September 3rd's New Music Newsletter
Well, let's get this out of the way right up top: I will not be featuring Kanye or Drake's new records on here, since I don't like featuring problematic bitches. If I do feature a problematic assshit, it's probably because they're either a feature on another artist's track or because I don't know they're Bad. Keep me in check, y'all.
Okay, now that the nastiness is out of the way, we can move on to everything that's got me excited, including a remix album that I listened to in full to start my day, a new record from some metal legends, another fucking Metallica cover, and a cover from an artist I've never heard of doing my favorite R.E.M. song.
It's also Bandcamp Friday, so anything you spend on Bandcamp today goes directly to the artist without the platform taking a cut. I'll provide links at the bottom, alongside the playlist. I don't charge for this newsletter, so go spend money on those who need it.
Also, because this is my newsletter and I get to say what I want, here’s your reminder that abortion rights are human rights and that we must find ways to help those in Texas who need access to this care. I don’t have any answers right now, but I know that sitting idly by isn’t going to work this time. [note: also, don’t call this a women’s rights issue. there are plenty of men and non-binary folx who are directly impacted by this and we must not erase them.]
Here are the links to the playlist on Spotify and Apple Music, plus Bandcamp for those of you who can spare some coin for your musicians. Let's get to it.
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To kick us off is Lady Gaga's new love letter to the upcoming generation of genderfucked artists. That's right, it's a heavily hyperpop influenced remix record of Chromatica. I had a lot of trouble deciding on only one track to pick, but ultimately, I went with the one that make me laugh the most: Sine From Above. Originally a duet with Elton John, this remix has added in the talents of Chester Lockhart (remember that Awesome God cover?), Mood Killer, and Lil Texas. It's outrageous, comical, hyperpop as hell, and everything I could have wanted from the promise of this record.
Since it's the week of remixes, apparently, let's go right into everyone's favorite queer Christian sad girl: Julien Baker. Her new EP of remixes from Little Oblivions is out today and I've selected folktronica singer Gordi's remix of Ringside for the list. You may know Gordi from her music being featured on TV quite a bit, including in The Vampire Diaries, The Walking Dead, and To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. This many years disconnected from Christianity, and I still fall apart hearing the line “Jesus, can you help me now?”
Charli XCX is back with a new single that merges a lot of ‘80s era synthpop with some mild hyperpop sensibilities. It seems like she’s teasing a new record, and possibly looking to get some good radio play, since this is as palatable as anything she’s ever done. Nothing too daring here, but it’s still good fun.
Pop punk kings New Found Glory are back with the deluxe version of 2020’s Forever + Ever x Infinity. There are some interesting tracks here if you like some of the heavier stuff that NFG has played with in the past, but ultimately it’s just more NFG and if you like that, you’ll like this.
I stumbled across the music video for emo/port-hardcore giants The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die’s newest earlier this week and instantly fell in love. We’re finally getting a real look at what TWIABP is able to do in the light of Tom Diaz, one of the founding members, suddenly dying in 2018 and I’m very excited to hear this full record when it comes out next month.
DUCKWRTH is an artist that I think I first heard on the Spiderverse soundtrack and have tracked ever since. His new record has a lot of pandemic vibes, but Mask Off (Feelings) lands as a straight up hopeful love song, which I think we could all use a couple of right now.
One of these weeks I’ll do the work of sequencing this playlist so that it flows well, but until then you’ll have to deal with going straight into an instrumental Tom Misch cover of Nirvana’s most overplayed track: Smells Like Teen Spirit. Tom’s one of those guys who makes you mad because he’s capable of so much, and this new Quarantine Sessions record is no exception to that. It’s nice to hear such an overplayed track presented in a way that doesn’t make you want to claw out your ears, isn’t it?
Okay, I’m not chronically online in the right spaces to know the whole story behind this one, but Daisy the Great has teamed up with AJR to redo their track The Record Player Song because of TikTok? Idk, really, but this is pretty fun and as a sucker for layered vocals this is exactly what I want out of my indie pop.
