Gold Soundz: March 21, 2025

This week's suggested new music, curated by omg!nyc

It’s hard for me to tell exactly when Japanese Breakfast turned into a hugely popular rock star, but my best guess is that it happened sometime between the release of her excellent memoir Crying in H Mart and her last album Jubilee which featured the undeniable hit “Be Sweet.” Today, J Brekkie is back with the follow-up to her last record and while the anticipation is huge, it somehow feels like she’s already been crowned victorious.

One of rap’s best underground secrets has been the style and flow of Saba and this week he’s teamed-up with big name beat maker No ID and it’s a sonic shift towards something many long-time fans have fantasized about for quite some time. Getting Saba’s luxurious rhyming techniques over some serious production could be the game-changing move that gives him the attention he has so long deserved.

This year has two new albums from Men I Trust in the forecast (both are equine themed as well) and this week they shared the first release with the subtle, yet glowing Equus Asinus which has a chill vibe that would perhaps be best for more intimate settings that allow these lovely tracks to do their work without getting lost in a huge space.

At this point, it feels like it’s easy to take My Morning Jacket for granted. For over two decades, the band has released solid album after solid album and while many may think that their best work is behind them, you never know what surprises may appear on their records. The lead single for their latest, is, happens to be a slow burning ballad and a great one at that.

One of today’s piano jazz greats Vijay Iyer has been on an impressive roll recently and today he’s linked up with Wadada Leo Smith for a moving set of tunes that gracefully come together with profound movements and provides for a calming, serene soundtrack to the madness that surrounds us all.

Like so many great artists, it’s a shame that Hiroshi Yoshimura has become a much more well-known figure in the years since his death. An ambient pioneer in his native Japan, many of his best albums have only been giving a world-wide release in recent years and Flora is just the latest album of his from the ‘80s that was given a release in Japan shortly after he died and now make it’s away around the globe.

Minimal post-rock group caroline put out an excellent, self-titled, record in 2022 and have been rather quite (in terms of new music) ever since. This week, the band shared their first new song since that album dropped and it’s a stirring, agitated yet enthralling tune that brings their magnetism back into focus.

It’s been a decade since former members of the band Women formed their new group Preoccupations (fka Vietcong) and while their past has been heavily focused on jagged, post-punk, their new album finds them hitting a sleeker, yet just as razor-sharp, new sound that invokes industrial ‘80s synths and proves they’re not to be taken for granted in their sound.

The rhythm section of Mdou Moctar have announced their own side project and it’s called TAKAAT. Anyone familiar with their main group should know exactly what to expect on their upcoming EP and while the blistering guitar work from their leader is absent, the rest of the band showcases their own talents with glowing results.

English noise makers (deep breath) Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs have a new album on the way and it is sure to be filled with bruising bangers that’ll get the pit going with absolute certainty. Their latest single includes a guest spot from a, perhaps, unlikely collaborator in El-P, but his flow turns out to be a perfect match for these brutalists.

Former Low frontman Alan Sparhawk just released his first solo album last year, but he’s already announced a follow-up and this time he’s recruited Trampled By Turtles to be his backing band. This one certainly has more twang to it than you might expect, but still hits the same emotional core as his past work.

Electro-pop artist Shamir has announced that their upcoming album will be their last as they intend to exit the music scene after its release. Sharing in a press statement, Shamir said “I’ve done and said all I wanted to say. I never want to feel like I’m forcing my art.” While there’s no official release date for the record, Shamir did drop a reflective new single entitled “Neverwannago.”

Albums:

JAPANESE BREAKFAST | For Melancholy Brunettes (& sad women)
SABA / NO ID | From The Private Collection Of Saba And No ID
MEN I TRUST | Equus Asinus
MY MORNING JACKET | is
VIJAY IYER / WADADA LEO SMITH | Defiant Life
LONNIE HOLLEY | Tonky
THE HORRORS | Night Life
HIROSHI YOSHIMURA | Flora
JEREMEY BRADLEY EARL | Four Songs EP
FLYING LOTUS | ASH [Soundtrack]

Songs:

CAROLINE | “Total euphoria”
PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS | “Glibed Tongue” (ft El-P)
BEIRUT | “Tuanaki Atoll”
PREOCCUPATIONS | “Bastards”
ALAN SPARHAWK / TRAMPLED BY TURTLES | “Stranger”
PELICAN | “Indelible”
TAKAAT | “Amidinin”
WISHY | “Over and Over”
VENETIAN SNARES | “Drums”
ANGEL BAT DAWID / NAIMA NEFERTARI | “Procession of the Equinox”
DERADOORIAN | “Any Other World”
SHAMIR | “Neverwannago”
SMERZ | “You got time and I got money”
DEBBY FRIDAYB | “1/17”

If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2025) here!