Katrine Ottoson, better known as Danish synthpop artist CALLmeKAT, has spent much of her musical career exploring the dichotomies that shape her everyday life. In particular, she’s time and time again come back to the same duality: nature vs. the inorganic.

This ongoing theme can be attributed not only to her music, which literally marries electronics with more traditional instruments, but also to her upbringing. Ottoson grew up in the Danish countryside, bound my lush forests; nowadays, she can often be found on tour, in a different city on any given day, living a life of bustling transience as opposed to peaceful stillness.

For her latest EP, dubbed Mouth of Time, this dichotomy was felt at an even higher level. Though it retains the pop elements previously heard on her synth-driven releases, as Ottoson tells Consequence of Sound, the five-track effort serves as “the first collection of songs I have done that are exclusively written on guitar.”

The title track, which we premiered last month, is all earth and soul, dusty finger snaps and Ottoson’s impassioned voice leading the way. Elsehwere, tambourines quiver (“Play with Fire”), and bluesy organs rise and fall, hum and hiss, in places synthesizers might have otherwise been (“Distant Night”).

Perhaps more importantly, it’s something of a musical snapshot of a time in her life where her touring life and home life felt at odds with one another more than ever Ottoson explains to CoS:

“My main inspiration was a time in my life, where everything seemed to be shifting. Almost like time was changing its skin. It felt very significant. My father passed away and I was touring a lot. Between touring I went home and spent weeks next to my father. This experience and the opposites of life on the road and saying farewell to my parent was almost primal to me. The title is a reflection of that feeling. Your mouth is one of the most personal parts of your body. Your mouth is life, it is where you take in oxygen, it is where the sound of you comes out, it is where you voice your opinions. I wanted to capture this and the psychedelic sense of time I was experiencing, with a simple but sort of organic title.”

Stream all of Mouth of Time below.

Photos by Andy Moran

Hype is a difficult thing to come out of unscathed – working your way out of a fad even more so. Hell, even calling chillwave a fad might be an overstatement, as it was more like a temporary blip on the surface of modern indie. As it currently exists, it’s more of an inside joke among those who were in the know: “Remember chillwave? Harr harr.” Most of its major acts have either completely moved on (Toro Y Moi and our current subject, Neon Indian), or they were never really part of it in the first place (Tycho).

Neon Indian, really just an alias for Alan Palomo, took a few stumbles out of the chillwave hype, but it seems like he has finally found his footing. After the initial excitement of his debut, Psychic Chasms (for my money the best album out of the short-lived genre), had worn out, his big league Era Extrana failed to create a lasting impression despite David Fridmann’s impeccable production job. Four years later, Vega Intl. Night School has Palomo digging himself out with a spring in his step, a groove in his soul, and a sound to move forward with. A completely packed show at the Paradise full of twentysomethings seemed to agree.

Computer Magic, aka Danielle “Danz” Johnson, opened the show and proved to be just as enthralling as the main act with swirling analog synths and deep bass squelches. While the presentation might not have been completely unique, there is a beautiful pop rush to Johnson’s compositions. Despite being a relatively unknown act in America, she has made a big splash in Japan (something she probably appreciates given her Spinal Tap-inspired name), and it shows in her fusion of experimental synth sounds and overtly melodic vocals.

Next, w
hen Palomo and his band took the stage, one thing was very clear: He has completely abandoned any ties to chillwave, and his show is better for it. A captivating frontman, he worked himself into a dancing fit as he gracefully moved around the crowded stage, crouched over with fists pumping close to his body. Behind him his newly formed four-piece grooved into newer cuts “Dear Skorpio Magazine” and “Annie” with a fierce intensity.

As fun as it was to watch Palomo glide around the stage, it was hard to keep your eyes off of their light show. One of the more unique setups around, the band’s movements were captured and translated into moving points of light that would frequently freak out and glitch up. Other times those points of lights would quickly smash together and move like a slowly melting oil painting.

“If there’s any Berklee kids here, I’m sorry for holding the drumsticks the wrong way,” Palomo slyly remarked before turning around and looking at his band. “In fact … most of this band are from Berkeley!” Drummer Jason Faries and bassist Jorge Palomo (Alan’s brother) put the rhythm front and center with some deep-hitting grooves and justified the band’s bold choice in predominantly playing new material. Older songs like “Mind, Drips” and “Deadbeat Summer” benefited from his new band’s rhythmic push and moved beyond their lo-fi origins into dance floor fillers.

