, mainly instrumental music is heavily influenced by Thai rock and funk, among other styles. Khruangbin (Thai for airplane, or literally "engine fly") are a jet-setting trio from Texas whose smooth, groove-heavy music is heavily inspired by Thai rock and funk from the '60s and '70s, as well as a multitude of other influences ranging from surf rock to dub to Iranian pop.
Khruangbin - Mordechai / Time (You and I)
After Khruangbin released their second album, Con Todo el Mundo, in early 2018, the jet-setting Texan trio's music suddenly seemed to pop up everywhere, from play lists of many stripes to hip boutiques and eateries. Their uncategorizable but easily enjoyable blend of psych, funk, dub, and myriad other styles managed to find the right audience, and they sold out concerts left and right, while vinyl collectors fiended over limited pressings of their records... Mordechai contains vocals on nearly every song, and the group have much more to say this time around. "Time (You and I)," maybe their best song to date, reflects on a desire to build a future with someone, if only there was more time and the feeling was mutual. The sprawling disco beat and playful cadences make the song an easy party jam, but the lyrics' mixture of fantasy and invitation resonate harder than anything else they've written...

Founded at Cambridge, this indie rock band fuses energetic guitar rock with dry humor and playful arrogance. Playing energetic, guitar-based indie rock with a sharp but playful edge, Sports Team are a band from the North London community of Harlesden whose taut sound is matched to witty lyrics that celebrate flip phones, Ashton Kutcher, and tacky British seaside resorts.
Sports Team - Deep Down Happy / Stations Of The Cross
London-based six-piece Sports Team managed to generate excitement from their inception. Packing shows as students at Cambridge University, they quickly drew the interest of indie labels like Nice Swan with their muscular guitar hooks and point-blank, chant-along choruses about class division, demagogues, friends who change, friends who won't, and actor Ashton Kutcher... The album's length is just about right, going by in an efficient 36 minutes but feeling satisfying at the end, and while fans are bound to pick favorites, there's not a real dud in the bunch.

Initially a retro side-project from Matt Sharp's day job as bassist for Weezer, later one of the most enjoyable alternative bands of the late '90s.
The Rentals - Q36 / Forgotten Astronaut
...Sharp and friends have been exploring since the project began in the mid-'90s. With 16 songs and a lengthy running time, Q36 is epic in scale alone. With recurring themes of space travel and detours into science fiction territory, the album becomes even more fantastically epic... Q36 overflows with theatrical hooks, otherworldly concepts and the kind of brilliantly straightforward pop songwriting Sharp has perfected. It's a long album but stays on full power for its entirety, with the endlessly catchy songs of alien worlds standing as some of the brightest and strangest material the Rentals have ever delivered.

American sister act HAIM -- their name simply taken from the trio's surname -- formed in 2006 after spending their childhood as part of family cover band Rockinhaim. They grew up together in California's San Fernando Valley, where they were brought up listening to Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, Santana, and the sounds of Motown, to name a few of their diverse influences...
HAIM - Women In Music Pt. III / Up From A Dream
Dark events of the sisters’ recent past inform their revelatory third album on which garage and louche funk combine with west-coast rock... Haim’s third album retains some of their perpetual glide. But this is a set in which everyone is dancing with tears in their eyes, and one where Haim’s pat affiliation to 70s west coast truisms undergoes some interesting seepage. More so than ever before, Haim venture outside their musical Hotel California, with jazz saxophone and UK garage beats heading up a lively new intake of sounds. Intermittent blasts of lurid electric guitar – witness the chorusing riffola on All That Ever Mattered – are there to underline the trio’s allegiance to rock music... Stranger still, Up from a Dream galumphs like glam rock, but some hyper-processed machine variant, strafed by low-flying effects...

