Alternative Rock
Song of the Week: beabadoobee’s “Care” Reminds Us That It’s Actually Summer
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Let’s play some catchup. 2020 began with all the musical anticipation of a new year and fresh decade. Then, when COVID-19 initially struck the States, music became an afterthought as we watched major albums delayed and highly anticipated tours postponed into oblivion. Then music became a lifeline as we huddled indoors and waited for the world to end. We listened to “quarantine albums,” found comfort in online fireside or bathtub sessions, and began marking Instagram shows on our calendars as if they were actual concerts. Then, the George Floyd murder shook the world, and we needed music to cry to, to scream to, and, most importantl...
Yo La Tengo Release Instrumental EP We Have Amnesia Sometimes: Stream
At the start of the week, Yo La Tengo popped up on Bandcamp with an instrumental track called “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds”. A new jam appeared each following day, and it’s all culminated today with the reveal of a full five-song EP called We Have Amnesia Sometimes. Stream it below. The collection stems from a series of sessions that saw the trio “playing formlessly” in late April and early May. Yo La Tengo had escaped to their Hoboken, New Jersey rehearsal space to “push away the outside world” while safely social distancing. As Ira Kaplan explains in a press release, “In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resume...
PJ Harvey Announces Vinyl Reissue of To Bring You My Love
PJ Harvey has announced a vinyl reissue of her third album, To Bring You My Love, as part of her ongoing year-long reissue campaign. It’s due out on September 11th via UMC/Island. Harvey is also set to share To Bring You My Love – Demos, a compilation of previously unreleased recordings, that same day. This is the third installment in Harvey’s reissue campaign. She previously announced re-releases of 1992’s Dry and 1993’s Rid of Me as well as accompanying demos for each, the latter of which was produced by industry staple Steve Albini. In contrast, To Bring You My Love was co-produced by Harvey herself alongside Flood and John Parish, marking her first collaboration with them. In the press and tour cycles that followed, the album was swiftly hailed as Harvey’s proper breakthrough record. T...
Yo La Tengo Drop Five-Minute New Song on Bandcamp: Stream
Lo and behold, Yo La Tengo have joined Bandcamp. Or at least one that’s being managed by their label Matador Records. To celebrate, the veteran indie outfit have dropped a five-minute new track that’s titled — breathe in, breathe out — “James and Ira demonstrate mysticism and some confusion holds (Monday)”. Why this spirited jam? What’s the story here? Allow Ira Kaplan to explain: “In late April, with the outside world weighing on everybody, we determined that the three of us could assemble in Hoboken without disobeying the rules laid out by Governor Murphy, and resumed . . . ‘practicing’ hardly describes it, because we’ve done no practicing per se, and anyway what would be practicing for . . . playing. James set up one microphone in the middle of the room in case we stumbled on something ...
Top 5 Covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”
The tale of Fleetwood Mac (the Reader’s Digest version, anyway) can be told in two parts. There’s the blues rock version of the band, which featured a revolving-door of guitarists and gradually transitioned into softer rock over several records, and then there’s the pop powerhouse the band became famous as once guitarist-singer Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks joined for the outfit’s self-titled 1975 record. It’s the landmark album that would give the band its first huge success in America and result in several fan favorites like “Rhiannon” and “Landslide”. The album began a string of records lasting into the late ’80s, including Rumours in ’77, where the group, despite plenty of inner turmoil, could seemingly do no wrong musically. [embedded content] Though not originally a si...
My Morning Jacket Release New Album The Waterfall II: Stream
After a half decade wait, My Morning Jacket have finally unveiled The Waterfall II. Stream it below via Spotify and Apple Music. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. The Waterfall II arrives five years after the band’s last album, The Waterfall. Both collections were recorded during what have become known as the Panoramic House Sessions, which MMJ laid down between 2013 and 2014. Similarly, both were produced by frontman Jim James alongside Tucker Martine. James decided to revisit the 10 tracks that make up The Waterfall II when he stumbled upon opener “Spinning My Wheels” while listening to music on a walk early in the pandemic lockdown. The lyrics about being “hypnotized from doing the same old thing” felt very relev...