Palomo is a survivor in the truest sense of the word. It would be easy for him to coast on past victories, but Vega Intl. Night School and his tour around it only sees him pushing further into the unknown.

Photo by​ Philip Cosores

Grimes let it be known in a 2013 Tumblr post that Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria” “might be one of [her] all time favourite songs” (via Stereogum). That little revelation makes the fact that she chose to cover the song at her tour kick off in Seoul, South Korea a little less surprising.

The concert at the YES24 MUV Hall actually opened the way you’d expect Grimes’ first tour date of 2016 to go: with the live premiere of a track from last year’s stellar Art Angels. She kicked things off by performing “Flesh Without Blood” for the first time ever, and sagaciously inserted another debut, “Butterfly”, at the gig’s halfway point. “Ave Maria” came out as a lead into to her one-two punch of a closer, “Kill v. Maim” and “Oblivion”.

Below, watch fan-shot video of Grimes performing “Ave Maria”, “Flesh Without Blood”, and “Butterfly”. There’s also a clip of her doing “Ave Maria” in Osaka, Japan a few days later.

“Ave Maria” (skip to 9:38):

“Ave Maria” (Osaka, Japan):

“Flesh Without Blood”:

“Butterfly”:

Show Montage:

On March 18th, Primal Scream will return with a new album titled Chaosmosis. Due out through Ignition and their own First International imprint, the LP serves as the Scottish natives’ eleventh overall following 2013’s More Light.

Among the record’s 10 tracks is a collaboration with Sky Ferreira, “Where the Light Gets In”. Amid smoke and shivering synths, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and Ferreira talk desire and deception.

In an interview with NME, Ferreira discussed why she enjoyed teaming up with the alternative outfit. “The reason I like working with them is because there’s absolutely no pressure,” she explained. “It’s also just really cool talking to [Gillespie]! Jesus and Mary Chain [Gillespie’s former band] is one of my favourite bands ever, so at first I was a little nervous. It’s really nice to meet with someone and not be disappointed by it, to have them meet every expectation.”

Stream “Where the Light Gets In” below.

Update: Watch the corresponding music video.

In addition to Ferreira, Chaosmosis features collaborations with HAIM (“100% or Nothing”, “Trippin’ On Your Love”) and Rachel Zeffira of Cat’s Eyes (“Private Wars”). If you’ll recall, Primal Scream and HAIM previously performed together at Glastonbury 2013.

As for Ferreira, this marks her second collaboration of the year following her appearance on DIIV’s latest LP, Is the Is Are.

Chaosmosis Tracklist:
01. Trippin’ on Your Love
02. (Feeling Like A) Demon Again
03. I Can Change
04. 100% or Nothing
05. Private Wars
06. Where the Light Gets In
07. When the Blackout Meets the Fallout
08. Carnival of Fools
09. Golden Rope
10. Autumn in Paradise

Photo by Joshua Mellin

Santigold is less than a month away from the release of her new album, 99¢, which boasts collaborations with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, iLoveMakonnen, and Hit-Boy. Now, the electropop singer has mapped out a North American spring tour.

The jaunt runs from late March to early May and includes stops in Houston, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Chicago, Nashville, and New York. If her donut-filled set at November’s Voodoo Experience Festival is any indication, fans can sweet tunes and treats.

Consult the full itinerary below.

Santigold 2016 Tour Dates:
03/21 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues
03/22 – Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
03/24 – Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre
03/26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ In the Venue
03/28 – Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee Theatre
03/29 – San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
03/31 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
04/02 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Foundry Hall
04/03 – Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues
04/04 – San Francisco, CA @ The Masonic
04/06 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
04/09 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
04/11 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
04/13 – Calgary, AB @ Flames Central
04/16 – Minneapolis, MN @ Mill City Nights
04/17 – Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
04/19 – Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
04/20 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall
04/22 – Nashville, TN @ Marathon Music Works
04/23 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore
04/25 – Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor
04/26 – Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution Live
04/28 – Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
04/30 – New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
05/01 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of the Living Arts
05/03 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
05/04 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
05/05 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore

Revisit the video for her latest single “Chasing Shadows”:

Photo by Ben Kaye

CoSigned singer Låpsley is only 19 years old, but she’s already mastered the art of wringing out every bit of emotion from a song. It’s not just the British prodigy’s own material which features this rawness, however, as evidenced by her chilling cover of The Weeknd’s “The Hills”.

