We took a week off because we can. It gave us a few extra days to dive deeper into Snapped Ankles’ excellent “Forest of Your Problems”. The noisy London post-punk (if we can define it like that…) band refines their sound further, bringing us some hip-moving motorik we can use to pretend the world is back to normal and we can all dance again. Responsibly.
We’ve been championing Stella Donnelly for so long now that we didn’t even remember Beware of the Dogs is her first proper LP. A great record from yet another Australian songwriting treasure – check it out if you’re also into Courtney Barnett or Julia Jacklin. Plus: brand new tracks from Meat Puppets, The Hold Steady, Durand Jones & The Indications, Richard Hawley, Nick Waterhouse, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Tropical Fuck Storm, Stef Chura, Snapped Ankles, The Comet is Coming, Protomartyr, Earth, Mathilda, Lomelda, Billie Eilish, Bedouine, Alice Phoebe Lou, Patty Griffin, The Felice Brothers, Adam Ostrar, and Tyler Ramsey.
Every week we try to focus on brand new music, if possible by newcomers that might or might not be semi-stars tomorrow. But, every now and then, we eventually cave in and cannot resist the urge to celebrate some of our favourite records’ anniversary editions. Songs: Ohia’s ‘The Lioness’ got its deluxe treatment through ‘Love & Work’, an extremely limited 2xLP boxset now sold out; in it, eleven outtakes from the same sessions that brought us one of the most heartbreaking albums of the last twenty years see the light of day for the first time.
Similarly, on its 20th anniversary, Calexico’s masterpiece ‘The Black Light’ got the same treatment and if anyone wants to donate the record our way, we’ll welcome it with open arms. Plus: new tracks from Angelo De Augustine, Shannon Lay, Josephine Foster, Grandaddy, Jens Lekman, Daniel Romano, Parker Gispert, Half Japanese, Piroshka, Nicole Atkins and Mark Lanegan, Gwenifer Raymond, Ryley Walker, Snapped Ankles, J Balvin, Ariana Grande, Little Dragon, and Foxwarren.