What a blockbuster week for new album drops, and the singles from those releases. In fact, this is the first week of 2013 in which there are a significant number of anticipated releases, as well as surprises, from a variety of well-known artists and bands.
While the Best New Releases playlists posted in recent weeks started out slow, they started to pick up in mid-January. In fact, there is quite a bit to listen to from many artists that we’ve followed for years – like Ty Segall, Toro Y Moi, The Joy Formidable, Nightlands, The Growlers, Ra Ra Riot, and DRGN King, among others. In addition to the impressive number of new albums from well-known artists, there are some great new releases from new-to-us bands like Gliss, FIDLAR, Nosaj Thing, The Night Marchers, Arboretum, among others.
Ty Segall Teams Up with Mikal Cronin on Reverse Shark Attack
Anytime we see anything with Ty Segall‘s name on it, we get excited, and his latest track with Mikal Cronin, “I Wear Black,” is a raucous rocker with crazy Jimi Hendrix-like guitar affects; but the duo go even further, using various modern pedal effects and such to belt out a chunk of guitar and drum noise that is probably the most cut-throat track from a new album so far this year.
“I Wear Black” – Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin from Reverse Shark Attack on In The Red
Toro Y Moi Evolves Again on His Newest Album
Toro Y Moi is easily one of the top indie artists of the past couple of years. And while his music has gone through tremendous evolution and change since he started out in 2009, so have his abilities, and time and again, he proves that his talents and songwriting skills are worthy of all of the attention he has received since hitting it big in the world of indie rock in 2010 to the present day. His new album is yet another progression of his mastery of his latest fancy – pop and R&B.
“Say That” – Toro Y Moi from Anything in Return on Carpark
For an artist who started out in electronic and integrated elements of hip hop and other genres in the past few years, Toro Y Moi, otherwise known as Chaswick Bundick (what an interesting name, plus it rhymes, and you can bet he’s heard just about all of the stupid jokes and puns regarding his name), he is remarkably consistent when it comes to delivering excellent results. People don’t care what someone’s real or made-up name is – they care about the music, especially among folks who are repelled by mainstream, overly commercialized ‘music.’
In addition to the catchy lead single, “Say That,” from Anything in Return, we also included a bonus track and links to two videos, which, when you watch them through the built-in Yahoo player, should pop open a screen and play them right on the page so you can stay where you are in order play or download all of the other singles from the week of January 22nd, 2013’s releases.
“Try” (feat. Toro Y Moi) – Nosaj Thing from Home on Timetable Records via Innovative Leisure
Watch the video for “Say That” as well as “So Many Details”
New Singles from Nightlands, The Growlers and Others
Nightlands has been on our radar for the past year or more, and the band’s new album, Oak Island, was also one of our top anticipated releases for January. Here is the terrific single, “So Far So Long,” followed by the latest singles from the new albums by The Growlers and The Joy Formidable.
“So Far So Long” – Nightlands from Oak Island on Secretly Canadian
“Use Me for Your Eggs” – The Growlers from Hung at Heart on Everloving
“This Ladder Is Ours” – The Joy Formidable from Wolf’s Law on Atlantic
Ra Ra Riot Change Up, Introducing DRGN King, FIDLAR and More
The Syracuse, New York, indie band Ra Ra Riot dropped their third full-length album, Beta Love, this week, featuring a noticeable change in style from baroque pop to synth pop, a switch in sound the band embraced after cellist Alexandra Lawn left the band last year. Following Ra Ra Riot is the Philadelphia band to watch DRGN King, with the frenetic, catchy track, “Wild Night,” from their accomplished album, Paragraph Nights. Switching gears quite dramatically, FIDLAR, the lo-fi garage/surf rock band from Los Angeles, jumped into the fray this week with their blistering self-titled debut album, followed by The Night Marchers, Gliss, Renny Wilson, Arbouretum, Foxygen, Pillowfight and Big Harp.
“Beta Love” – Ra Ra Riot from Beta Love on Barsuk
“Wild Night” – DRGN King from Paragraph Nights on Bar None
“Cheap Beer” – FIDLAR from FIDLAR on Mom & Pop Records
“All Hits” – The Night Marchers from Allez Allez on Swami Records
“Weight of Love” – Gliss from Langsom on Modern Outsider Records
“By and By” – Renny Wilson from Sugarglider on Mint Records
“The Promise” – Arbouretum from Coming Out of the Fog on Thrill Jockey
“Shuggie” – Foxygen from We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic on Jagjaguwar
“Used To Think” – Pillowfight from Pillowfight on Bulk Recordings / EMI
“Waiting For Some Drunk” – Big Harp from Chain Letters on Saddle Creek