Brooklyn artist, producer, DJ Alexis Georgopoulos, known as Arp, is releasing his fifth full-length Zebra on June 22nd on Mexican Summer. Arp just shared the second single “Nzuku” described as “Rotating on a hypnotic marimba pattern and an octave-driven bass, “Nzuku” is the sound of an ensemble working together in harmony, opening doors for one another.” Take a listen. This is what Arp’s label has to say about the new album:
A mutant offspring of diverse stylings, 2018’s expansive ZEBRA is a post-everything symbiosis of ancient to future psychotropics. Using forward-looking production techniques, ZEBRA is a vast, shimmering prospect, emphasizing points of connectivity, pleasantly disrupting outdated boundaries between musical traditions, hierarchies and genre politics.
Preoccupations
Watch: Preoccupations “Decompose” Video
Jun 04, 2018
Calgary, Alberta’s Preoccupations have a new video out today, “Decompose” directed by Evan Henderson from their latest releaseNew Material. The band has had some pretty awful luck of late, having had all their gear stolen on their current tour. Apparently, they raised enough money through social media fundraising to start over. Here’s hoping they can finish the tour and keep rolling.
Benoit Pioulard & Ant’lrd
Stream: Deck Amber - Ant’lrd & Benoit Pioulard
Jun 01, 2018
Pacific Northwest contemporaries Ant’lrd & Benoit Pioulard released a wondrous ambient album today. Dark Amber was recorded in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington during 2015-2016 and is out today on Portland label Sounds Et Al. In a similar vein to Stars of the Lid and A Winged Victory for the Sullen, this collaborative collection stirs, uplifts, and overwhelms in its ambient beauty.
Rostam
Stream: Rostam – Half-Light Remixes EP1
May 31, 2018
Today Rostam released a four-song Remix EP from his’s Luminous 2017 debut solo album Half-Light Nonesuch Records.The EP features new takes on “Gwan” from Tourist, “Warning Intruders” from Jim-E Stack, “Half-Light” (featuring Kelly Zutrau) from Instupendo, and “Bike Dream” from Matsor Projects. Presumably, there will be more Half-Light remixes. For now, enjoy these and check out Rostam summer tour dates below.
Rostam Summer Tour Dates:
May 31
Primavera Sound Festival
Barcelona, SPAIN
Jun 2
All Points East Festival*
London, UK
Jun 4
Point Ephémère
Paris, FRANCE
Jun 5
Blue Shell
Köln, GERMANY
Jun 6
Nochtewache
Hamburg, GERMANY
Jun 8
NorthSide Festival
Aarhus, DENMARK
Jun 10
Best Kept Secret
Hilvarenbeek, NETHERLANDS
Jun 12
Rotonde, Botanique
Brussels, BELGIUM
Jun 13
The Haunt
London, UK
Jun 14
Scala
London, UK
Jun 16
Donnybrook Stadium*
Dublin, IRELAND
Jul 28
Newport Folk Festival (Sold Out)^
Newport, RI
Sep 13
Belly Up
Solana Beach, CA
Sep 14
The Fonda Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
*special guest of The National
^w/Hamilton Leithauser
Brooke Annibale
Premiere: Brooke Annibale ” Glow” Video
May 30, 2018
Singer-songwriter/guitarist Brooke Annibale out of Pittsburgh is putting out her newest record Hold to The Light, her third full-length record following 2015’s The Simple Fear. Hold to The Light is a pop-progressive album that offers a fusion of textured electronic and traditional instrumentation and “Glow” stylishly represents this shift. Under the Radar has the premiere of the video.
“When I wrote this song, it was kind of just a sweet soft little acoustic song, but I knew I wanted it to have a lot of energy”, explains Annibale. “We initially recorded it with acoustic guitar at the forefront, but when I started playing it on electric we quickly shift gears to feature it instead. The acoustics are still there but they really just serve as another percussive element. The drums almost feel like a marching band but with distortion effects. It’s probably the “happiest” song I’ve ever released and it’s got some summer vibes for sure, so it feels really fun to release it this time of year…We were halfway through recording the song. My producer (Sam Kassirer) had been playing around with this pulsating synth/keys part that reminded me subtly of something…which I quickly realized was the intro to Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” …After a dinner break, I asked him if he ever listened to it, and played it for him. It immediately, ironically inspired the rest of the song. Not the typical production reference for me, but I’ve always loved that song so it really worked. Obviously, the songs don’t end up sounding that similar, but that was certainly our inspiration for finishing the song.”
Produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive) Hold to The Light features the contributions of seasoned artists Sam Kassirer on Keys; Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray Lamontagne) on Bass; Josh Kaufman (The National, Josh Ritter) on accompanying guitars; Sean Trischka on Drums; and Matt Douglas (Sylvan Esso, Mountain Goats) on Woodwinds.
Perfume Genius
Listen: Perfume Genius “Run Me Through” King Princess Remix
May 29, 2018
Perfume Genius is about to gift us with a remix EP of tracks taken from his wonderful fourth album No Shape. Reshaped will be released June 8th on Matador Records and features remixes by Mura Masa (“Slip Away”), Laurel Halo (“Die 4 You”), Jam City (“Just Like Love”), mmph (“Braid”), and No Shape producer Blake Mills (“Every Night”). The remix of “Run Me Through” by King Princess was just shared. Listen below and check out Perfume Genius summer tour dates.
Tour Dates:
6/8 - Forest Hills, NY - Forest Hills Stadium w/ Belle and Sebastian
6/13 - Madrid, Spain - Mad Cool Festival
6/14 - Lisbon, Portugal - Passeio Maritimo de Alges
8/8 - Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl w/ Bon Iver
8/10 - San Francisco, CA - Outside Lands Festival
Jenny Hval
Watch Jenny Hval “Spells” Video
May 25, 2018
Jenny Hval’s new EP The Long Sleep is out today via Sacred Bones. It’s her first official release since 2016’s marvelous Blood Bitch and follows theLost Girls collaborative EP with Håvard Volden, released this past February. She also shared the video for Spells, directed by Constance Tenvik.
As Hval describes it, “A detective like version of Jenny is carrying a mysterious suitcase through various disco infused rooms. At times her doppelganger appears. Soon enough the content of the chased suitcase is revealed to be pastel colored marshmallows. The slumber party is officially open and the sweets are up for grabs. A pillow fight evolves into a carnivalesque parade serving dance moves and crocodiles made out of bread and spinach - and with hard boiled eggs as eyes (recipe found in Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes). On the dance floor, Jenny attempts to become a disco ball by draping herself in silver sequins and by pointing with a Maglite on the rotating body. While she is covered in silvery fabrics and spinning, she is not noticing that the party is leaving her.”
Produced by Hval and Lasse Marhaug and recorded with Volden, “The Long Sleep” EP sees Hval embracing an instinctive, even subconscious, approach to creating meaning. In contrast to her more explicitly conceptual work, “The Long Sleep” foregrounds the act of composition itself, letting the melodies and structures reveal the other elements of the songs. All of the songs on the EP recycle the same compositional motives, but manipulate them into very different shapes that take them further and further out of their original, “life-like” context.
Wooden Shjips
Watch: Wooden Shjips “Already Gone” Video
May 24, 2018
The new video from San Francisco psych-rockers Wooden Shjips for the single “Already Gone” makes the Pacific Northwest look awfully nice…and sound nice too. “Already Gone” is from the forthcoming album V.
