In this edition of Recommended Albums, we pick up some hip hop, folk bliss, the most hyped rock band in a minute, Brazilian breezes, improvised ambient jazz and more. This month was difficult to get through just because I was compiling my 2019 So Far lists, but we’ve got some bangers nonetheless.

Benny the Butcher – The Plugs I Met [Black Soprano Family, LLC]
A vintage car speeding down a highway with $100 bills flying out the convertible roof.

Bill Callahan – Shepherd in a Sheepskin Vest [Drag City]
Waking up before the rest of your family to enjoy a swim in the lake and a can of Campbell’s tomato soup by yourself at sunrise.

black midi – Schlagenheim [Rough Trade]
Falling into a sewer and being thrown through a gauntlet of harrowing, skin-peeling trials of strength and tenacity by a secret mutated subterranean community.

Daughter of Swords – Dawnbreaker [Nonesuch]
The only way to travel to the homes of your friends and family is by horse, and you start your journey across mountains and plains early in the morning.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana [Keep Cool/RCA/Madlib Invazion/ESGN]
A coke dealer in the late 70s is chilling hard with the best record collection in the city.

Hatchie – Keepsake [Double Double Whammy]
The feeling of your loose sleeves rippling in the wind on a bright, sunny day.

Lifted – 2 [PAN]
A frog turns inside-out and performs graceful ice skating routines on a frozen lake.

Mannequin Pussy – Patience [Epitaph]
Finding personal worth in yourself after a series of debilitating events and behaviors through blood, sweat, tears and fire.

Sessa – Grandeza [Boiled Records]
A lazy ocean breeze wafts in behind a bead curtain into an incense-scented living room.

Vanishing Twin – The Age of Immunology [Fire Records]
Opening the door to your house leads to an alien room with two doors. The second leads you to a room with four. The sequence continues as doors of varying sizes, shapes and colors line a seemingly never-ending chasm of confusion and distraction.

GR8 SONGS OF JUNE::

• Bill Callahan – “Angela”
• black midi – “953”
• black midi – “Ducter”
• black midi – “Reggae”
• Blanck Mass – “House Vs. House”
• Burial – “Claustro”
• Burial – “State Forest”
• Carla Geneve – “2001”
• Chelsea Wolfe – “The Mother Road”
• Fire-Toolz – “✓ BEiNG”
• Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – “Education (feat. Yasiin Bey & Black Thought)”
• Hatchie – “Stay With Me”
• Joan Shelley – “Coming Down For You”
• Kasper Marott – “Drømmen Om Ø – Forever Mix ’19”
• Mannequin Pussy – “Drunk II”
• Roísín Murphy – “Incapable”
• (Sandy) Alex G – “Gretel”
• Sessa – “Flor Do Real”
• Vanishing Twin – “KRK (At Home In Strange Places)”
• Vanishing Twin – “Magician’s Success”