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Aesthetically, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat hates to tread water. At the same time, the Baltimore-based two-piece of vocalist Ed Schrader and bassist Devlin Rice won’t force their songs to fit a preconceived style. “The next album’s always gotta be different from the last one. We’re different people from record to record. So, writing authentically to ourselves will always bring our work to a place that we haven’t been to yet,” Rice said. Schrader added, “We’re terrified of turning into Ac/dc. We never want to be married to one scene or time or sound. We want to be the Boba Fett of bands! Constantly altering the way in which we make records has been pretty key in that process.”

For Orchestra Hits, the band’s latest, that alteration was welcoming longtime musical comrade Dylan Going into the fold as a co-writer and co-producer. A songwriter in his own right, a guitar sideman for Esmb on their last two tours, and a collaborator with Rice in the noise riffage band Mandate, Going had both a unique vision and an intimate familiarity with the Esmb vibe.

“Dylan came to every show we’ve ever played in New York—no matter how weird it was,” Schrader said. “He’d be standing there ready to move an amp or feed us barbecued cactus after the gig and toss on some Golden Girls so we could decompress. It felt like family as soon as we began working, but I honestly had no idea how damn good he was at tossing out these hooks.”

According to Schrader, the songs “just poured out of us” over the course of a highly caffeinated three-day weekend in a tiny room in Devlin’s house while his cat, Sandy Goose, screamed continually. “It was like three kids hiding from the world to get into some lovely mischief,” they said. The lack of external pressure in the process gives Orchestra Hits an almost paradoxical vibe. For all of the album’s layers, that mix live and sequenced instruments, it never loses the raw energy of a small handful of friends in the same room plugging in, cranking up, and playing until they pass out.

Lyrically, the album finds Schrader, now 45, meditating on experiences in their youth to make sense of the present moment. “We are not into the garden,” Schrader wails on the relentless “Roman Candle,” a song about the sad debacle of Woodstock ’99, and a direct response to Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” a utopian ode to hippie idealism. A 19-year-old Schrader, having snuck into Woodstock ’99 through a hole in the fence, was there the night members of the crowd used candles intended for a vigil for victims of the Columbine High School massacre to set fires all over the grounds. Even before the fires, Schrader remembered feeling disconnected from the music, the nostalgic cash grab, and the meatheads in the crowd. After watching a press tower collapse, they boarded a random

shuttle bus and were dropped off near a Denny’s. “It was a far cry from the Garden of Eden,” Schrader said. “That experience defined what I didn’t want to be a part of, and yet America is more like Woodstock ’99 than ever.”

With percolating synthesizer arpeggios, and climbing bass grooves, “idks” is the album’s dance-floor slapper. “’idks’ is a funny one,” Schrader said. “We already had a pretty satisfying suite of songs when Dylan was packing up to head back to New York, but he missed the train because of a freak snowstorm. Realizing he’d be stuck in town another day, he says to me, ‘Here’s this other weird thing I have.’ It was ‘IDKS.’ The hooks were so good I felt like Homer Simpson at a free donut convention. I just dove right in, and we cranked that baby out in like 20 minutes.”

Lyrically, “idks” is a letter from the true self to public-facing self. “It’s an angry song,” Schrader said. “Because the public-facing self is always looking for an easy escape, but it forces the true self into a cage. I honestly thought my lyrics were corny and was about to change them, but Dylan was digging it just the way it was. So that’s what you hear.”

With the soaring “Daylight Commander,” the band went against all of their musty-basement-bred instincts. “I went full High School Musical with the vocals,” Schrader said. “At first it felt almost embarrassing, but I remember reading somewhere that Bowie recommended always floating a little bit above your comfort zone, and that’s what we did here.” The song is part exercise in absurdity and part pop Trojan horse. “If ever we had a ‘Shiny Happy People’ moment, I guess this is it,” Schrader said.

