Indie Rock
Beach Fossils Announce Jazz Piano Collection, Share “This Year (Piano)”: Stream
Beach Fossils have announced The Other Side of Life: Piano Ballads, a collection of jazz reimaginings of some of their favorite tracks. It’s out November 19th, and as a preview the Brooklyn indie rockers have shared the single “This Year (Piano).” “This Year” appeared on the band’s 2017 album Somersault, which also provided the basis for new trcks “May 1st (Piano),” “Down the Line (Piano),” and “That’s All for Now (Piano).” The new eight-track effort is rounded out by “Sleep Apnea (Piano),” based on the 2013 Down the Line cut, two piano versions of the What a Pleasure EP tracks, “What a Pleasure” and “Adversity,” and a reimagining of “Youth” from the group’s 2010 self-titled debut. The album was made in collaboration with Tommy Gardner, who played drums i...
Foals Announce Departure of Keyboardist Edwin Congreave
After over 15 years with Foals, keyboardist Edwin Congreave has announced that he’s moving on to, er, more educated pastures. The founding member says he’s departing the Oxford indie rock band to pursue a postgraduate degree in economics at Cambridge University. “We’re sad to say that we played our final show with Edwin Congreave as a member of Foals at All Points East festival in London,” wrote the remaining band members in a statement on social media. “It was a helluva way to go out.” Foals’ lineup now consists of Yannis Philippakis, Jack Bevan, and Jimmy Smith as a trio, following bassist Walter Gervers’ departure in 2018. Congreave’s former bandmates continued: “After 15 years of sweet music making & surfing the globe together he’s decided to hang up his musical boots to pursue oth...
On A Beginner’s Mind, Sufjan Stevens and Angelo De Augustine Use Fiction as a Guide and a Salve
Sufjan Stevens is nothing if not prolific. The experimental artist has released a ton of albums over the past few years, each one a unique effort at navigating his emotional state and the state of the world at large. Almost one year ago to the date, Stevens released The Ascension, an expansion exploration into love, death, apocalypse and nationality. The Ascension was preceded by Aporia, a collaborative album with Stevens’s stepfather, Lowell Brams. Earlier this year, Stevens unleashed Convocations, a five-volume instrumental exploration of grief in the wake of the death of his biological father. We’ll do the math for you: A Beginner’s Mind marks Stevens’s fourth album in two years. This time, he’s collaborated with Californian Angelo De Augustine, who has an indie-folk style complementary...
alt-J Announce New Album The Dream, Share “U&ME”: Stream
alt-J have announced their new album, The Dream, out February 11th via Canvasback/Infection Music. As a preview, they unveiled “U&ME,” which marks the British outfit’s first new material in four years. They’ve also mapped out an extensive North American tour. The Dream was created in the year following the band’s 2017-2018 world tour in support of their last full-length, RELAXER. According to a press release, the lyrics are partially inspired by “true-crime-inspired stories and tales of Hollywood and the Chateau Marmont.” Pre-orders are ongoing. The album’s lead single, “U&ME,” was written during various soundchecks around the globe, and then recorded with longtime producer Charlie Andrew. The track’s sound and lyrics evoke the best parts of summer as Joe Newman sings, “Summer holi...
Joanna Newsom Made a Cameo in the Brooklyn Nine-Nine Series Finale: Watch
It’s always a treat when Andy Samberg is in the news: Not just because he’s a witty comedian who makes us laugh, but because it also means there’s a chance we may get to see Joanna Newsom, the absurdly talented harpist and notoriously recluse musician who is also his wife. During the series finale of Brooklyn Nine-Nine last week, Newsom made an unexpected cameo that marked her first acting performance in five years. Brooklyn Nine-Nine wrapped up its eighth and final season last Thursday with a special two-part episode. Without giving anything away for those who haven’t seen it yet, Newsom appears for a brief gag as “Caroline St. Jacques Renard, the associate principal cellist for the Berlin Philharmonic.” She quite literally steps out of a tiny closet-esque compartment with a cello in hand...
She & Him Announce A Very She & Him Christmas Reissue, Share Cover of Madonna’s “Holiday”: Stream
For the crowd who spent the better part of the early 2010s rewatching 500 Days of Summer and browsing vintage-inspired duds on ModCloth, nothing rang in the holiday season quite like spinning A Very She & Him Christmas. This week, Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward’s indie pop duo have announced a 10th anniversary deluxe edition of the festive album, out November 12th via Merge. The reissue comes with a few new tracks, including a cover of Madonna’s “Holiday,” which you can hear below. Additionally, She & Him have announced a short run of US tour dates for December 2021. The anniversary deluxe edition of A Very She & Him Christmas comes pressed on tinsel silver vinyl with a corresponding 7-inch that includes She & Him’s rendition of “Holiday” as well as a cover of e...
