Tuesday Music News

05/09/2017

Janice Headley

If you're going to have a eerie, gory music video, who better to narrate than Iggy Pop? UK trio alt-J have recruited the Grandfather of Punk to do just that in their clip for "In Cold Blood." Director Caspar Balsey does a little too good of a job building up the tension as a small woodland mouse scurries towards a bloody conclusion. Watch below. The new album Relaxer will be out June 2nd via Canvasback, and alt-J play Seattle on Thursday, October 12th at WaMu Theatre. [ Consequence of Sound ]

A couple of weeks ago, local duo Shabazz Palaces announced a new LP on the way, the concept album Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star. Now they've announced yet another album -- Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines. Stream the first single "30 Clip Extension" below. Both LPs will be out July 14th via Sub Pop. And then on August 18th, local publisher Fantagraphics Books will release a graphic novel version of Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines, illustrated by cartoonist Joshua Ray Stephens. A press release describes the book: "Printed in a large 11 x 17 format, with saddle-stitch binding, this limited-edition art piece further expands the ambitious universe of Quazarz and Shabazz Palaces." We'll surely hear more about the warrior Quazarz when the band play the Upstream Music Fest + Summit this weekend. [ Under the Radar ]

In other local music news, Chastity Belt share the single "5am," the closing track on their upcoming album, I Used To Spend So Much Time Alone. Listen below. The new album is out June 2nd, and the album release show is Thursday, June 1st at The Crocodile with So Pitted. [ Stereogum ]

And, let's make it a local music news hat-trick: Perfume Genius (aka Mike Hadreas) shares a video for the single "Die 4 You." In the clip, director Floria Sigismondi features Hadreas in a couple of amazing outfits, including the one he wore on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert the other night. Watch below. "Die 4 You" appears on his latest LP No Shape, out now via Matador Records. Perfume Genius perform Sunday, July 23rd at the Capitol Hill Block Party. [ Stereogum ]

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