Out This Week 4/7

It's a throwdown for album of the week, and The Mountain Goats just might come out on top with their fifteenth full-length Beat the Champ. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls it, "a fascinating set inspired by professional wrestling though often dealing with notions of identity, justice, death and other weighty subjects. The album’s expansive sound ranges from hook-filled folk-pop and raging, punk-infused rockers to moody, jazz-tinged pop and atmospheric piano ballads."

Other heavy contenders include the latest from London artist East India Youth which Yates calls "another ambitious, beautifully constructed blend of moody electro-pop, lush neo-classical and ambient, spacy prog-rock, pounding techno, trance and more, though it’s also more polished, melodic and song-oriented than his somewhat more prickly debut." On his fourth album, Toro y Moi leaves "behind the electronics for a set of psych-tinged pop-rock reminiscent at times of Big Star and Todd Rundgren, featuring a warm, ‘70s-steeped sound with vintage guitars and keyboards, hazy vocals and sun-kissed melodies." The latest from Alabama-bred, Philadelphia-based artist (and former P.S. Eliot frontwoman) Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) "features a more confident and expansive sound ranging from buzzing garage-pop to sparse acoustic folk-pop, along with some of her best, most sharply crafted and deeply felt songs to date."

Lapalux (aka UK producer Stuart Howard) shares "a transportive set of blissed-out, shape-shifting electronic grooves featuring a woozy, densely layered sound inflected with R&B, hip hop, jazz and other styles, with occasional R&B-tinged vocals from Andreya Triana, Szjerdene and Lustmore himself." Vancouver, BC band Weed return with another "set of shoegazerish psych-rock combining swirling, densely layered guitars with half-buried vocals and wistful melodies."

• (Various Artists) Prince Far – “Nuclear Weapon”
• from Sherwood At The Controls, Vol. 1 1979-94 on On-U Sound
• American Wrestlers – “Kelly”
• from American Wrestlers on Fat Possum
• Aphex Twin – “ZOoMIxMAx-frod5”
• from MARCHROMT30A edit 2b 96 12" on Warp
• Brian Wilson – “The Right Time”
• from No Pier Pressure on Capitol / Virgin EMI
• Cassandra Wilson – “Strange Fruit”
• from Coming Forth by Day on Legacy / Sony Music
• Colleen – “Captain of None”
• from Captain of None on Thrill Jockey
• Doldrums – “Hotfoot”
• from The Air Conditioned Nightmare on Sub Pop
• Drug Cabin – “Wiggle Room”
• from Wiggle Room on 401K Music
• DTCV – “Miley Cyrus Wins The Race”
• from Uptime! on Unsatisfied
• East India Youth – “Turn Away”
• from Culture of Volume on XL Recordings
• Fred Thomas – “Bad Blood”
• from All Are Saved on Polyvinyl
• GABI – “Fleece”
• from Sympathy on Software
• Josh Rouse – “Some Days I'm Golden All Night”
• from The Embers of Time on Yep Roc
• Kelela – “Guns & Synths”
• from Cut 4 Me (Deluxe) on Fade to Mind
• Kuroma – “Love Is On The Way”
• from Kuromarama on Votiv
• Lapalux – “Closure (feat. Szjerdene)”
• from Lustmore on Brainfeeder
• Lido & Canblaster – “6.59 AM”
• from Superspeed EP on Pelican Fly
• Lord Huron – “Fool for Love”
• from Strange Trails on IAMSOUND
• Matt & Kim – “Hey Now”
• from New Glow on Harvest
• Mitski – “Square”
• from Bury Me at Makeout Creek (Deluxe Edition) on Don Giovanni
• The Mountain Goats – “The Legend of Chavo Guerrero”
• from Beat the Champ on Merge
• Obnox – “Menocause”
• from Know America on Ever/Never
• Pokey LaFarge – “Something In The Water”
• from Something in the Water on Rounder
• The Real McKenzies – “Who'd a Thought”
• from Rats in the Burlap on Fat Wreck Chords
• Royal Thunder – “Forget You”
• from Crooked Doors on Relapse
• Second Storey & Appleblim – “Layer Lock”
• from ALSO on R&S
• Shana Falana – “Heavenstay”
• from Set Your Lightning Fire Free on Team Love
• Shlohmo – “Buried”
• from Dark Red on True Panther/Wedidit
• Toro Y Moi – “Run Baby Run”
• from What For? on Carpark
• The Very Best – “Let Go”
• from Makes a King on Moshi Moshi
• WATERS – “What's Real”
• from What's Real on Moshi Moshi
• Waxahatchee – “Air”
• from Ivy Tripp on Merge
• Weed – “Stay in the Summer”
• from Running Back on Lefse
• White Hills – “Spirit of Exile”
• from Walks for Motorists on Thrill Jockey
• Young Fathers – “Shame”
• from White Men Are Black Men Too on Big Dada