All Caught Up

I've been doing "New Music of the Day" posts on my Facebook page since the start of August, and I just recently started this blog to give my posts a more public forum. Over the past few days, I've been reposting my old posts, and now I'm finally all caught up, so I'll be doing a new post each day.

For the most part, I'll be posting lesser-known tracks by artists who deserve more exposure. But occasionally I'll choose a more famous act (as you'll see with tomorrow's "New Music" pick).

New Music of the Day, October 31:

Rale, "Party Music"

I can't think of many parties where I would play "Party Music," but it might work at a Halloween party, which is why I've saved it for today. The lead singer has one of those funereal baritones in the Editors/White Lies mode, which are like catnip to me (black-dyed miserablist catnip, that is).

New Music of the Day, October 30:

Recorders, "Hold On"

As the days get shorter and the skies get grayer, songs like this one from Belgian band Recorders start to seem more relevant. The lyrics are all about supporting a friend with depression, but the real boost comes from the production, layers upon layers of chants, yelps, and synthdrum kicks, as buoyant as the lagoon waters in Iceland (where, coincidentally, this video was filmed).

New Music of the Day, October 29:

Kip Moore, "Plead the Fifth"

Kip Moore is allegedly a country singer from Tifton, Georgia, but I'm skeptical. Because this song sounds almost exactly like late '80s Canadian AOR, as if Tom Cochrane and Bryan Adams had a baby. (I'm sure we can all agree: that baby would have great hair). Just listen to this one next to something like Tom Cochrane's "Boy Inside the Man" and you'll hear what I mean (if anything, Tom probably sounds more countrified).

Kip:

Tom: 

New Music of the Day, October 28:

Ofelia K, "Bad Boys (Février 17)"

Do you like Lana Del Rey, but wish her songs had better lyrics, more memorable choruses, and fewer pointless rap interludes? Well, does Ofelia K have a song for you! (And an official video that's gotten only 130 views, compared to the 13 million the most recent Lana Del Rey video has).

New Music of the Day, October 27:

Spencer Ludwig, "Got Me Like"

After the great horn players I heard at last night's Marcus Miller concert, I'm in the mood to post this new single from trumpeter Spencer Ludwig, best known for playing the trumpet on the Capital Cities hit "Safe and Sound." He's now a solo artist, a combination singer/trumpeter, and he seems to be in the process of successfully rebranding himself as Bruno Mars' mini-Me. (Not literally, of course, as Bruno is only 5 foot 4 himself).

New Music of the Day, October 26:

Time, "Bird"

I'm going with my friend Vazgen to see jazz bassist Marcus Miller in concert tonight, so in honor of the event, I'm posting the jazziest recent song I have on my MP3 player. Not to be confused with the old Morris Day song, "Bird" by Time combines jazz trumpet with dance beats and dramatic post-rock instrumentation. It's a little bit like what would happen if Public Service Broadcasting started listening to Charlie Parker records instead of old documentaries about Welsh miners.

New Music of the Day, October 25:

Seattle Yacht Club, "Discogenic"

I was getting SO worried a couple of months ago, when I was reading reports that Soundcloud was financially insolvent and might be closing down any day. There are so many terrific young bands who I've only discovered by browsing through Soundcloud playlists, and there are so many amazing songs that are Soundcloud exclusives. Seattle Yacht Club is one of those bands, and their latest single "Discogenic" is a mini-epic with a funky bassline. And--you guessed it--the song is only up on Soundcloud.

New Music of the Day, October 24:

Joan Thiele, "Armenia"

Joan Thiele is Italian, and even though she spells out A-R-M-E-N-I-A in the chorus, there aren't a lot of lyrical references to the country of Armenia. And the images in the video certainly aren't like anything I've seen in Armenia. But wouldn't it be great if we actually were a land full of tinsel-draped horses? And Joan Thiele's outfits in the video were the traditional Armenian national costume?