Here, instead of simply remaking Abel Tesfaye’s hit single, Låpsley chooses to turn the original into an icy, poignant piano ballad. The song — which has popped up during her concerts since last November — has essentially been completely reimagined. If there was anyone who could flip the late-night hook-up anthem into something more sentimental, it’d certainly be Låpsley.

Check out her Sirius XMU cover below.

Låpsley’s full-length debut, Long Way Home, is due out on March 4th through XL.

Photo by David Brendan Hall

New Order returned last September with Music Complete, their first new album in 10 years and one of the best of 2015. Today, they’ve lined up a US tour behind the LP.

The trek, which kicks off in mid-March, will see the New Wave veterans playing in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Consult the full itinerary below.

New Order 2016 Tour Dates:
03/10 – New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
03/12 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theater
03/16 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
03/19 – Los Angeles, CA @ Shrine Auditorium
03/21 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Cosmpolitan
03/23 – Miami, FL @ Fillmore Miami Beach
06/16-18 – Barcelona, ES @ Sonar Festival
06/25-07/02 – Roskilde, DK @ Roskilde Festival
06/30-07/03 – Werchter, BE @ Rock Werchter
07/07-07/09 – Bilbao, ES @ Bilbao BBK Live
07/09 – Manchester, UK @ Castlefield Bowl
08/09-13 – Oslo, NO @ Oya Festival

In related news, New Order have launched a new website called Singularity: The Influence of New Order. As its name suggests, the website charts the band’s influences through written tributes, covers, photographs, and curated mixtapes contributed by fellow musicians. Among the included content: Cold Cave’s cover of “Your Silent Face”; Chromatics’ cover of “Ceremony”; New Order’s remix of “Tutti Frutti”; and a mixtape curated by The Cure’s Robert Smith.

Revisit New Order’s own video for “Tutti Frutti” below:

Last year, Holy Ghost! highlighted released Work For Hire, a compilation of the various remixes (LCD Soundsystem, Phoenix, Cut Copy) they’ve put out over the years. Now, the Brooklyn natives are focusing on their own material again with the upcoming Crime Cutz EP. It marks Holy Ghost!’s first release of original music since 2013’s Dynamics album. Due out on April 29th via DFA Records, the EP is being previewed today with the title track, a seven-minute space-funk jam.

According to a statement, Holy Ghost! envisioned “Crime Cutz” to be an “instantly rhythmically gratifying” piece of “ear candy.” They elaborated further:

“Coming out of recording and then subsequently playing/touring the last record, we didn’t have a clear game plan for new music other than a broad goal of trying to do stuff that was instantly rhythmically gratifying. As a drummer, I get parts that I find to be rhythmically catchy stuck in my head all the time. The drums on ‘Very Ape’ by Nirvana or the confusing synth hook on ABBAs ‘Gimme Gimme Gimme’ or the weird angular interplay between synths and guitar on ‘I Feel Your Love Coming On’ by Chic.  So this was an attempt to do something that was sort of rhythm ear candy.   Simple. Angular. Funky. Physical. Fun.”

Stream the song below courtesy of Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 show.

Update — Friday, February 5th: Check out its colorful music video below.

Also, watch a teaser for the EP, followed by the artwork and group’s upcoming tour dates.

Crime Cutz Artwork: 

Holy Ghost! 2016 Tour Dates:
02/12 – Adelaide, AU @ Rocket Bar Rooftop
02/13 – Melbourne, AU @ Railway Hotel
02/14 – Sydney, AU @ Ivy Pool
02/17 – Bondi, AU @ Beach Road
02/19 – Gold Coast, AU @ Elsewhere
02/20 – Brisbane, AU @ TBC Club
02/21 – Perth, AU @ Matisse Beach Club
03/02 – New York, NY @ Museum of Modern Art Armory Party

At the Drive In’s Omar Rodríguez-López and Teri Gender Bender have worked together in various capacities over the years, most notably as members of Bosnian Rainbows. Rodríguez-López has also produced all three albums from Gender Bender’s Mexican punk band, Le Butcherettes.

2016 sees the two artists linking up once again. Following news that Le Butcherettes would be joining ATDI on their recently announced reunion tour, Rodríguez-López and Gender Bender have collaborated on a cover of Depeche Mode’s “I Feel You”.

