Week of August 1, 2021
Listening selections for the week of August 1, 2021, featuring the latest from Ouzo Bazooka, Jungle, Ginger Root and more, best enjoyed with a cup of Counter Culture Coffee’s Big Trouble, for round, full-bodied notes of caramel, cocoa and nut.
Streaming Links:
Highlights include:
A pillowy synth wave dream from Mr. Elevator’s Goodbye, Blue Sky
Sprawling new middle eastern psych rock from Ouzo Bazooka
Jungle’s take on a Strokes-esque style of rock from their imminent third release Loving In Stereo
Self-described aggressive elevator soul from multi-instrumentalist Cameron Lew aka Ginger Root
The butter smooth closing track from Durand Jones & The Indications’ resplendent new soul offering Private Space
My grinding, seductive introduction to the music of Grace Jones
Joel Culpepper’s take (and dare I say, improvement?) on Elton John’s classic “Bennie And The Jets”
A hip-hop time capsule that shows Declaime and Madlib were visionaries from the start
Mind-melting freeform jazz fusion from bassist William Parker’s new Mayan Space Station
Cosmic new Afro-Latinx balladry from Brooklyn’s Combo Chimbita
An exquisite new cumbia release from fledgling label All-Town Sound
For fans of Tennis, yearning indie pop balladry from Molly Burch
The Chayla Hope Choice Find of the Week: the swagalicious melding of two generational voices in Lucky Daye and Yebba
The return of Sleigh Bells, turned up to 11 and hookier than ever
A distorted, kaleidoscopic highlight from The S.L.P.’s genre-defying self-titled 2019 release
Punishing post-rock from Brain Cave’s new EP Log World
The beginning of T. Rex as we know them
A marriage of West African rhythm and riff rock from LA quartet Here Lies Man
A gritty, country-rock anthem that provides the namesake for Yola’s sophomore LP Stand For Myself
Moody, post-punk perfection from New Zealand’s Guardian Singles
An ethereal indie soliloquy from Kalbells’ latest Max Heart
The soaring new champer pop collaboration between Aaron Dresner and Justin Vernon’s Big Red Machine, Fleet Foxes and Anaïs Mitchell
The influence of Bruce Springsteen alive and well on a pair of new cuts from TORRES and Bleachers
Wry, spoken word post-punk from Dry Cleaning and one of year’s best releases in New Long Leg