New Music of the Day, October 23:

Mas Ysa, "Face"

Mas Ysa's singing style--which occasionally reminds me of a choirboy being strangled--should probably be termed "an acquired taste." But I've definitely acquired it; in fact, Mas Ysa falls squarely into a whole genre of throaty-screamy male singers I'm really loving right now, like Samuel Herring from Future Islands, Ellery Roberts from Lost Under Heaven, and the guy from Holy Esque.

Mas Ysa's new EP is full of strong new songs, but this one is my favorite, partly because of the instrumentation, but mainly because of the chorus: "You're lying when the truth sounds better."

New Music of the Day, October 22:

Lions Head, "True Love"

If there's one thing I like about German pop music, it's the tendency to pair upbeat musical arrangements with lyrical sentiments that are bleak in a very German way. Junge Junge's recent dance hit "I Don't Love You (I'm Just Lonely)" is a good example of that, as is the new one from Lions Head, who's released his catchiest single yet. And what a chorus: "True love is the greatest/ And you're the fakest thing I've ever seen."

New Music of the Day, October 21:

All-American Rejects, "Close Your Eyes"

I have a lot of sympathy for bands like All-American Rejects, who had a lot of US radio hits (from "Swing Swing" to "Gives You Hell") and still have a major-label deal, but are in a tenuous position. It's been five years since their last album, and their signature punchy rock sound isn't really in style anymore. So now they're back and experimenting with two very different sounds on the double-sided single "Sweat"/ "Close Your Eyes". The latter song has received less promotion, but I think it's the most successful, a gorgeously moody piece with waves of distorted synth and haunting melodies.

New Music of the Day, October 20:

Somewhere Anywhere f Claude Eman, "Back Together"

One of Devo's later singles was entitled "Post Post-Modern Man," and these days, I feel a bit like a man living in a Post Post-Modern era, as I keep running across songs that sample songs from my adolescence, which were themselves built upon samples from other records. First there was the surprisingly-not-terrible new Fergie song, which sampled Future Sound of London's 1992 "Papua New Guinea" (which was itself built around a Dead Can Dance sample). And now one of my favorite new dance groups, Somewhere Anywhere, is sampling one of my favorite old dance groups, Utah Saints.

This one uses the same whooping hook as Utah Saints' 1993 dance hit "Believe in Me," which was sampled from an old disco record by Crown Heights Affair. Except where Utah Saints used this sample to ramp up the intensity and the BPM, Somewhere Anywhere go for a more relaxed, summery vibe.

New Music of the Day, October 19:

Bad Sounds, "Hot Head Chippenham"

Of all the young UK bands I listen to, I think Bad Sounds might stand the best chance of breaking out in the next couple of years. (We'll see if they make the "BBC Sound of 2018" shortlist in a few months). Their sound is at once classic, with a lot of burbling 1970s synths, and distinctive. I'm not sure if I can think of any other UK bands who are making music this fun and colorful, with hilariously memorable lyrics. In this one, they rhyme "fickle" with "mingle," which isn't quite as good as the "esophagus"/ "rhinoceros" rhyme in their previous single, but still deserves an honorable mention.

New Music of the Day, October 18:

dePresno, "Mr. Big"

Norway's dePresno suffers from Rick Astley syndrome; his voice doesn't seem to match up with his body. Seriously, just listen to this song with your eyes closed, and try to imagine the deep-voiced douchebro crooning lines like "They call me Mr. Big" and "You could win an Oscar, girl, walking into the club like that." (I think my mental picture of this guy is a cross between the two dudes in The Chainsmokers). Then watch the video and see the actual pudgy, baby-faced 20-year-old Norwegian awkwardly attempting to dance, and suddenly the song becomes incredibly endearing. Catchy AF too.