Featuring additional contributions from Baltimore’s With Lions, this new rendition takes the original’s smoky aura to whole other level. As Stereogum points out, Rodríguez-López & co. take a cue from Ennio Morricone, applying a spaghetti western-esque style to the arrangement that’s both vast and foreboding. Who knew a Depeche Mode song could ever sound like the perfect tune for a ride through dusty, rolling hills?

Stream it below.

Here’s the original for comparison:

If I may for just a moment, please allow me to commit a cardinal sin of music criticism: quoting a band’s press release. “TEEN’s new album, Love Yes,” reads the copy from Carpark Records, “explores the disharmony and empowerment that both sexuality and spirituality can create within the modern woman’s psyche.”

I bring this up not to take a jab at Kristina Lieberson’s increasingly bold artistic outlet, but to point out how accurate of a statement it is. Despite a title that might seem overly optimistic to the untrained ear, Love Yes is that rare album that actually has a lot to say about its heady subject matter, lyrically living up to the lofty ambitions set by TEEN’s PR team. On the first three tracks alone, Lieberson — or at least the female narrator embodied by Lieberson — deals with a husband whose fear of mortality causes him to second-guess his marriage (“Tokyo”), a self-professed nice guy who believes his sensitivity absolves him from any romantic wrongdoing (“All About Us”), and the specter of an ex, plain and simple (“Gone For Good”). The lyrics get even more complicated when Lieberson refuses to play the blame game, setting her inner critic on herself as well as her partners. If she aimed her crosshairs exclusively at significant others, Love Yes wouldn’t be exploring disharmony and empowerment — it would just be one or the other.

That’s a lot to take in, and as a result, Love Yes‘ cerebral emotionalism works best when locked into a colorful groove. It’s not that I don’t want to think when I listen to TEEN; I’d just rather dance first, especially when the album opens with fuzzed out, impossibly thick keys from Kristina’s sister, Lizzie. “All About Us” gains similar momentum thanks to Boshra Al-Saadi’s bass, which bounces between root notes and directly paralleling the rhythm of Liberson’s airy vibrato.

As long as Love Yes relies on these simple yet effective tricks, it goes down like rock candy, the sweetness undercut by a compellingly sour sting. Only when the band tries to match the lyrics’ complexity with the music does the album begin to falter. I hate to adopt the neanderthalic rock pacing argument (“slow and weird, baaad; fast and simple, goood!”), but in the case of Love Yes, the uptempo tracks are the best vehicle for Lieberson’s elaborately layered words. Just compare the four false endings of the title track with Katherine Lieberson’s no-frills, cardiac drumming on “Superhuman” (not to mention the “Like A Virgin” synths), and see which one gets its hooks into you faster. One is a dance song, while the other is a dance song that’s trying not to be a dance song.

“Another Man’s Woman” and “Animal” are also both characterized by derailing freakouts, evaporating into a fog of numbing harmonies and cybernetic guitars by the end. In these moments, it feels like TEEN are fighting against themselves as a band. Although there aren’t quite as many detours as there were on In Limbo or The Way and Color, one still gets the sense that the Liebersons and Al-Saadi still don’t fully trust their more visceral instincts. Why else would there be a series of pointless horn interludes after several of the songs? Maybe the jazzy sax and trumpet breaks have some sort of deeper meaning to the band members, but they reek of trying too hard, of musicians striving to be complicated when they shouldn’t feel like they need to be. The lyrics already do that for them.

Essential Tracks: “Tokyo”, “All About Us”, and “Superhuman”

Photo by Joshua Mellin

In about two weeks, Santigold will let loose her long-awaited new album, 99¢. The LP collects 12 tracks, some of which we’ve already heard: lead single “Can’t Get Enough of Myself”, the iLoveMakonnen-aided “Who Be Lovin Me”, and the soaring “Chasing Shadows”.

Today, she’s back with another preview in tow, “Banshee”. A colorful and bubbly pop anthem that’ll have you wishing the weekend was already here, it features rousing shouts of “C’mon!” and snappy handclaps.

The song was premiered on Zane Lowe’s Beats 1 program and can be heard below.

99¢, the follow-up to 2012’s Master of My Make-Believe, hits shelves on February 26th through Atlantic Records. In support of the record, Santigold has a North American tour set to kick off in March; find the dates here.

