This here’s the first installment of Recommended Albums where I bring in the “new format” from my previous few list posts. I have a lot of fun with it and people seem to enjoy it so there we go. June was a pretty OK month that was greatly overshadowed by the brilliance of May. There were a few solid gems from this month, along with the incredible new Kedr Livanskiy song “Ariadna.” Take a look below and find something you like.

Beach Fossils – Somersault [Bayonet]
Someone’s entire life has been spent by the ocean and constantly feels the pull of the tide and the smell of the sea breeze whenever they’re anywhere else.

Big Thief – Capacity [Saddle Creek]
Sitting up in bed after being horizontal for a long amount of time, you punch a pillow over and over until it becomes misshapen and somehow the perfect shape for hugging. You lay back down and hug the pillow.

Elder – Reflections Of A Floating World [Armageddon Label]
A buff, enigmatic, conflicted hero sets out on an epic quest to vanquish a mysterious evil. Throughout their journey they must not only conquer various precarious trials and save those in need, but save themselves as well.

Ex Eye – Ex Eye [Relapse]
A piece of paper with the word ‘supergroup’ written on it is put through a transmogrifier and comes out as a hulking goliath, embodying the technical power of mankind and the brutal totality of nature, born to create and destroy whole universes. It is also incredibly nerdy.

Fleet Foxes – Crack-Up [Nonesuch]
A series of long, wide shots of nature in macro and micro forms. Something is careening off canyon walls, bubbling up from the bottom of lakes, crumbling from cliffs, sprouting fungus, rattling leaves, whistling grass, soaring wind, & rising like steam in the morning.

Guerilla Toss – GT Ultra [DFA]
An anxious administrative assistant is given a series of mundane errands, all of which go exceedingly awry. The poor assistant spills coffee on themselves, gets their pants ripped in half, falls down many flights of stairs, accidentally shoves their office crush out a window, gets hopelessly addicted to caffeine, loses on a game show, clips through our reality into one where gravity is inverted, unleashes a horde of slime beasts, turns into a dog, trips on their shoelace, almost becomes a human sacrifice, gets eaten by the Loch Ness Monster, and inadvertently burns their office building down.

Lapalux – Ruinism [Brainfeeder]
Scientists perform experiments on several patients’ dreams, recording the results from implanting AI-generated scenarios and personas into their brains. This causes great turmoil in the patients’ everyday lives, as they start seeing these imaginary characters while conscious, blurring the lines between dream and reality.

Laurel Halo – Dust [Hyperdub]
An Earthly artifact floating in space that contains music of various genres has become mutated by cosmic radiation and is now emitting rogue, corrupting radio signals to satellites across the galaxy.

Palm – Shadow Expert [Carpark]
A big, clumsy cartoon character suddenly materializes into the real world and has a hard time adjusting to how real people conduct themselves in a professional setting, much to the delight of their co-worker’s snide social media accounts.

TOPS – Sugar At The Gate [Arbutus]
A group of close friends on the cusp of breaking apart drive up the coast of California and develop a strong sense of unity amongst themselves through the good, the bad, and the glamorous on their journey.

Vince Staples – Big Fish Theory [Def Jam]
In 2079, a man is having the time of his life in a crumbling Los Angeles, despite the consuming knowledge of the many evils surrounding him.

GR8 SONGS OF JUNE :: 

• Amber Coffman – “City Of No Reply”
• Ariel Pink – “Another Weekend”
• Beach Fossils – “Down The Line”
• Beach House – “Chariot”
• Big Thief – “Mary”
• Chastity Belt – “Used To Be”
• DJ Sports – “Entry Mode”
• Fieldhead – “Accents”
• Fleet Foxes – “Fool’s Errand”
• Guerilla Toss – “Crystal Run”
• Jakob Ogawa – “You Might Be Sleeping (ft. Clairo)”
• Kedr Livanskiy – “Ariadna”
• Kevin Morby – “City Music”
• Kirin J Callinan – “My Moment (ft. Sean Nicholas Savage)”
• Lapalux – “4EVA”
• Laurel Halo – “Moontalk”
• Lorde – “Supercut”
• Palm – “Two Toes”
• TOPS – “Cutlass Cruiser”
• TOPS – “Dayglow Bimbo”
• TOPS – “Topless”
• Vince Staples – “Yeah Right”
• Washed Out – “Hard To Say Goodbye”
• 2 Chainz – “Poor Fool (ft. Swae Lee)”