With their third album on Heavy Psych Sounds Records, Alunah have wasted no time in a post-pandemic haze since their last release, balancing being on the European festival circuit alongside touring the UK. However, in a Birmingham rehearsal room away from the outside world, everyday life and online noise, their latest full length "Fever Dream" has been quietly brewing waiting to see the light of day. Forged from a period of extensive jamming and soul searching "Fever Dream" digs into the core of what makes Alunah tick, being in a room together making the music they want to hear.Recorded during the winter of 2024, the atmosphere of the historic Foel Studio allows groove to flow alongside riff, heft and melody in equal measure. The brooding progressive majesty of the title track, the eastern soundscape of "Sacred Grooves" and the doom and roll of "Far From Reality" each highlight the album's ability to surprise and deliver in equal measure throughout the emotive journey of its nine tracks. Let yourself fall deep into the "Fever Dream". Produced by Chris Fielding (Electric Wizard, Conan)

Rose Main Reading Room, the fourth full length by Peel Dream Magazine, is a lush, inviting headphones record; the kind of album made to accompany city bus rides and rainy-day solo trips to accidental destinations. The band, whose name nods to the BBC Radio 1 legend John Peel — arbiter of all things underground, quality, and (it must be said) "cool" — has since its inception been a genre-hopping experiment, jumping from motorik krautrock to shoegaze and space age pop, and their newest work is a perfect starting point for the uninitiated, beckoning toward a newfound romance and nostalgia with their catchiest collection of songs to date. Across its fifteen songs, Rose Main Reading Room ultimately proposes a world of marvels and compelling complexity: “Oblast” cheekily prods at mutually assured destruction; “Ocean Life” explores the infiniteness within ourselves; while “R.I.P. (Running in Place)” unpacks an all too familiar stagnation. It’s all part of, and crucial to, Rose Main Reading Room’s transportive power, ever reaching for the wonder and magic of the world we live in.

MJ Lenderman - the North Carolina-based singer, songwriter, and musician - announces his new album, Manning Fireworks, out September 6th via ANTI-, and releases the lead single/video, "She's Leaving You." Following last year's "triumphant live album" (Pitchfork), And the Wind (Live and Loose!), and 2022's surprise breakthrough Boat Songs, Manning Fireworks is an instant classic of an LP. M] lets us in on his frank observations on the intersection of wit and sadness. The punchlines from his previous albums are still here, as are the rusted-wire guitar solos that have made him a favorite for indie rock fans looking for an emerging guitar hero. But there's a new sincerity, too, as Lenderman lets listeners clearly see the world through his warped lens. Today's single, "She's Leaving You," is a half-sneering portrait of a middle-aged man cheating his way through a midlife crisis, at least until he gets caught and blasts Clapton in a rented Ferrari en route to Vegas. It also happens to be the perfect shout-along anthem for any kid who's ever felt shortchanged by their parents. The songs accompanying video, another instant classic, was directed by Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum. Per the directors, think 'Creed Thanksgiving Half-Time Show' mixed with "Smells Like Teen spirit" mixed with '"Drop Dead Gorgeous."If we flashback to 2021 , no one paid too much attention when Jake Lenderman recorded Boat Songs, his third album released under his initials, MJ Lenderman. Before he cut it, after all, he was a 20-yearold guitarist working at an ice cream shop in his mountain hometown of Asheville, North Carolina, getting away for self-booked tours of his own songs or with the band he'd recently joined, Wednesday, whenever possible.But as the pandemic took hold just as he turned 21 , Lenderman-then making more money through state unemployment than he had ever serving scoops-enjoyed the sudden luxury of free time. Every day, he would read, paint, and write; every night, he and his roommates, bandmates, and best friends woul...