99¢ Tracklist:
01. Can’t Get Enough of Myself (feat. B.C.)
02. Big Boss Big Time Business
03. Banshee
04. Chasing Shadows
05. Walking in a Circle
06. Who Be Lovin Me (feat. ILOVEMAKONNEN)
07. Rendezvous Girl
08. Before the Fire
09. All I Got
10. Outside the War
11.Run the Races
12. Who I Thought You Were

In the 1970s, the term “outlaw country” had a very specific definition, referring to country artists who ditched their clean-cut image in favor of a shaggier appearance, lyrics that flipped the bird at authority, and arrangements more influenced by the rawness of rock music than the lush arrangements of Nashville. But much like punk, the genre has become harder to define over the years. Lots of country singers have beards, a rebellious streak, and a rock sensibility. Does that mean they’re outlaw country? Not necessarily.

So what does outlaw country even mean anymore? If we’re adopting the vague, umbrella scope of modern punk, it could easily be defined as being true to yourself. And if we’re applying that criteria to Shooter Jennings, his seventh album, Countach (For Giorgio), is very much outlaw country — despite musically sounding nothing like the forefathers of the genre, or even the past work of Jennings himself.

As you can tell by the parenthetical of the title and the nostalgic album art, Countach is Jennings’ tribute to Girogio Moroder, the Italian producer who not only influenced the disco movement with his glitzy solo work, but defined an entire cinematic era with his contributions to Flashdance, Top Gun, The NeverEnding Story, and loads of other ’80s films. There’s a reason why Jennifer Beals, an F-14 Tomcat, Falkor the Luckdragon (with a machine gun!), and other celluloid imagery from the Reagan era all grace the cover. That’s a far cry from the Americana throwbacks seen on the fronts of Jennings’ earlier work like Electric Rodeo and his debut, Put the “O” Back In Country.

To further buck his more traditional influences, he opens the record by nodding to his late father, Waylon, whose song “Ladies Love Outlaws” became one of the core outlaw country jams back in 1972. Here, it’s his later hit, “Don’t You Think This Outlaw Bit’s Done Got Out of Hand”, that starts things off on “Loading”. For a while, everything seems normal: The older Jennings plucks away and sings in his lived-in twang as a blues scale builds around him. Then, about a minute or so in, the suicide doors of the title track open up to release a haze of Shooter’s synths, not in interruption, but in conjunction with “This Outlaw Bit”. It’s not a case of son rebelling against father — it’s a case of them working together, with Waylon’s song laying down the pacing and root chords before Shooter douses them in fragments from a shattered disco ball.

And that’s the general aesthetic of Countach. As Jennings explores Moroder’s catalog in a single radio broadcast (broken up by lines from films and trailer narration), fiddle plays alongside street-strutting guitars and four-on-the-floor percussion. Like Neil Young’s Trans, this contrast results in a more metallic, futuristic version of country, or — to flip the script — a more humanistic version of electronica. Where Moroder filtered his voice through cyborgian modulators on “From Here to Eternity” and “I’m Left You’re Right She’s Gone”, Jennings sings them in his natural tenor. Roots and robots rub up against each other again on “Born to Die” when septuagenrian country icon Steve Young (“Seven Bridges Road”) makes a guest appearance, then nearly gets overtaken by apocalyptic tunnel-wind. All of this could easily get messy, but because the album’s collage-style approach gets established early on, it all feels part of one singularly distant transmission.

Countach‘s two weak spots are actually songs that don’t depart far enough from the source material. All of the aforementioned tracks feel adventurous because Jennings makes the mechanized organic, but on his covers of “The NeverEnding Story” and “Cat People”, he keeps the human decidedly human, hiring vocalists who don’t do anything to separate themselves from the original singers. Brandi Carlile mimics Limahl and Beth Anderson by keeping things light and airy, and Marilyn Manson resigns himself to doing his best Bowie impression. The instrumentation stays more or less identical as well, favoring what sounds like a karaoke track over the weird metal-machine-country hybrid that Jenning develops elsewhere. While certainly not unlistenable or even unenjoyable, they’re also the only times Countach feels like a tribute instead of true innovation, the only times it doesn’t feel like outlaw country.

Essential Tracks: “Loading”, “Countach”, and “I’m Left You’re Right She’s Gone”

Photo via Dazed’s Twitter

Many fans were expecting Sky Ferreira to release her follow-up to 2013’s Night Time, My Time sometime last year. In fact, the indie pop musician herself had anticipated as such, but the project was sidetracked by scheduling and health issues. According to a new interview with Dazed, however, it appears the anticipated album, dubbed Masochism, will finally see release this summer.