New Music of the Day, October 17:

Canon Blue, "Beholden"

I first stumbled upon Canon Blue about 5 years ago, when their album Rumspringa got posted on the semi-legal-but-very-cheap Russian music download site I frequented. Now they're finally back with a new album, and the tracks I've heard from it are uniformly excellent. I'm posting "Beholden" for two reasons:
1) The slow-motion music video is awesome
2) I can't figure out if the chorus is saying "We're naked on the way down," "We'll make it on the way down" or some combination of the two

New Music of the Day, October 16:

Youngr, "Ooh Lordy"

The convergence of musical genres is rendering obsolete some of the old debates about authenticity and aura. Back in the late 1990s, when artists like Moby and Primitive Radio Gods sampled old blues recordings and spirituals, they were trying to impart a sense of deep feeling, a grainy authenticity to a genre (electronic music) that was thought to be too slick and sterile. When Youngr uses the "ooh lordy" sample, it's just a bit of melodic, percussive seasoning, like the drum hits throughout the song. Indeed, I'm just assuming that the "ooh lordy" is sampled from an old blues song, but it might not be, and in some sense the question is irrelevant. With lyrics about "making love in the summer sun," this is a lot more blissed out and chill than I'd imagine a song named "Ooh Lordy" to be.

New Music of the Day, October 15:

Michael W. Smith, "A Million Lights"

The convergence of different popular musical genres into a single "monogenre" is a strange, somewhat unsettling phenomenon for a music fan of my generation. I used to feel very comfortable knowing that certain genres, like Country and Contemporary Christian music, were Not For Me. And Michael W Smith was a case in point; even though he was one of the few Christian acts to cross over to the pop charts in the early 90s, his songs were absolutely awful; if you looked in the dictionary under "execrable schmaltz," there was a picture of Michael W Smith.

But recently I stumbled upon his most recent single, and I'll be damned if Michael W Smith isn't making better Coldplay songs than Coldplay are these days. It's making me reexamine a lot of my old assumptions and prejudices. I was a confirmed Christian music hater, but you might say I'm now having a crisis of faith.

New Music of the Day, October 14:

Baio, "Sensitive Guy"

I was going to make a joke about how Baio is "no relation" to Scott Baio, but it turns out he actually is Scott Baio's first cousin once- removed. In the indie music world, [Chris] Baio is better known as the bassist for Vampire Weekend, but this solo song is more fun and funnier than most of that band's output. VW are such a quintessential "sensitive guy" band that it's hilarious to hear Baio singing "I'm such a sensitive guy/ Even my tears cry." And bonus points for rhyming "clueless" with "doofus."

New Music of the Day, October 13:

LINES, "Weekends"

My dilemma: I want to pick a dancey song that will mark the start of the weekend, but I also want something to mark that it’s Friday the 13th.

My solution: This song and video from the Swedish group LINES, which combines scenes of clubland debauchery with graphic images of butchery.

New Music of the Day, October 12:

Client Liaison f Tina Arena, "A Foreign Affair"

It's interesting that so many Australian music groups fetishize 1980's styles (and do it so well). Maybe it has to do with the way that so many Australian cultural exports achieved global success in the 1980s, from INXS to Crocodile Dundee to Men at Work to Neighbours. This song perhaps cheats a bit by using 1990s star Tina Arena (of "Chains" fame) as a guest vocalist. And of course no one said "minibar on the down low" back in the 1980s. But the vibe is pure 1985--dig those synth-drums!

New Music of the Day, October 11:

Dog in the Snow, "Child"

You've heard of cooking with love, right? Well, in this video, you can see what "cooking with rage at the patriarchal military-industrial complex" looks like. I dig the chilly, defiant vibe of this protest song, especially the closing chant of "Fuck your TV family." Although if the singer is absolutely refusing to have a child until "there is safety," she should just resign herself to being childless.

New Music of the Day, October 10:

Noah Gundersen, "The Sound"

This one reminds me a lot of the American singer-songwriters I used to like in the early 2000s, like Joseph Arthur, Pete Yorn, and "Rock N Roll"-era Ryan Adams. It's got one of those tried-and-true formulas I rarely get tired of: a weathered male voice whispering over haunting synths in the verses, then drums and guitars kicking in for a shouted chorus. Pretty great video too.

New Music of the Day, October 9:

Planet Funk, "You Can Be"

It's a new week, so I thought I'd start it on an optimistic note with the latest single from one of my favorite dance music acts, Italy's own Planet Funk. I love the combination of the euphoric music (with bits of tinkling piano and New Order-style bass guitar) and Dan Black's nasal, punk-inflected vocal.

