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Reviews
De La Soul
Smell the D.A.I.S.Y.
By Nate Patrin
De La Soul's work with J Dilla helped define their transition from the Prince Paul-produced lightheartedness of their first three albums. This new mixtape featuring unreleased Dilla beats and reworked lyrics from De La Soul's catalog provides an alternate-history look into a meaningful partnership.
The Faint
Doom Abuse
By Ian Cohen
The Faint released their debut album Sine Sierra nearly twenty years ago, and if that makes you feel old, imagine how they must’ve felt when they went on hiatus following 2008’s Fasciination. Their first album since reuniting, Doom Abuse, isn’t so much an argument for the Faint’s continued relevancy as it is for the potency of their real-time nostalgia.
Teebs
E S T A R A
By Nate Patrin
Teebs' 2010 debut Ardour had a way of flooding your ears with lush sonic environments. On his new E S T A R A, he aims for a more concise approach.
White Hinterland
Baby
By Paula Mejia
White Hinterland's latest finds Casey Dienel experimenting with more jagged percussion and orchestral flourishes, notably horns. But for all the sonic change-ups, her idiosyncratic voice remains the music’s signature.
Sage the Gemini
Remember Me
By Craig Jenkins
Sage the Gemini of the Bay Area’s Heartbreak Gang collective has refined a sound that draws influence from frenetic dance-informed NorCal hyphy music and L.A. jerk music, with hints of the sleek “crunk&B” of Jazze Pha and Ciara. His chart-placing instructional dance floor drills are presently his livelihood, so his debut album Remember Me arrives with a mission: keep listeners on their feet, but show some range.
Sisyphus
Sisyphus
By Jeremy D. Larson
The last release from Sufjan Stevens, Son Lux, and Serengeti's Sisyphus project was a scattered lark that featured an abundance of Auto-Tune; for their self-titled debut LP, they've ditched the Auto-Tune and improved on their ability to create fractured-sounding music together—even if the results prove a little frustrating.
The Body
I Shall Die Here
By Nick Neyland
Portland-based metal outfit the Body take doom metal as their core template and shred it to pieces until it's completely unrecognizable. On their new I Shall Die Here, the Haxan Cloak's Bobby Krlic comes on board as producer, helping drummer Lee Buford and guitarist/singer Chip King rip the guts out of their sound to achieve maximal brutality.
Millie & Andrea
Drop the Vowels
By Larry Fitzmaurice
Millie & Andrea is the project of Andy Stott and Demdike Stare's Miles Whittaker. On their debut LP, the duo offer a mix of hollow dub techno, into-the-red noise, and breakbeats that hiss and spit with static, but the extra flourishes are what prove most surprising.
S. Carey
Range of Light
By Jeremy D. Larson
Sean Carey's new album is the first he recorded in Bon Iver bandmate Justin Vernon's April Base studio in Fall Creek, Wis. The warmth, reverb, and dusty textures here form something much larger than S. Carey has ever done before, but his real talent lies in making these songs seem tiny set against the world around him.
Nux Vomica
Nux Vomica
By Kim Kelly
Portland's Nux Vomica swirl together crust, melodic death metal, black metal, metallic hardcore, doom, noise, and ambient music into a cohesive, engaging whole. On their self-titled third album, and Relapse debut, they’ve hit upon an ideal balance of beauty and brutality.
Max Richter
Memoryhouse
By Grayson Currin
The new reissue of German-born composer Max Richter's Memoryhouse serves as a jolting reminder of just how much classical music has broken outside of its shell and into other realms during the last decade.
Inventions
Inventions
By Mark Richardson
Inventions, a new project by Matthew Cooper—the producer behind the multifaceted ambient project Eluvium—and Explosions in the Sky guitarist Mark T. Smith, sounds much like you'd expect. But the familiarity works in this uncommonly beautiful record’s favor.
Legowelt
Crystal Cult 2080
By Andrew Gaerig
Danny Wolfers is the rare producer whose personal mythology enriches his music instead of distracting from it. His latest album as Legowelt, Crystal Cult 2080, isn't weirder than Wolfers' previous albums—it's just better at being weird.
Orcas
Yearling
By Brian Howe
On his own, Thomas Meluch records cloudy electro-acoustic songs as Benoît Pioulard that sound hand-cobbled, while Rafael Anton Irisarri drapes brooding ostinatos with dusky delay and reverb. Their second album as Orcas retains the debut's vast scale, glacial pace, and visual splendor, while bringing a human presence closer to the surface.
Architecture in Helsinki
NOW + 4EVA
By Jamieson Cox
Australian indie pop collective Architecture in Helsinki’s new record finds them continuing to embrace simple, radio-friendly sounds, with one foot newly planted in the realm of contemporary synth-pop. NOW + 4EVA rings with genuine enthusiasm.
Mac DeMarco
Salad Days
By Marc Hogan
Mac DeMarco's second full-length isn’t a departure from its predecessor so much as a richer, increasingly assured refinement. At its best, it's an outstanding crystallization of his gifts, the real-talk advice of Jonathan Richman with a far more accessible poetic dreaminess.
Pure X
Angel
By Miles Raymer
Angel, the third album by Austin’s Pure X, is lackadaisical in its tempos and moods, coming on at an almost laughably leisurely pace. But while there’s a lot of emphasis on mood and texture, they never get in the way of the songwriting, which is consistent and generous with its hooks.
