Monthly Roundup February 2018

So this month sure was a doozy in terms of high quality releases. We had a new album from Kyle Craft(which Pitchfork described as misogynistic...it's not), new solid albums from Field Music, The Soft Moon, MGMT, The Monochrome Set, John Tejada, Ought and Superchunk to name a few.

Some real highlights for the month were that aforementioned Kyle Craft album. It was a nice continuation of the sound he introduced us to on his debut 2 years ago.

Hookworms threw their fanbase for a loop by crafting their newest almost entirely from electronics instead of their usual psych rock foundation.

Car Seat Headrest popped out an excellent album in the form of an old album of his from 2011 being entirely reworked with Matador's budget behind him. This was in no way a reissue, the extent of the reworking on this constitutes a brand new album without a doubt.

One of my favorites from Feb 2018 had to go to the wacky album Go Kart Mozart put out. It's extremely corny, cheesy, dorky but also insanely talented and fun as all hell. Think if Max Tundra put out a Britpop album in the 90s. Or Blur if all they did was compose all of their songs on cheap weird synths.

And last but certainly not least and what may be the best album of the year so far, Ezra Furman blew me away with his newest release "Transangelic Exodus". Apparently the album is about a society where people can pay to surgically make themselves angels. It's a metaphor for gender identity and identity in general. The concept is interesting but the songs are really what carry this album. This time around he added a ton of weird samples and electronics to his usually somewhat retro indie pop rock sound. This makes for a much darker listen. This one is not to be missed and will most likely end up very high on my end of the year list.

Enjoy the list and don't forget to fire up that Spotify playlist below!








Feb 2nd

Bardo Pond-Volume 8(Fire)

Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Space Rock, Shoegaze, Noise Rock

Anna Burch-Quit The Curse(Polyvinyl)

Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Jangle Pop

Kyle Craft-Full Circle Nightmare(Sub Pop)

Genre: Pop Rock, Southern Rock, Glam Rock

DZ Deathrays-Bloody Lovely(I Oh You)

Genre: Alternative Rock, Dance Punk, Noise Rock

Field Music-Open Here(Memphis Industries)

Genre: Progressive Pop, Indie Pop, Chamber Pop, Art Pop

Hookworms-Microshift(Domino)

Genre: Neo Psychedelia, Synthpop, Krautrock

James Hunter Six-Whatever It Takes(Daptone)

Genre: Blue Eyed Soul, R&B

Julian Lage-Modern Lore(Kung Fu)

Genre: Guitar Jazz, Jazz

Montero-Performer(Chapter)

Genre: Psychedelic Pop

Nadah El Shazly-Ahwar(Nawa)

Genre: Art Pop, Arabic Pop, Avant Garde Jazz

The Soft Moon-Criminal(Sacred Bones)

Genre: Darkwave, Industrial Rock, Post Punk, Electro-Industrial

Sunwatchers-II(Trouble In Mind)

Genre: Jazz Rock, Jazz Fusion

February 9th:

Chemtrails-Calf Of The Sacred Cow(Pnk Slm)

Genre: Alternative Rock, Indie Rock

Alela Diane-Cusp(All Points)

Genre: Singer/Songwriter, Contemporary Folk

Ezra Furman-Transangelic Exodus(Bella Union)

Genre: Indie Rock, Art Pop

Holy Motors-Slow Sundown(Wharf Cat)

Genre: Dream Pop, Slowcore

Legend Of The Seagullmen-Self Titled(Dine Alone)

Genre: Alternative Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal

MGMT-Little Dark Age(Columbia)

Genre: Synthpop, Neo Psychedelia, Psychedelic Pop, Hypnagogic Pop, New Wave

The Monochrome Set-Maisieworld(Tapete)

Genre: Pop Rock

Palm-Rock Island(Carpark)

Genre: Math Rock, Progressive Pop, Experimental Rock, Sequencer and Midi, Neo Psychedelia, Art Pop, Psychedelic Pop

Susanna-Go Dig My Grave(SusannaSonatta)

Genre: Chamber Folk, Drone, Avant Folk, Ambient Pop

John Tejada-Dead Start Program(Kompakt)

Genre: Tech House

Feb 16th:

Born Ruffians-Uncle, Duke And The Chief(Paper Bag)

Genre: Indie Rock

Car Seat Headrest-Twin Fantasy(Matador)

Genre: Indie Rock, Singer/Songwriter

Dabrye-Three/Three(Ghostly International)

Genre: Boom Bap, Glitch Hop

I'm With Her-See You Around(Rounder)

Genre: Americana, Folk Pop, Chamber Folk

Loma-Self Titled(Sub Pop)

Genre: Art Pop, Dream Pop, Contemporary Folk, Chamber Folk, Psychedelic Folk

Miracle-The Strife Of Love In A Dream(Relapse)

Genre: Synthpop

The Orielles-Silver Dollar Moment(Heavenly)

Genre: Dream Pop, Neo Psychedelia

Ought-Room Inside The World(Merge)

Genre: Post-Punk, Indie Rock, Art Rock

Shannon And The Clams-Onion(Easy Eye Sound)

Genre: Garage Rock, Psychedelic Pop

Superchunk-What A Time To Be Alive(Merge)

Genre: Indie Rock, Pop Punk

Tal National-Tantabara(FatCat)

Genre: West African Music, Fuji

Marlon Williams-Make Way For Love(Dead Oceans)

Genre: Chamber Folk, Singer/Songwriter

Feb 23:

Chappo-Do It(Votiv)

Genre: Indie Rock, Glam Rock

Elephant9-Greatest Show On Earth(Rune Grammofon)

Genre: Jazz Fusion, Progressive Rock

FRIGS-Basic Behavior(Arts&Crafts)

Genre: Post-Punk, Art Punk, Gothic Rock

Go Kart Mozart-Mozart Estate Present Go Kart Mozart In Mozart's Mini Mart(West Midlands)
Insecure Men-Self Titled(Fat Possum)

Genre: Indie Pop, Synthpop, Bubblegum, Glam Rock, Music Hall

The Lovely Eggs-This Is Eggland(Egg)

Genre: Noise Pop, Indie Rock, Punk Rock

The Low Anthem-The Salt Doll Went To Measure The Depth Of The Sea(Joyful Noise)

Genre: Indie Folk

Holly Miranda-Mutual Horse(Dangerbird)

Genre: Indie Pop, Sophisti-Pop, Singer/Songwriter, Dream Pop

Remo Drive-Greatest Hits(Epitaph)

Genre: Indie Rock, Emo-Pop, Pop Punk, Midwest Emo, Power Pop

Caroline Rose-Loner(New West)

Genre: Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Neo Psychedelia

Screaming Females-All At Once(Don Giovanni)

Genre: Indie Rock, Garage Rock, Punk Rock, Hard Rock

The Skull Defekts-Self Titled(Thrill Jockey)

Genre: Noise Rock, Experimental Rock, Post-Punk

Turnstile-Time & Space(Roadrunner)

Genre: New York Hardcore, Beatdown Hardcore, Post-Hardcore, Melodic Hardcore