New Music of the Day, October 8:

Prides, "Let's Stay in Bed All Day"

On a cold Sunday morning like this one, "let's stay in bed all day" sounds like a good idea. But ironically enough, it's hard to stay in bed when you hear this song, with its frenetic percussion and its booming sing-along chorus. And Stewart from Prides sings in such a thick Glaswegian accent that it's great fun to imitate him, adding random fricative sounds as you sing. Which is why one of their recent songs, "Are You Ready?" actually sounds more like "Are You Freddy?"

New Music of the Day, October 7:

Shortstraw, "Eventually"

South African indie music doesn't get a lot of attention outside of SA, which is a shame, because there are a lot of good young bands that could use some more attention (like Shortstraw, December Streets, and Desmond & the Tutus), and the slight afrobeat influence makes their songs sound more in tune with current pop trends than most British indie acts are. (Eventually, I'll get around to writing my thesis about what I call "Brexit Indie," the backwards-looking bands who are slavishly imitating Oasis, Arctic Monkeys, and The Libertines).

"Eventually," the final single from Shortstraw's most recent album, is more musically conservative than some of their songs, but in some ways, it represents indie music at its best, combining a philosophical chorus--"You know, you know it's only a matter of time/You know, you know eventually we all die"--with a countermelody rooted in the everyday, "She's gone, gone, gone to bed."

New Music of the Day, October 6:

Computer Games, "Every Single Night"

I admit was hesitant to even click on this video when I saw it on YouTube, with the name of ex-Glee star Darren Criss prominently displayed. I was never a fan of the kind of oversinging I heard in the brief Glee clips I saw, and the words "Lea Michele" still make me break out in hives. But this song by "Computer Games," a duo featuring Darren Criss and his brother, has a delightfully sunny retro vibe, like the lovechild of DeBarge's "Rhythm of the Night" and George Michael's "Faith."

New Music of the Day, October 5:

Zoot Woman f Kylie Minogue, "Still Feels Like the First Time"

Stuart Price has produced some of the best pop records of the 2000s, from Madonna's "Hung Up" to Everything Everything's "Distant Past," but his group Zoot Woman has been an "under the radar" phenomenon for nearly 20 years now. They just released their 5th album, Absence, which features this amazing duet with Kylie Minogue. The 80's synthpop styles that Zoot Woman draw from are frequently described as "cold," but this song feels like a warm bubblebath, as the listener is caressed by the electronically distorted voices of Kylie and lead singer Johnny Blake, as they smoothly glide together over the undulating waves of synth.

New Music of the Day, October 4:

Flyte, "Faithless"

As someone who grew up listening to a lot of 1960's music on the radio (Fox 97: "Good Times! Great Oldies!), there's something really reassuring about that fact that, even in 2017, young bands are still making this kind of harmony-laden Beatles/Beach Boys hybrid. It's a gorgeous song, the kind that feels like an instant classic (albeit the kind of "instant classic" that only has 6000 views on YouTube).

New Music of the Day, October 3:

MISSIO, "Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea"

After all of yesterday's bad news, I think the "Kayak" has capsized, and it's only appropriate that we end up here, at the "Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea." MISSIO is one of those anonymous, major label modern rock bands who serve as convenient punching bags for most of today's music critics. (Don't get me started on one of my "state of music criticism today" rants. If I read one more fatuous thinkpiece proclaiming the "brilliance" of Cardi B...)

Anyway, back to the song: I'm one of those people who actively seeks out rock music I see described as "overproduced," because I can usually find a lot of tasty sonic morsels in the mix of those songs. And MISSIO reminds me of the "overproduced" radio rock bands I used to like at the turn of the millennium, like Filter and On and Vast, who alternated between heavy rock tracks and dark, delicate ballads. Like Filter's "Take a Picture" and Vast's "I Don't Have Anything," MISSIO's "Bottom of the Deep Blue Sea" falls into the latter category. And somehow, these guys even manage to have worse haircuts than Filter did.

New Music of the Day, October 2:

Toffe, "Kayak"

On a rainy Monday like today, I need some music to energize me and motivate me to start the week. This new track from Swedish singer Toffe should do the trick.

