Gold Soundz: September 23, 2022

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

Sep 23, 2022

The fall has been keeping the undeniable momentum of killer 2022 releases firmly rolling as this week, once again, features some wonderful new stuff. As jazz continues to find itself back in the folds of indie music, this week sees the release of In These Times from self-described beat scientist and drummer extraordinaire Makaya McCraven. He’s been hard at work on this record for several years now with the material being worked on alongside his other records from the past few years, but this could be his most compelling album yet. In the same realm, The Comet Is Coming, the afro-futurist jazz trio led by none other than Shabaka Hutchins also has a new album out today that continues the groups foray of mixing EDM-style beats with mesmerizing jazz rhythms.

Beth Orton returns this week too with her highly anticipated new album, her first since 2016, that’s boasted strong lead singles and should signal a rebirth of her already illustrious career. There is also a new record from the rather prolific Alex G as he pushes forward with his guitar-focused singer/songwriter structures that lead to wonderful gems of homespun indie rock. We also have a new one from Maya Hawke (best known as Robin from Stranger Things and the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman).

Hot off her surprising and resurgent set at Newport Folk Festival, living legend Joni Mitchell releases the next installment of her archival project and this one focuses on her mid-’70s hey-day with Asylum Records. Krautrock titans NEU! are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of their debut album with a new box set that features a bunch of covers and new updates on their colossal breakthrough record.

Post-punks Iceage kicked-off their joint tour with doom metal vets Earth earlier this week, but today they’ve shared a collection of outtakes and rarities from the past six years and it’s chock-full of the sounds that have seen the band tradition from brooding punks to country-tinged rock and rollers. Magdalena Bay follow last year’s phenomenal Mercurial World with a deluxe edition of the album that features a bunch of unreleased tracks which, based on the lead singles, match the dreamy energy from the album’s first go-around and signal at the longevity the duo must have in store.

Wild Pink are gearing up to release their new album next month and the lead singles are suggesting something big from the band. This week’s track, “See You Better Now,” continues their triumph and undefeated heartland rock and features a ripping solo from J Mascis. Another highly-anticipated rock record is on the way from Alvvays and it’ll be their first in five years. Once again, the lead singles hint at a massive comeback and this week the band shared two more tracks, the synthy “Very Online Guy” and the surging “Belinda Says.”

Next week, avant-guard pop icon Björk will release her tenth studio album, Fossora. Recorded at home in Iceland, the record is her mushroom-inspired album and this week she offered up a new track called “Ancestress” which is one of two songs she wrote in tribute to her mother after her passing.

Tonight, Jamie xx and Floating Points will play a show in Queens, NY, but earlier in the week, both artists dropped new songs which I expect will find their way into the respective set lists. Jamie’s is a Caribbean-inspired track with banging beats and Floating Points has returned to his classic techno sound after last year’s collaborative ambient-jazz record with the iconic Pharoah Sanders.

Overmono and Joy Orbison have teamed up once again for another techno banger called “Blind Date” which also features ABRA (presumably on vacals. After announcing a new album and dropping a track with co-production credits from Four Tet, Fred again.. is back this week with another track called “Bleu (better with time)” and this one finds the producer slowing things way down for a techno ballad ready to easy your come down.

When I went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2019, Stevie Nicks mentioned in her acceptance speech that she wanted her first solo album to feature CSN-style harmonies so it’s exciting to hear her take on the overlapping Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.” In other covers news, Courtney Barnett has shared her cover of Sleater-Kinney’s “Words and Guitar” from their forthcoming covers tribute to their classic record Dig Me Out.

If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2022) here!

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