Influential Webzine STEREOGUM Reveals Best Albums Of 2021

1. ‘I DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE’ by THE WAR ON DRUGS (Dream pop)

Arriving to the highest levels of anticipation in the War On Drugs’ career, I Don’t Live Here Anymore showed up — right on time, in autumn — and exceeded already stratospheric expectations.

Stream here…

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2. ‘VALENTINE’ by SNAIL MAIL (Power pop)

“Valentine is a document of a love gained and lost, and
all the second chances squandered along the way.”

Stream here…

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3. ‘GLOW ON’ by TURNSTILE (Post-punk-core)

“Turnstile have kept the reckless physical abandon of their early records, polished their gleaming-chrome hooks, and cranked out a half-hour barrage of joyous positivity,
where even the experimental left turns hit hard.”

Stream here…

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4. ‘HEY WHAT’ by LOW (Alt psych rock)

“Low’s third collaboration with BJ Burton, HEY WHAT continues where 2018’s Double Negative left off, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker grappling with dire times by making damaged, celestial music.”

Stream here…

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5. ‘JUBILEE’ by JAPANESE BREAKFAST (Dream pop)

“Jubilee is a vibrant, orchestral dream-pop record, drawing
aesthetic influence from a host of classic indie greats.”

Stream here…

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6. ‘DEACON’ by serpentwithfeet (Psychedelic soul)

“If it’s possible to get high on intimacy, then Deacon is a classic of psychedelic soul.”

Stream here…

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7. ‘SUPERWOLVES’ by MATT SWEENEY and BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY (Singer-songwriters)

“Somehow, they topped their 2005 collaboration Superwolf with these
deeply moving reflections on grief, romance, and familial love.”

Stream here…

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8. ‘IGNORANCE’ by THE WEATHER STATION (Dream pop)

“With Ignorance, Tamara Lindeman’s made her biggest statement yet, without
losing the aching human core that defines the Weather Station’s music.”

Stream here…

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9. ‘HALL OF FAME’ by POLO G

“It can’t be easy to convey emotional rawness in the context of an ultra-commercial
rap record, but Polo’s writerly grace and hypnotic hooks are up to the task.”

Stream here…

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10. ‘AN OVERVIEW ON PHENOMENAL NATURE’ by CASSANDRA JENKINS

“The album does indeed feel like some potent encapsulation of
the entirety of this fantastical, dreadful world we all live in.”

Stream here…

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The Full TOP 50 list HERE

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THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN – 7 New Firecrackers Week 36

What happened this past week…

Turn Up The Volume‘s selection of 7 firecrackers
that burned his poor ears the past 7 days.

Let’s roll…

‘Oh Know’ by BEAK> (Bristol, UK)

Krautrock act BEAK> including Geoff Barrow (of Portishead), Billy Fuller (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) and Will Young (Moon Gangs) do once again what they’re addicted to. Producing synth loops with their fingers on the repeat button over and
over again, so their circling grooves can go on like forever.

Press play, press play, press play…

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‘Dick Pic’ by LEG PUPPY (London, UK)

The hardest working acid house junk on the planet gave birth – oh my, what a mess – to his sixth LegPuppy. He’s so proud of his newborn little monster. And so should you. To celebrate, here’s the dope opener ‘Dick Pic’.

Cut the navel cord and party, folks…


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‘Love’ by ROSA MYSTICA (Los Angeles)

Wow! This sultry psychedelic jackhammer just exploded in my face the moment it blasted out of my stereo, and I loved it so much that I started all over again. Mystica‘s ardent vox and her burning Courtney Love intensity makes the hair in your neck stand up. Wow!

“I was definitely inspired by grunge and the idea of a neo-psychedelic wall of sound. I wanted
it to sound dark and hypnotic. But with more direct and simple pop-like melodies and lyrics reminiscent of 90’s Britpop bands like Ride and Oasis. My vision for this song was to juxtapose these deeper story-like lyrics, with a more raw rock n’ roll inspired soundscape. I wanted it to feel like a balance of structure and stream of consciousness, especially in places like the outro
of the song. I wanted it to feel really free,
” says Rosa about her new slam dunk.

Feel the heat…


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‘crooked harmony’ by marcel (Arlon, Belgium)

Who? “Marcel is a carnival ghost who likes to make a lot of noise by rubbing himself on human cheeks with tenderness. Like a lame cat with cymbals attached to its tail. Insufferable but oddly sympathetic. Their music owes as much to Jonathan Richman as it does to the strained strikes of Steven Gerrard, the twisted guitars of Sonic Youth as it does to German expressionist painting, the silly cartoons of their teenage years, as it does to pre-Socratic philosophy.”