Right now, I can certainly relate to the chorus:
"There are rapids in our way..."
--Yep, about 50 more papers to grade

"Blackened waters and storm clouds gray..."
--And then another batch of papers coming on Wednesday, and before that students will be sending me drafts, and then I have an assignment sheet to write, and so on...

"But we don't need to worry bout the night; the way the kayak floats is always right."
--But it will get done. It always gets done. Somehow.

New Music of the Day, October 1:

Fitness Forever, "Canadian Ranger"

Let's start off the month with a bit of globalism: an Italian group, on a Spanish record label, doing the best Abba pastiche I've heard in years, singing about Canadian rangers, in a video full of Japanese imagery. (And yet, sadly, this video has less-than-global appeal: only 850 views on YouTube after three months).

New Music of the Day, September 30:

Districts, "Violet"

Sad-but-true confession: I've never been a big fan of American indie (Amerindie) music, even though I've lived near two hotbeds of the genre: Athens, GA and Bloomington, IN. With a few big exceptions (like Future Islands, who I saw back in Bloomington), most Amerindie sounds kind of boring and samey to me. But The Districts are one of the happy exceptions for me. I think the dramatic vocals in this song, seemingly perched just on the tip of a total freakout, are what sell it for me. That and the ominous lyrics: "What doesn't last gets stuck in your throat/ What doesn't last gets swallowed whole."

New Music of the Day, September 29:

Bright Light Bright Light, "Into the Night"

How can you not love a song that claims a 1985 Jeff Goldblum/Michelle Pfieffer film as its inspiration? Rod Thomas (aka Bright Light Bright Light) is one of a number of 2010's gay male pop singers who use the sonic palette of 1980's synthpop (particularly from groups like Blancmange and Erasure) to create soaring emotional music that wears its queer heart on its sleeve. (One of his earlier singles is literally entitled "An Open Heart"). When I hear it, even I'm tempted to strike some of those dramatic poses Rod is displaying from 1:40 to 1:45.

New Music of the Day, September 28:

Loose Buttons, "Age of Consent"

This is probably the best cover version I've heard all year, and like all the best covers, it gives the original song a radical makeover. The NYC band Loose Buttons dresses up the New Order classic in tight jeans and a ratty leather jacket, hopped up on speed and reeking of cheap whiskey. And it sounds fucking great.

New Music of the Day, September 27:

Kele Okereke f Olly Alexander, "Grounds for Resentment"

There's a certain strain of indie rock fan who loudly proclaims that Bloc Party peaked with their first album, 2005's Silent Alarm, then complains about band leader Kele Okereke, whose subsequent music, both in Bloc Party and as a solo artist, has veered from abrasive dance to spirituals to everywhere in between. While I don't think Kele's experimentation is always successful, I admire him for constantly pushing himself (and turning Bloc Party into something more than the world's best Gang of Four tribute band). His jazzy new single "Grounds for Resentment" is probably the most mellow thing I've ever heard from him, and I give it extra credit for sounding like nothing else on my MP3 player.

New Music of the Day, September 26:

Saint Slumber, "Youth"

Objectively,
"I'll be young 'till the day I die
I'll be young 'till the day I die
Don't stop 'till the feeling's gone
Won't stop 'till I get enough"
is a pretty dumb lyric.

But in the context of this song, delivered in a breathy wisp, almost overwhelmed by the pulsing electronic drone around it, a rush of bass like the sound of blood pumping in your ears after a long run, it starts to sound almost profound, like one lone partyboy mewling into the void.

New Music of the Day, September 25:

Belle Game, "Spirit"

According to Wikipedia, "Belle Game is an ethereal crush pop band originating from Vancouver, British Columbia." I think I like my three-word description better: "Canadian Cocteau Twins."

New Music of the Day, September 24:

Steven Wilson, "Permanating"

I only learned Steven Wilson's name fairly recently, but I've liked the music he's produced for nearly 25 years, back in the mid-90's with the synth-pop group No-Man and then later with the prog rock band Porcupine Tree. His new single is pop in a very different way, with only a slight dash of prog in a 70s soft rock mix, like Supertramp meets ELO.

