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10 Albums to Stream: Skrillex, Unwound, the War on Drugs, and More

skrillex, album stream, recess

Liven up the work week by streaming new releases from Skrillex, Unwound, the War on Drugs, Ana Tijoux, and more. They’re all just a click away, below.

1) Skrillex, Recess. “Despite the fact that Skrillex has already won two Grammys for Best Dance/Electronica Album, Recess is his first proper album. The 11-track long-player features a range of collaborators on all but two tracks. A few come from Moore’s extended family of electronic-music troublemakers — Kill the Noise, Alvin Risk, Milo & Otis, all signed to his OWSLA label — but quite a few come from further afield.” — SPIN (via Soundcloud)

2) Kevin Drew, Darlings. “We often measure artistic growth by focusing on the big strides, but the evolution that defines Drew’s second solo album, Darlings, is most apparent in the fine print — and, notably, in what he’s trimmed away to make hyper-streamlined, tightly edited songs. The songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who helped guide Broken Social Scene through several gorgeous, lushly orchestrated albums is thinking differently about the scale of his songs, pruning back whatever is unnecessary.” (via NPR)

3) Unwound, Rat Conspiracy. “The Numero Group’s exhaustive Unwound reissue campaign continues on March 18, when the archival label releases Rat Conspiracy, a 32-track set collecting two full albums and a host of rarities, live recordings, and singles. The upcoming reissue pairs Fake Train with Unwound’s 1994 follow-up, New Plastic Ideas, and bundles in a third LP featuring the ‘Mkultra’ and ‘Negated’ singles, little-heard radio sessions, rarities salvaged from old compilations, and a menacing cover of the Minutemen’s ‘Plight.'” (via SPIN)

4) The War on Drugs, Lost in the Dream. “For a record that invokes altered consciousness starting with its title, one of the most surprising things about the way Lost in the Dream unfolds is in the band’s use of drum machines and synths, a nod to another ’80s tradition that the War on Drugs repurposes to add tension to songs that might otherwise vaporize. These instruments are there for atmospheric reasons — to drive the songs forward and coat them in airy fuzz — but also to aid the band’s knowing deployment of nostalgia.” (via NPR)

5) Perfect Pussy, Say Yes to Love. “[Meredith] Graves will also draw unavoidable comparisons to Alexis Krauss of Sleigh Bells, but where Krauss conveys fun, lo-fi swagger, Graves is wound up in propulsive, cathartic fury. Say Yes to Love is not a passive listening experience, largely due to that fury. It’s both exhausting and deeply compelling — intoxicating, almost, in how easy it is to put all 23 minutes of the album on repeat several times in a row. It’s partly trying to decipher some of that screaming, but it’s even more a desire to approach and fathom the source of Perfect Pussy’s powers.” (via NPR)

6) The Coathangers, Suck My Shirt. “Atlanta garage-punks the Coathangers are now a trio, since keyboardist Candice Jones has left the band and they don’t seem interested in replacing her. But on ‘Follow Me,’ the first single from their forthcoming LP Suck My Shirt, the band doesn’t sound diminished at all. If anything, they sound stronger, their direct and snarling sound now pared down to its scrappy essentials.” — Stereogum (via Pitchfork)

7) Ana Tijoux, Vengo. “Tijoux’s musical evolution has been mesmerizing because it’s so real: She follows no formulas or marketing equations, and every album feels like it narrates a moment in her life. Vengo, or I Come, is a suitably al dente title: not too hard, not too soft, just right to bite into.” (via NPR)

8) Leon Vynehall, Music For The Uninvited. “At its core, his music is all about juicy chords, soaring vocal samples, and buoyant atmospherics. The grit is just a natural byproduct of his sound sources — well-worn vinyl, busted snare heads, drum machines seemingly on the verge of overheating — and serves to remind us that you can’t have the peach without the fuzz. With his new mini-album Music for the Uninvited, he pays tribute to the warm, fuzzy sounds of the cassettes he grew up listening to in his mother’s car.” (via SPIN)

9) Evian Christ, Waterfall EP. “No matter where you stand on Kanye West and his latest magnum opus Yeezus, the June album has undeniably shone light on some of electronic music’s more fascinating producers — specifically those who push the left-most boundaries of rap-friendliness. Arca followed up his appearance on four of those tracks with the frighteningly good free &&&&& EP and now England’s Evian Christ is preparing his own Waterfall short-player. The man’s touch was felt on the deeply visceral ‘I’m in It,’ specifically, and [now] you can hear what he has to offer solo.” — SPIN (via Evian Christ’s official website)

10) SBTRKT, Transitions EP. “The six-track Transitions EP is out now on Young Turks, and SBTRKT describes it like this: ‘This is music written over the last year, whilst recording for my second album. Much of the music I released before my debut album was instrumental and I want to continue to share this side of the music I make.'” — Stereogum (via SBTRKT’s official website)