Ariel Pink- "Pom Pom"

Ariel Pink has been called many things; from "genius" to "misogynist", he is a divisive figure in modern alternative music. Born Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, Pink has successfully guised himself as a conundrum to the naysayers, prolifically devoting his life to endlessly creating lo-fi trash masterpieces for seemingly his own amusement. Teetering somewhere between the heir to the Zappa elseworlds and Dr. Demento's back catalog, the patchwork songsmith has allegedly crafted hundreds of records- releasing a sparse handful as physical albums comparatively.  The most recent to wriggle its way from his collection: Pom Pom.

In a surprising (and abruptly noticable) change of pace, Ariel Pink's Pom Pom is his most produced effort (don't worry fans, it's still the same crazy- it just sounds cleaner)- which really seems to do his work justice. Vascillating between 60's wizard pop, spaztic noise rock, and sing-along 80's nuance, Pom Pom's toybox exists in a world where your VCR's tracking problems create accidental sideswiped nonsensities.  It's strange, complex, completely original while being completely derivative, and undeniably not for everyone- but it needs to be experienced to even try to explain.

Get your copy of ARIEL PINK's newest album, "POM POM" RIGHT HERE!

TV On The Radio- "Seeds"

 

TV On The Radio formed in the wake of the early 2000's NYC rock n' roll revival trend, but unlike its five borough brethren who were preoccupied with analogue-striped guitars and Stones-worthy hooks, the Brooklyn natives had a more soulful approach.  Since the band's inception, Tunde Adebimpe, David Andrew Sitek, Kyp Malone, Jaleel Bunton, and Gerard Smith have remained core members- churning out four albums of expansive R&B-tinged indie rock that seemingly grows with each release.  The group's latest effort, "Seeds" finds the Brooklynites continuing down the road they started down and deliberately takes a few unexpected sideroads.

"Seeds" is decidedly a TV On The Radio record, the silky combination of Stax-era crooning over chunky bareback guitars that oscillate between dancehall grooves and cathartic distortion blasts.  The result is a band that could easily be the lovechild of Talking Heads and William Bell- the welcomed difference is the textural layers of melodies they openly embrace.  "Seeds" is a dance album for the NYC underground that still romanticizes guitars over synthesizers; or perhaps a soul record for the overzealous rock critic. Whichever camp you subscribe to, the common ground of genre-leanings TVOTR could easily make the most caustic naysayer bob their head to the beat.

Get YOUR copy of TV ON THE RADIO's NEW album, "Seeds", RIGHT HERE!

Mark Lanegan Band- "Phantom Radio"

 

Mark Lanegan is a survivor, above all else.  As a founding member of 90's Sub Pop Records' grunge darlings, The Screaming Trees, Lanegan was raised in the hanging gardens of rock n' roll. Even after the band's inevitable implosion after label disinterest in 2000, he began releasing solo albums, collaborating with former Belle And Sebastian signer Isobel Campbell, and becoming a member of Queens Of The Stone Age sporadically throughout the last decade. With the release of 2012's "Blues Funeral",  his writing process drifted from the all-too-familiar singer/guitar tropes of the other grunge survivors and took on the shape of a fully-formed ensemble.

Lanegan's greatest strength on his latest offering, "Phantom Radio", is the expansion of the sounds explored on "Funeral". Even at its meager moments, layers of cinematic synths and strings add a graceful texture to his most tragic yarns.  There are moments on the album that echo the somber tone of a more stream-lined Tom Waits (or even "Good Son"-era Nick Cave), glacially poignant. Weaving his signature blues-laced fretwork throughout, "Phantom Radio" exists in a world where cowboys retire to a dying radio that crackles dead gospel to a new wave backbeat; surviving the dying of the light.

Get YOUR copy of Mark Lanegan Band's "Phantom Radio" HERE!

Run The Jewels 2

 

2012 was a good year for rapper/emcee El-P, the snarky and business-savvy-minded mic-wrangler unleashed his first proper album in nearly 5 years (the fanfare-worthy "Cancer4Cure") and produced Killer Mike's last outing "R.A.P. Music" to critical acclaim.  Amidst his time behind the board, El and Mike struck up an unlikely partnership/friendship worthy of buddy cop movie comparisons; feeding off each others' industry woes and idea wells that pushed the duo relentlessly to the top of their respective games. From there, their inevitable team up as "Run The Jewels"spiraled outward to the hungry masses as they unexpectedly dropped their debut album for free online.

Sparing any discourse, RTJ was an immediate hit; topping out numerous end of the year hip hop countdowns and harkening back to a time when the medium was far more interested in self-aware, tongue-in-cheek musing than bragging about product endorsements.  With such a feverish over-confidence (and rightfully so) in their work ethic and abilities, the duo eagerly began work on the album's sequel: "Run The Jewels 2".

