New Music Friday!

Radar List for 6.9.23


Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit – Weathervanes
TEKE::TEKE – Hagata
Joe Armon-Jones & Maxwell Owin – Archetype
aja monet – when poems do what they do
The Dead Milkmen – Quaker City Quiet Pills
Marquis Hill – Rituals + Routines
lophiile – The Good Days Between
Jenny Lewis – Joy’All
Emile Mosseri – Heaven Hunters
Dudu Tassa and Jonny Greenwood – Jarak Qaribak
BLK ODYSSY – DIAMONDS & FREAKS
Darkside – Live at Spiral House
 
Radar List 2023/06/09

Andrea Belfi - Eternally Frozen (Electronic)
Kaukolampi - Inside the Sphere (Electronic)
Andrius Arutiunian - Seven Common Ways of Disappearing (Modern Classical / Ambient, Electronic)
Bendik Giske - Bendik Giske (Avant-Garde, Jazz , Electronic)
 
avecigrec said:
Radar List for 6.2.23


McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?
WITCH – Zango
Bob Dylan – Shadow Kingdom
Cowboy Junkies – Such Ferocious Beauty
Ben Folds – What Matters Most
Speakers Corner Quartet – Further Out Than The Edge
Brandt Brauer Frick – Multi Faith Prayer Room
Tanya Tucker – Sweet Western Sound
Meredith Bates - Tesseract
Louise Post – Sleepwalker
Laura Wolf – Shelf Life
Surprise Chief – Friendship EP
Ruen Brothers - Ten Paces
Bongzilla – Dab City
Rancid – Tomorrow Never Comes
Ben Harper – WIDE OPEN LIGHT
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I didn't dislike the Brandt Brauer Frick album, but I didn't love it either.
I did love this cut though:

 
Radar 📡 List for Friday June 9, 2023:

Christine and the Queens - PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE
Darkside - Live at Spiral
Dreamwife - Social Lubrification
Janelle Monáe - The Age Of Pleasure
Jason Isbell - Weathervanes
Jenny Lewis - joy'All
King Krule - Space Heavy
Milky Chance - Living in a Haze
Squid - O Monolith
Youth Lagoon - Heaven Is a Junkyard
 
This week is so stacked! I can't ever remember having a list of fourteen albums I legit want to check out. I'll need a few weeks to get through everything, especially since these days I've been luxuriating in the massive The Cure discography in preparation for my show. I didn't even know a new Darkside live album was coming! I usually don't listen to many live albums, but I actually listen to their Psychic Live album more than Psychic, so I'm excited for another from them. My priorities go like this:

1 - Jess Williamson
2 - Olof Dreijer & Mt. Sims
3 - Darkside Live
4 - Christine and the Queens
5 - Youth Lagoon
6 - Janelle Monáe
7 - King Krule
8 - This is Kit
9 - feeble little horse
10 - Amaare
11 - Squid
12 - Jenny Lewis
13 - Jason Isbell
14 - Lightning Dust
 
A few goodies.

🔥
  • McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? [downgraded album cover and opening track aside (I really don't like either much at all), it's a worthy follow up to For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her. The self-titled album closer is a wonderful neo-soul jam]
  • Slowspin - Talisman [lovely vocals guiding an ethereal, dreamy Middle Eastern influenced backdrop! I think you might enjoy this, @nolalady]
👍
  • Beach Fossils - Bunny [stays comfortably within its range. It’s not groundbreaking, or even all that exciting, but it’s a nice sound, keeping well with other modern dreamy indie pop groups]
  • Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
  • Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis [Fantano just gave it a review the day after I gave it a whirl. Not as huge on the opener as him, the avant-garde nature is somewhat out of place with the rest of the album. The remainder is a solid, familiar, enjoyable black metal excursion]
🤷‍♂️
  • Yusaku Arai - a two
  • Bully - Lucky For You [honestly pretty uninspiring]
  • Protomartyr - Formal Growth in the Desert
👎
  • Avenged Sevenfold - Life is But a Dream... [the resulting thread from the status update made by @musicjunkiegreg, actually prompting me to listen to this album against his wishes, was more enjoyable than listening to the album itself. Fantano and some other critics were somewhat over the top with their criticisms, though it isn't worthy of anything close to a recommendation from me]
  • Ed Sheeran - - (Subtract) [no, it's not good. But not quite terrible, outside of the very obnoxious "Eyes Closed" and "Curtains." Some of these songs are better than I thought they'd be, bolstered by an impressive vocal performance at times]
🤮

None.​
 
Rip_City said:
McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? [downgraded album cover and opening track aside (I really don't like either much at all), it's a worthy follow up to For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her. The self-titled album closer is a wonderful neo-soul jam]
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It's even better than I thought it was gonna be!

