The Casual Dots are back. The Dischord garage-punk trio formed in DC in 2002, comprising Christina Billotte (Slant 6, Quixotic, Autoclave) on vocals and guitar, Kathi Wilcox (Bikini Kill, Frumpies) on guitar and backing vocals, and Steve Dore (Snoozers, Deep Lust) on drums. In 2004, they recorded and released one self-titled album, produced by Fugazi’s […]
The Callous Daoboys – “The Elephant Man In The Room”
Next week, frantically bugged-out Atlanta metalcore experimenters the Callous Daoboys will release their new album Celebrity Therapist. I have heard it, and I can confirm that it is nuts. The Callous Daoboys’ style is a feverish herky-jerk attack that can be wacky and ferocious at the same time, which is quite a trick. We’ve already […]
Stream Mach-Hommy & Tha God Fahim’s New Album Dollar Menu 4
With new albums from JID and from the team of Roc Marciano and the Alchemist, this is already a great day for new rap records. (I guess DJ Khaled came out with something, too.) And now the great New Jersey enigma Mach-Hommy has come out with a new surprise album of his own. We’re getting […]
Mess Esque – “Armour your amor”
Mess Esque is the duo of Brisbane singer Helen Franzmann (aka McKisko) and Melbourne instrumentalist Mick Turner of the Dirty Three. They debuted last year with a pair of stunning EPs — one called Dream #12, one self-titled — and have returned today with a wonderful new track called “Armour your amor.” Backed by drums […]
Stream Roc Marciano & The Alchemist’s Great Collaborative Album The Elephant Man’s Bones
In the past decade or so, Roc Marciano and the Alchemist have been two of the most influential forces in underground rap. Roc Marci and Alchemist are both lifers, and they both have a style that rewards deep concentration — hazy and sample-heavy boom-bap, misty atmosphere, production that forces you to pay attention to the […]
Hear The Cure’s 1990 “Cut” Demo From 30th Anniversary Wish Reissue
The Cure will soon release a 30th anniversary deluxe edition of 1992’s Wish, their most commercially successful album. (It’s the one that features “Friday I’m In Love,” and it arrived after a decade-plus of legacy-building within the “college rock” sphere, just as “alternative” rock was becoming a mainstream proposition.) The reissue includes 24 previously unreleased […]
Lil Tjay Addresses His Shooting On New Single “Beat The Odds”
A couple of months ago, the 21-year-old Bronx singer and rapper Lil Tjay was shot seven times in New Jersey. Tjay survived the shooting, though he’s got a long recovery ahead of him. Earlier this week, Tjay made his first public statement since the shooting, thanking his fans and well-wishers in an Instagram video. Today, […]
Bartees Strange – “Gang Signs” (Freddie Gibbs & ScHoolboy Q Cover)
Bartees Strange’s music has always mixed and matched genres, blending elements of indie rock and hip-hop among other sounds. Today he gives us one of his more straightforward genre melds: an acoustic rendition of a rap song. As an Amazon exclusive, Bartees has covered last year’s Freddie Gibbs/ScHoolboy Q collab “Gang Signs.” He manages to […]
Stream JID’s Excellent New Album The Forever Story
The world was a very different place in November 2018. That’s when the furiously talented young Atlanta rapper JID released DiCaprio 2, his last full-length project. Four years is an eternity in rap music, but JID has never disappeared. Instead, he’s been releasing stunning one-off tracks and annihilating his guest features for a long time, […]
Miya Folick – “Bad Thing”
Miya Folick has spent this year slowly trickling out songs from her new EP 2007. They’ve been good songs, too, a trend that continues with today’s new offering. The synth-led “Bad Thing” is a bit like Angel Olsen if she’d burrowed deeper into effervescent pop sounds rather than the rootsy, organic path she’s been treading. […]