Hump Day! Liven the work week up by streaming new albums from the Strokes, Depeche Mode, Wavves, the Flaming Lips, Yelawolf, and more. They’re all down below.
1) The Strokes, Comedown Machine. “The New York-hearting rockers have previously shared the LP’s synth-y, falsetto-floating ‘One Way Trigger’ and rougher, more predictably Strokes-y ‘All the Time.’ The other tracks, on this evidence, split similar territory, with plenty of wobbly synths and well-curdled yowls. Boozy, seasick closer ‘Call It Fate, Call It Karma’ might be the biggest surprise, shading over into off-kilter lounge jazz.” — SPIN (via Pitchfork)
2) Depeche Mode, Delta Machine. On “Should Be Higher,” the album’s tenth track: “All the traditional elements of Depeche Mode get held back or rearranged or sung in falsetto so that, while still classic, the song sounds fresh… You know that high whistle on U2’s ‘With Or Without You,’ the one you can’t forget once you hear it the first time? This song has the same thing, only it’s a sizzle.” — SPIN (via iTunes)
3) Wavves, Afraid of Heights. “Nirvana, Weezer, and Green Day similarities abound on Wavves’ new album… But perhaps the most #90s aspect of the follow-up to 2010’s excellent King of the Beach is that once again an originally skuzzy, cult-ish band has taken full advantage of a proper recording budget — and piled hooks high to the gymnasium rafters.” — SPIN (via NPR)
4) The Flaming Lips, The Terror (performed live at South By Southwest 2013). “‘Look… the Sun is Rising’ [the album’s opening track] is filled with musical promise: adopting a deeply psychedelic tact, the Lips employ clanging drums, angular guitars, whirring keys, and moody atmospherics to create an immersive and enigmatic sound. Coyne buries himself in the midst of it, singing quietly of the strange magic that the right horizon can impart.” — SPIN (via SPIN)
5) Yelawolf, Trunk Muzik Returns. “As the title suggests, it’s a sort of sequel to his debut recording, and its spaced-out crunk may be the thing that reclaims some of the rapper’s early success. Produced by WillPower, the mastermind behind the original Trunk Muzik beats, the follow-up has Yelawolf trimming the mainstream fat in order to revisit his trunk-rattling roots, from the ‘Bombs Over Baghdad’-indebted ‘F.A.S.T. Ride’ to the return of his alter ego ‘Catfish Billy.’ Past collaborators Raekwon (‘I Wish’) and Killer Mike (‘Slumerican Shitizen’) are back for the ride, along with A$AP Rocky and Paul Wall.” — SPIN (via LiveMixTapes)
6) Julian Lynch, Lines. “Much like his closest friend and sound-alike, Matt Mondanile of Real Estate and Ducktails, Lynch plays fast and loose with the tropes of psychedelia. And if last year’s album, Terra, was his take on acoustic prog rock, here on Lines, he does the same with folk music… It’s a true electronic Americana album, a Harry Smith compilation for the indie set.” (via NPR)
7) Fiend, Lil’ Ghetto Boy. “Fiend is back with his new mixtape Lil’ Ghetto Boy. This one comes with 22 new tracks and features guest appearances by Currensy, Smoke DZA, Young Dolph, Styles P, Killa Kyleon and more.” (via XclusivesZone)
8) Edwyn Collins, Understated. “Still recovering from the two brain haemorrhages he suffered in 2005, Understated isn’t an album that came together easily for the former Orange Juice man. Still unable to strum a guitar properly, he put down his ideas on a tape recorder and relied on fellow musicians to flesh these out in the studio. The result is a record that Collins describes as ‘a collection of country, northern soul, soul and folk.'” (via the Guardian)
9) Woodkid, The Golden Age. “[Woodkid’s] music has been featured in Django Unchained and sampled by musicians like Kendrick Lamar… And yet, these accomplishments seem dwarfed by the grandiose scale of… debut album The Golden Age, which is sprawling, maximalist, epic. Take the first single, ‘Iron’… It samples a 17th century piece originally written for Queen Mary’s funeral, and manages to accentuate the grandiosity of the brass and drums, yet sounds gentle enough not to drown out Woodkid’s singing.” (via Noisey)
10) DJ Koze, Amygdala. “Caribou’s Dan Snaith is one of the many collaborators… Matthew Dear, Apparat and Rhye’s Milosh also ride shotgun…DJ Koze’s solo productions form a mini-album within Amygdala, devolving gorgeously from the tracky ‘RoyalAsscherCut,’ whose bullet-time samples sound like the Field gone deep house, to the fragmented smooth-jazz guitar collage of ‘Don’t Lose My Mind.'” (via NPR)