Born of Pakistani and Norwegian parentage, Whitburn, South Tyneside-based singer/songwriter Nadine Shah possesses a voice and more importantly, a mystique, that has often been described as a blend of PJ Harvey and Nick Cave.
Nadine Shah - Kitchen Sink / Ladies for Babies (Goats for Love)
The fourth long-player from the spell-casting English singer/songwriter, Kitchen Sink is aptly named, as Nadine Shah and longtime collaborator/producer Ben Hillier have crafted a wily and inventive collection of songs that pair astute social commentary with crisp, cosmopolitan arrangements drawing from a deep and intuitive arsenal of styles... Like its predecessor, the scathing "Ladies for Babies (Goats for Love)" is awash in wiggly beats, staccato horns, and flourishes of Tropicalia, with Shah's evocative lyrics and stately, confidant voice wryly and vividly parsing the relationship between sexism and fertility. Exploring the notion of what it means to be both a woman in your thirties and an outsider (Shah was born of Pakistani and Norwegian parentage), the sinewy title track's clanging guitars and strident piano mirror the narrator's insistence on combating cognitive bias with confidence -- it's a strut, not a sprint...

Philadelphia bassist who is equally adept on electric and upright instruments. He is a recording artist, film composer, and session musician.
Derrick Hodge - Color of Noize / The Cost
Color of Noize is at once the title of his third album and the name of his band, comprised of pianist/organist Jahari Stampley, keyboardist and synth player Michael Aaberg, drummers Mike Michell and Justin Tyson, and DJ Jahi Sundance on turntables. Hodge plays bass, guitar, keys, and sings. He co-produced the set with Don Was... Color of Noize is the first time Hodge has worked with an outside producer. Cut live in studio, his musicians encountered the music only when they were about to record it; improvised moments are abundant here. Hodge doesn't meld genres, he blurs them in an exotic, resonant, uplifting music of his own. Groove and flow become multivalent expressions of a single creative voice through instrumental hip-hop, contemporary jazz, indie rock, and soul; they emerge to offer emotional depth and spiritual heft.
"The Cost" opens with sampled, fragmented voices hovering above fretless bass, turntables, reverb, wafting organ, and lithe piano, grooving through the studio haze in a thunderous crescendo with lightning-fast breaks and vamps that bind them...

Animist musician and alter ego of indie singer/songwriter Luke Temple (Here We Go Magic). Around the time he switched coasts and settled down in Northern California in 2016, visual artist and indie singer/songwriter Luke Temple (Here We Go Magic) adopted the persona of animist musician Art Feynman.
Art Feynman - Half Price at 3:30 / Night Flower
The second album by Luke Temple alter ego Art Feynman, Half Price at 3:30, follows Temple's sixth long-player under his own name, 2019's Both-And. Whereas his main solo releases sometimes venture into purer acoustic folk, his output as Feynman has remained in a trippy, ethereal, electro-acoustic territory that often moves seamlessly between structured song and something more improvisatory. There is definitely some stylistic overlap between the two catalogs, however, at least to the outside ear...

Jessie Ware, Gordi, Céu, Bananagun, Pottery, Khruangbin, Sports Team, The Rentals, Haim, Nadine Shah, Derrick Hodge, Art Feynman

066 ALTER.NATION.MiX weekly favtraX 01-12-2019

ALTER.NATION #66

Sorry, Cornershop, Weaves, The Tippo Allstars & Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, Tom Waits, Haim, Leonard Cohen, Nicolas Godin Feat. Cola Boyy, Beck Feat. Sky Ferreira, City Girls, Kvelertak, Pop. 1280, Marilyn Manson

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"Rock ‘N’ Roll Star"

ALTER.NATION #66 on DEEZER

NEW NOISE: SORRY
Every time we listen to Sorry, the four-piece rock band from North London, we can’t help but feeling as if what is blaring through our headphones is unlike anything we have heard before. The music is rock, grunge rock, with strands of electronic coursing through it, and deliciously moody vocals from lead vocalist Asha Lorenz completing the circle.
Tags: alternative rock grunge post post-punk post-rock London
Sorry - Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
...Although they’re known for switching up their style from song to song, one thing this new one has in common with its predecessor is a reliance on wild saxophone trills. “Rock ‘N’ Roll Star” is a bit more deconstructed at first, like Sonic Youth attempting a nasty jazz track that eventually morphs into idiosyncratic pop music. Amidst the minimalist chaos, Asha Lorenz sings, I stayed up all night with a rock ‘n’ roll star/ He said you gotta just follow the part, you are not who you are.” From there it keeps transforming, always maintaining its unique aesthetic no matter how much the turmoil transforms....

