Legendary shock rocker Alice Cooper has released his latest studio album, Detroit Stories. The record’s 15 tracks act as a concept album about Cooper’s native city — a historic hotbed for rock and roll in the ’60s and ‘70s. Cooper was one of the most active members of the scene, fronting the band Alice Cooper before the group’s moniker took on a personality of its own, becoming the man Alice Cooper as he’s known today. “Detroit was Heavy Rock central then,” Cooper said in a press release. “You’d play the Eastown and it would be Alice Cooper, Ted Nugent, the Stooges and the Who, for $4! The next weekend at the Grande it was MC5, Brownsville Station and Fleetwood Mac, or Savoy Brown or the Small Faces. You couldn’t be a soft-rock band or you’d get your ass kicked.” Detroit would become ...
Julien Baker has unveiled her highly-anticipated new album Little Oblivions. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. As she did on her first album, 2015’s Sprained Ankle, and the 2017 follow-up, Turn Out the Lights, Baker wrote, performed, and produced every track. The biggest difference this time around might be Baker herself. In 2018, she formed boygenius with Lucy Dacus and Phoebe Bridgers, and their powerful self-titled debut introduced each artist to new fans and fresh approaches to songwriting. Still, despite everything good that’s come from her career, Baker lived through a “really difficult year,” and she sees Little Oblivions as a “pretty pessimistic record.” As she explained in an interview with Consequence of Sound on Kyle Meredith with…, “I wrote this record over...
Danny L Harle has unleashed his new conceptual club album Harlecore. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The PC Music member and producer for Charli XCX and Rina Sawayama has been at the forefront of the experimental EDM scene for over a decade, but Harlecore is technically his debut full-length as a solo artist — and it’s an ambitious one. The album is set at a club in an alternate reality with four different dancefloors and four different DJ’s — DJ Danny, MC Boing, DJ Mayhem, and DJ Ocean — who each have their own unique style. Each DJ is, of course, just Harle under a different alias, and the album ping-pongs between the rooms at a blissfully disorienting clip. The English musician previewed the record by giving fans a taste of each DJ’s set, but it all comes together ...
Prolific Aussie psych-rockers King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard are back with their latest album, L.W. It comes on the heels of K.G., which dropped just three months ago. Stream it via Bandcamp below. L.W. runs nine tracks long and includes the previously released singles “Pleura”, “O.N.E.”, and “If Not Now, Then When?” As its name implies, L.W. serves as a companion piece to K.G. Frontman Stu Mackenzie previously explained the group didn’t initially plan to release a pair of linked albums: We wanted to make new music that was somehow more colorful this time around, and which maybe reflected t”he many new things that we have learned along the way. After recording Flying Microtonal Banana the songs expanded when we played them live, so we felt ready to tackle the microtonal landscape again...
Ariana Grande has released the deluxe edition of her 2020 album Positions. Stream it below via Apple Music and Spotify. Along with the 14 tracks that appeared on the original version of the album last October, this expanded edition contains five additional songs that didn’t quite make the cut for the record’s standard edition. The new tracks include her previously-released “34+35 (Remix)” with Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat, an interlude called “someone like u”, and three other tracks titled, “test drive”, “worst behavior”, and “main thing”. Although deluxe editions are a format that hungry pop fans begin clamoring for the week after an album drops, Grande didn’t start teasing this re-release until February 1st. She shared the “34+35” remix back in January, and then gave the de...
Rappers Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog have released a new collaborative album called Tha Yod Fahim. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. That deja vu you’re feeling is totally justified. Tha God Fahim made two appearances on Your Old Droog’s December 2020 record, Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition, and then last month the prolific emcees teamed up for a fantastic mini-album of their own called Tha Wolf on Wall St. That one was only eight tracks, but its dense production and sharp lyricism gave fans a lot to chew on. Nevertheless, the pair have decided that it’s already time to swing back around with even bigger second helping. Tha YOD Fahim (incredible pun, by the way) adds 14 new songs to the stack we heard from them last month. Together, they make gritty jazz-rap that’s bo...
