Sharing the sharing.
Montreal’s Double Date With Death bring the fuzz in large doses on their new LP L’Au-Delà. Their heavy-chugging, lo-fi, garage punk sound is similar to bands like (Thee) Oh Sees and Ty Segall.
Check out “Forêt” and “Flourescent” (below) for a sampling of how good this album is.
L’Au-Delà is available now via Howlin’ Banana Records and DDWD’s Bandcamp page.
2019 was another great year for music, below are my top ten favorite albums 2019:
Also for your aural pleasure (and my own), I have attached a handy-dandy playlist of some my favorite songs from 2019…
I am a big Jack Cooper fan. Mazes, Ultimate Painting and of course, his incredible solo album. I was stoked to hear about Cooper’s new project, Modern Nature, with Will Young (Beak>), Aaron Neveu (Woods) and Jeff Tobias (Sunwatchers).
On their debut album, How To Live, they combine their vast musical abilities to create 10 tracks of jazz-tinged, psychedelic rock that’s packed with layers and full of depth, which is heard throughout the entire album Check out the killer groove of “Footsteps” (below) for an example.
How To Live is available now via Bella Union. I highly recommend it.
Seattle multi-instrumentalist Andy Sells has been doing his thing for quite some time, (all in bands that I need to/ will be checking out) including playing bass for Nosretep, drums for Afrocop and being part of the electronic outfit FCS North.
Sells’ new project (with Joel Cuplin, Noel Brass Jr. and Jason Powell rounding out the band) is Select Level. Their upcoming self-titled album is a funktastic, 8 song romp of post-punk meets disco-groove goodness – seriously, these guys aren’t messing around, this is a solid contender for album of the year.
Give album opener “The Race” a spin (below), it’s just a small sampling of the groove packed into this album.
Select Level drops on June 21 and is available for preorder now from Wax Thématique, you should preorder this. We will also have some copies at the 3hive Record Lounge as well. You don’t want to miss this one.
Slow Pulp’s recently self-released sophomore EP, Big Day, is a solid 10 minutes of dream-pop meets shoegaze goodness that ends way sooner then it should. Give the standout “High” a spin below, for a taste. Big Day is available now via their Bandcamp page. Be sure to catch them on tour as well. Enjoy.
New York quartet Sunwatchers bring their A-game on their newest LP “Illegal Moves” (out now via Trouble In Mind). Their brand of jazz-psych meets noise-rock swirls and hypnotizes and just before you’re lost in their psychedelic haze they punch you right in the mouth. Give “Beautiful Crystals” and “Greeneyed Pigmen (Get The Blade)” a spin below to see what I mean.
It’s time for my annual blog post…
Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2018:
Khruangbin Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones & the Indications self-titled (Dead Oceans)
Bodega Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris Everything’s Fine (Mello Music Group)
Janelle Monae Dirty Computer (Bad Boy)
Altin Gun On (Bongo Joe)
Smokescreens Used to Yesterday (Slumberland)
Idles Joy As an Act of Resistance (Partisan)
Low Double Negative (Sub Pop)
Cut Chemist Die Cut (A Stable Sound)
I encourage you to enjoy these on vinyl (link will go here as soon as I get off my butt and update the online store).
And because 2018 offered so much more music than can fit neatly in a Top 10 list, here are my 23 favorite songs of the past year…
Olden Yolk, I have done you wrong. Your debut, self-titled, album has been my favorite album of 2018 since it landed on my front porch back in February. I started this post (back in February) to tell the world all about your psychedelic, sometimes shoegazey, all the time rock ‘n’ roll goodness, but I could not find the words to describe the greatness of your 10 song masterpiece. I apologize.
Hello World, if you have not acquainted yourself with New York-based Olden Yolk, now is the time to do it. Their debut album is a solid slab of psych-rock/psych-folk/psych-pop, mingled with just enough fuzz and gaze to make it stand out above all the rest. Give “Vital Sign” and “Takes One To Know One” for a spin below to see what I mean. Olden Yolk is available now via Trouble In Mind Records. I highly, highly recommend it.
Boston’s New Aura put their modern spin on 60’s and 70’s era psych on their debut self-titled EP, which is packed full of swirling, reverbed guitars over fried crispy vocals. Check out “Nick Cage” (below) to see what I mean.
You can get New Aura’s S/T EP now on cassette and digitally from their Bandcamp page.
Los Angeles via Austin singer/songwriter Jess Williamson’s new album Cosmic Wink is a spacious, psychedelic-pop record that features Williamson’s strong vocals floating through waves of jangle and haze. Cosmic Wink is out now via Mexican Summer Records.