Sometimes I find something that’s really niche, and I try to get y’all hyped about it. That’s what I’m doing here with Nils Frahm and F.S. Blumm’s fourth collaborative album. It’s… ambient dub music? It’s not like most ambient music, in that you can listen to this as the primary thing that you’re doing and it fully lands in that way, but it’s also not like dub, where it really lays back and just breathes its way through, allowing the listener to take their time to soak it all in. Get halfway through Raw Chef and you’ll start to see the appeal, as the entire vibe of the song switches on a dime. I almost want to recommend skipping this on the playlist and just vibing to the whole record while stoned tonight, tbh. I think that’s what I’m planning on.
Ah yes, a record that everyone’s excited for by an artist that I’ve somehow missed until today. It’s rapper Little Simz’s fourth record and I’m just now learning who she is. I could have featured an actual song from the album, but this interlude was so captivating that I just couldn’t resist putting it on here instead of a proper song. Sorry, not sorry?
Remember when I said I need to sequence this playlist? Anyway, here’s fucking Iron Maiden. There’s a whole new Maiden record today and I’m so happy I could scream. Lars Gotrich over at NPR Music recommends listening to this one in full to get the proper effect of it, so I’m going to do exactly that as soon as possible. Bruce’s voice is as good as ever and I fucking hate him for being able to still do this.
Lady Blackbird’s debut album is out today. If you’ve missed the hype around this, here’s the TL;DR: She’s a jazz vocalist who will stop you in your goddamn tracks and force you to just listen for four solid minutes, followed by instantly saving the record to your library and buying the vinyl on Bandcamp. I’m not overselling this. This is simply how good the record is.
Weirdly, we get to go directly into another album that crackles with vinyl warmth, this time from hip hop producer L’Orange. With 22 tracks in just over half an hour, this is a record that flies past without ever feeling like it’s rushed. Lots of fun little samples that I’m sure we’ll hear other artists utilize in the near future.
JPEGMAFIA has a new track out that I’m pretty sure is a tease for a new record, but I don’t think he’s confirmed that. It’s a fun little rap track that plays with darkness and some bright electronic production all performed by JPEGMAFIA himself.
MATH ROCK! POST HARDCORE! It’s all here, baybee as we get a track from see through person and Dogleg. What a treat for dipshits like myself who can’t get enough of overly complex instrumentation and screamed vocals. This is part of a short digital EP called sun and I need everyone to just go slam through all three tracks of that.
Sting caught the pandemic bug and made a new record, which we get a preview of here. It’s got a lot of similarities to what I’d expect from Colin Hay and I think I really like it? More whistling in tracks. That’s what I say. Is Sting cancelled? I don’t think so, but it kinda feels like he might be and it just flew under my radar. Sound off in the comments. Goddammit, I hate that I smiled all the way through this song.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know who Okay Kaya is. She’s on Jagjaguwar, which indicates that I would like her if I gave her a chance, but there’s only so much time in the day, ya know? Here she’s covering R.E.M. for a Jagjaguwar compilation record. Nightswimming is my favorite R.E.M. track, since when I worked at summer camp as a teen it was the track we’d play at the end of the week’s dance to close out the night. It feels like a Midwestern night by the Mississippi river for me and I hope you can close your eyes for just a moment and see awkward teenagers doing their versions of ballet leaps through the air as this plays. Don’t imagine me doing that, though. Haha. Haha.
Okay, forgetting all of that, let’s look at this first single following Bachelor’s debut back in May. Bachelor is a duo consisting of Melina from Jay Som and Ellen from Palehound. Really good vibey shit that’ll leave you falling asleep in your chair, but in the good way. There’s a tinge of anger and bitterness here that tastes really satisfying and leaves me wanting more. I hope we get it soon.
It’s weird rap time! Arizona’s Injury Reserve has some glitchy shit here for us as they continue to preview the full record that’s coming out in just under two weeks.
Speaking of rap, here’s a track that really lands for me. Tokischa and Rosalía have a dembow track where they just both show off on top of a reggaeton beat that shows off the musical flavor of Tokischa’s Dominican home.
