Out today: Toro Y Moi, Foxygen, Big Harp, and more
Every Tuesday is album release day (as well as video games, movies, etc.), but on a day so far from the weekend, it's a good feeling to wake up to some brand, spankin' new music.
Toro Y Moi - Anything in Return (Carpark)
Chillwave was the big thing for a couple years, and now that people just refer to Toro Y Moi as "music," as opposed to a separate form of art that seemingly seceded from music all-together, it's easy to see that sole member Chaz Bundick has a whole lot to offer. Funky things, flourished bleeps and bloops, and all-things danceable. He is a man of talent, and his third LP Anything in Return reflects this flawlessly.
Big Harp - Chain Letters (Saddle Creek)
Saddle Creek artists love working together to make new projects, and then those projects like making even newer projects with other Saddle Creek personnel. But, unlike inter-dating among friend circles, Saddle Creek has built up a steady brand of Omaha-influenced folk-ish rock, unmatched by its contemporaries. Big Harp is a collaboration between the espoused Chris Senseney and Stefanie Drootin-Senseney, musicians you might've heard on earlier Bright Eyes and The Good Life records. Chain Letters is the duo's second LP, and you can expect some more wholesome grainy, gritty, folky things, perfect for us Midwestern pseudo-cowfolk.
Foxygen - We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (Jagjaguwar)
Foxygen first appeared on my radar last July, while I casually worked my quads on an elliptical. Metacritic indicated that Bloomington, IN label Jagjaguwar released an EP from a band I had never heard of, and for the duration of that EP, I burned calories happier than I had ever burned them before. We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors continues the LA duo's intent to modernize styles laid down by its influences. Psychedelic, glam-ish, pop rock throws listeners back a couple decades. But, where like-minded bands falter in their inability to deliver something better than a nod to the past, Foxygen is its own band and knows what it can do.
Other releases you should check out:
- FIDLAR - FIDLAR (Mom + Pop)
- Ra Ra Riot - Beta Love (Barsuk)
- Mountains - Centralia (Thrill Jockey)