Those who still worship at the altar of Lady Gaga will be rewarded for their loyalty with her new album Chromatica on April 10. Personally, I could care less. I’m far more interested in hearing the five albums below. Scroll down to see all the new albums announced in the past day or so, and don’t forget to worship at the altar of the mammoth and ever-growing list on the Upcoming Releases page.
Haim
Women in Music Pt. III
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Women In Music Pt. III is album No. 3 from Haim, who are Los Angeles sisters Este, Danielle and Alana Haim. Album cover was shot by family friend and frequent collaborator Paul Thomas Anderson. The album was produced by the trio’s frequent collaborators Rostam Batmanglij and Ariel Rechtshaid.”
Jarv Is …
Beyond The Pale
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Jarv Is … are pleased to announce their debut album Beyond the Pale which will be released on May 1. This is the first original music from Jarvis Cocker since the Further Complications album in 2009. Jarv Is … a band featuring Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, percussion), Serafina Steer (harp, keyboards, vocals), Emma Smith (violin, guitar vocals), Andrew McKinney (bass, vocals), Jason Buckle (synthesiser & electronic treatments) & Adam Betts (drums, percussion, vocals). Jarv Is … formed to play a show at the Sigur Ros Norður og Niður festival in Iceland at the very end of 2017. Jarv Is … was conceived as a way of writing songs in collaboration with an audience. As the material they were playing was in a state of flux the band decided to record their live shows so that they could monitor how the songs were developing. After an appearance at the Desert Daze festival in California, Geoff Barrow (Portishead, Beak>) suggested that these recordings could be used as the basis for an album. Overdubs & vocals were added at Narcissus Studios in Neasden, London. Post-production work took place at Jason Buckle’s Place du Big Boss studio in Raynes Park, London. The album was mixed by Craig Silvey at Toast Studios in West London. Jarv Is … an ongoing live experience because life is an ongoing live experience. Or, to put it another way. THIS IS NOT A LIVE ALBUM – it’s an ALIVE ALBUM.”
Squarepusher
Lamental
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Following widespread acclaim for his recent album Be Up A Hello, on April 10 Squarepusher (Tom Jenkinson) will be opening a new chapter to this musical journey with the Lamental EP release. Shining a light on the more melodic aspects of Be Up A Hello, the Lamental EP reveals a contemplative side to the music Tom has been making over the last few years. The spacey, squelchy synth techno of The Paris Track is a new accelerated interpretation of Detroit People Mover which is taken from the album, where it offers a cinematic contrast to the high-octane rave rush of the first four tracks. Originally composed as a response to the EU referendum in 2016, Tom made the score and recorded stems of his beautifully plaintive, wave-like slow roller MIDI Sans Frontières available to all, encouraging remixers to participate as a form of “internationalist collaboration with sound makers, irrespective of what kind of music they make, where they live, their background or their age.” Also included on the EP is his own new Avec Batterie deep breakbeat rework of the track.”
Chuck Prophet
The Land That Time Forgot
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Land That Time Forgot got off the ground in the Money Belt, only to find its legs in the Borscht Belt. Musically it has deep roots, from the Southern Delta to the discos of Munich. There’s a kind of folkish inevitability to it, lots of acoustic instruments, on top of the each other and side by side. But as much as folk music is the soil all music grows from, it never hurts to have a boiler room. So, there’s always a rhythm section shuffling under your feet here. Written mostly with longtime co-conspirator klipschutz, this LP steps out of Chuck Prophet’s comfort zone (“two guitars, bass, and drums”). After nailing three tracks in S.F. with Grammy-winning alchemist Matt Winegar, Prophet confesses, “We hit a wall. Schedules. Money. Towed vehicles: a thousand large to get one van out of lockup.”
The Lemon Twigs
Songs for the General Public
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The D’Addario brothers will return this Spring with their third Lemon Twigs album, Songs For The General Public — written, recorded and produced by the D’Addarios at their home studio in Long Island, Sonora Studios in Los Angeles and Electric Lady in New York City. The prodigiously-talented brothers first emerged as The Lemon Twigs in 2016 with their debut LP Do Hollywood, whose showstopping melodies mined from every era of rock quickly earned fans in Elton John, Questlove, and Jack Antonoff. Go To School, the ambitious 15-track coming-of-age opus, followed in 2018 and solidified the band’s reputation for building grand walls of sound around an audacious concept. Sam France of Foxygen writes, “The Twigs are legends – teen sensations, k pop stars, BrotherLovers, Twiggy Cola Lite. Their songs exist as cultural freebase. Cocaine, water, baking soda, and DNA. (o.k. ) While the White Smile Face People appoint Garage Girl, Digital Bass Face or Shitbag Boy as the new FreakoftheWeek, the Twigs have lived 26 cat lives from here to japan making real life bonafide Humans rejoice in the pagan art of Magick Pop Freebase. There are millions of fans, You see; the twigz are more Popular than You, they are Greater than Your Favorite Band, they are a phenomenon.”
March 6
Bankroll Fresh | In Bank We Trust
William Tyler | First Cow Soundtrack
March 13
ZombieKing | Dead to Life
March 20
Cancer Bats | Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones 10th Anniversary Vinyl
Halloweens | Morning Kiss At The Acropolis
March 27
Chrome Waves / Grid Failure | Split Album
Innerlove | Fine By Me
Lutharö | Wings of Agony
Mojo Nixon | The Mojo Manifesto
April 2
Logan Ledger | Logan Ledger
April 10
Cadet | The Rated Legend
Lady Gaga | Chromatica
Metal Church | From The Vault
Squarepusher | Lamental
April 17
Dynfari | Myrkurs er þörf
Kariti |Covered Mirrors
The National Parks | Wildflower
Sarah Siskind | Modern Appalachia
April 24
Haim | Women in Music Pt. III
Ulcerate | Stare Into Death And Be Still
May 1
Gogo Penguin | Gogo Penguin
Havok | V
Jarv Is … | Beyond The Pale
Damien Jurado | What’s New Tomboy?
The Lemon Twigs | Songs for the General Public
May 15
Aksak Maboul | Figures
Nahko and Medicine for the People | Take Your Power Back
Willie Nile | New York At Night
Chuck Prophet | The Land That Time Forgot
June 5
Michael McDermott | What in the World
June 12
League of Corruption | Something In the Water
June 19
The Shrieks | Ode to Joe
June 26
Kansas | The Absence of Presence