Indian-influenced indie band led by Tjinder Singh, who mix dance, reggae, dub, hip-hop, and rock. 
Cornershop - No Rock: Save In Roll
It’s been 22 years since Cornershop, the great Britpop-era genre-melters, scored an out-of-nowhere UK #1 with Fatboy Slim’s remix of “Brimful Of Asha.” And it’s been almost eight years since Cornershop released Hold On It’s Easy, their most recent album. So it’s cool to learn that Cornershop, a band that many of us remember fondly, is planning a big return... “No Rock: Save In Roll,” the first track we’ve heard from England Is A Garden, has a Stones-y guitar riff and a funky tumble of drums. It’s Cornershop doing Primal Scream — specifically the Primal Scream era when Primal Scream were doing the Stones. Maybe there’s some complexity to the lyrics that I haven’t figured out yet, but right now, at least to me, it’s just a big and sunny rock song.

Toronto-based indie rock outfit whose music is sharp and angular, but with a genuine sense of fun and exploration.
Weaves - Internet Tears
That’s both a musical and emotional statement: The song, their first since 2017’s Wide Open, is called “Internet Tears,” and it’s built around Jasmyn Burke’s refrain, “Sometimes the internet makes me cry at night/ Sometimes I cry at night looking at the internet.” If the last album found them embracing classic-rock grandiosity, this song goes way in the opposite direction, toward abstraction and absurdity and an extreme closeup of one person’s anxiety... In a press release, Burke explains, “I was watching something on the Internet that made me cry and started thinking about how ridiculous and funny and peculiar it is that we can sit alone staring at a screen and feel such strong feelings of happiness or sadness or anger while just browsing. It’s like imposed feelings or something. Maybe you can relate.”

Fiona Apple defied categorization or any easy career path, almost running the pattern in reverse, opening her career as a highly touted and popular alternative singer/songwriter, then transitioning into a cult artist.
The Tippo Allstars & Fiona Apple - Your Molecular Structure (Mose Allison Cover)
Not unlike his namesake, Luther Allison, pianist Mose Allison suffered from a "categorization problem," given his equally brilliant career. Although his boogie-woogie and bebop-laden piano style was innovative and fresh-sounding when it came to blues and jazz
The jazz and blues piano legend Mose Allison died late in 2016, just a few days after his 89th birthday. In the three years since, Fat Possum Records has assembled an all-star tribute to Allison... Apple has been pleasantly active in surprising, idiosyncratic ways this year: covering the Waterboys for The Affair, contributing an original Halloween song to Bob’s Burgers, guesting on a King Princess track, covering the Beach Boys alongside Jakob Dylan for the Echo In The Canyon documentary.  And now she’s teamed with the Tippo Allstars on a jaunty cover of Allison’s “Your Molecular Structure.” Who are the Tippo Allstars, you might ask? They are indeed an all-star band, named for Allison’s hometown of Tippo, Mississippi. Benmont Tench on piano, Fred Tackett on electric guitar, David Garza on nylon string guitar, Sebastian Steinberg on bass, and Don Heffington on drums.

Fiona Apple

A Los Angeles, California-based folk-rock artist with a dreamy and hook-filled indie pop heart.
Phoebe Bridgers - Georgia Lee (Tom Waits Cover)
Phoebe Bridgers is a great songwriter, and she’s also a great interpreter of other people’s songs... Today sees the release of the new tribute compilation Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits... Bridgers covers “Georgia Lee,” a deeply sad song from Waits’ 1999 album Mule Variations. The song is a tragedy, a true story about an impoverished black girl who, in 1997, was abducted and murdered at the age of 12. Bridgers gives a sensitive, tremulous reading of the song, really driving home how upsetting it is.