The cover story confirms that Ferreira’s Night Time, My Time collabortor Ariel Rechtshaid is returning as producer alongside executive producer Mike Dean (Kanye West) and Rahki (Kendrick Lamar). It appears that the album is still in the process of being completed, but a summer release date is the current target.

Elsewhere in the story, the singer discusses where she came up with the title, Masochism. “I started writing the lyrics two years ago when I was touring, and that’s when the name came to me,” she revealed. “The way I look at it, it’s about going from one thing to another. I’ve learned a lot about myself and my own self-value. Before, in order to feel good about anything there had to be some kind of struggle, a painful way to get to it, otherwise I felt I didn’t really deserve it. Which is a really fucked up way of thinking.”

She went on, “I became a bit of a masochist in every single way – for a while it was like, ‘If it doesn’t hurt then it’s not real.’ That is honestly how I felt. I’m still in the thick of everything changing, but change, like, sucks! It’s good in the long run, but it’s fucking weird and uncomfortable. When I feel like I’ve reached the point where I’m somewhat comfortable with it, that’s when the album ends.”

The Dazed article also hints that a lead single from Masochism could be showing up online very shortly. Stay tuned.

Prince Rama are gearing up to release Xtreme Now next month. The album’s 11 tracks play out like a warped journey through various eras, past and future, as it was written after a near-death incident left band member Taraka Larson with time-schizophrenia.

On the duo’s latest offering “Your Life In the End”, not only are differing time periods juxtaposed, but genres as well. “‘Your Life In The End’ is a triumphant ‘Rama-goes-gospel’ fist-pumping anthem, with sparkly church-rave pianos and tear-jerking melodies that would make Primal Scream fall to their knees,” a press release describes. The song features additional vocals from members of the local Bed-Stuy Baptist church near where Prince Rama reside.

Stream it below.

Xtreme Now hits shelves on March 4th through Carpark Records. For more, check out “Bahia”, “Slip Into Nevermore”, and “Now is the Time of Emotion”.

Xtreme Now Tracklist:
01. Bahia
02. Your Life In the End
03. Now Is the Time of Emotion
04. Slip Into Nevermore
05. Fake Til You Feel
06. Believe In Something Fun
07. Xtreme Now Energy
08. Fantasy
09. Sochi
10. Would You Die To Be Adored
11. Shitopia

As a founder of indie outfit Stereolab, Tim Gane meshed lounge, krautrock, electronic music, and more to produce a mesmeric vision that felt like the past’s vision of the future and the future’s vision of the past. It’s rather appropriate, then, that the first track on his debut album with Cavern of Anti-Matter is called “tardis cymbals”, winking at another legendary piece of British culture known for playing with time: Dr. Who. With the help of a new band and a few unexpected guests, Gane continues his mischievous streak on Void Beats / Invocation Trex, building familiar, pleasing drones to get your head nodding.

Stereolab were regularly compared to everyone from Neu! to Burt Bacharach, and none of that ever felt wrong. There was an eerie timelessness to much of their discography — particularly the masterpiece Emperor Tomato Ketchup — in the same way that The Jetsons used tropes from early sitcoms and dropped them into a future at once magical and familiar. With his new band, that air of futurity doesn’t carry quite the same weight, instead locking into the familiarity — driving rhythms and synth drones. It might not be as explosive as Stereolab, but Void Beats carries the same hypnotic quality.

As if to get closer to the krautrock core, Gane moved to Berlin. Then, to form his new band, he brought along Stereolab drummer Joe Dilworth, as well as electronics master Holger Zapf. Though they’ve only been playing together a brief while, their grooves sound entirely lived in. That could be due to Gane’s practiced sense of space and time. In a release accompanying the album, he described this methodology as “setting up tiny rhythmic cells and expanding on them in certain ways, splitting the melody and stretching out.” The scientific nature of that phrasing feels accurate; Gane’s compositions have always felt organic, yet precise, life seen first under a microscope and then widening out as if infinite.

The songs, therefore, can stretch a bit long. As an opener, “tardis cymbals” is daunting at nearly 13 minutes, while “void beat” similarly reaches over nearly nine minutes. That’s not to say that Cavern of Anti-Matter’s three-minute tracks are the stars — just that blending in between ultra-deep digs and quick interludes might pace things more evenly. In fact, “void beat” is a true highlight, captivating and evolving over its entire length.

