We recently got another empowering cut off the upcoming Molly Sarlé album, Karaoke Angel, coming 9/20 via Partisan. The whole record was produced by Sam Evian, whose 2016 album Premium will always shine in the hall of fame of Recommended Albums here. You might recognize Sarlé from her work in Mountain Man, but get to know her solo stuff! “Human” is one of my favorite songs of the year and makes me feel special in a universe of nothing.
Yup, Vivian Girls are back. They hold a special place in my heart since they were at their height back in 2009/2010, which is around the time I started getting really into music and listening to all the buzzy indie rock bands of that moment. I’ve enjoyed their separate projects in the time between albums like The Babies and La Sera, so having this new song be really good seems like a no-brainer. These folks have retained their ability to make short, catchy, simple songs through the break, so I’m happy about that.
Vivian Girls’ new album Memory is out Sept. 20, 2019 via Polyvinyl. Pre-order HERE.
Shout out to my buddy in Colorado for turning me onto BIG | BRAVE, who for the longest I was confusing with Brave Bird, an emo band from Michigan. BIG | BRAVE are a badass Montreal post/doom metal trio who recently released a new album, A Gaze Among Them, on Southern Lord Records. They’ve been at it for most of the 10s, and coming from the storied tradition of Montreal post rock, it’s no surprise this record is so expertly made with its controlled dynamics, epic climaxes, and its control of the space & slowness between notes.
The opener “Muted Shifting of Space” starts off good enough, with slow, punishing guitar and percussion, along with the dire vocals of Robin Wattie. Then halfway through, the guitars just get nasty, overcome with fuzz and caustic distortion, creating a moment that I absolutely have to see & hear live. This nuclear meltdown halfway through the track leads to a gradual melt into spacious arrangements of guitar and drums, like the embers of a burned down building glowing in an expanse of blackness. Big thank you to my friend that sent me this tune – it’s dope and I hope you, dear reader, feel the same.
Listen/buy the rest of the record here.
Got turned on to Brutus early in the year from, of all things, a Stereogum comment. As a fan of most things Sargent House (Brutus’ record label), this was an easy sell for me at first glance. But damn, this song has not been able to leave my head since I first heard it back in January. The slowly building first half of the track is just so powerful, opening things up with a simple guitar line, minimal bass and lead vocalist & drummer Stefanie Mannaerts really baring her soul on her delivery. My favorite line is by far “your hate will always be my guide”.
Then the song explodes with absolute flames, with a deluge of guitar and cacophonous percussion. Then the vocals come back amongst the scorched earth instrumentals and it is just a beautiful, impactful moment. I guarantee this song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the year and beyond. The rest of their record, Nest, is great too! But this is just a meteoric highlight that needs to be heard.
The artist formerly known as Alex G, (Sandy) Alex G, has released another new single off his upcoming LP House of Sugar (out 9/13 via Domino). The previous single, “Gretel”, is far and away one of my favorite songs of the year so far and has frequently put me into endless repeat cycles.
This new song… is just as good. I don’t want to hype things up for myself too much, but this album is shaping up to be one of G’s best, which is saying something. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m about to listen to “Gretel” at least four times, and then re-listen to 2017’s Rocket.
If you’re like me, you love U.S. Girls. If you’re REALLY like me, you’ve seen U.S. Girls live. Meg Remy has an incredible live band backing her up, don’t you think? Have you ever wanted a studio recording of something slightly resembling U.S. Girls’ live band doing their own thing, plus a badass flautist strutting at the forefront? Well look no further than the Badge Époque Ensemble, led by none other than Slim Twig, the Canadian musical producer & creator extraordinaire, as well as being the usually bucket-hatted guitarist in the U.S. Girls band. Add five more musicians, along with a few guest performers, you’ve got the Badge Époque Ensemble, the group you need to be listening to if you wanna get into the hottest grooves of summer 2019.
I saw these guys open for USG two months ago and I’m very happy I did. I had no idea who they were, but had to get there early to get a good spot at the 150-cap room. BEE spin a laid back, yet ultra-hot groove on their self-titled album. Pulsed along by nocturnal rhodes, light-footed flute, wah-ed out guitars, hand percussion, and all sorts of, as the band puts it, “raw shit”. It’s all instrumental save for the utterly brilliant “Undressed In Solitude” featuring James Baley, my personal favorite song on the project. I didn’t want to share that song right off the bat, so it can be a kind of a surprise when you decide to check the whole record out. What I’m saying is that you should check the whole record out. Moments of pure shred, moments of cloudy uncanny valley, moments of slick psychedelia. It’s a record that I’ve let replay countless times over the past week. Walked around NYC yesterday at sunset (just as the power outage hit!) and it was just so clutch. Really hoping they have some more material planned for the future and this wasn’t a one-time deal. Even so, it’s one hell of a statement.
Anna Meredith hooked me in back in 2016 with her album Varmints, a record that I really ought to revisit since it has had time to marinate in my brain. Long story short – it’s a record of some weird mutant chamber / art / synth / electro pop that evades all sorts of labels besides “definitely good”.
She’s returning with FIBS, out October 25 via Moshi Moshi. This is a lot more instrumental / aggressive than I remember the last album being, but it still has that signature anxious giddiness with excellent arrangement / orchestration I remember. Keep your eyes out on this one!
HTRK is a group I only started listening to pretty recently with their Psychic 9-5 Club record. I played the song “Love Is Distraction” on a concept radio show I was doing about someone’s brain in a breakup tailspin. The subtle, eerie synth and percussion along with the cool vocals of Jonnine Standish were perfect for channeling the feeling of numbness, paranoia and futility of situational depression.
But enough about the old, HTRK have a new record Venus In Leo coming via Ghostly on August 30. This song similarly channels the muted, greyscale feelings of longing and casts it in a special light. Subtle instrumentals with some sterile drones accompany Standish’s vocals. Like pretty much every lead-up single I post about on here, I can’t wait for the album.
Chazzy is back baby! Although I listened to them more with Time To Go Home in my senior year of college, I think they’re still an essential piece of the rock landscape of the 2010s. They somehow are able to refine the feelings of comfort in loneliness into such razor-sharp cuts, and that’s no exception here. Can’t wait for this new album.
Jenny Hval is BACK with a new album baby and I am so excited. The Practice of Love is coming September 13 via Sacred Bones. Her Spells EP last year was great, but we need longform Hval back in our lives. If you’re unfamiliar, Warm Visions was essentially a Hval fanblog back in 2016 when she released Blood Bitch, one of my most listened-to albums of this decade with hits like “Female Vampire” and “Conceptual Romance”. I’m able to binge those songs and not get sick of them.
This new song “Ashes to Ashes” is by far the brightest and most danceable song in her discography, with a rubbery, trance-like synth line allowing her vocals to bounce around this kind of funhouse all her own. I personally cannot wait for this record and if the whole thing sounds like this, I’d imagine that The Practice of Love is going to be binged just as much as Blood Bitch.
Warm Visions 