First Listen: New Releases for 1 October 2021

Artist: Liz Lawrence
Album: The Avalanche
Quick Thoughts: Liz Lawrence writes extremely catchy songs, and this album is a loud, brash collection of 'em. If you were lucky enough to trip up on "USP" a few years back, you know what you're getting into here. Criminally underrated, if there's any justice this will be a mainstream hit.
Songs of Note: "Down for Fun," "Babies," "I'll Go On," "Where the Bodies are Buried"

Artist: Christo Graham
Album: Graham's General Store
Quick Thoughts: Ken sent this one over, and, man, I really enjoyed my time with this. It's got an earnest appeal that hits me right in my small town-loving heart. The album might not work for everyone, but if you like roots-tinged folk, you'd do yourself a favor in listening to this.
Songs of Note: "Phone a Friend," "Nothin' Works"

Artist: Molly Payton
Album: Slack
Quick Thoughts: Probably my favorite listen this week. Molly Payton puts together an album of alt-indie that feels fresh and polished, with songs that stick with you. I was singing "You Cut Me So Much Slack"'s chorus all weekend, and it feels like every other song on the album is a winner. Prioritize this one this week.
Songs of Note: "You Cut Me So Much Slack," "January Summers," "While You're Driving"

Artist: audiobooks
Album: Astro Tough
Quick Thoughts: audiobooks has never wasted too much time on trying to be mainstream accessible, but songs like "First Move" certainly make an effort and do a good job of balancing the strange and occasionally hyperpoppy songs. This is a wild album and one I really enjoyed this week.
Songs of Note: "LaLaLa It's the Good Life," "First Move"

Artist: GRMLN
Album: Laughing Shadow
Quick Thoughts: I wanted to highlight this one as GRMLN does some really great understated alt-rock. This album feels like it's from another era in how it's presented, and it's subtly awesome. Give this some time.
Songs of Note: "Los Angels," "Sandcastle"

Artist: Reb Fountain
Album: IRIS
Quick Thoughts: Real late-era Taylor Swift vibes in a few spots of this, most notably the title track. Reb Fountain is not a name I knew a week ago, but is absolutely one I'm paying attention to now - there's a real vulnerability and strength that go hand-in-hand to put something truly memorable together. I'm looking forward to getting back to this one.
Songs of Note: "Lacuna," "Iris"

Artist: illuminati hotties
Album: Let Me Do One More
Quick Thoughts: I loved loved loved the illuminati hotties debut, and the contractual obligation record is what it is. This proper follow-up is a little more manic and a little more robust, but still has the offbeat charm that I've come to expect. Still the best band name in indie rock, and this album has a decent chance of being a deserved breakout effort.
Songs of Note: "Pool Hopping," "The Sway," "Threatening Each Other re: Capitalism"

Of note:

* Ducks Ltd. - Modern Fiction (Repeatedly surprising.)
* Kid Gulliver - Kismet (Great local indie rock.)
* Brandi Carlile - In These Silent Days (Might be her best effort since Bear Creek)
* Velvet Starlings - Technicolor Shakedown
* Karine Polwart and Dave Milligan - Still as Your Sleeping
* Spearmint - Holland Park
* Strand of Oaks - In Heaven
* Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga - Love for Sale
* Boy Scouts - Wayfinder
* Tirzah - Retrograde
* Oompa - Unbothered
* Gustaf - Audio Drag for Ego Slobs
* Kitner - Shake the Spins
* screamcloud - Let's Break Something

* EPs:

* The Great Electric - The Great Electric
* The Persian Leaps - Drone Etiquette
*Hush Kids - Weatherman
* Jane Weaver - Sunset Dreams
* Snts - The Unfinished Fight Against Humanity Remixed
* girlhouse - the second ep
* Woolbright - Carousel
* Oliver Tree and Little Big - Welcome to the Internet

Live albums/Compilations/Reissues:

* Son Lux - Tomorrow's Reworks
* Natalie Bergman - Live at Electric Lady

Also out:

* United Defiance - Change the Frequency
* Ministry - Moral Hygiene

First Listen: New Releases for 2 November

We might be officially slowing down toward the end of the year. The highlights become more scarce, the rest more pronounced...

