art-rock
Puscifer Ride the New Wave on Existential Reckoning: Review
The Lowdown: Puscifer’s fourth studio album sees the enigmatic vocalist Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle) joined once more by core members Mat Mitchell (guitar/production) and Carina Round (vocals/songwriting), among others. Existential Reckoning is their first LP in five years (Money Shot dropped in 2015). On the new effort, Puscifer offer up another go-round of electro-arty rock tunes, which lyrically seem to follow the continuing adventures of characters Billy D, and his wife, Hildy Berger … with the former purportedly the victim of an alien abduction. The Good: Any new music from Mr. Keenan is sure to please his legion of admirers. And Puscifer once again sees Keenan and company build tunes around electronics as their foundation (at times comparable to early ‘80s new wavers...
Gorillaz Continue to Exude Colorful Chemistry on Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez: Review
The Lowdown: Ever since they first stole our hearts about 20 years ago, Gorillaz — the genre-splicing virtual band spearheaded by Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett, and now Remi Kabaka Jr. — have provided about as much visual flamboyance and experimentation as musical. In other words, they’ve always made exceptional use of things like music videos, 3-D concert projections, and web-based gimmicks to not only enhance the impact and mystique of their albums and lore but also to push the limits of what modern, multimodal artistry can achieve in a broader sense. Earlier this year, they announced arguably their most ambitious endeavor yet: Song Machine, a web series wherein each “episode” features a new song/music video that encapsulates Gorillaz’s trademark tongue-in-cheek bizarreness, stylistic flex...
Lost Under Heaven Return with New Single “Alpha Omega”: Stream
LUH. Lost Under Heaven, aka LUH., have returned with a new song called “Alpha Omega”. After releasing their previous albums, 2016’s Spiritual Songs for Lovers to Sing and last year’s Love Hates What You Become, via Mute, LUH. have decided to go the independent route. “Alpha Omega” marks their first release under their new label/arts platform, LUH.international. The single was entirely funded via the band’s Patreon, where subscribers got an early listen a few days ago. Today, the heavy swirling lament has been released wide for all to hear. As LUH. detailed in a statement, “Alpha Omega” was born out of exploring existential questions during lockdown. “After reflecting on our rapturous moment, from the sensational and quickly suppressed alternative narratives (or ‘conspiracy’ theories) to th...
Django Django Return with New Song “Spirals”: Stream
Although the pandemic continues to keep us apart, and political tactics seek to divide us, we’re all inherently connected as one human race. That’s the message British art-rock outfit Django Django want to remind us of on “Spirals”, their first single in almost two years. The track follows the group’s pair of 2018 releases, Winter’s Beach EP and full-length album Marble Skies, and picks up musically where those projects left off. With frontman Vincent Neff leading the way with a spell-like cadence, “Spirals” chugs along with propulsive energy until its guitars and drums lock into a looping groove. Its accompanying video, directed by Maxim Kelly, continues this spinning theme. Imagining Neff as something of a hybrid human and double helix, the clip “uses the image of DNA to muse on how...
St. Vincent Teams with Yoshiki for New Version of “New York”: Stream
Yoshiki and St. Vincent, photo via Twitter/@YoshikiOfficial St. Vincent has teamed with X Japan’s Yoshiki for a reimagining of her modern classic “New York”. This version of the MASSEDUCTION cut essentially takes what was already there and puts a more archetypal classical spin on things. (The lyric “only motherf*cker” is also changed to “only other sucker.”) Yoshiki expands on the song’s original string arrangements, while adding some of his own gorgeous piano to replace Thomas Bartlett’s original work. St. Vincent compared the new “New York” to “the way time or distance transform longtime friends or relationships: the original is still recognizable, but subtly and significantly altered.” In his own statement, Yoshiki explained how the collaboration came about: “As an artist, I admire...
Pylon Announce Box Set Featuring First Vinyl Pressings of Gyrate, Chomp in 35 Years
Art-rock heroes Pylon have announced a new 4xLP box set called simply Pylon Box. Due out November 6th via New West Records, the collection comes as the Athens, Georgia band celebrates the 40th anniversary of their debut album, Gyrate, which is included alongside their sophomore full-length, Chomp. Both remastered records are being pressed to vinyl for the first time in nearly 35 years, and are also available to stream now. Also tucked inside Pylon Box are a total of 18 previously unreleased tracks. That includes Pylon’s first-ever recording, Razz Tape, laid down at a session that predates their 1979 debut single, “Cool” b/w “Dub”. Prior to this, the only Razz Tape track to see release was “Functionality”. In addition, there’s Extra, an 11-song collection that features six previously unhear...
