Rock news
Benjamin Damage & Doc Daneeka: They!Live
On paper, these bass-driven house producers seem like such a perfect match you'd expect any musical collaboration to mirror their work apart. It's surprising, then, how unlike their former selves They!Live turns out to be.
Various Artists: Tally Ho! Flying Nun's Greatest Bits
The influential New Zealand label put together a 2xCD with songs from across its varied catalog to honor its 30th birthday.
The Twilight Sad: No One Can Ever Know
The Scottish trio's frigid, militant, rhythmic Andrew Weatherall-produced third LP is more about obsession than release.
Windy & Carl: We Will Always Be
The Michigan-based husband and wife dream-pop duo's newest resembles an orderly dissection of the relationship cycle, making it feel as if the usual barriers between audience and performer simply aren't there.
Wilco: iTunes Session
This eight-song EP, comprised primarily of tracks from Wilco's most recent album The Whole Love, also finds them unearthing older song-oriented material that suggests they're getting back to the business of being a pop band.
o F F Love: Probably Love
Stylized to abstraction, it is impossible to imagine Probably Love, o F F Love's debut LP, dropping any time but the present. One year ago it would've seemed obscure; one year from now, it will sound archaic.
Waka Flocka Flame / French Montana: Lock Out
Produced mostly by Southside and Lex Luger, the collaboration between Waka Flocka Flame and French Montana sounds more well-grounded in the streets of Atlanta than the East Coast rap scene.
Jason Urick: I Love You
Since the dissolution of his band Wzt Hearts, Jason Urick has made a series of records for Thrill Jockey that have moved through drone and dub-inflected atmosphere. This could be his best solo LP yet.
Black Bananas: Rad Times Xpress IV
Black Bananas boasts the same personnel as Jennifer Herrema's other post-Royal Trux band, but she fashions it as an alternate-universe RTX, one that isn't afraid to absorb modern influences like synth-pop, hip-hop, French-touch house.
Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas
Leonard Cohen's 12th studio LP is a spare, low-key album rooted in blues and gospel-- maybe the closest thing he's made to "folk" music since the early 1970s.
Laura Gibson: La Grande
The Oregon songstress spreads her wings and tries a few new styles on for size while keeping her earthly vision intact.
Wymond Miles: Earth Has Doors
The Fresh & Onlys lead guitarist has produced a dramatic, high-concept solo EP that taps into 1960s and 1970s prog bluster, complete with song titles long enough to require commas.
Peaking Lights: 936 Remixes 12" / 936 Remixed EP
Following their excellent psych-pop breakthrough 936, Peaking Lights return with two very different remix EPs.
Underworld: Anthology: 1992 to 2012
This 25-song "best of" compilation collects two decades of Underworld's widescreen progressive house at 12"-mix lengths, rather than the highlight reel-style radio edits.
Sharon Van Etten: Tramp
The Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter's powerful third album, produced by the National's Aaron Dessner, features guest spots from Beirut's Zach Condon, Wye Oak's Jenn Wasner, Julianna Barwick, and Dessner's brother Bryce, among others.
Future: Astronaut Status
With a handful of hits, placements on albums by Young Jeezy and Rick Ross, and a major-label debut on the horizon, the Atlanta rapper's new mixtape is his first big move of the year.
The 2 Bears: Be Strong
This side project from Hot Chip's Joe Goddard and Raf Rundell make a goofy and big-hearted homage to the club-friendly pop they love.
