It’s Thursday — you know what that means. We’ve lassoed the best album streams available online. Find new records by Angel Olsen, Phantogram, SPIN profile subject Lydia Lovelss, and more below.
1) Angel Olsen, Burn Your Fire for No Witness. “Angel Olsen has made an unforgettable and entrancing record. Burn Your Fire for No Witness is the musical equivalent of a deep, questioning stare from a lover, and what draws me to her voice is its peaceful, subtle touch. It has me leaning in to listen.” (via NPR)
2) Phantogram, Voices. “Phantogram plays spiky, dense and danceable pop-rock songs with an electronic pulse: Most of its songs have an insistent grind to them, with a percussive through-line snapping and jabbing and infusing virtually every moment with jumpy urgency… Voices is the sound of a band at ease and assured in its moment, as it seizes every scrap of momentum it’s created for itself.” (via NPR)
3) Lydia Loveless, Somewhere Else. “[Lydia] Loveless likes invoking fellow artists in songs… Somewhere Else offers ‘Chris Isaak,’ an aching song about being 17 — not so long ago for her — and ‘sitting in your basement playing Forever Blue.’ Her song is brasher than anything on Isaak’s Roy Orbison-conjuring LP… [Plenty] of songs here stand alone, invoking no one but Loveless; see the hot, boozy ‘Wine Lips’ and the snarling ‘Head,’ which turns a slang term for oral sex into a potent song about a heart’s hunger.” (via NPR)
4) Shocking Pinks, Guilt Mirrors. “As Shocking Pinks, New Zealand-based singer and songwriter Nick Harte has evocatively dabbled in dance-punk and dream-pop, acoustic confessionals and vintage-indie droners, even a killer Arthur Russell cover. And ‘Not Gambling,’ the first track from upcoming triple album Guilt Mirrors, stitches together almost all of those qualities, adding buzzing low-end for noise-pop as kaleidoscopically homespun as that first Cornelius album.” — SPIN (via Pitchfork)
5) The Tontons, Make Out King and Other Stories of Love. “The Tontons may take their name from a giant snow lizard seen in Star Wars, but don’t rush to judgement; the Houston crew are well-versed in lovers’ rock. To wit, the group’s second album, due out February 18, is called Make Out King and Other Stories of Love. The foursome have already shared two songs from the forthcoming follow-up to their 2009 self-titled debut: taut soul-rock track ‘Veida’ and opening charmer ‘Magic Hour.’ But for 40 minutes of natural charisma and steamy hooks, stream the whole set.” (via SPIN)
6) The Doppelgangaz, Peace Kehd. “The Doppelgangaz, an upstate New York rap duo consisting of EP and Matter Ov Fact, have been cultivating a cult rap fanbase since 2008’s eerie The Ghastly Duo EP. Now onto their seventh full-length, Peace Kehd, the pair build on the buzz of last year’s excellent HARK album, but supplement the project’s endearingly static-sodden beats for a slicker sound. The rappers use bucolic production as a backdrop to reel off rhymes that offer insight into an off-kilter world, one that delights in mixing references to gourmand foodstuffs with the sort of sexual perversions that would make Dr. Octagon smirk.” (via SPIN)
7) Yumi Zouma, Yumi Zouma. “New Zealand isn’t just the land of our Lorde. Newcomers Yumi Zouma also hail from the archipelago and conjure up cool, dream-pop landscapes of their own. The band’s self-titled debut EP delivers 15 sublime minutes of soft disco that layers sing-song vocals over huggable synths and muted drum-machine beats.” (via SPIN)
8) Planningtorock, All Love’s Legal. “For her third album, Planningtorock is getting political — and she’s not pulling many punches… The message is spelled out through the titles alone: “Misogyny Drop Dead,” “Patriarchy Over & Out,” and “Let’s Talk About Gender Baby” don’t exactly leave much space for reading between the lines. Thankfully, Rostron throws herself headlong into the music too, a blur of house and electronica that proves even feminism seminars can get you dancing.” (via the Guardian)
9) Lost in the Trees, Past Life. “Lost in the Trees’ previous album, 2012’s A Church That Fits Our Needs, dealt devastatingly with the 2008 suicide of [group founder, Ari] Picker’s mother. Past Life grows beautifully out of the ashes of that record’s consuming grief. Here, the songs carry in their most painful moments startling beauty, and in their sweetest notes the space for great loss.” (via NPR)
10) AJ Davila, Terror Amor. “Puerto Rico, an island many think only produces reggaeton, actually has an amazing indie, punk, garage and straight-up rock’n’roll scene… [garage-rock band] Davila 666 is now on a break, but singer AJ Davila has an insanely strong new solo album called Terror Amor. Fans should be pleased to find that the album stays close to Davila’s garage-rock/doo-wop/punk roots, but dares to play with fun new elements. The use of chopped-and-screwed, syrupy vocals in anthemic songs like ‘Chica Tinieblas’ is like a wink at the listener: This is fun, don’t get too serious, enjoy the ride.” (via NPR)