Jim James Says My Morning Jacket Have a “Completely New Record” Ready For Release
Today marks the return of My Morning Jacket, who have just released their new album, The Waterfall II. The album isn’t entirely “new,” though, as it was recorded at the same time as 2015’s The Waterfall. As it turns out, fans hoping for the rockers’ true return from hiatus are in luck, as frontman Jim James has revealed MMJ do in fact have a fresh full-length all ready to go. After touring behind The Waterfall, MMJ took a break, only playing a handful of shows in 2018 and 2019. It was during those “reunion” gigs last year that the band found themselves “re-energized,” as James told Kyle Meredith with… on the latest episode. “So we went in the studio, and we have a whole new record that we’re finishing,” James revealed. “A completely new record.” My Morning Jacket h...
My Morning Jacket’s Jim James on The Waterfall II, Another New Album, and Justice for Breonna Taylor
Kyle Meredith With… My Morning Jacket Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public After a brief hiatus, My Morning Jacket have returned with their first record in five years, The Waterfall II. Frontman Jim James calls up Kyle Meredith to discuss why they sat on this other half of songs for so long and how the world has changed in the interim. One of the songs, “Magic Bullet”, was originally released in response to a 2016 gun-related killing, and James discusses what the song means today with his hometown of Louisville at the center of a similar story involving the murder of Breonna Taylor. James also talks about the water concept that flows throughout the set, producing S.G. Goodman’s record, and — get ...
The Flaming Lips Share Dreamy Ode to the “Dinosaurs on the Mountain”: Stream
The Flaming Lips continue to inch closer to the release of American Head, their 21st (!) studio album. To preview the effort, Wayne Coyne & co. have already shared a pair of singles in “Flowers of Neptune 6” featuring Kacey Musgraves and “My Religion Is You”. A third teaser comes today in the form of “Dinosaurs on the Mountain”. Soft psychedelia coats this ode to the giant reptiles that once ruled the earth. “I wish the dinosaurs were still here now/ It’d be fun to see them playing on the mountains,” ponders Coyne. The single also has a tinge of sorrow about the plight of the T. Rex and others and their tragic helplessness — one that sadly seems relevant to us humans during this very moment in time. “Up on the mountain they’d all be alone/ You can’t just leave them on the side of the r...
My Morning Jacket Announce New Album The Waterfall II, Out This Friday
Five years ago, My Morning Jacket released their most recent album, The Waterfall. At the time, the word was that the alternative rockers had actually recorded enough songs for two full-length albums, but the second collection of tracks never materialized — until now. Today, MMJ have announced The Waterfall II, and it’s coming this Friday, July 10th via ATO Records. The Waterfall and The Waterfall II were recorded during inspiring sessions at what became affectionately known as Panoramic House in Stinson Beach, California. While My Morning Jacket considered putting out all of the music as a triple album, they instead decided to split the two dozen tracks into distinct projects. It was during a walk in the early days of the pandemic lockdown that frontman Jim James rediscovered on...
Bob Mould and Milana Rabkin Join Kyle Meredith Live
Kyle Meredith Live… Bob Mould and Milana Rabkin Kyle Meredith Live, our new bi-weekly series exclusively on Consequence of Sound’s Instagram, returns with another round of guests to discuss the hottest topics in music going down at the moment. Today, Kyle will speak with legendary singer-songwriter Bob Mould, who will discuss politics, Black Lives Matter, Pride, and how it all factors into his latest record, Blue Hearts. On Thursday, Kyle will connect with Milana Rabkin, co-founder of Stem, a new distribution platform for artists in need of finding alternative ways of getting paid beyond album sales. Kyle Meredith Live airs Tuesday and Thursday at 3:00 p.m. ET via Consequence’s Instagram account. For more interviews, be sure to subscribe to Kyle Meredith With…, a tri-weekly podc...
Jeremy Zucker on the Concept Behind Love Is Not Dying
Kyle Meredith With… Jeremy Zucker Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public Jeremy Zucker calls Kyle Meredith to discuss Love Is Not Dying, a concept album about being in a relationship with someone battling addiction and mental health. Zucker speaks on the therapy of writing, coupling overwhelming beauty with the apocalypse, and balancing love and death. On the music side, the 24-year-old New Jersey native discusses using guitars meaningfully, teaching himself piano as he was writing the songs, and the success he’s found around the world. Kyle Meredith With… is an interview series in which WFPK’s Kyle Meredith speaks to a wide breadth of musicians. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Meredith digs d...
