September closes out with a bang from some serious heavy hitters as another year of exceptional music rolls along. Animal Collective return this week with Isn’t It Now?, the follow-up last year’s “comeback” album Time Skiffs and it once again finds the band hitting a creative peak in terms of output and the singles suggest solid, groove induced jams with their signature experimental flare.
The thirteenth album from Wilco arrives today and while they claim it has no connection to The Bear, it’s nearly impossible to read the title Cousin and think of anything else (especially given the amount of needle drop moments featuring the band on the show). Regardless, the album is lead by the lovely track “Evicted” and brings back some of their more experimental noise flashes and less of the country touches that were so prominent of last year’s Cruel Country.
The prolific duo of billy woods and ELUCID return today as Armand Hammer and their new album, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, features more of their dark, sinister beats making for some brutalism hip-hop that features some of the best in the underground including a banger produced by EL-P.
Slow Pulp have been brining the fuzz on their recent singles and their new album, Yard, could be their biggest yet. It’s got the big hooks, heavy riffs, and a wonderful evolution of their well-crafted sound. The sophomore record from Molly Burch drops today and it’s filled with retro-pop gems and bold turns that push her sound forward towards an enriching and bigger scale.
After taking some time to produce records for acts as diverse as The Weeknd or Soccer Mommy, Oneohtrix Point Never delivers his latest album, Again, which was lead by the killer single “A Barely Lit Path,” an electronic odyssey of a track that’s jam-packed with brilliant textures and mesmerizing sonic shifts. Cleo Sol, a signer associated with the R&B/disco collective SAULT, just released a new album called Heaven earlier this month and is back today with Gold, yet a collection of groovy neo-soul tracks with her effervescent vocals taking the spotlight.
Footwork extraordinaire Jlin drops a fun and engaging mini-album today that continues to find the electronic artist exploring new territory while still embracing the frenetic work that has made their past efforts so enjoyable. Black metal mainstays Wolves in the Throne Room are also back today with an EP that once again has them making beautifully intense music that has made them major players in the scene for a long time running.
Guitar virtuoso Marnie Stern hasn’t released new music in a decade, but this week she shared the second single from her forthcoming album and it once again is a tour-de-force of finger-tapping splendor that Marnie became known for back in the early aughts. DEBBY FRIDAY recently won the Polaris Music Prize for her album GOOD LUCK which came out earlier this year and this week she shared a new standalone single, the vibrant and twitchy track “let u in.”
L’Rain makes gorgeous ambient music that often has a jazz influence and her latest, the third single leading up to her new album, is another slow building electronic wonder that features her shining vocals as the stunning centerpiece. Over a light, acoustic riff and a skittering drum beat, PinkPanthress floats with on her breezy new single “Mosquito.”
Quiet folk-rock can often feel very run of the mill, but Sun June subvert that and offer up some rather breathtaking, sweet moments that center around hushed vocals and easy guitars that make for simple, yet moving tunes and “Mixed Bag” is another great example of a sound they do so well. Maria BC also entertains a similar sound and the third single from her new record is another touching gem of soft and touching melodies that bring light to a bit of darkness.
The Rolling Stones are gearing up for their first album of original material in eighteen years. Recently, they shared the bluesy new tune “Angry” which sounds like a classic Stones track and is way better than it has any right to be coming from a group of men hovering around 80 and this week they did it again with the soul-inspired “Sweet Sounds of Heaven.” This one also features icons Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder and argues that the Stones may still have some hits left in them and I, for one, will happily eat my words if they can pull off an album as decent as these songs suggest six decades into their mighty career.
Albums:
Animal Collective | Isn’t It Now?
Wilco | Cousin
Armand Hammer | We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
Slow Pulp | Yard
Oneohtrix Point Never | Again
Jorja Smith | Falling Or Flying
Molly Burch | Daydreamer
Cleo Sol | Gold
Jlin | Perspective [mini-album]
Wolves In The Throne Room | Crypt Of Ancestral Knowledge EP
Songs:
The Rolling Stones | “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” (ft Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder)
PinkPanthress | “Mosquito”
Marnie Stern | “Believing is Seeing”
L’Rain | “r(EMOTE)”
Maria BC | “Still”
Sun June | “Mixed Bag”
Ty Segall | “Eggman”
DEBBY FRIDAY | “let u in”
Black Pumas | “Mrs. Robinson”
Fever Ray | “Carbon Dioxide” (Avalon Emerson remix)
If you’re a Spotify user, you can listen to these songs (and more from 2023) here!
Black Pumas in Gold Soundz 😵