American sister act that creates infectious pop/rock with influences ranging from Fleetwood Mac to '80s synth pop.
HAIM - If It Be Your Will (Leonard Cohen Cover)
...HAIM’s contribution to this project is a Leonard Cohen cover — but not Cohen’s oft-covered “Hallelujah,” despite the fact that they did release a song called “Hallelujah” this week. Rather, they’ve taken a crack at “If It Be Your Will.” Their treatment of the classic is sweet and sentimental, with Danielle Haim’s voice totally commanding Cohen’s oft jaunty cadence. Este and Alana come in to harmonize during the chorus, and within the swell of reverb, their delivery is absolutely haunting...

Composer/multi-instrumentalist, best known as one half of Air, who embarked on a solo career in 2015.
Nicolas Godin - The Foundation (Feat. Cola Boyy)
Nicolas Godin — one-half of the French duo Air... Godin is sharing a new track, “The Foundation,” which features guest vocals from the California singer Cola Boyy. Godin had this to say about the track in a statement: "Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #21 was the starting point for this song. Well, at least that’s how I presented the music to its future singer, Cola Boyy. I told him about the project’s architectural origins, explaining that he must let his own personal inspiration run free for the lyrics. I always thought that a concept was always the perfect way to start a record, but then you should soon let the music take over..."

One of the most inventive, eclectic figures of the alternative era, the epitome of post-modern chic in an era obsessed with junk culture.
Beck - Die Waiting (Feat. Sky Ferreira)
Beck releases his new album Hyperspace, a fascinating piece of work that he largely co-wrote and co-produced with Pharrell Williams.... We don’t get to hear from Sky Ferreira enough. Her great debut album Night Time, My Time is now six years old. This year, Ferreira has released the single “Downhill Lullaby” and sung with Charli XCX on “Cross You Out,” but that’s pretty much been it. So it’s cool to hear Ferreira’s voice on the new Beck song “Die Waiting,” even if she’s really just singing backup. “Die Waiting” is an interesting amalgam of dancey beck and folksy Beck. Beck co-produced the track with Pharrell Williams and David Greenbaum, and he co-wrote it with Cole MGN and Kossiko Konan. It’s a midtempo track, driven by an acoustic guitar strum and a synthetic beat...

Brash Miami duo who scored a deal with the Quality Control label after the recording of their first track, "Fu*k Dat Ni**a." Irreverent rap duo City Girls had no ambition beyond recording a diss track in 2017 and by the end of the next year signed with Quality Control, released their charting first two albums with Period and Girl Code, and contributed to Drake's number one pop hit "In My Feelings."
City Girls - You Tried It
City Girls are back at full strength. Last year, when the Miami rap duo was on the precipice of breaking through, group member JT was sent to federal prison for credit card fraud. But Yung Miami, her City Girls partner, kept working and shouting out JT. Last month, JT was released from prison, and she immediately released the new song “JT First Day Out.” Today, City Girls are back with their first song as a duo since JT’s release... “You Tried It,” the new City Girls track, is pretty much exactly what you want from a new City Girls track. JT and Yung Miami rose to fame by talking mercenary sex stuff over hard, simplistic old-school Southern rap beats. “You Tried It” is two minutes long, and it’s got a big, heavy, uncluttered DJ Chose beat. And the two group members talk so much shit in those two minutes.

Kvelertak's fusion of raw punk 'n' roll with harsh, shrieking black metal fury and lyrics in Norwegian was a surprise global hit.
Kvelertak - Båtebrann
For many years, the Norwegian band Kvelertak have been arguably the most straight-up fun band on the entire metal underground. They’ve got a sound that’s entirely their own: chest-puffed roaring, Motörhead riffage, tremendous singalong hooks, and occasional flashes of classic-rock choogle, all tied to an unrelenting ferocity that splits the difference between black metal and crust punk...  “Båtebrann,” we get to hear Nioklaisen at work. He’s got an impressive growl of his own, one that’s got a higher pitch than what Hjelvik brought to the table. The seven-minute single pushes even further in the classic rock direction that band was moving in on Nattesferd. There’s some Mötley Crüe in their riffage now, and there’s also a big, harmonized chorus that reminds me of Queen or Kansas or something. Nioklaisen introduces the guitar solo by deadpanning, “Ay, guitar, come on!” (It’s also possible that he’s saying, “Air guitar, come one!”) ...