'In `All This and So Much More' Tasha is an artist flung open. For Tasha, the last few yearshave been propulsive, dynamic, bursting at the seams. They've included painful encounterswith grief; a sudden break up; new flirtation; new hair; the glitter of world travel and not least,a role in Tony-nominated Broadway musical `Illinoise' which adapts Sufjan Steven's `Illinois'for the stage. If `Tell Me What You Miss The Most' was an introspective meditation on lovewith a few moments of glancing toward what's next, `All this and So Much More' is Tashaturned outward, flourishing, telling us what it's like to take life by the chin and look it in theeye.Take, for example "Eric Song." This was the first song to be written on the album, pennedwhile Tasha grappled with the sudden, tragic death of Eric Littman, the co-producer of herlast album. Though the instrumentation is a familiar 3/4 guitar strum, lulling us into acomforting waltz, Tasha's voice is breathy with grief, adding depth and dimension to thehushed sound. "No, I'm not alone after all / You must be near / Facing this soaring sprawl,"she sings, transforming the experience of loss into a talisman of love and courage meant tohelp usher in a new self.Said a different way, `All This and So Much More' is a full-throated ode to all of the ups anddowns of becoming. In the opening track, "Pretend," when Tasha sings about "feelingsoutgrowing this little life," we get the sense, both lyrically and sonically, of someone in thethroes of growth. This is an album crafted with a big, ambitious sound (in part, thanks to theproduction of Gregory Uhlmann)_cinematic droning, orchestral woodwinds, dazzling arrays ofjangling guitar, all lining up to capture a sweeping moment in Tasha's life. Written over thecourse of 2022 and 2023, right on the cusp of Tasha being cast in Illinoise, the songs in thisalbum invoke friendship, heart ache, flirtation, doubt. From the social anxiety of "Party" ("Dothey think I'm funny? / Did they like my joke...

Lutalo's highly visceral folk goes electric on The Academy,the Vermont multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer'sdebut LP. Recorded in January 2024 at the storiedSonic Ranch and self-produced along with Jake Aron (SnailMail, Protomartyr, L'Rain), The Academy feels like watchingthe best underground film you've seen in years; establishingLutalo as a singular voice of this generation of indie rock.Lutalo describes The Academy as their "first chapter" - atime capsule of the lessons they've learned in their20-something years of life. "This record is exactly that: a`record' of my early life," they say of their debut album, outvia Winspear. "The experiences, thoughts and feelings I washolding at those times and am currently processing. To me,this is the first big stamp of my existence I'm sharing."While Lutalo's 2022 EP Once Now, Then Again introducedthem as a lo-fi acoustic guitar wunderkind, The Academy isbigger and bolder without compromising Lutalo's invitingsense of emotional intimacy, inspired by alt-rock veteranslike Thom Yorke and Rob Crow as well as electronic greatslike Aphex Twin and Bowery Electric. The Academy'sgrander arrangements are heard in the biting adrenalinerush of "Ocean Swallows Him Whole," or the anti-war jangleof album closer "The Bed." Their lyrics are often deeplyintuitive, flowing as a stream of consciousness, albeit withweighty meanings. With their unique baritone and finessefor lyrical world building, Lutalo cuts to the bone-while onlyjust beginning to reveal the depth of their artistry and vision.

Belarusian post-punk / synth pop group Molchat Doma have always exuded the kind of brutalist aesthetic of the architecture that adorns their album art. It's cold, gray, imposing, industrial_and yet there are human hearts beating within those foundations. In the wake of their breakthrough success in 2020, the trio endured a polarity of experiences, from the nadir of an uprooted life and forced relocation away from their native Minsk to the apex of headlining massive shows across the world. It was in this headspace that the band settled into their new home of Los Angeles to finish writing their fourth album Belaya Polosa, a testament to change in difficult times, a love letter to the digital pulse of the `90s, and a technicolor reinvention of the band's somber dancefloor anthems.From the opening synth swell and drum machine throb of "Ty Zhe Ne Znaesh' Kto Ya," to the goth / post-punk austerity of "Son", to the swirling electronic textures mixed with reverb-drenched guitar flourishes, expansive space, and yearning vocals of title track "Belaya Polosa" - that suggests Depeche Mode at their most reflective or The Cure at their most downtrodden - to the sultry and seductive "Chernye Cvety"_ a track reminiscent of Duran Duran's early `90s output in its fusion of dreamy guitars and authoritative mechanized beats _ and the interwoven layers of instrumentation, soaring chorus, and melodic sophistication of "Ya Tak Ustal", it's clear that Molchat Doma are operating on another level.Molchat Doma gained following with earlier albums that sound like third-generation bootlegs of banned recordings from the Eastern Bloc made after a few key entries in the Factory Records catalog were smuggled in from the West. Belaya Polosa propels them into a new direction while retaining their cold minimalist delivery they're known for. The basement grime and dirty tape-head sound of their previous work are now making space for digital luster and shimmering production values.And while Molchat Doma's broadened aural spectrum adds a syne...