New Music of the Day, September 23:

The Horrors, "Something to Remember Me By"

Yesterday was a fantastic day for new album releases, with strong new records from the Killers, Shout Out Louds, Tricky, and Cut Copy all getting released. The one major new release I've found a little disappointing, despite all the 5-star reviews it's been receiving, is The Horrors' V. I loved their 2011 record Skying, but I just haven't been able to get into most of the songs on this one. The one exception is the album closer, "Something to Remember Me By," but even that one gets a little monotonous over nearly 7 minutes on the album. Fortunately, they've put out a radio edit that's all killer, no filler.

New Music of the Day, September 22:

KopRobo, "Chodz Tu Do Mnie Juz"

I'm starting the campaign right now: I demand more bagpipes in rap songs. I'd also like more Polish-speaking robots in rap videos, but I'm willing to make concessions on that point.

In case you were wondering, this is a drinking song, with one verse that translates as:
"I see your divine body
Today I did not drink enough
I catch the vertical, the flip side
You are pushing me fast
Look how I blink
Drink vodka, drink juice"

and a chorus of "Come here--pour already."

New Music of the Day, September 21:

a-ha, "This is Our Home"

Since this is Throwback Thursday, I thought I'd pick the new one from a-ha, who appear to be aging incredibly well. (At least Morten and Magne do; it's hard to see Pal's face behind those big sunglasses). And this delicate, soaring ballad is classic a-ha, reminding me a lot of one of their best singles, 1993's "Dark is the Night." As an added bonus, this could even work as an anthem for today's Armenian Independence Day holiday, provided you're okay with a bunch of Norwegians singing it.

New Music of the Day, September 20:

Loved Ones, "One Big Kiss"

I know almost nothing about this band--I just stumbled upon them through a YouTube playlist--so I had to do some googling to figure out where they were even from. Based on the singer's accent, I'd assumed they were American, but no, they're actually from the Liverpool area. Doesn't change how much I love the chorus, though: "Dog on a chain is still friends/ Take that chain away/ See how long a hungry dog stays."

New Music of the Day, September 19:

Steve Lipson f Avec Sans, "Impossible"

Steve Lipson was one of the producers involved with Grace Jones' epic "Slave to the Rhythm" (which, as a sidenote, was the subject of an academic conference paper I presented about 15 years ago, which got snarkily referenced by Alex Ross in The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/07/14/rock-101). This new song sounds almost nothing like Grace Jones, but it does sound a bit like the more sophisticated side of late-70s Eurodisco (like an airier Amanda Lear). It's smooth and a bit jazzy, a midweek treat.

New Music of the Day, September 18:

Fjokra, "Bang on the Door"

I know some of my friends listen to music primarily for the lyrics, but I'll admit I can't understand that attitude. When I hear songs like this new Fjokra single, I think that those lyric people are really missing out on something. Here, the lyrics are deliberately banal, leaving us with more room to focus on everything else that's going on in the track: the didgeridoos, the accordions, the squelching synths, the random whispered bits, the random shouted bits--all stirred into one gloriously weird melange.

New Music of the Day, September 17:

Miami Horror, "Trapeze"

Miami Horror are, of course, from Australia (the name gives it away), and like a lot of their countrymen (Cut Copy, Client Liaison, Touch Sensitive, etc.) they're obsessed with 1980's sounds. Their latest EP, The Shapes, is a fantastic homage to early 80's new wave, especially the artists who used Caribbean and tropical influences, like Talking Heads and Kid Creole and the Coconuts. "Trapeze" has been coming up on my MP3 player shuffle a lot the past couple of weeks, and it's a stunner every time. Even though it evokes so many memories of new wave songs I love, it's more richly layered than those songs could ever have afforded, showing off how music technology has evolved in the past 35 years.

New Music of the Day, September 16:

Enter Shikari, "Live Outside"

Although I know they're big with the Kerrang! set, I've never paid much attention to British prog-metal band Enter Shikari. But I think their new single is pretty great. With its falsetto chorus and word-salad lyrics, it sounds like a slightly jollier Everything Everything.

