Great Month... Or The Greatest Month?

July is by far my favorite month out of the year. Not only does the hot weather finally roll in to the Northwest, but there is a busload of new music that gets released as well. And today I get to share my favorite bands' newest music. First we got Delicate Steve's newest full length called Positive Force. I love this album. Super awesome guitar and rhythm music that breathes life into the listener. Positive Force is a serious smile fest from the opening notes of "Ramona Reborn" to the lyrical "Two Lovers" all the way to closing cricket noises of "Luna." The music is an exact representation of the album name, so much positive energy forcing its way into your sound holes. So listen to it below. My favorite tracks are all of them but particularly "Love" and "Wally Wilder."



Next up is yet another positively charged band in Fang Island. Their brand new one called Major is set to come out on the 24th, but our buddies over at NPR has the entirety streaming on their site here. This is one rocking, head-banging, dancing crazily like no one sees you kind of album. It starts off with a great catchy piano line, the standard high flying guitar, and an awesome chorus of "I all I know, I learned in kindergarten." "Kindergarten" is an epic opening track that sets up the rest of the album for greatness. With the metal-pop rock anthem of the single "Sisterly" being the second track it might seem like that they will soon run out of steam. Not so, instead the second half starts out with a classic noodling track "Dooney Rock" that evolves into high energy metal about halfway through. Then comes another high flying, rock punching track that is probably my favorite so far called "Chompers." In short this is a great album and you should listen to it via the link above, then you should buy it when it's released, and then you should check out the tour dates and go to their show.

Now for some of the best house party music out there with Jeff The Brotherhood. Their new album is called Hypnotic Nights, which started out as an EP released a couple of months ago. This one is produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. This is seriously some of the best music to hang out with friends and drink beers to. Lo-fi fuzz guitar riffs and catchy, rocking drum beats fill this album along with lyrics about not caring, getting wasted, and being young. Hypnotic Nights starts off with a great track "Country Life" followed by the hugely popular "Sixpack." After the sludgy "Leave Me Out" we get treated to the mellower "Region Of Fire" which has a kick-ass saxophone solo in the beginning, followed by a kick-ass guitar solo. It feels like they experimented with their sound a little more towards the end of the album and it sounds fantastic. The album comes out on the 17th and you can stream it here for free.

Exitmusic + Slow Magic

Last year we first heard of Exitmusic by way of their incredible EP From Silence. Now about half a year later Exitmusic has put out their debut full length album titled, Passage. Much like the EP, Passage is an epic album of dark themes, yet Aleksa Polladino's voice has this great haunting yet uplifting timbre to it that sends chills down my spine, in a good way. It is a brilliantly well put together album that is stunningly beautiful and can be listened to here.
On an entirely different note, Slow Magic is awesome music "created by your imaginary friend." The full length album, Triangle, fits in well to the glo-fi genre with the likes of Washed Out, Neon Indian, and Shades. Though the album is mostly instrumental, it is super chill and makes everyone listening to it go into a groovy zoned out state of mind. I imagine myself camping on the beach with friends while listening to this album as the sun is setting and the camp-fire is getting bigger. You can purchase the album on itunes or their website here or you can just listen to it below.



Jeff The Brotherhood put up their Hypnotic Nights EP on iTunes this week as well. Though it won't be available for CD or vinyl until July, I highly recommend checking it out. Dan Auerbach from Black Keys helped produce the album. You can download the single "Sixpack" here.

The Half Year Review

So it's July now, which means half of this year is over already. So here is the best of all the new releases this year, in no particular order.
Definitely one of the best hip-hop albums I have heard this year is Shabazz Palaces' Black Up. It's some of the most creative music I've heard. These guys challenge modern day hip-hop. Though not everyone will enjoy it, you must acknowledge the fact that it's something that you don't hear very often.

Starfucker's album, Reptilians, is another great album that was released in March. It is one of my favorite electro-pop albums of all time. They do a great job of mixing synth keyboards and acoustic guitar with the vocals. It's just a really good dance party all on one disc.

The best instrumental album is by far the new Explosions In The Sky. The whole album is a soundscape of guitars and more guitars and some keys too. This is a must own album, especially if you like intricate guitar work. Check out the first track, "Last Known Surroundings" from their sixth album Take Care, Take Care, Take Care.
And of course May saw the release of Fleet Foxes' second album, Helplessness Blues. This is a great vocal album, I would like to hear more drum influence, but I feel like they focused on harmonization and acoustic guitars, which sounds amazing!

Another great release this year was The Antlers'  Burst Apart. There's something about Peter Silberman's vocals that makes me want to love everything. Plus the music is really good too, there's more electric guitar than their last album, Hospice. 

My favorite album this year is a tie between Jeff The Brotherhood's We Are The Champions, and Starfucker's Reptilians. I haven't been able to not listen to either of them, and every time I hear a song from them I want to listen to the rest of the album.
All of these albums are must buy! They are so good. Check my other posts for more great albums from the first half of the year.
The second half of the year has some great stuff in store. Washed Out is coming out with his debut full length, new Neon Indian, The Shins, Modest Mouse(?), Blink-182, No Doubt, Muse, and so much more.

I've Been Thinking About Your Mom

So this week's new releases are really awesome, first and most obvious purchase is the new Bon Iver self-titled album. I've only listened to a little bit of it and it's great.
The next band is Unknown Mortal Orchestra with their debut self-titled album. Their sound is really cool, it is like a lo-fi indie funk band. They are also from Portland, so buy their album.
Next is Jeff the Brotherhood with their 4th full length album, We Are the Champions. It is definitely different from their last one, but it's just as good. Still really psychedelic and rockin' but with a new polished sound to it, and also a pure slice of rock and roll.
 Other releases include; Weird Al's Alpocalypse, Skrillex's More Monsters and Sprites, and YACHT's Shangri-La.