Conway the Machine is still putting the final touches on God Don’t Make Mistakes, his debut album on Shady Records, but he’s got another release to keep fans occupied in the meantime: If It Bleeds It Can Be Killed, a joint LP with producer Big Ghost LTD. Today’s new effort marks a reunion for the two hip-hop acts, who previously linked up on last year’s well received No One Mourns the Wicked. Conway, Big Ghost LTD, and fellow Griselda regular Westside Gunn also put out a collaborative project in 2015 called Griselda Ghost. There are 10 tracks in all on If It Bleeds. Many feature soulful, almost Motown-esque production (“J Batters” and “Highly Praised”), while others like “Toast” couple heavy artillery sounds with fuzzy funk. There’s also “Red Beams”, which fills every conceivable spac...
Mixtape masters Tha God Fahim and Your Old Droog have linked up for the new collaborative album Tha Wolf on Wall St. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. The pair have been prolific both separately and together, most recently teaming up on Droog’s December drop Dump YOD: Krutoy Edition. That LP was executive produced by Mach-Hommy, who also lays down some guest work here. But Tha Wolf on Wall St. owes it’s jazzy, laid-back soundscapes entirely to Tha God Fahim. As a rapper-producer, Fahim favors atmospheric beats that can accommodate a wide variety of flows, often allowing his vocal phrases to unspool across several bars. His higher voice provides an airy contrast to Droog’s earthy rumble, and together they put on a masterclass in lyric-forward hip-hop. Previously, TG...
British rapper Fredo has dropped his star-studded new album, Money Can’t Buy Happiness. Stream it below via Apple Music or Spotify. Money Can’t Buy Happiness is the second studio album of Fredo’s career, following 2019’s Third Avenue. On his new effort, he links up with Summer Walker for The Fugees-sampling song “Ready” and collaborates with both Pop Smoke and Young Adz for the uptempo number “Burner on Deck”. He also reunites with Dave, his longtime friend and fellow British rapper, for “Money Talks”, which serves as a follow-up single of sorts to their 2018 smash hit “Funky Friday”. In a statement, Fredo explained that he scrapped his original version of Money Can’t Buy Happiness before settling on this current version, in part to portray a more realistic version of himself and his belie...
In 2020 Bartees Strange caught lightning in a bottle, going from little name recognition to rising star on the strength of one of the best albums of the year, Live Forever. Now he’s made his national TV debut, performing his tour-de-force track “Boomer” on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Catch the replay below. “Boomer” isn’t just one of the strongest cuts on a killer album, it’s also a chance for the multi-talented Strange to dig deep into his bag of tricks. Rhythmically and lyrically, the verses are influenced by hip-hop, while the pre-chorus and hook showcase his scorching vocals and elevate “Boomer” into a soaring rock and roll anthem. Earlier this week, Strange shared a rocking cover of Judee Sill’s “The Pearl” which will appear on an upcoming tribute album from producer Lorenzo Wol...
Madeline Kenney has unveiled the Summer Quarter EP via Carpark Records. Stream it below using Apple Music or Spotify. The follow-up to 2020’s Sucker’s Lunch, Summer Quarter was recorded in the isolation of quarantine, at a time when Kenney had hoped to be touring. The indie songwriter used the extra hours to develop new skills — namely behind the boards. While her first three records were produced by Toro y Moi and members of Wye Oak, this time Kenney took on all the producing duties herself. As she explained on Twitter, “i recorded it in my basement and it’s my first release produced solely by me. it’s weird and different but i like it.” Editors’ Picks The four-track effort is headlined by “Wasted Time” which comes with a music video directed by Kenney. With the aid o...
Queens MC Remy Banks has unveiled his new mixtape, The Phantom of Paradise. Stream and purchase it below via Bandcamp. The Phantom of Paradise comes with 11 blissed-out tracks featuring guest verses from Pink Siifu, Maxo, Wiki, A-Trak, Rome Streetz, eXquire, and Dreamcast. It was recorded and mixed by Leon Kelly, who completed mastering at The Space Pit in New York City. Production was handled by Black Noi$e, Samiyam, Graymatter, Conductor Williams, and more. It’s just the latest imminently listenable effort in an increasingly laudable career. Along with his hip-hop collective World’s Fair, RB was a prominent voice in NYC’s underground rap scene of the early 2010s. While some of his peers have gone on to become bigger names, Banks has remained a favorite of hip-hop heads for his laid-...