The trio get some help though from Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom, and Mouse on Mars’ Jan St. Werner, but largely stand as an instrumental trio. Cox contributes vocals to the upbeat “liquid gate”, the closest the group comes to Stereolab’s poppier side, indulging his bedroom drawl in the lush maraca rhythm. It sticks out a bit, but offers two potential distinctions: Cavern of Anti-Matter could easily go the route of allowing more vocalists in through their cell walls, or they could use the track’s outstanding energy while figuring out a way to not need the vocalist to propel it.

There’s something almost dated to a few of the synth tones in songs like “melody in high feedback tones”. Perhaps some of the space-age blush has worn off since the Stereolab days. That happens with sci-fi all the time. Very rare does a futuristic-seeming thing continue to seem futuristic 20 years later. That’s the case here when single layers are given the spotlight. The songs work best when interlocking grooves shift and blend.

Closer “zone null” ends things on a sigh rather than a bang. More than anywhere else, the synths sound like traditional strings and piano — heck, that could well be a violin. It’s a pleasant if a bit plain track, more background-ready than the propulsive, combustible tracks of the album’s first half. But even at their weakest, Gane and co. know how to build intricate structures that bubble and grow without ever losing track of their core. Consider it a bit of “bend, don’t break.” And if they can already keep themselves on the right side of that maxim on a debut, their next record could just grow into some magnificent new shapes.

Essential Tracks: “liquid gate”, “void beat”

On February 26th, Santigold will release her new album, 99¢, through Atlantic Records. In anticipation, the LP is streaming in full below courtesy of NPR.com.

Her third full-length to date serves as the follow-up to 2012’s Master of My Make-Believe. It features contributions from Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij, Hit-Boy, iLoveMakonnen, and TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, among others.

According to a press release, the album “explores the commercial nature of our world and the ways in which we package ourselves and our lives for consumption.” Santigold elaborated, saying:

“We have no illusion that we don’t live in this world where everything is packaged. People’s lives, persona, everything, is deliberate, and mediated. It can be dark and haunting and tricky, and freak us out, but it can be also be silly and fun and we can learn to play with it.” 

99¢ is preceded by the songs “Can’t Get Enough of Myself”, “Who Be Lovin Me”, “Chasing Shadows”, and “Banshee”.

Pre-order a copy of the album here.

99¢ Tracklist:
01. Can’t Get Enough of Myself (feat. B.C.)
02. Big Boss Big Time Business
03. Banshee
04. Chasing Shadows
05. Walking in a Circle
06. Who Be Lovin Me (feat. ILOVEMAKONNEN)
07. Rendezvous Girl
08. Before the Fire
09. All I Got
10. Outside the War
11.Run the Races
12. Who I Thought You Were

Last July, Shura put out her first official release, the White Light EP. The six-track effort not only collected the excellent title track, but two of her early breakthrough singles, “2Shy” and “Indecision”. Now comes word that the CoSigned synthpop songwriter is finally gearing up to issue her proper full-length debut. It’s titled Nothing’s Real and expected this spring (Wikipedia lists April 30th as a tentative date) through Interscope/Polydor.

Update – Thursday, March 17th at 9:45 a.m. CT: Shura has confirmed July 8th as the release date for Nothing’s Real. Check out the artwork and tracklist below, followed by a new Four Tet remix of her “Touch” single.

Along with the exciting album announcement, the half-British, half-Russian artist has revealed a new version of her 2014 single “Touch”. The updated take features additional verses from Talib Kweli and is accompanied by an illustrated, “Take on Me”-esque visual.

Check it out below.

Nothing’s Real Artwork:

Nothing’s Real Tracklist:
01. (I)
02. Nothing’s Real
03. What’s It Gonna Be?
04. Touch
05. Kidz ‘n’ Stuff
06. Indecision
07. What Happened to Us?
08. (II)
09. Tongue Tied
10. Make It Up
11. 2Shy
12. White Light
13. The Space Tapes

United Crushers is the third studio album from Poliça, due to hit shelves next month through Mom + Pop. The follow-up to 2013’s Shulamith was recorded at Sonic Ranch Studios in El Paso, and is being teased today with “Lately”.