The Velvet Underground’s John Cale Joins Kelly Lee Owens On New Single “Corner Of My Sky”: Stream
After a brief pandemic-related postponement, Kelly Lee Owens will release her new album Inner Song at the end of the month. The upcoming effort was previously teased with both “Melt!” and “On”. Now, for her third preview, the electronic music producer has enlisted the help of The Velvet Underground’s own… Please click the link below to read the full article. The Velvet Underground’s John Cale Joins Kelly Lee Owens On New Single “Corner Of My Sky”: Stream Lake Schatz You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give...
Liturgy and LEYA Collaborate on New Song “Antigone”: Stream
Hunter Hunt-Hendrix (Liturgy), courtesy of Promo Jukebox / Marilu Donovn & Adam Markiewicz (LEYA), photo by Erin Krimian Brooklyn black metal group Liturgy and NYC avant-pop duo LEYA have joined forces for a new collaborative single, “Antigone”. The track showcases the ambitious experimentation of both projects. The genre-blending black metal present on Liturgy’s 2019 album H.A.Q.Q. returns to provide a backdrop, accentuating the yearning vocals of LEYA’s Adam Markiewicz. “Originally its purpose was as a single to promote a tour we were going to do together last April that ended up getting cancelled,” Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix told Paper magazine of the song’s origins. “The track had a different name originally, and we would have put it out in early April, but held off, because we ...
Myrkur and Anna von Hausswolff Cover Björk’s “All Is Full of Love”: Stream
Dark folk singers Myrkur and Anna von Hausswolff have joined forces for a cover of Björk’s 1997 song “All Is Full of Love”. The majestic closing track of Björk’s art pop masterpiece, Homogenic, “All Is Full of Love” is ripe material for a treatment from Myrkur and Von Hausswolff, whose voices intermingle on the minimalistic rendition. Only a spare, distant piano accompanies their melodies. “From our homes in Denmark and Sweden we decided to record a simple, fragile and raw version of Björk’s ‘All Is Full of Love’,” Myrkur (aka Amalie Bruun) said in a press release. “A song we consider to be one of the most beautiful and encouraging songs, that is a reminder to stay open to receive love even in times like these.” The track makes for a proper addendum to Myrkur’s 2020 album, Folkesange. Stee...
Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far)
Welcome to our Mid-Year Report. All week long we’ll be sharing the music, movies, and television that have helped us survive a strange and confusing six months. We start today with our Top 25 Albums of 2020 (So Far). It’d be fatuous to pretend that the first six months of 2020 have been like any other. All of us are facing difficult realities: the pain of injustice, the loss of a loved one, or even just the despair of looking out the window and not knowing what tomorrow will bring or when it will come. For the purposes of this list, then, maybe it’s equally foolish to think music impacted us the same way it always does. Then again, perhaps that’s what makes music so integral to our lives: that no matter what the world or our individual lives look like, music has the magical knack of provid...
A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms Escaped Tool’s Shadow 20 Years Ago
Outside of a few major examples — such as Dashboard Confessional, Audioslave, CSNY, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, The Mars Volta, Cream, and Led Zeppelin — side projects, supergroups, and spin-offs are rarely as triumphant as the bands from which they originate. Of course, Californian troupe A Perfect Circle — founded by Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan and former Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel — must be added to that list. Over the past 20 years, and through four studio albums and numerous major tours, they’ve amassed a following that rivals those of any of the members’ outside endeavors. (Some fans even prefer APC to Tool, and for understandable reasons.) True, their subsequent records offer stronger hooks, more decorative instrumentation, and a greater emphasis on overtly political and/or ...
The Residents Announce New Album, Share “Die! Die! Die!” with Black Francis: Stream
The veteran art-rock collective The Residents have announced a new double-disc album called METAL, MEAT & BONE: The Songs of Dyin’ Dog. The first single, “Die! Die! Die!”, comes with a Trump and coronavirus-inspired music video, along with unhinged vocals from Black Francis of Pixies. METAL, MEAT & BONE arrives July 10th, and if you’re wondering, “Who’s this Dyin’ Dog?”, The Residents have provided a typically cracked answer. According to a statement, Dyin’ Dog was a bluesman from the 1970s born with the name Alvin Snow. Before his mysterious disappearance on January 13th, 1976, Dyin’ Dog apparently recorded a ten-song demo. As the story goes, The Residents were fortunate enough to rediscover this long-lost masterpiece, and have now used it as the basis for METAL, ME...
