What up, Hump Day? Celebrate the week’s halfway mark by grabbing a pair of headphones and streaming the 10 albums below.
1) Puscifer, Donkey Punch the Night EP. “Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ now rests in the twisted hands of Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan… alongside two originals, some remixes, and a riotous interpretation of German heavy metallers Accept’s classic foot-stomper ‘Balls to the Wall.'” (via SPIN)
2) Psychic Ills, One Track Mind. “[Veteran] New York art-rock hypnotherapists Psychic Ills are back with One Track Mind, another serpentine set of psychedelic rumble… Featuring contributions and production guidance from Neil Hagerty of Royal Trux and Howling Hex, it’s a far crisper but no less seductive full-length follow-up to 2011’s appropriately titled Hazed Dream.” (via SPIN)
3) J. Cole, Truly Yours EP. Says Cole: “I appreciate you giving me the time I needed to grow, experiment, and find the direction for my 2nd album… Thank you for your patience. Vibe out to these songs in their raw form, no polish.. just a lot of my soul.. The wait is over.” (via Rap Radar)
4) Iceage, You’re Nothing. On “Coalition,” the LP’s second track: “Clamoring drum breaks and shoegaze-warped guitar fills bolster the band’s now-familiar breakneck assault, which still might leave you out of breath. And there, in the middle of the melee, is singing guitarist Elias Ronnenfeldt… phrasing the most intimate acts in the most depersonalized terms… “Wants me to take her / But blockades run through my veins / Something denies coalition with you.'” — SPIN (via Pitchfork)
5) Mark Kozelek, Like Rats. On “Free For All,” a Ted Nugent cover: “Kozelek’s rendition, taken from his new all-covers collection… puts some brain into Nugent’s boogie… Accompanied only by his own acoustic guitar, the singer-songwriter retains the song’s skipping main riff, but his measured and double-tracked vocal lends the lyrics a subtly disturbing intensity.” — SPIN (via Pitchfork)
6) Foals, Holy Fire. On “My Number,” the LP’s third track: “[The] jittery, dance-y rock… could act as a sort of indie-night riposte to ‘Call Me Maybe’: ‘You don’t have my number / We don’t need each other now,’ lead singer Yannis Philippakis brays. The layered, percussive track, with a wordless vocal hook, joins an impressive lineage from the spazzy art-funk of Talking Heads to the nu-rave of Klaxons and the danced-up psych-rock of Oracular Spectacular-era MGMT.” — SPIN (via Spinner)
7) Inc., no world. “Not much of no world is particularly aggressive, and much of it is subtle and slow, but they have harnessing the sultry creep of modern R&B and paired it with their impeccable chops… fundamentally beautiful, certainly hummable, but also supernatural, less interested in worming its way into your heart than taking over your body.” (via The Fader)
8) Gucci Mane, Trap God 2. “Gucci Mane serves up another dose of tracks for the streets with Trap God 2… a 22-track effort featuring guest appearances from… Young Scooter, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Young Thug and Waka Flocka Flame. The self-proclaimed Trap God is loyal to his the former lifestyle, meaning tracks about hustling and chasing paper will never change.” (via XXL)
9) Girls Names, The New Life. “By the time [Girls Names’ debut] Dead To Me was released, the Belfast quartet had moved on from the quick mash-up post rock tracks that permeated their debut to an intangible world where the grim existence in Northern Ireland was the only grounding force. On The New Life, echoes of Ian Curtis, Bowie’s Low, and krautrock amalgamate for a one hyper-hypnotic trip.” (via Prefix)
10) Various Artists, Son of Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs and Chanteys. On the Tom Waits-Keith Richards duet “Shenandoah”: “[Waits and Richards] treat [the] folk staple… with reverence befitting its long history. Sure, Waits doesn’t skimp on his gravelly growl, but Richards hardly transforms his pirate’s bandana into music here, instead offering a tender backing vocal and mournfully evocative guitar leads.” — SPIN (via NPR)