These slash and trash crackpots have a new boiling
self-titled EP out. You can stream the whole shebang here.

And hear/watch the riff-insane opener crooked harmony below.
Putain, putain, c’est vachement bien…

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‘Get The Money’ by ME ND ADAM (Austin, Texas)

“Get The Money” is an upbeat anthem about the incessant challenge of American work-life balance. “Get The Money” features witty lyrics accompanied by warm acoustic guitars before exploding into a chorus of wiry 90’s guitars, and funky bass lines creating an eclectic combination of instruments accompanied with the anthemic lyrics.

These are the hip-shaking slo-mo grooves that trigger your best moves once you finally
get yourself out of your lazy couch. And as it is about money and getting rich, you’ll start drooling from the very first second. Right here, right now…

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‘European Son’ by IGGY POP and MATT SWEENEY

A star-studded tribute to iconic band The Velvet Underground, and more
specific to their 1967 masterpiece debut LP hit the streets on 24 September.

Iggy Pop and Matt Sweeney joined the VU party too with their take on ‘European Son’.

And? It’s filthy, it’s nasty, it’s ear-piercing and totally MENTAL!

Here’s why…

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‘Pushing The Tides’ by MASTODON

Let’s have some mad metal with the infamous noise experts of Atlanta, Georgia to end this week’s M7 feature. Their new supersonic hardcore smack – from upcoming double album Hushed and Grim (out 29th October) – is what you need to start a mad-for-it moshpit. Got it? Now, go go go.

I think I’m ready to start
I thought I heard you scream
We’re all part of this fucked up devastation

See/hear you, next week, music junkies…

Crooners MATT SWEENEY & BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY Get Together Again For New ‘SUPERWOLVES’ Album

6 May 2021

Artists: MATT SWEENEY and BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY (Will Oldham)

Album: SUPERWOLVES
Released: 30 April 2021
Order info: here

Info via Domino Records: Where once was Superwolf, now roam
Superwolves, the new album and demon spawn of Sweeney and Billy.
The twin forces united to save up from the complicity of our own
distruction.

Artwork: Cover art was designed by filmaker Harmonie Korine,
also featuring a brand new portrait from world-renowned artist
Peter Doig.


(video still)

Pitchfork verdict: “16 years after Oldham’s tender singing and Sweeney’s cable-knit guitars made the original an underground classic, they return with Superwolves, an album that is, just as its title suggests, both a continuation of ‘Superwolf’ and something more. On the album, the duo let us in on a decades-long conversation, their respective instruments virtually finishing one another’s thoughts. Their bond is so deep, and their knowledge of one another is so profound, it’s essentially impossible to hear the boundary between them.” Full review here. Score: 8/10.

Turn Up The Volume: These two eternal troubadours do not have the masses of fans and mainstream success as master crooner Nick Cave, but they sure are in the same league of remarkable singers/songwriters. A duo made in purgatory making heavenly music for the afterlife. This record will last for a long time, a very long time.

Highlights: Good To My Girls / Hall Of Death / There Must Be A Someone /
My Blue Suit / My Body Is My Own

– HALL OF DEATH –

– MY BLUE SUIT –

– RESIST THE URGE –

Full album…

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DOMINO: Website

Crooners MATT SWEENEY And BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY Charm With ‘MY BLUE SUIT’

New sonic impulses…

25 March 201

American singer/songwriters Matt Sweeney and Bonnie “Prince” Billy
(who seems to sleep with his guitar lately. He’s everywhere) joined forces
in 2005 for a longplayer called Superwolf.

They got together again to can another LP, titled,
eh… Superwolves. Out 30 April. More info here.

One of the 14 tracks is MY BLUE SUIT. A characteristic
troubadour ballad. Smooth, mellow, and romantic.

Enjoy

MATT SNEEWEY & BONNIE “PRINCE” BILLY Share New Spellbinding Track ‘MAKE WORRY FOR ME’

23 November 2020

Back in 2005 lone wolves Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Matt Sweeney teamed
up for a collaborative album called Superwolf.

After all these years the pair returned last March with new music, a raw ripsnorter
called You’ll Get Eaten, Too (listen below) and also announced that a new Superwolf album was “fully rendered, awesome and now awaiting the new world order to be sorted.”

So far no further news, except for a brand new piece, titled MAKE WORRY FOR ME.
A puzzling humdinger with a spellbinding outcome. Stirring stuff.

Transfixing performance…

Previously shared track You’ll Get Eaten, Too

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