Album Release Cycle for June 27th
Includes full album list, my thoughts on some, and playlists for Spotify and Apple
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HERE IS THE APPLE MUSIC PLAYLIST
Here is this week’s album list, including my thoughts on some and the playlists. Down below we will talk more about Adrian Quesada, BC Camplight, Fishbone, and Daisy The Great, but some other artists on the playlist include Durand Jones & The Indications, who have a new album of original songs called Flowers that sounds like they could have been made in the heyday of Smokey Robinson. One of my favorites Willi Carlisle is back with Winged Victory. Frankie Cosmos is back with an album of sugary indie pop songs, and Gelli Haha has an arty synth pop album debut out that is hard to pigeonhole—but a lot of fun and one that I am going to dig into more. Lorde is back with an album that has a lot of good moments. Darkwave band Greet Death will be going out on tour with my current favorite band, Nation of Language, and they have a new album out this week. Laura Stevenson is here, as is Brit-pop throwback group Pleasure Pill. Are we about to see a new pack of young bands doing Oasis and The Verve? Fuzzy rock group Smut is here, and we will end with a bit of ambient music from one of my favorites of the genre, Pan-American, who just teamed up with Kramer on a new release.
Adrian Quesada-Boleros Psicodelicos II- Quesada is from Black Pumas and has put out music long before that, including winning Grammys with his old group fifteen years ago with Grupo Fantasma. The new album Boleros Psicodélicos finds him doing new takes on classic Boleros with many guest artists. This is the second album in this series and features Cuco, Hermano Gutiérrez, Trish Toledo, and more. It mixes in a lot of psychedelica, and while there are a lot of modern hip-hop beats and elements throughout, it has a real retro feel. The standout track to me is the Hermanos Gutiérrez track, as it just sounds like one off their albums, and I cannot get enough of those albums. I also really like the Cuco track, which feels like a song from an obscure foreign movie you caught on the tube in the middle of the night. His solo track “El Diamante” is one of the strongest on the album—an instrumental tune with rudimentary hip-hop beats and a repetitive hook that is infectious.
BC Camplight-A Sober Conversation- I have never paid attention to BC Camplight, even though he has been around two decades. Not sure why not, but I only put this on because Abigail Morris from Last Dinner Party was on a song here called “Two Legged Dog.” I have played that song many times in the past week; it just stuck with me. I have listened to the album a couple times now, and I really enjoy it. It’s a pretty varied album that feels like an actual album, with different moods, chapters, and vibes through its short 35 minutes. A lot of heartfelt and genuine, matter-of-fact songwriting and really well-put-together pop structuring. “When I Make My First Million” reminds me of Joe Jackson in its structuring, and the title track is a weird lyrical trip—with a fun hook. Worth a listen.
Daisy The Great – The Rubber Teeth Talk — This is the third album from the duo known as Daisy The Great. The Brooklyn indie pop band are known for their viral song “Record Player.” If you like or dislike that song, it is best to throw thoughts of it out the window when listening to this album. They have grown way beyond that. This album is full of hooky, interesting indie pop songs that are immediately listenable but sink in with further listens. “Dog,” “Ballerina,” and “Mary at The Carnival” are the standouts on first listen. When you listen deeper, a song like “Swinging” may catch your fancy with their vocal harmonic acrobatics that remind me of Finom (Ohmme) and the simple, infectious bassline. Check this out.
Fishbone – Stockholm Syndrome -So, we are down some members in Fishbone. Only Angelo and Chris remain, and that is cause for concern when they put out their first full-length in many years. I will be honest also, when that “Racist Piece of Shit” song came out, it was fine but sounded a bit too generic and novelty for me. Fishbone is one of the most important bands ever to me. It is my youth, and on record they got really sketchy around the mid-’90s, but prior to that they could do no wrong. I went into this with very low expectations. I am very much enjoying this album though, even more than a lot of the post-1995 output. Is this a perfect Fishbone album or even a great one? No, but it’s pretty damn good. It seems as if maybe Angelo doesn’t have to be as weird without the rest of the cats, and can focus on some simple, straightforward rock, ska, and reggae songs with social and political commentary—and it really works a lot of the time. The rock-based “Living on the Upside Down” is genuine, and Angelo has it really reeled in. “Last Call in America” with George Clinton is a soulful ska tune that will get your head bobbing. “Suckered by Sabotage” is classic wound-up Angelo that old Fishbone fans will recognize immediately, but then they throw in a reggae twist in the middle. Old Fishbone fans will love “Adolescent Regressive Behavior” as well. “Secret Police” finds the band going a bit dark, and I think the best song on the album is “Dog Eat Dog,” which is a heartfelt song that has Angelo in his “Pouring in the Rain” and “A Movement in the Light” voice and mode. It really caught me.
Album list
Adrian Quesada – Boleros Psicodélicos II
Barbra Streisand – The Secret Of Life: Partners, Volume Two
BC Camplight – A Sober Conversation
BKTHERULA – LUCY
Blonde Redhead – The Shadow of the Guest
Botsch – 061524
Bruce Springsteen – Tracks II: The Lost Albums
Cole Swindell – Spanish Moss
Daisy the Great – The Rubber Teeth Talk
Daisychain – All in a Name
Dana and Alden – Speed
Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes – HIGH(er) LIFE
Deadguy – Near-Death Travel Services
Domkraft – Domkraft
Durand Jones & The Indications – Flowers
Durry – This Movie Sucks
Felly – Ambroxyde
Fishbone – Stockholm Syndrome
Fox Stevenson-Sunk Cost Fallacy
Frankie Cosmos – Different Talking
Frankie Grande – Hotel Rock Bottom
Gashi – The Killah Whales of Gotham
Gelli Haha – Switcheroo
Gelo – League of My Own
Glitterbeat – Carry Them With Us
Great Death – Die In Love
Heaven Shall Burn – Heimat
HLLLYH – URUBURU
Hot Milk-Corporation P.O.P.
Isabella Lovestory – Vanity
The Jacquess – The Four Five Three
Jakko M. Jakszyk – Son of Glen
Juan Waters – MVD LUV
kerri – DON’T PANIC
Kevin Abstract – BLUSH
late night drive home – as I watch my life online
Laura Stevenson – Late Great
Lauren Spencer Smith – The Art of Being a Mess
Lorde-Virgins
Mark Mallman – Magic Time
Maoli – Last Sip of Summer
Merzbow – Sedonis
Motörhead – The Manticore Tapes
Nick Leon-A Tropical Entropy
Pan American & Kramer – Interior of an Edifice Under the Sea
Parker McCollum – Parker McCollum
Pi’erre Bourne –Made in Paris
Pig Pen (feat. Matty Matheson) – Mental Madness
Pleasure Pill – Hang A Star
Ringlets – The Lord Is My German Shepherd (Time For Walkies)
Robert Randolph – Preacher Kids
Russ – W!LD
Shadow of Intent-Imperium Delirium
Sharpie Smile – The Staircase
Sister Sadie – All Will Be Will
Smut – Tomorrow Comes Crashing
SODOM – The Arsonist
TDJ – TDJ
Uboa-All The Dead Melt Down
Various Artists – A Tribute to the King of Zydeco
Various Artists – F1 THE ALBUM
WAVVES – SPUN
Willi Carlisle – Winged Victory