Noisy, minimalist Brooklyn quartet influenced by post-punk and no wave. Indebted to no wave and post-punk, and named for one of noir novelist Jim Thompson's bleakest tales, Brooklyn's Pop. 1280 was started by Chris Bug and Ivan Lip in 2009.
Pop. 1280 - Under Duress
...“Under Duress,” a nervy and oppressive growl, and had this say about it:
"‘Under Duress’ started out as just a drumbeat that sounded like it had a song inside of it.  We layered synthesizers and samples onto it and took it into the studio.  There was an upright piano there, and spontaneously we decided to play that on the intro and throughout the song and it affected the mood incredibly.  The swells of analog synth and samples that bounce off each other like waves after the choruses really affect us and are very satisfying to play live."

Controversial singer known for his outlandish outfits, skillful media manipulation, and deceptively melodic hard rock.Iconic rock frontman Marilyn Manson became a mainstream antihero in the '90s -- much to the chagrin of conservative politicians and concerned parents -- before settling into a goth elder statesman role in the 2000s with a matured blues-rock reinvention.
Marilyn Manson - The End (The Doors Cover)
Right now, Marilyn Manson is riding a nice little career renaissance, mostly because rappers keep namechecking him... Manson recorded “The End” with the country rocker Shooter Jennings producing; they’re apparently now working on an album together. It’s not Manson and Jennings’ first time covering an iconic movie song; they recorded a version of David Bowie’s “Cat People” together a couple of years ago.

Sorry, Cornershop, Weaves, The Tippo Allstars & Fiona Apple, Phoebe Bridgers, Tom Waits, Haim, Leonard Cohen, Nicolas Godin Feat. Cola Boyy, Beck Feat. Sky Ferreira, City Girls, Kvelertak, Pop. 1280, Marilyn Manson

050 ALTER.NATION weekly favtraX 25-08-2019

ALTER.NATION #50

Jay Som, Seratones, Ceremony, Joyero, Lina Tullgren, Modern Nature, Alexander Tucker, Lala Lala, Lunch Lady, Oh Rose, Queen of Jeans, Haim

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" C r o w n "

ALTER.NATION #50 on DEEZER

The alias of songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and lush bedroom pop specialist Melina Duterte. 
Jay Som - Crown from Anak Ko
Most of Melina Duterte’s second album was written in a week-long trip to Joshua Tree - a National Park outside of Los Angeles famed for its out-of-this-world scenery and propensity for artistic inspiration... Jangling guitar strums are Jay Som’s sonic signature, but with Beatles bass lines, dreamy synth pads and lo-fi micro-beats providing surprises at every corner, she’s impossible to pin down. Call it chill wave, call it dream pop, call her a bedroom producer - this album’s full of enough variety and adventure to make such generalisations moot. A real triumph.

Louisiana four-piece plays a revved-up fusion of vintage soul and raunchy garage rock. 
Seratones - Power from Power
...On Power Haynes uses the bands new slick, more commercial style to tackle many political issues via passionate, personal songs. The title track is a female empowerment anthem with a tick-tock Motown backbeat and what sounds like sweeping synth strings. It is full of bluster and attitude, but like a lot of songs on this album I find the lyrics not quite up to the job of creating empathy or understanding of the issue addressed – although ‘Power’ is helped by a stirring music video that helps put it all in context...