Did you know that Duran Duran have a new album coming out? If not, you do now, as they celebrate their 40th anniversary as a band! Combined with the single I featured where they teamed up with CHAI, I’m increasingly interested to see how these crazy kids have kept up with the times. October 22nd for the full length.
If you don’t know BROODS, they’re a New Zealand sibling duo who’s just announced their fourth album together. With production from Stint (Carly Rae Jepsen), this is a pop track that just kinda makes you dance in your seat and grin like a fucking dweeb. The video is also really fun and is actually shot on 35mm and 16mm film. Seems like they’re doing a lot of fun world-building around this upcoming record and I hope to see you all on Space Island whenever it drops.
Please don’t be mad at me for including an a cappella song. Technically, it’s just Appalachian folk, so get Pentatonix out of your mind right fucking now. Mountain Man is an all-female vocal trio and while I’m not sure if there’s a full album coming up, I really hope so.
Do you like Sufjan Stevens? You’ll probably love Runner and Skullcrusher’s reimagining of Urgent Care from Runner’s recent debut record. Snowplow is a banjo and acoustic guitar driven track with tight vocal harmonies and a feeling of soft isolation that hearkens back to some of Sufjan’s softer songs on Come On Feel The Illinoise.
ABBA is back and that means we’re legally obligated to demand another Mamma Mia movie. If I have to convince you to listen to this, you don’t deserve the joy of listening to it.
One of the best things I’ve come across recently while educating myself about some of the more uncomfortable histories of music in America has been NPR Music’s podcast Louder Than A Riot. Back in November 2020, they did a three-part series talking about Bobby Shmurda’s murder arrest and the shaky evidence around it, including how rap lyrics were used to defame him in court. He’s out of prison now (listen to the podcast) and has blessed us with a brand-new freestyle. Listen to this track and then go back and listen to Louder Than A Riot. It’s essential for understanding how white America has continually made villains out of Black artists who are simply trying to create art.
Yes, I’m giving you more Metallica covers and it’s because I can’t resist hearing saxophone great Kamasi Washington cover the thrash metal legends. You may know Kamasi from his continued collaboration with Kendrick Lamar or just for shaping the face of hip hop influenced jazz and jazz influenced hip hop for the past decade or two. An absolute master of the craft.
A couple more singles from Nightmares On Wax’s upcoming record just came out, this time featuring vocalist Halle Supreme. I’m not going to talk too much about the themes of the record here, but this is basically an evolution of stoner music, but with purpose and urgency behind it. NoW just had a cancer scare and you hear it while listening to the singles that we’ve seen so far. I’m hopeful that the full record paints a full picture of what this was like for him.
Ah, fuck. More white boy emo. Sorry kids, don’t know how Jail Socks’ new LP got on here. I’ll do a full review of my screening processes for the future. Apologies to all impacted.
This one comes via a recommendation by Gabe Reasoner of Minneapolis’ post-hardcore band Careful Gaze. Durry is a synthy indie-pop duo formed by alt-rock band Coyote Kid’s vocalist and his sister. Dealing with themes of generational trauma, I knew that this one was built for me from the first lyric of “are we forever destined to be another carbon copy?” I’m going to have to grab this EP when it drops, if this track is any indication.
Anti-cop metalcore from Erase Them really gets my heart pounding, but in a good way, not in a “I’ve only had coffee and stimulants today, so I feel like I’m dying and need to go to urgent care to just be told that I need to drink water” way. This is the former vocalist from Varials’ new project, after he split from the band to preserve his mental health. I’m hype on this one.
The Picturebooks are a new one for me, but this third record from them caught my eye when I saw that they’re a German blues rock duo that is doing collaborations with a ton of wild artists, including Refused and for this track, The Inspector Cluzo. It’s loud, it’s rowdy, and I love it.
Not a lot to say about Diana Ross’ new single. If you’re a musician who’s won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and countless awards for your incalculable impact on the face of music, you get to bypass my critique and snark. I will specifically point out the bassline in this track, which is incredible.
And finally, we get to go out on a track that I’ve been very excited to share with people. It’s Abraskadabra with Cattle Life. It’s ska punk time, bitches.
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Here are the links again: Spotify and Apple Music, plus Bandcamp.
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