Rip_City said:
Ed Sheeran - - (Subtract) [no, it's not good. But not quite terrible, outside of the very obnoxious ALBUM COVER
Click to expand...

Rip_City said:
Slowspin - Talisman [lovely vocals guiding an ethereal, dreamy Middle Eastern influenced backdrop! I think you might enjoy this
Click to expand...
...you caught my attention with this one. Adding to the queue to hopefully get through before the onslaught of tomorrow's releases tonight!
 
Checked out my two most anticipated albums on my drive in to class for work this morning (it's a 1.5 hr drive one way 😟).

Janelle Monáe's album was super SPICY and sexy 🔥 , and it would make a great record to put on in the background of like a summertime party, or to spice things up 😉 But compared to her other 3 albums, this one is definitely her weakest overall, but surely her most fun and bold. Probably not AOTY material, but maybe an HM.

Squid's latest was a sure avoidance of the sophomore slump. Their 2021 debut was my #7 thay year and top debut album of that year, so it had some BIG shoes to fill. With a first listen, I give it high marks! But I'm going to have to see if this one holds up for the rest of the year.
 
musicjunkiegreg said:
Checked out my two most anticipated albums on my drive in to class for work this morning (it's a 1.5 hr drive one way 😟).

Janelle Monáe's album was super SPICY and sexy 🔥 , and it would make a great record to put on in the background of like a summertime party, or to spice things up 😉 But compared to her other 3 albums, this one is definitely her weakest overall, but surely her most fun and bold. Probably not AOTY material, but maybe an HM.

Squid's latest was a sure avoidance of the sophomore slump. Their 2021 debut was my #7 thay year and top debut album of that year, so it had some BIG shoes to fill. With a first listen, I give it high marks! But I'm going to have to see if this one holds up for the rest of the year.
Click to expand...

Janelle is interesting because I think if another artist released it it would have been better received. There are big expectations for her so anything less then super ambitious was gonna be seen as a step back. That said I’m more than ok with her just making a fun pop record, I just wish she swung big like Beyoncé on RENAISSANCE
 
I like a lot of what Janelle Monae is doing on the new album, but it falls a bit short. A lot of these songs are so short that it's hard to connect with them. As a whole alum project it definitely flows well, and creates a good mood, but it just feels lacking in too many spots. Not bad by any means, just slightly underwhelming. May grow on me. But I generally like a little longer of a project to really dive into, especially longer tracks.
 
Fleetwood-Matt said:
Janelle is interesting because I think if another artist released it it would have been better received. There are big expectations for her so anything less then super ambitious was gonna be seen as a step back. That said I’m more than ok with her just making a fun pop record, I just wish she swung big like Beyoncé on RENAISSANCE
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Personally, I like this more than RENAISSNCE - especially after a couple of listens. Beyond that I 100% agree with you here, and I love Janelle even more for defying expectations. Would I have loved a return to the Metropolis Suite? Absolutely! I am here for that ANY time, should it ever happen - but I'm also here for any direction Janelle goes.

As a straight-passing cis-white dude, this album wasn't made for me - this is a celebration of BIPOC/Queer joy and love and I am happy to be along for the ride. Give the amount of regress rather than progress they are facing, a summer party record celebrating love and joy feels like a powerful and well-timed gift.

AND it's been getting better either each successive listen, so I look forward to the many more ahead of me.
 
hatfieldpdx said:
I listened to it while out walking the dog last night. Not *quite* as strong as I hoped based off the 3 singles, but still an amazing direction (and album) for her. Cannot wait to see her play these songs live in Portland this fall.
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Agree, it’s tough when an album is front-loaded with the three great singles, but I’ve listened a couple more times and the others are growers. I especially like the use of woodwinds on some of the later tracks.
 
Wes C. Attle said:
Agree, it’s tough when an album is front-loaded with the three great singles, but I’ve listened a couple more times and the others are growers. I especially like the use of woodwinds on some of the later tracks.
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100%. Just finished a second listen and it's so good. The production and instrumentation are top notch, and her voice is just amazing on this one. I'll be picking up the pink vinyl later this morning at the local.
 
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