Indie Rock
Dirty Projectors Share “Lose Your Love” Remix by Jimmy “The Senator” Douglass: Stream
Felicia Douglass and Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, photo by Jason Frank Rothenberg Dirty Projectors are in the midst of an ambitious five EP project, in which each member of the band has a chance to take on lead coals. The latest installment, Flight Tower surfaced back in May with the excellent single “Lose Your Love”. Now, Dirty Projectors are sharing a special remix of that track by Jimmy Douglass — the Grammy-winning producer best known as The Senator and, coincidentally, the father of keyboardist-percussionist Felicia Douglass, the lead vocalist on the track. There’s three alternate versions of “Lose Your Love” that Dirty Projectors are releasing today: an acoustic spin on the track, a remix by Miami-based producer Mz Poppinz, and the previously mentioned rendition by ...
The Strokes Share New Music Video for “Ode to The Mets”: Watch
Baseball is officially back, which makes this the perfect time for The Strokes to drop their music video for The New Abnormal standout “Ode to The Mets”. Directed by the band’s longtime collaborator Warren Fu, the clip is broken into eight “chapters,” each digitally animated by a different artist. As the camera pulls back through one location to the next, keep an eye out for subtle Easter eggs hidden amongst the designs. The Mets’ blue-and-orange color scheme is hinted at throughout, and there’s a nod to the team’s last World Series win in 1969. There’s even an old photo of The Strokes themselves from guitarist Nick Valensi’s own collection tucked into one of the scenes. Watch the “Ode to The Mets” video below. Editors’ Picks After releasing The New Abnormal (available here) bac...
Rilo Kiley to Reissue Rare Self-Titled 1999 Debut Album
Last time we spoke to Jenny Lewis about Rilo Kiley’s 20th anniversary, she seemed a bit shocked at how much time had passed. Now, we’re feeling the same way. That’s because today, the beloved emo-goes-indie pop group have announced they’re reissuing Rilo Kiley, their self-titled debut album from 1999, on October 2nd via Little Record Company. Rilo Kiley originally formed back in 1998 in Los Angeles as a four piece featuring Lewis, Blake Sennett, Pierre de Reeder, and Dave Rock. After writing a handful of original songs and rehearsing regularly, they booked their first show at the Silverlake venue Spaceland. As it turns out, comedian Dave Foley was in the crowd that night and fell head over heels for their music — so much so that he wound up funding the band’s very first demo session and, i...
Taylor Swift Premieres New Album folklore: Stream
Following its announcement just hours ago, Taylor Swift has released her “surprise” new album folklore. Stream it below via Spotify. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. A new music video for the track “cardigan” has also been revealed. folklore serves as Swift’s eighth full-length overall and comes less than a year after Lover. Its 16 tracks were co-produced by Aaron Dessner of indie rock outfit The National. His bandmate and brother Bryce Dessner provided “beautiful orchestration on several songs from across the ocean,” while Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, Lover collaborator Jack Antonoff, and William Bower also contributed in various capacities. In a statement, Swift said that “Most of the things I had planned this summe...
Dawes Announce New Album, Share “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To?”: Stream
Dawes have today announced the October 2nd release of a new album called Good Luck with Whatever. In anticipation, they’ve shared the lead single, “Who Do You Think You’re Talking To?”. Marking the band’s seventh full-length overall, Good Luck with Whatever is the band’s first with new label Rounder Records. It follows a series of self-released records including 2018’s Passwords, 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die, and 2015’s All Your Favorite Bands. For Good Luck with Whatever, Dawes teamed with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit) at Nashville’s landmark RCA Studio A. According to a press statement from frontman Taylor Goldsmith, the recording process saw him opening up more to his bandmates’ input: “In the past, I’ve definitely been mo...
Nilüfer Yanya Debuts New Song “Day 7” During NPR Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Watch
Nilüfer Yanya landed on both our Top 50 Songs and Top 50 Albums of 2019 lists thanks to her incredible debut album, Miss Universe. Today, she’s made her return to the spotlight with a new song, “Day 7”, which she premiered a performance for NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert series. This is technically Yanya’s second entry in the Tiny Desk catalog. Last year, the English artist visited the NPR headquarters to play a full-band Tiny Desk set featuring three tracks from Miss Universe. For this new edition, which was recorded at a studio in Cornwall, England, she turned in a solo performances of three other songs from that record: “Heat Rises”, “Paralysed”, and “Heavyweight Champion of the Year”. In between the familiar tracks, she unveiled “Day 7”. Like her previously released material, “Day...
Julia Stone Returns With New Single “Break”, Produced By St. Vincent: Stream
Julia Stone (photo by Brooke Ashley Baron) and St. Vincent (photo by Lior Phillips) Julia Stone is back with her first solo single in eight years, “Break”. The track was produced by none other than St. Vincent and features additional contributions from Bryce Dessner of The National and Warpaint member Stella Mozgawa. On “Break”, Stone layers her folk stylings with more robust instrumentation like synthesizers and brass, citing David Byrne as inspiration. According to the Australian singer-songwriter, this exciting shift in musical direction is tied to the adrenaline rush of a new romance. “It’s when you first meet somebody, and you have that connection, and your chemicals go crazy,” Stone says of the single, which was also co-produced by Sufjan Stevens associate Thomas Bartlett. “It’s abou...
My Morning Jacket Perform “Spinning My Wheels” on Fallon: Watch
It’s been less than a week since My Morning Jacket dropped their excellent new album, The Waterfall II. On Wednesday night, the band celebrated the record’s release with a quarantine performance of “Spinning My Wheels” on The Tonight Show. Album opener “Spinning My Wheels” is sensual and introspective. It relies on piano and slide guitar flourishes to provide a backdrop of beauty for the ennui of the lyrics. For the first live performance behind the LP, frontman Jim James selected what seems to be a teal peacoat, and he arranged his flowing hair and beard into a lion’s mane around his head. Filming took place with a red curtain directly behind James, and blank walls on either side. This allowed the camera cuts to provide visual interest, without requiring the band to do anything other...
Shamir Announces New Self-Titled Album, Premieres “I Wonder”: Stream
Despite the pandemic, Shamir is gearing up to release his second album of 2020. Following March’s Cataclysm, the indie artist is readying a self-titled record for October 2nd. According to a statement, Shamir finds the Philly-based musician swapping his R&B and pop palette for something with a little more grit. Shamir specifically looked “toward the post-hardcore ’90s for further inspiration — from Olympia, Washington cult heroes Unwound to bands of the Kill Rock Stars orbit.” The shift in musical direction may be a bit surprising to fans. But for Shamir, it’s a natural evolution and one that places him at his most centered. “I felt like it didn’t need a name [for the album], cuz it’s the record that’s most me,” Shamir says of the LP, which he also considers his most accessib...
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...
Protomartyr Serve Up New Album Ultimate Success Today: Stream
After a brief pandemic-related delay, post-punk greats Protomartyr are back with their fifth studio album, Ultimate Success Today. Stream it in full below via Apple Music or Spotify. For a high-definition listening experience, you can sign up for a 60-day free trial of TIDAL HiFi. The Domino-released collection follows 2017’s Relatives in Descent and was co-produced by Protomartyr themselves alongside David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House). Sessions took place at Dreamland Recording Studios, situated in a 19th century church in upstate New York, and featured guest contributors in legendary jazz alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc and vocalist Nandi Rose, aka Half Waif. Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute) and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm also joined the band in the studio. In a sta...
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...