Here, frontwoman Channy Leaneagh employs her enchanting, silken vocals to sing about what she considers her ideal relationship. “Don’t let love become a distraction,” she said of the track in a statement. “I want to be moved by my lover but not put in a lethargic state of apathy for doing anything else but be with another person. Love is a place where we make each other better and inspire each other to make cool shit.”

Listen in below.

United Crushers is due out on March 4th. For more, check out “Wedding” and “Lime Habit”.

In support of the new record, the band has expanded their 2016 tour to include fall dates all across Europe.

Poliça 2016 Tour Dates:
03/02 – Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
03/03 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
03/04 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
03/08 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews *
03/09 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room *
03/10 – Tulsa, OK @ The Vanguard *
03/11 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live STudio *
03/12 – Dallas, TX @ The Loft *
03/22 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom *
03/23 – San Diego, CA @ The Irenic *
03/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre *
03/26 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore *
03/28 – Portland, OR @ Dour Fir Lounge *
03/29 – Portland, OR @ Dour Fir Lounge *
03/30 – Vancouver, BC @ The Imperial *
03/31 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre *
04/14 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon #
04/15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom #
04/16 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall #
04/18 – Ann Arbor, MI @ Blind Pig #
04/20 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace #
04/21 – Montreal, QC @ Petit Campus #
04/22 – Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall #
04/23 – New York, NY @ Warsaw #
04/25 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer #
04/26 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
04/28 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle #
04/29 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West #
04/30 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge #
05/01 – Asheville, NC @ The Mothlight #
05/04 – Covington, KY @ Madison Live #
05/05 – Columbus, OH @ The Basement #
05/06 – Columbia, MO @ Rose Music Hall #
05/07 – Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck #
05/22 – St. Paul, MN @ The Fitzgerald Theater
10/07 – Warsaw, PL @ Proxima
10/08 – Prague, CZ @ Rock Cafe
10/11 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte
10/12 – Paris, FR @ Trabendo
10/14 – Leeds, UK @ Stylus
10/16 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3
10/18 – Bristol, UK @ Anson Rooms
10/19 – London, UK @ Roundhouse
10/20 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute
10/21 – Manchester, UK @ O2 Ritz
10/23 – Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
10/24 – Brussels, BE @ AB
10/26 – Amsterdam, NL @ Melkweg
10/27 – Cologne, DE @ Die Kantine
10/29 – Hamburg, DE @ Uubel & Gefahrlich
10/31 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret
11/01 – Stockholm, SE @ Debaser Medis
11/02 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega
11/04 – Berlin, DE @ Astra
11/05 – Munich, DE @ Technikum

* = w/ Clara-Nova
# = w/ MOTHXR

Today sees the release of the debut album from Stereolab offshoot Cavern of Anti-Matter, Void Beats / Invocation Trex. The 12-track effort is available for Spotify users to stream below, while Apple Music users can find it here.

Cavern of Anti-Matter is the project of Stereolab frontman Tim Gane, who brought together bandmate/drummer Joe Dilworth and German electronic whiz Holger Zapf. Though most of the songs on the album feature only the trio, they did call for some outside help in the form of Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox, Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom, and Mouse on Mars’ Jan St. Werner.

As Gane told The Quietus, bringing Stereolab to a halt allowed his songwriting to grow in new, natural ways. “My natural tendency was to make it much more abstract, but then again that was not the Stereolab sound and you get all this weight of your past pressing down on you,” he explained. “So, for me, what’s free about Cavern of Anti-Matter is no one has any expectations about it; in fact, I’d prefer if people didn’t even know I was in another band! Which is silly to say and almost impossible to achieve but I really don’t want people to look at this and reference what I’ve done before as that sets up another whole bunch of parameters.”

Take a listen to Void Beats / Invocation Trex below, and read Adam Kivel’s review here.

CHVRCHES are known for fusing synthpop elements old and new, familiar and alien. Their latest music video for Every Open Eye single “Clearest Blue” is no different.

Directed by Warren Fu, the clip sees Lauren Mayberry & co. channeling what appears to be the Medieval era — complete with heavy-duty body armor — while wandering about a smoky forest that could easily double as a strange futuristic planet of sorts. Whether it’s 2015 or 1300, the three-piece seem to fit right in with their surroundings.

Watch below.

The Glasgow outfit is scheduled to return to North America next month for a bunch of tour dates, including appearances at Buku Music + Art Project and Coachella Music Festival. Find the full itinerary here.