New Music of the Day, September 15:

CamelPhat & Elderbook, "Cola"

I'm pleased to see that this dance track has been slowly creeping up the UK charts. I'd like to think that the main lyric--"She sips the Coca-Cola. She can't tell the difference yet"--is a historical reference to the blind taste tests during the 1980s cola wars. But the menacing, rumbling bass suggests a darker meaning.

New Music of the Day, September 14:

Columbia Mills, "This City Doesn't Feel Like Home to Me"

I've really been loving the recent singles by Ireland's Columbia Mills, who like a lot of Irish bands, have received very little international promotion and are thus virtually unknown outside of their home country. Their latest single is their best yet. It's the kind of stirring, yearning, moody music I wish The National were still making.

New Music of the Day, September 13:

Mr. Jukes f Charles Bradley, "Grant Green"

"Mr. Jukes" is Jack Steadman from UK indie rockers Bombay Bicycle Club, currently on indefinite hiatus. And on his new album, he's basically making soul music for people like me, who don't like soul music very much. In fact, I'm so ignorant of the genre that until doing some Googling right now, I had confused vocalist Charles Bradley with blind blues singer Robert Bradley (of the group Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise--and not, as I had misremembered it, "Charles Bradley's Blackwater Surprise").

New Music of the Day, September 12:

The Lightning Year, "The Needle"

Hard to believe that this band--who I saw live at the Great Escape festival in May--is only on their second single. Both this and their debut "Endless Memory" are such layered, accomplished pieces of work. Here, the whispery vocals and crunchy guitars remind me of shoegaze bands like Ride, but the throbbing electronics and soaring chorus elevate this to another level.

New Music of the Day, September 11:

Watermät f Kelli-Leigh, "Won't Stop"

Since this is September 11, I was thinking about picking something mournful and contemplative for today's track. But then I thought that the real story of New York in the past 16 years has been about its resilience. And so I thought this burbling, surging piece of house music, capped by Kelli-Leigh's powerhouse vocals, would be the perfect choice.

New Music of the Day, September 10:

Sparks, "So Tell Me Mrs. Lincoln Aside from That How Was the Play?" and "A Little Bit Like Fun"

With a remarkable 45+ year career as trailblazers in glam rock, eurodisco, and new wave, Sparks certainly deserve to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by now. But brothers Ron and Russell Mael always been a bit too idiosyncratic to get embraced by the mainstream.

Sparks have just released their 23rd studio album, Hippopotamus, and it's got some great songs, enough that I couldn't choose just one. So I've got one track that shows off the maximalism Sparks is best known for, a song that's so chock full of ideas and melodies and musical flourishes and words that they struggle to get the cram the whole chorus into a single breath: 

And then there's "A Little Bit Like Fun," which shows off Sparks' gift for minimalism, especially when performing slightly off-kilter love songs. This one reminds me of one of my all-time favorites, their 1980 single "When I'm With You":

New Music of the Day, September 9:

:
The Waterboys, "Payo Payo Chin"

There are a number of veteran bands releasing new albums this week, including The Waterboys, who've come out with an eclectic, uneven, frequently brilliant double album. For me, they'll probably never top 1985's "The Whole of the Moon," which still gives me chills--U2 actually played it just before coming on stage this summer in Berlin, and it set a high bar U2 were only just able to clear. But some of the new tracks, especially "Payo Payo Chin," show a musical vitality that's remarkable in a band that's been going for more than 30 years.

New Music of the Day, September 8:

Hirschwell, "Wie Du"

As citizens in a progressive democracy, Germans recognize that furries need dance music too.

New Music of the Day, September 7:

Jay Xero, "Tell Her No"

Currently, there's a trend among dance music producers towards anemic "future bass" and "tropical house" remakes of 90s R&B songs. Clearly, as this awesome Zombies cover shows, they should be turning their attention towards 60s British Invasion songs instead. I don't know about you, but I'd be up for some tropical house Chad & Jeremy or a dubstep "Doo Wah Diddy Diddy."