Torn Hawk
Through Force of Will
By Nick Neyland
Luke Wyatt, the Brooklyn-based Va. transplant behind Torn Hawk, releases an astonishing amount of music, some of it beat-oriented, some of it close to the VHS nostalgia feel of chillwave, much of it accompanied by collaged YouTube clips. On his newest effort, things don't lead where you expect them to on first glance.
Manchester Orchestra
Cope
By Ian Cohen
After the simultaneous crescendo and crash of 2011’s Simple Math, Manchester Orchestra's fourth album is 11 bullshit-free rock songs about getting past the bullshit in your life. They sound like Band of Horses at their major-label crossroads, with none of that band's sweep and expanse.
Ausmuteants
Amusements
By Evan Minsker
Geelong, Australia's Ausmuteants aren't making politically militant or socially conscious songs—they're delinquents indulging in low-hanging fruit, writing about stepping in shit and pissing your pants. Their new record, Amusements, offers 12 tracks of ripping, captivating, fun synth-punk.
Cloud Nothings
Here and Nowhere Else
By Ian Cohen
Cloud Nothings' latest album moves in one direction and at a breakneck pace. Dylan Baldi is simply unwilling or unable to stop writing hook-filled songs, rendering Here and Nowhere Else even more tense and thrillingly conflicted than its predecessor. The band continues to make powerfully utilitarian music for people who don’t seek out this type of music just to be told what to think.
Miles Davis
Miles at the Fillmore - Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3
By Mark Richardson
Miles at the Fillmore, the latest entry in Columbia’s revelatory bootleg series collecting unreleased Miles Davis live material, finds the trumpeter departing one musical world and entering a new one. Excerpts from these four nights were released on the 1970 Miles Davis at the Fillmore 2xLP.
Small Black
Real People EP
By Paul Thompson
Small Black's laid-back vibe often masks a certain sonic perfectionism. Real People, their new five-song EP, was written and recorded quickly in an attempt to smuggle a little more of the sweaty throb of their recent live shows into the studio.
Bart Davenport
Physical World
By Jayson Greene
Singer/songwriter Bart Davenport's catalog is a series of nested quotations brilliantly lifted and folded into power-pop confections that he's mastered. His latest album sounds like a world of record sleeves, thumbed through masterfully.
Gang Wizard
Important Picnic
By Marc Masters
The longtime Long Beach noise-rock trawlers Gang Wizard's newest album, Important Picnic, might be the best of their 40 or so releases. On previous efforts, their boundlessness has sometimes drifted into tedium, but there's no downtime on this pulse-quickening collection.
Tracks
How to Dress Well
"Repeat Pleasure"
Best New Track
Holy Ghost!
"Bridge & Tunnel (a/just/ed Remix)"
Shannon and the Clams
"Mama"
Amateur Dance
"Still Amateur"
Lone
"2 Is 8"
Strand of Oaks
"Goshen '97"
Sonic Avenues
"In Your Head"
Haim
"If I Could Change Your Mind (Cerrone Funk Mix)"
Glenn Jones
"From a Forgotten Session"
Courtney Barnett
"Bein' Around" (Lemonheads cover)
Emma Ruth Rundle
"Arms I Know So Well"
Greys
"Guy Picciotto"
Dikembe
"Healer of the Pride"
Features
Paper Trail
Records Ruin the Landscape
Marc Masters talks to author David Grubbs about his new book, which explores the disdain many 1960s experimental musicians—including John Cage—had for recorded music due to its inherent limiting qualities, and compares that mindset to today's era of infinite streaming.
Rising
Lee
Inspired by the anything-goes sampling styles of Madlib and Flying Lotus, Thailand-via-Japan beatmaker Ryuhei Asano—aka Lee—makes uncanny music that repurposes memory and sound into refreshing new forms. By Carrie Battan.
Update
Future
The Auto-Tune auteur talks to Corban Goble about being a father, why working with big-name stars can be a pain in the ass, and his long-awaited second proper album Honest: "This record is for the people who thought I was some fly-by-night artist."
Cover Story
Mac DeMarco: Mannish Boy
With his gap-toothed smirk and carefree tunes, Mac DeMarco has quickly become the goofball prince of indie rock. Now he wants to be taken seriously—while still reserving the right to crack a fart joke if necessary. By Evan Minsker; photos by Chris Buck.
Interviews
Jonathan Glazer and Mica Levi
Under the Skin is not your typical alien movie. In it, Scarlett Johansson plays a confused creature preying on humanity while director Jonathan Glazer's vérité visuals and Mica Levi's ticking score aim to unsettle at every turn. By Larry Fitzmaurice.
Overtones
Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
With Elton John's 1973 opus Goodbye Yellow Brick Road getting an expanded reissue this week, Jayson Greene looks back on the gloriously haunting title track, decoding the musical secrets it employs to evoke endless surprise and obsession.
Articles
Cloud Nothings: Silent Shout
Cloud Nothings have mastered the art of thrashing catharsis, pummeling out the anxieties of nostalgia and expectation with bloody verve. On their latest album, though, they're trying to explore the spaces in between the screams. By Jenn Pelly.
Ordinary Machines
The #Art of the Hashtag
The hashtag has become an important linguistic shortcut—a way to say "I mean this and I don't at the same time." But in the world of music, only a few artists have truly taken advantage of the symbol's culture-jamming possibilities. By Lindsay Zoladz.