Hey all! We got a bunch of cool stuff going into Studio A this week, including some great singer-songwriter love songs courtesy of Natalie Prass, as well as some weirdo psych-rock from Jib Kidder. In addition to that, we’ve got a great collection of songs from 80s horror-movie soundtrack virtuoso John Carpenter (who you can see looking all spooky in the above image). This one is a personal favorite, and has some really dark, spooky synth stuff going on. It makes me feel like I’m driving really fast down a dark, lonely road at night being chased by a vampire in a leather jacket…or something like that. Anyway, check it all out and more below!
-Dan
**= push *= recommend
| ARTIST | ALBUM | DESCRIPTION | LABEL |
| Natalie Prass** | Natalie Prass | Pop-soul-Nashville product. Has a certain allure that other singer-songwriters lack- not sure what. Glossy and polished. Lush string, horn and wind sections. Lovely songs about love. Big-hearted and supremely enjoyable. RIYL: Jessica Pratt, Kate Bush, Feist. Play them all! FCC clean. | Spacebomb |
| Jib Kidder* | Teaspoon to the Ocean | Weirdo, psychedelic indie rock with strange, warbly vocals that are oddly infectous. Dreamy textures. Sounds like pop music from another dimension. “Acid country”. RIYL: Yough Lagoon, Ducktails. Play 2,7,5,3. FCC clean. | Domino |
| Twerps* | Range Anxiety | Laid back cool dude indie rock from down under. Very Yo La Tengo and Real Estate vibes. Lazy guitars and vocals, very enjoyable and pleasant. Male and female vocals. Lots of fun and shimmery! Play 2,3,4,5,8. FCC clean. RIYL: Yo La Tengo, Real Estate | Merge |
| John Carpenter* | Lost Themes | 80s horror movie soundtrack virtuoso is back with some dark, spooky, retro synth action. Actually sounds like old movie soundtracks. Deep booming synth with high-flying guitar. Pretty badass. FCC clean. | Sacred Bones |
| Guster* | Evermotion | Fairly different dynamic for Guster as they enter into a more psychedelic, less organic feel to their music. Very ethereal dreamy sound. Slight Beach Boys influence on some songs. Try 4,1,7, and 8 | Nettwerk |
| The Smashing Pumpkins* | Monuments to an Elegy | Crashing percussion, heavy distortion, smooth vocals. Also some slower, more laid back tracks. FCC clean. Try 1,2,6. | Martha’s Music |
| Miss March* | That Is All | Retro sound, beacky laid-back jams. Dynamic throughout, different influences in each track. Indie rock/pop. Try 5,3,8. FCC 3,7,8 | Self-released |
| Brooke Fraser* | Brvtal Romantic | Orchestral chamber pop. Lots of reverb, strings, and synth. Similar to Naked and Famous, Lana Del Rey. Try 1 and 3. | Vagrant |
| Until the Ribbon Breaks* | A Lesson Unlearnt | Another album in the indie r&b movement, akin to James Blake or How to Dress Well. Deviates with some funkier or jazzier elements. Kickass feature from Run the Jewels, reminiscent of Black and RZA. Try 3,7. | Kobalt |
| Paperhaus | Paperhaus | Glittery guitars. Lots of post punk rhythms. Occasionally string additions. Reverb drenched at some points. Songs feel too long for what they’re trying to go for. Play 1,3. FCC clean. | Self-released |
| Love Like Hate | Unnoticed | Lush orchestral pop on the darker end of the spectrum. The style is rendered well if unimaginatively. Think the theme music for an AMC drama. FCC clean. RIYL: Zola Jesus | Self-released |
| Purple | 409 | A boisterous mix of pop, rock, and hip-hop. A power trio w/ female vocals. Catchy in an annoying sort of way. Perfect for radio. Try 1,2,9. FCC 4,7. | Pias |
| Ricked Wicky | I Sell the Circus | Some cool brit-pop tunes from member of Guided By Voices. Some cool tracks/moments but there’s too many songs on here for there to be many stand-out tracks. A lot of it blends together. Try 1,4,7,10. RIYL: GBV, Parquet Courts, The Jam. FCC clean. | GBV Inc. |
| Con Brio | Kiss The Sun | Some defenitely cool grooves and amazing vocals. Not as experimental/boundary pushing as they make it seem. Draws a lot of influence from old soul/funk byt sounds a little too clean. Try 1,4,5. FCC clean. | Burning House |
| Jon Hardy and The Public | Restless City | Throbbing bass. Nice combination/production of sounds. Americana rock/arena rock. Some new wave influence since there’s drum machine parts. RIYL: The Boss, The War on Drugs. Play 2,3,6,8. | Self-released |
| Doom Tree | All Hands | Heavy beats, rap-style lyrics, effects added on. FCC 8,9. | Self-released |
| Diplo | Florida | 10-year reissue of Diplo’s debut solo album. Lots of weird instrumentals, a lot of jazz influence. All over the place but some dope hip-hop beats. FCC clean. RIYL: FlyLo | Big Dada |
| Dengue Fever | The Deepest Lake | A wild n crazy exploration through worldwide grooves. Flavorful combos of latin hip hop and east Asian guitar rock. Really strange but super funky. You will hear nothing like this anywhere else. | Tuk Tuk |
| Mike Pace and the Child Actors | Best Boy | Frontman of former “Pitchfork buzz band” Oxford. Collapse returns with sildly eclectic mis of folk, power pop, synth pop and garage rock. Nothing too memorable, but 7 is fun. FCC on 1 and 4. RIYL: Vampire Weekend | Self Starter Foundation |
| Native America | Grown Up Wrong | Kinda standard indie-pop, but has its peaks. At times punky but also subtle and mellow. Imagine the guy from The Shins playing punkier Mac DeMarco tracks. Try 4,8,11. RIYL: The Shins, Mac DeMarco | Inflated Records |
| T Bird and the Breaks | Harmonizm | Some sweet feel-good, jazzy r&b that has strong soulful vocals and funky instrumentation. This album is real sweet, I love funky jazz, | Self-released |
| Marilyn Manson | The Pale Emporer | Sounds like Marilyn Manson (duh). Really good bassline/beats. Recommend tracks 1,4,8. Lyrics are a little weak. FCC warning 1,7,9. | LVR |
| Brave | Brave | R&B flavored piano rock. Like Justin Timberlake tried to write Regina Spektor songs with hip-hop beats. Familiar sounding but original. | The Groove Merchants |
| Andy Shauff | The Bearer of Bad News | Contemporary pop-folk. Polished sound, trained vocals, lively instrumentation. Rc 1,3,8. | Party Damage Records |
| River Whyless | River Whyless EP | Folk- clean, generic vocals, heavy in the mix and sounds like Fleet Foxes. Dynamics give songs more life than they actually hold. Ehhh… | Self-released |
| Little May | Little May | Cute, female vocalist with some Stevie Knicks feeling. Instrumentals feel blank, folky, but drab. Label lies, dissimilar to Haim. | Dew Process |
| We Do This | Fault Lines | Chill, poppy rock but songs are slow to layer and take too long to bring any kind of feeling to the listener. Pop elements cliché | Self-released |
| Happy Fangs | Capricorn | High energy rock with soe aspects of punk and spunky female vocals. It’s okay, the whole time I was thinking about how I wanted to listen to Sonic Youth for this kinda stuff, so it was pretty average. | Self-released |