New Music of the Day, September 6:

DJ Premier f Cherub, "My Space Baby"

Cherub is one of the few bands I like who played South Carolina regularly when I lived there. But I never went to go see them, because I worried that the vibe I found so delightfully sleazy on record (my favorite Cherub song is titled "Doses and Mimosas") would feel uncomfortably sleazy in person. I still love their songs, though, and I dig how the melody and opening lines of this one--"I am the moon, I am the stars, I am everything that you are"--feel like Chromeo covering the Smiths.

New Music of the Day, September 5:

Ginger Snaps, "Number Crunching"

Anyone who doubts there's a 90s revival going on in Indie music right now should immediately listen to this new single from England's Ginger Snaps, which sounds more like classic Beck than Beck himself does these days.

New Music of the Day, September 4

Transviolet, "The Hamptons"

I thought my US friends would like to spend Labor Day in "The Hamptons." (Even though as the song tells us, "There's no place for love...in the Hamptons"). This song effortlessly pulls off the vibe that Taylor Swift's been straining to achieve on her last couple of singles--rumbling bass, snarky spoke-sung vocals--only Transviolet remembers to include actual hooks.

New Music of the Day, September 3:

Aztecs, "Talk"

Aztecs are one of my favorite new synthpop groups; their songs are all gliding vocals and glistening production--easy listening in the best possible sense. And this new one, which has a bit of a 1975 vibe, is no exception. Too bad no one else is listening; this has been out for over 2 months and still only has 100 plays on Soundcloud.

New Music of the Day, September 2:

Seeb & Greg Holden, "Boys in the Street"

Dance producers Seeb have a talent for remixing slightly dreary songs. First was Mike Posner's "I Took a Pill in Ibiza," which only became a worldwide hit in its Seeb remix form. Posner's original was cringeworthily self-pitying, but Seeb managed to wring out all the poignancy from its vocals and lyrics. And they manage to land this Greg Holden song, which feels a bit like "The Living Years" for gay men, on just the right side of mawkish.

New Music of the Day, September 1:

Jaded, "In the Morning"

"You know what I'm like if I don't get to eat in the morning/ You know I go wild if I don't get to eat in the morning."

These lyrics are probably meant as sexual innuendo, but I prefer to interpret them literally, because I find it so much easier to relate to a dance track about getting hangry when you go without breakfast.

New Music of the Day, August 31:

The Hunna, "Never Enough"

This is simpler, more straightforward rock than I usually listen to. And yeah, loud-quiet-loud is a bit of a formula. But when that formula works as well as it does here, why complain?

New Music of the Day, August 30:

Girli f Lethal Bizzle, "Feel OK"

I saw Girli perform this at the Great Escape festival in Brighton in May. It's definitely one of her catchiest tunes yet, reminiscent of Charli XCX in the chorus and production, but like a more working-class Lily Allen in the spoken-word verses.

New Music of the Day, August 29:

Gang of Youths, "Let Me Down Easy"

I'm glad that this Australian band is getting some positive critical attention for their new album. In my opinion, this track is the album's clear highlight. Come for the chugging groove and husky, whispered vocals, stay for great lyrics like "I'm still young/ it's gonna be OK/ I've got solipsism baby/ and I brought lemonade."

New Music of the Day, August 28:

Lauv, "I Like Me Better"

This morning, I get to meet my first-year Intro to Communications students for the first time. I've been teaching university courses since around the time that many of my current Freshmen were born. And I think the chorus of this song gets at why I love teaching so much--"I like me better when I'm with you." Too much time on my own and I can get a little curmudgeonly, but teaching brings out my best self, and I love the energy of being around intellectually curious young people.

So this goes out to all my current and former students (just ignore the "lying in bed together" bits in the verses and focus on the chorus and that terrific instrumental hook--is that a cello being sampled?)

New Music of the Day, August 27:

Echotape, "Grams"

I first stumbled on these guys by accident about 5 years ago, when I found their first EP on a cheap download site. They've kept plugging at it, with very little attention from the music press or the blogosphere (or anyone else--this visually compelling music video has only 600 views on YouTube). Which is a shame, especially when they release well-constructed anthemic rock songs like this one.