California quintet who moved from grindcore beginnings to far more restrained and shadowy goth rock styles. 
Ceremony - Years of Love from In the Spirit World Now
...sixth album In the Spirit World Now finds Ceremony reinventing their sound yet again, with ambitious arrangements and dense upbeat rock songs that lean more towards synths and sleaze than anything the band has done before... They fare better as a dancey new wave party band than they did emulating Joy Division on their album before this, but for all its energy and drive, Spirit World is light on truly striking songs.

An assortment of eclectic indie electronic sounds from Wye Oak co-founder Andy Stack. 
Joyero - Steepest Stairs from Release the Dogs
...Written and recorded primarily in Marfa, Texas, during a transitional moment between records, cities, and relationships, Release the Dogs occupies its own liminal space between the natural and the man-made, between the structures we create to keep ourselves safe and the terrifying enormity that exists beyond thbe em. Throughout the record, organic and electronic elements are seamlessly woven together into a single fabric that can be both intimate and explosive. As with Wye Oak’s best records, Release the Dogs finds its own unique voice by holding opposing ideas and aesthetics in tension with each other, and inviting the listener to find their own answer.

Introspective, lo-fi melancholia from this enchanting New England singer/songwriter. 
Lina Tullgren - Golden Babyland from Free Cell
Like the version of solitaire after which it is named, Lina Tullgren's Free Cell is characterized by solvable puzzles and moving from disarray into organization. The New England native used FreeCell almost as a sort of meditation while touring in support of their 2017 debut and found a kind of solace and clarity in the game's processes. Writing songs alone while staying at their parents' house between tours, Tullgren willingly engaged with their sense of isolation and alienation, finding something new within themselves as the material developed...

A mix of bucolic folk, exploratory jazz, and psych-tinged indie rock from this U.K. band led by Jack Cooper and Will Young. 
Modern Nature - Footsteps from How to Live 
A woven basket of bucolic British folk, woolly free jazz, and pulsing organic trance, Modern Nature burrow themselves into an unusual niche. A project of former Ultimate Painting chief Jack Cooper's and Moon Gangs' Will Young's, the duo inhabit a murky space where punchy mod drums, burbling analog synths, and unwieldy saxophones dance with grassy field recordings, fingerpicked guitar, and secretive vocals suggesting ancient rites in natural spaces. Delivered by Bella Union, How to Live is the group's first full-length release and improves upon the four-song Nature EP which they released earlier in 2019...

British experimental singer/songwriter who has released electro-acoustic folk albums as well as avant-synth pop as part of Grumbling Fur. 
Alexander Tucker - Montag from Guild of the Asbestos Weaver
Swiftly following his best release to date, 2018's excellent Don't Look Away, Alexander Tucker made the expansive, hypnotic Guild of the Asbestos Weaver. The remarkably focused album is easily one of his most consistent efforts, achieving a potent electro-acoustic fusion sound and balancing drones with instantly familiar-sounding hooks. Most of the instruments he's credited with playing are various synths, drum machines, and effects, but apart from the electronic beats, his bass and cello are the most prominent elements, and he transforms them into a rich, fuzzy haze which befits his elegant vocals. The album's title is a reference to Fahrenheit 451, and while the lyrics are inspired by Tucker's love of science fiction and horror, tying into his work as a visual artist, it doesn't sound nearly as dark or dystopian...

Fuzzy, deeply introspective indie rock project led by British-born, Chicago-based singer/songwriter Lillie West. A deeply introspective and noisy Chicago-based indie rock project led by singer/songwriter Lillie West, Lala Lala rose from playing basements in the underground D.I.Y. scene to signing with Sub Pop imprint Hardly Art...
Lala Lala - Fuck With Your Friends from Sleepyhead
Chicago band Lala Lala is centered around the dark-yet-vulnerable songwriting of Lillie West. West's songs reached a wider audience with her 2018 album The Lamb, a collection of straightforward and intuitive indie rock songs about sobriety, trauma, and recovery... Sleepyhead's blown-out drums, growling bass lines, and walls of layered vocals all look to '90s grunge... Listeners intrigued by riskier production and the happy accidents of lo-fi recording might even prefer the scattered and sometimes unhinged sounds.