RTJ2 is not pulling any punches-- from the first second in, Killer Mike's vulgar aggression rips into the first track with escalating enthusiasm, and beef-worthy beat production. The miraculous element to RTJ is their ability to consistently push themselves forward, while keeping their energy and voraciousness at dangerous levels of exuberance. Featuring some unexpected appearances from Zack De La Rocha and Travis Barker, El-P and Killer Mike have managed to elevate their already strong force to be reckoned with; one can only hope there's a Run The Jewels 3 in our future.

Grab your copy of RUN THE JEWELS 2 here!

The Flaming Lips- "With A Little Help From My Fwendz"

 

There's an old saying that simply states: "Everything old is new again..." and like most things, this is a feeling that is expressed in extremes by The Flaming Lips.

The Flaming Lips have had their collective third eye open for a while now; a case could be made that throughout the band's 14 album career they've actively ridden the spiraled staircase straight to the enlightened rock gods of Mars and returned to share the good word (a sentiment that would probably be adored by enigmatic frontman, Wayne Coyne.) Without a moment's hesitation to expand sonically with each album, the Lips have become a psychedelic mainstay thanks their exuberant, unquenchable zeal for the bizarre and ZERO label interference (which in itself is a miracle, considering it's Warner Bros. Records-- give credit where credit's due). So what's the next logical step for the little band of oddballs and their merry cult of starchildren? Cover The Beatles.

But The Flaming Lips aren't JUST covering The Beatles, that band that's practically universally-appreciated (even the biggest of music critic naysayers tend to avoid arguing the fab four's relevance and THAT speaks volumes)-- no, Coyne and Co went straight for assimilating the entirety of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". A massive undertaking that makes COMPLETE sense on paper, "With A Little Help From My Fwends" boasts some of the strangest choices ever made by the band; which includes the guest appearances of My Morning Jacket, Moby, Electric Wurmz, Grace Potter, Tegan and Sara, and (WHAT?) Miley Cyrus.  Take all these elements, throw them in a blender, hit "frappé" and you have the finished product: An odd smattering of unrelated oddities miraculously mashed amidst each other until they resemble an album that you at one point owned. Recognizable and alien simultaneously, it's fever dream nostalgia at its peaks-- they hope you will enjoy the show, sit back and let the evening go.

Get YOUR copy of The Flaming Lips' "With A Little Help From My Fwendz" RIGHT HERE!

Flying Lotus- "YOU'RE DEAD!"

 

Steven Ellison, known more commonly to the irreverently-inclined as Flying Lotus, took the electronic music scene by storm with his Warp Records debut- Reset EP. Reluctant to be confined to traditional EDM tropes, FlyLo employs a myriad of obscurities into his mixing pot- a recipe that often includes deep jazz cuts, scattered loops and hip-hop fused beat production that are patchworked into otherworldly musings. As a producer, he demonstrates the precision of a surgeon tapering layers of sounds like an audio Jenga that never topples over.  With four full-length albums under his belt, Ellison doesn't show any signs of slowing down on his latest release, You're Dead!

Expanding his already expansive tools of the trade, You're Dead! is a record of maturing introversion and examination hidden between the cracks of acid-warped genre-bending and cartoon whimsy.  The deeper explorations of death (as a metaphoric concept, rather a finite limitation) are guided by an eclectic ensemble of guest stars including the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Herbie Hancock- all of which seamlessly cohabitate this parallel universe. You're Dead! is an otherworldly aural journey that grows within the listener with each spin and leaves you with new discoveries under each layer of sound.

Get YOUR COPY of Flying Lotus' "YOU'RE DEAD!" Right Here!

Prince- "Art Official Age/Plectrumelectrum"

 

Prince. So rarely has an artist maintained such a curious veil of mystery and mystique, while simultaneously producing a body of work that remains singular to the individual; Prince makes Prince music and while often imitated, its rarely the genuine article. Putting aside the proven track record for the bizarre, the memorable oddities of a career highlight reel, and the unending penchant for borderline-dictatorship creative control- Prince is the genuine article in mind, body and (what we'd safely assume is an otherworldly) spirit.

Reuniting with Warner Bros Records after nearly 18 years of disconnect, Prince has returned with not one- BUT TWO full length albums to prove his venerable presence is an essential voice in modern music. Both "Art Official Age" and "Plectrumelectrum" (with his hip-chick protege trio, 3rdEyeGirl) flex Prince's patented flair for the fret-fused, pop-sensible, funk n' roll grooves, while still treading into uncharted territory for his royal badness. "Age" is an eclectic pop tryst with nuanced autotune and dance beats more akin to familiar radio RnB that one would expect from the man that once publicly bashed Top 40 tunesmiths. While his outing with 3rdEyeGirl proves naysayers that Prince can still shred with the best of them- mixed with the bass and bombast of an arena rock record, this is an interesting and arguably welcome detour from his usual frequencies.

Not to be outweighed by his past accomplishments, Prince seems to be in flux at the moment- redefining who is is as an artist TO THIS DAY. 

Grab your own copy of PRINCE's "ART OFFICIAL AGE" HERE!