Step inside the world of Ginger Root. Cameron Lew makes it easy to do so; every considered detail is his own manifestation, written, designed, and executed as an all-encompassing diorama of sound and sight. A multi-instrumentalist, producer, songwriter, and visual artist from Southern California, Lew has crafted his project steadily since 2017, inviting a fervent and growing legion of fans into storylines drawn across mediums: captivating albums with accompanying films and globe-spanning tours. The Ginger Root sound _ handmade yet immaculately polished synth-pop, alt-disco, boogie, and soul _ takes shape through Lew's lens as an Asian-American growing up enamored by 1970s and '80s music, specifically the creative and cultural dialogue between Japanese City Pop and its Western counterparts from French Pop to Philly Soul to Ram-era McCartney. He spins his retro-minded influences and proliferates savvily in the present, synthesizing a songwriter's wit, an editor's eye, and a producer's resource into something singular and modern. SHINBANGUMI, his long-awaited third LP, and Ghostly International debut set for physical release in 2024 with a visual album component, translates roughly to a new season of a show. It finds Lew more poised, idiosyncratic, and intentional than ever in a new chapter of life, unlocking "exactly what Ginger Root should sound and feel like," he says. "In terms of instrumentation and musicality, it's the first time that I felt very confident and comfortable with what everything should be comprised of. On the more personal side, I'm coming out of the last four years of writing, touring, and living as a different person; SHINBANGUMI is a platform to showcase my new self."

The Funeral Portrait stands to represent the outcasts from all walks of life. The misunderstood, the weird, neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, marginalized, & otherwise given an unfair hand in life. To offer a sense of community, a place to belong & a space where they can feel safe & accepted for their differences. They all grew up “the weird kid” who was saved by music & the alternative culture, so they now feel obligated to return this favor to the younger generation. This message is shouted to the masses through their over-the-top theatrics & dramatic, almost blown out, presentation. The Funeral Portrait believes in the power of Devotion to their Music and to their unwavering fanbase, The Coffin Crew. The ritual is beginning & they want everyone involved. Join us Friday the 13th to share your devoutness; excuses for not attending are forbidden. New album available September 13th across all digital platforms and on CD, cassette, and vinyl.