Album of the Week:

Artist: audiobooks
Album: Now! (In a Minute)
Quick Description: Indie electro-punk with a ton of attitude.
Why You Should Listen: Feels like early Sleigh Bells put through a synth or eight.
Overall Thoughts: My favorite of the week. I tripped up on this album thanks to “Dance Your Life Away,” which was a manic and insane listen that had an urgency unlike anything else. This album is basically electro-something, and more accessible fare like “Hot Salt” and “Friends in the Bubble Bath” balance out the more experimental pieces like “Call of Duty Free.” On a whole, this is just weird and wonderful and one I hope to blast in the car sooner rather than later.
Recommendation: A must-listen this week.

Artist: Matt Pond PA
Album: Free Fall
Quick Description: A collaborative effort from a blog favorite.
Why You Should Listen: Matt Pond PA has never steered you wrong before.
Overall Thoughts: They call this nine song effort an EP, but I’ll call it an album anyway. This is a really nice, quiet affair that feels like some of the better light stuff they’ve done. Will longtime fans or newcomers perceive this as a little too sleepy on first listen? Perhaps, but at a price of free (as Ken noted on Friday), you can’t go wrong with this one.
Recommendation: Enjoy what they're doing while they're still doing it.

Artist: New London Fire
Album: Tired of This Man
Quick Description: Rootsy, ragtimey, Vaudevillian tunes.
Why You Should Listen: This is a lot of fun and will be surprising for you on a whole.
Overall Thoughts: It is apt that this is out this week, given that it is a little odd for a release week and this is a very anachronistic release in some regards. Definitely an album that harkens back to old-style music with the horns and woodwinds while still retaining a modern structural flair, this is definitely the most interesting listen of the week for me. It grew on me and won me over by the end, and maybe it will do the same for you.
Recommendation: Intriguing enough to give a listen while good enough to make you give it a second shot.

Artist: The Prodigy
Album: No Tourists
Quick Description: Electronica bigwigs with another great album.
Why You Should Listen: The Prodigy are legendary and still putting out great music.
Overall Thoughts: If you’re not a fan, or not a fan of the current electronica crop, you might be turned off on this within moments. For me, though, this was just a crazy sonic blast that carries through from their previous great album. I never would have thought, recalling early Prodigy albums and the Far of the Land breakthrough that they would be putting together such consistent work, but here we are.
Recommendation: Another great electronic effort from this act.

Of note:

* Surfbort - Friendship Music (Dirty, abrasive punk in all the best ways. Not for me, but will be for you if punk is your thing.)
* Bethia Beadman - Into the Peace (Come for the Mike Mills collaboration, stay for some solid singer-songwriter stuff.)
* Roseanne Cash - She Remembers Everything (Highly listenable from a legend.)
* Emelia - Spring Through a Window

7 Song Albums:

* Dead Can Dance - Dionysus (Funny aside, for twenty-odd years I have always read the name of this group as a literal can (i.e., a dead can dancing). Only today did the implied “the” (i.e., “the dead can dance”) register. Oh, and the album? It’s fine.)
* Nikkieshia McLeod - Quarrel
* Kelly Moran - Ultraviolet

Also out:

* Sun Kil Moon - This Is My Dinner
* Sick of It All - Wake the Sleeping Dragon!
* Jesus Jones - Voyages
* Mother Feather - Constellation Baby
* Henoheno - Pipe Dreams
* VHS Collection - Retrofuturism
* Part Time - Spell #6
* Mother Mother - Dance and Cry
* Marianne Faithful - Negative Capability
* Vince Staples - FM!
* Tenacious D - Post-Apocaplypto
* Pistol Annies - Interstate Gospel