illuminati hotties Announce 2022 Headlining Tour
Good news: illuminati hotties spent the past few years making music that’s impossible to stand still to, and soon you will finally be able to dance in person. illuminati hotties has just announced a 2022 co-headlining tour with Fenne Lily that finds the two performing live across North America next spring. Check out the complete list of dates below. Sarah Tudzin, the person behind the indie rock-goes-pop punk project, will hit the road on February 8th for a solo show in Pioneertown, California before taking off for other concerts with Fenne Lily across the US and Canada. Later on, illuminati hotties will wrap up the tour on March 12th in Portland, Oregon. Joining Tudzin and Fenne Lily on tour will be Katy Kirby for the first half of the dates and former Artist of the Month star Pom Pom Squ...
The Wrens’ Kevin Whelan Announces New Album as Aeon Station, Shares “Queens”: Stream
In case you missed it, yesterday The Wrens revealed that, no, they didn’t have an album on the way as many fans had hoped for. However, today we’re getting the details on the next best (?) thing: a solo record by the band’s own bassist/vocalist Kevin Whelan. He just announced he’s taking up the moniker Aeon Station to release his debut full-length. It’s called Observatory and it’s due out December 10th via Sub Pop. Observatory spans 10 tracks in total, and word is it isn’t just Whelan you will hear across the album. As he teased in an interview on Monday, this new LP includes five songs he originally wrote for The Wrens’ follow-up to The Meadowlands and a handful of tracks feature Greg, Whelan’s brother and Wrens bandmate, as well as Jerry MacDonald, the band’s drummer. His wife Mary ...
St. Vincent Shares Soundtrack to New Mockumentary The Nowhere Inn: Stream
Today marks the long-awaited release of St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein’s mockumentary thriller The Nowhere Inn. As the film hits select theaters and video-on-demand services, so too has the St. Vinny’s Nowhere Inn soundtrack dropped on streaming platforms. Take a listen below. Previously previewed with the title track/theme, the Nowhere Inn OST is a mix of full songs (“Palm Desert,” “Waiting on a Wave”) and trippy score that matches the movie’s twisted, humorous vibes. While there are tracks called “Carrie Wave,” “Carrie Voicemail,” and “Carrie off Bus,” Brownstein herself doesn’t appear on the soundtrack. Check out St. Vincent’s full The Nowhere Inn soundtrack below via Apple Music and Spotify. Advertisement Related Video Coming co-written and co-starring ...
The Black Keys Announce 10th Anniversary Edition of El Camino
The Black Keys are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 2011 album El Camino, and it turns out there’s still gold on the ceiling. The band has announced El Camino (10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), a newly remastered version of the studio set dropping on November 5th via Nonesuch Records. The remastered album is paired with a previously unreleased recording of a concert in Portland, Maine. A Super Deluxe Edition also features the band’s 2012 appearance on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show and a 2011 session at Electro-Vox Recording Studios in Hollywood. The Super Deluxe Edition is available in 5xLP or 4xCD format and also includes a brand new photo book, limited edition poster and lithograph, and a “new car scent” air freshener perfect for fans to rock in their own rides. Advertisemen...
The Moldy Peaches Announce Archival Set Origin Story: 1994-1999
Though they’re best known for their appearance on the soundtrack to the film Juno, the history of The Moldy Peaches dates years before “Anyone Else but You” came to be. The anti-folk duo are offering some eye-opening context to their cult legacy with Origin Story: 1994-1999, an archival set that compiles songs, unreleased demos, live tracks, and poems from their earliest days together. The collection arrives on February 25th, 2022 via ORG Music. Adam Green and Kimya Dawson formed The Moldy Peaches in New York in the late ’90s, reaching mainstream success when Michael Cera and Elliott Page covered their 2001 track “Anyone Else But You” for Juno in 2007. With the band on hiatus, Origin Story: 1994-1999 is a long-overdue look at their formation and rise in New York City’s ...
St. Vincent Shares New Song “The Nowhere Inn” From Upcoming Mockumentary: Stream
At the end of this week, St. Vincent and Carrie Brownstein will finally see their mockumentary film The Nowhere Inn hit video-on-demand services and select theaters. In anticipation of the big event, St. Vincent has just shared “The Nowhere Inn,” the title-track from the movie, alongside a music video. Stream it below. As the film’s unofficial theme song, “The Nowhere Inn” is appropriately theatrical in sound. It captures St. Vincent giving a powerhouse ballad-style vocal performance, full of deep notes, full-on belts, and grandiose choral trills. Behind her is a jazzy rhythm section that morphs into an ’80s new wave beat midway through. It’s definitely a more traditional number, especially compared to the funk and ’70s rock hues of St. Vincent’s new album Daddy’s Home. In the track’s acco...