A rock'n'roll sensation from the word go, Danish-Brazilian The Courettes are back with their fourth and best album to date: "The Soul Of_ The Fabulous Courettes". And this time, they're bigger, wider and deeper than ever before as they add more to the blistering ramalama that's seen them cause pandemonium across the venues, festivals and airwaves of the UK, Europe, USA and Japan. Hitting the sweet spot that straddles garage rock, girl groups, doo-wop harmonies, heartache and all points in between, here The Courettes build on the momentum of predecessor 'Back In Mono' with a collection of songs that opens up their sonic scope while confronting dark, emotional matter to reveal 'The Soul Of The Fabulous Courettes'."We didn't want to do Back In Mono 2'," stresses drummer Martin Couri.Having evolved with each album release, "The Soul Of_ The Fabulous Courettes" draws inspiration from many of the duo's numerous idols that have only previously been hinted at."We wanted to show our love of the Spector Wall Of Sound and Motown," reveals Flavia. "It was a clear mission and we've absolutely nailed it."From the glorious opening beats and stabbing fuzz honks of 'You Woo Me' to the closing emotional tugs of 'For Your Love' via 'SHAKE!''s fuzzed-up urgency and 'California''s celebratory warmth, The Courettes have broadened their sound with an increased musical instrumentation and overall sophistication that's evident in both their sound and songwriting. And crucially, they've achieved this without sacrificing any of the rock'n'roll grit that's been scraped from Flavia's guitar strings and Martin's battered and pummelled drums. And aiding them in their quest for sonic perfection are a few guest musicians and back-room wizards playing some very specific roles.While the music has opened up to include acoustic and 12-string guitars, bass, E-bows, castanets and timpani, so have the kind of emotions that might not ordinarily be associated with The Courettes.The Soul Of_ The Fabulous Courettes is an album aime...

Dummy ist eine Rockband aus Los Angeles, bestehend aus Alex Ewell, Emma Maatman, Nathan O'Dell und Joe Trainor. Ihr Debütalbum "Mandatory Enjoyment" (Trouble in Mind) erschien Ende 2021 und erntete Lob von Pitchfork, Stereogum und vielen anderen. Die Band tourte zwei Jahre lang, um das Album zu unterstützen, und es ist diese transformative Erfahrung, die durch "Free Energy", den berauschenden Nachfolger von "Mandatory Enjoyment", pulsiert. Die kreativ rastlose Band Dummy (Ewell: Schlagzeug, Synthesizer, Bass; Maatman: Gesang, Synthesizer, Orgel; O'Dell: Gesang, Gitarre, Orgel; Trainor: Gitarre, Bass, Synthesizer) wollte für ihr nächstes Album härter, tanzbarer und psychedelischer werden. Das bedeutete, dass sie die experimentellen Möglichkeiten elektronischer Texturen auf die elementaren Qualitäten des Rocks anwenden wollten, d.h. mehr Gesangsschleifen, Sampling, verrücktere Rhythmen und verspielte Synthesizer - aber sie wollten die Samples von Trainors Gitarre einsetzen, Maatman mutiger singen lassen, mit kalten mechanischen Elementen auf warme und funkelnde Weise experimentieren und sich stärker an traditionelle, aber immer noch großartige Formen von Rockgitarrenexperimenten wie Feedback anlehnen. Das Ergebnis ist ein Album, das die Fähigkeit der Musik feiert, den Körper zu bewegen, sei es durch eine zähneknirschende Wand aus MBV-eskem Lärm, einen klebrigen Pop-Refrain oder eine fröhliche Drum-Machine - oder, wenn man Dummy ist, vielleicht alles im selben Song. Popmusik war schon immer ein wichtiger Bestandteil von Dummys Sound und manifestiert sich auf unterschiedliche Weise in "Free Energy“: Die sprudelnde Synthesizer-Sequenz, die mit einem Korg EM1 gemacht wurde und in "Nullspace" auftaucht, der aufgedrehte Drone-Pop, der von Dunedin Sound Bands der zweiten und dritten Welle wie Look Blue Go Purple und Dadamah inspiriert ist, und der motorische Beat, der "Nine Clean Nails" antreibt. „Nine Clean Nails" ist vielleicht der selbstbewussteste Popsong, den Dummy je aufgenommen hat, und ein Beispiel für das Gleichgewicht zwischen der Intensität der Live-Performance und den elektronischen Ergänzungen auf "Free Energy". Die tänzerischen rhythmischen Elemente wurden aus einem von Ewell aufgenommenen Drumloop erzeugt, während die Bridge mit den Call-and-Response-Gitarren von O'Dell und dem ausdrucksstarken Gesang von Maatman an die Feelies erinnert. "Free Energy" enthält außerdem Gastauftritte des Saxophonisten und elektroakustischen Künstlers Cole Pulice (Moon Glyph) aus Oakland, der Saxophon und Bläsersynthesizer beisteuert, sowie Jen Powers vom Powers / Rolin Duo (Astral Editions, Feeding Tube Records)

“If rock ’n’ roll’s a dream, please don’t wake me.”

