One of the most exciting new releases of the week comes from Oakland artist Merrill Garbus, better known as tUnE-yArDs. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes her third album as "an inventive set of visceral, rhythm-driven avant-pop with consistently strong, brightly melodic songs featuring a densely layered and looped sound using a variety of colorful instrumentation, including an assortment of live and synthetic drums along with lots of homemade percussion fleshing out Haitian Vodou, African and other exotic rhythms underneath her elastic vocals and probing lyrics about self-doubt and the trials of the creative process." (She'll be LIVE on KEXP on Saturday, May 24th at 3:00 PM PT.)
British band The Horrors are back with "an adventurous, masterfully crafted blend of shoegazer psych-rock, dream-pop, post-punk, motorik German prog, 80s-inspired electro-pop and more, with an intricately textured sound combining oceanic guitars, sparkling synths, rolling rhythms, languid vocals and majestic pop hooks."
Swedish artist Lykke Li returns with her third album I Never Learn, which Yates describes as "a bleak, monochromatic set of somber heartbreak ballads featuring a cavernous, heavily reverbed, densely layered and occasionally overblown sound with mournful keyboards, strummed acoustic guitars, sluggish tempos, aching, multi-tracked vocals and lovelorn lyrics."Other new releases to look out for include the latest from Scottish trio PAWS, described as "another first-rate set of scruffy, ’90s-influenced garage-pop." The debut from Atlanta artist Curtis Harding is "an impressive set of expansive soul inflected with funk, blues, psych and garage-rock" on Burger Records. Famed UK musician/producer Brian Eno teams up with Underworld frontman Karl Hyde for "an album of dance-friendly electro-pop, featuring a busy, densely textured sound with intricate rhythms, bright synths, driving guitars, tinny synthesized horns and wistful melodies."
Amarante - "Cavalo"from Cavalo on Easy Sound
Andrew Jackson Jihad - "Linda Ronstadt"from Christmas Island on Side One Dummy
Antwon - "Rain Song (Ft. Lil Ugly Mane)"from Heavy Hearted in Doldrums on UNIF
Atmosphere - "Bitter"from Southsiders on Rhymesayers
bis - "Control The Radical"from data Panik etcetera on Do Yourself In
Brian Eno / Karl Hyde - "The Satellites"from Someday World on Warp
Liam Finn - "Snug As Fuck"from The Nihilist on Yep Roc
Fujiya & Miyagi - "FLAWS"from Artificial Sweeteners on Yep Roc
Curtis Harding - "Keep On Shining"from Soul Power on Burger Records
The Horrors - "So Now You Know"from Luminous on XL
Inspiral Carpets - "Head For The Sun"from Dung 4 [Expanded Edition] on Cherry Red
Nikki Lane - "Seein' Double"from All or Nothin' on New West
LAFAWNDAH - "Chili"from LAFAWNDAH EP on self-released
Lykke Li - "No Rest For The Wicked"from I Never Learn on Atlantic
King Dude - "Fear Is All You Know"from Fear on Not Just Religious
Kirsty MacColl - "All I Ever Wanted"from All I Ever Wanted: The Anthology on Salvo
Morning Parade - "Culture Vulture (Acoustic)"from Pure Adulterated Joy on Caroline / So Recordings
Nine Black Alps - "Supermarket Clothes"from Candy for the Clowns on Hatch
Pacifika - "Yo Te Amo" (Adam Popowitz Geek Mix)from Amor Planeta on Six Degrees
Papercuts - "Still Knocking At The Door"from Life Among the Savages on Easy Sound
PAWS - "Tongues"from Youth Culture Forever on FatCat Records
The Rails - "Breakneck Speed"from Fair Warning on Universal
Gruff Rhys - "American Interior"from American Interior on Caroline
Savages - "Fuckers" trailerfrom "Fuckers" b/w "Dream Baby Dream" 12" on Matador/Pop Noire
Sonny Rollins - "Someday I'll Find You"from Road Shows, Vol. 3 on OKeh Records
Jenny Scheinman - "The Littlest Prisoner"from The Littlest Prisoner on Masterworks
Tech N9ne - "Hard (A Monster Made It)" feat. MURSfrom Strangeulation on Strange Music
Tiny Ruins - "Me At The Museum, You In The Wintergardens"from Brightly Painted One on Bella Union
tUnE-yArDs - "Water Fountain"from Nikki Nack on 4AD
We Were Evergreen - "Daughters ( Aeroplane Remix )"from Towards on Universal-Island Records
Young Magic - "Fall In"from Breathing Statues on Carpark Records
Wooden Wand - "Dambuilding"from Farmer's Corner on Fire Records
It's a strong week for new albums, including the long-awaited solo debut from Blur frontman (and Gorillaz leader) Damon Albarn. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the release as "a mostly dark, brooding set of eclectic, beat-driven pop with a stripped-down, dub-influenced sound combining haunt…