Indie rock quartet who emerged from Los Angeles' D.I.Y. scene in the late 2010s. Los Angeles quartet Lunch Lady blend the sonics of their vibrant influences into a unique strain of dusty, ephemeral indie rock. 
Lunch Lady - Deeper from Angel
When friends Rachel Birke and Juan Velasquez came together in 2017 to form their new band Lunch Lady, they took with them only the best parts of their former respective D.I.Y. punk bands Heller Keller and Abe Vigoda. With their new project, they translated the youthful energy shared by both of their earlier acts into something more dreamy than spiky, relying on lyrical power rather than speedy tempos and the force of sheer volume. Lunch Lady's debut album, Angel, is inarguably punk, but the songwriting duo softens every edge with nostalgia and a haze of mystery. The album opens with its titular track, composed of a chorus-drenched bass line, jagged guitar lines, and jittery post-punk rhythms...

Atmospheric Olympia-based indie rock combo mixes tuneful grit and emotional catharsis. Oh, Rose are a Washington-based indie rock combo led by singer/songwriter Olivia Rose Huebner, whose swooning vocals dip and dive across a backdrop of tuneful grit, atmospheric arrangements, and emotional catharsis.
Oh, Rose - Politics from While My Father Sleeps
While My Father Sleeps, the full-length debut by Oh, Rose, serves the double purpose of introducing a fiery indie rock combo and delivering the poignant backstory of its leader and namesake Olivia Rose Huebner. The Olympia-based quartet formed in 2014, establishing themselves around the Pacific Northwest with a well-received EP and subsequent mini-album before landing a deal with Park the Van Records in hopes of finding a wider audience. As a songwriter, Huebner has flashed shades of personal catharsis since the beginning, weaving themes of struggle, defiance, and renewal into elastic lo-fi missives full of explosive peaks and valleys...

Philly outfit makes yearning indie pop tinged with surf rock, dream pop, and psychedelic influences... Queen of Jeans formed in Philadelphia in 2015 with singer and main songwriter Miriam Devora, guitarist Matheson Glass, and bassist Nina Scotto. 
Queen of Jeans - I Am in Love With Your Mind from If You're Not Afraid, I'm Not Afraid
After releasing a dreamy, catchy debut EP steeped in retro influences like surf and psych-rock as well as later dream pop, Queen of Jeans refined their sound without significantly changing their style on their first album, 2018's Dig Yourself. A year later, they take another step toward more streamlined structures on the still hooky and sweetly trippy If You're Not Afraid, I'm Not Afraid. It represents a first-time collaboration with producer Will Yip (the Menzingers, Mannequin Pussy, Petal). Filled with yearning lyrics that veer between discontented, hopeful, and resigned, all delivered by main songwriter Miriam Devora's lucid, classic pop vocals, it's a mostly lively, churning set with echoing guitar progressions and full rock drums...

American sister act that creates infectious pop/rock with influences ranging from Fleetwood Mac to '80s synth pop. 
Haim - Summer Gir
Early on in the making of Haim’s 2017 album Something to Tell You, the band’s producer (and Danielle Haim’s romantic partner) Ariel Rechtshaid learned that he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Though he’s since recovered, Haim’s new song “Summer Girl” was born at a time when his prognosis was still uncertain. “I was on tour and felt like I was trying to send positive energy his way almost telepathically,” Danielle wrote in a statement about the track. “... Taking heavy inspiration from Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” the song features a jazzier palette than Haim’s usual guitar-forward funk-pop. All throughout, an upright bass cycles through a handful of notes while Danielle’s soft coos of “doot-doo” mirror the tension. It’s a phrase that usually surfaces in lighthearted background vocals, or when humming along to a song you don’t know the words to, but Danielle’s vowels are tinged with sadness and hesitation, as if she’s holding back tears...

Jay Som, Seratones, Ceremony, Joyero, Lina Tullgren, Modern Nature, Alexander Tucker, Lala Lala, Lunch Lady, Oh Rose, Queen of Jeans, Haim