Midwife’s No Depression In Heaven, her fourth studio album, was written primarily in the back of vans while on tour endlessly over the course of the past few years. The record engages with the contemplative spirit of rock ’n’ roll from within a body in motion.

No Depression In Heaven explores themes of sentimentality, the interplay between dreams, memory, and fantasy, and a familiar subject seen throughout all of Midwife’s work: grief. Madeline Johnston takes a look at the tender and transcendent underneath a hard exterior of leather and studs, exposing a different side of the heavy music scene, where Johnston’s project has been living and evolving.

Recording at home in New Mexico between 2021 and 2023, Johnston aimed to create something that was rough around the edges, returning to a free recording process that was less focused on perfection and more attuned to expressing the spirit that lives inside of the songs. The album features collaborations with Chris Adolf and Michael Stein of American Culture, Ben Schurr and Tim Jordan of Nyxy Nyx, Angel Diaz of Vyva Melinkolya, and Allison Lorenzen.

Inspired by ephemeral moments that make up life on tour, the totemization of vehicles, outlaws, and the psyche of America’s underbelly, No Depression In Heaven affirms Johnston’s existential status as a woman of the highway.

Hole Erth, Chaz Bear's eighth full-length studio record as Toro y Moi, is the genre shapeshifter's most unexpected and bold move to date, with Bear diving headlong into rap-rock, Soundcloud rap and Y2K emo. The album blitzes anthemic pop-punk next to autotuned, melancholic rap - two genres that inform one another now more than ever before _ and packs in the most features ever on a Toro y Moi album. A sense of nostalgia sneaks its way into almost every Toro y Moi release, but angst is an emotion that Bear has never intentionally explored the way he does here. Tracks like "Tuesday'' channel a specific, yet forever-relatable sense of adolescent unease. A distorted guitar riff leads into a repeating chorus that conjures misunderstood teenagers singing aloud, maybe too loud, while riding bikes through American suburbs. This foreboding can also be heard on "HOV," though not without poking some fun with lines like "Romance is so cold / My advice? To bring a coat." Bear has the energy, but is acutely aware that his energy isn't forever. At a time when the internet is blending multiple genres into one at an increasingly rapid pace, Bear accomplishes the rare feat of keeping up with the contemporary alternative listener. Constantly changing, evolving and experimenting is the heart of Toro y Moi, and on Hole Erth Bear challenges but also reclaims himself, embracing the myriad sounds and eras that formed him, while crashing new worlds together.

London-based post-punk quartet Desperate Journalist return for a fifth studio album of sardonic, wry humour in au...

"Pretty (Ugly Before)" b/w "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free" holds the distinction of being the last recording by Elliott Smith to be released while he was still alive. Originally released as a single in August 2003, the songs were a part of the recording sessions that would ultimately yield the acclaimed posthumous album From A Basement On The Hill. The two songs serve as a powerful reminder of why Smith became the voice for a dejected generation. This repress is limited to 500 copies on tri-color vinyl - mustard, baby blue, and coke bottle green.

Elliott Smith's "Division Day" is not only one of the late artist's most beloved fan favorite songs, it's also one of Smith's first departures away from the soft-spoken melancholy of his first two albums and into the more sophisticated pop that led to his breakout success. B-side "No Name #6" is a classic in its own right, encapsulating the humble brilliance of one of our generation's greatest singer-songwriters. "Division Day" b/w "No Name #6" is now back in print with its first pressing on colored vinyl. Limited to 1000 copies on clear vinyl, this 7" single is a crucial document of Elliott Smith's musical evolution, and a vital piece of Suicide Squeeze history.