I just got back from a vacation visiting back home in Kentucky, and the time away was nice, but it also gave me some personal time with new music; something I can never get enough of. Below is this week's Tune-Up full of new tunes and a few inspirations from my recent travels.
Today is Drake's 30th birthday! Many may not care and I normally wouldn't, but the Canadian emcee celebrated his special day by releasing four new tracks, and that has the internet buzzing. "Fake Love" is one song from the bunch that possesses the biggest hit potential if given the chance. The lyrical content is in-line with his more recent material which deals with fake people and the wrong that's been done to Drizzy. He currently is public feuding with once friend Kid Cudi and Pusha T, both of whom he's presently calling out. Drake is set to drop a new project due in December titled More Life, so we'll be on the lookout for more details on that.
Black Marble caught my attention a few months back with his fantastic song "Frisk," so naturally I was eager to give their brand new sophomore LP It's Immaterial, a proper listen. Here we have a moody, lo-fi indie-rock with a large 80s influence that kept me coming back. I've been repeatedly hitting the back arrow on "Woods," a song that grabs you with it's minimal instrumentation, reverbed vocals, as well as it's goth undertones. I highly recommend investing some time in It's Immaterial.
The Flaming Lips have returned with "The Castle," a new psych-rock track taken from their forthcoming new album Oczy Mlody. "The Castle" is a more subdued trippy soundscape than we've come accustomed to, and is almost downright pretty. Lead man Wayne Coyne described Oczy Mlody as sounding like “Syd Barrett meets A$AP Rocky and they get trapped in a fairy tale from the future.” That description alone has my full attention. Stayed tuned for more details on their new record. Meanwhile take a peep at the multicolored video to go along with "The Castle."
Weekly Tune-Up XXXVI – (stream/download)
01. Drake, "Fake Love"
02. Black Marble, "Woods"
03. Roosevelt, "Teardrops"
04. Wet, "The Middle"
05. Empire of the Sun, "Way To Go"
06. The Flaming Lips, "The Castle"
07. Kings of Leon, "Eyes On You"
08. Jamie Lidell, "Nothing's Gonna Change"
09. From Indian Lakes, "Feel Love"
10. The Radio Dept., "Committed To The Cause"
11. Ruby Haunt, "Hidden World"
12. Jim James, "Here In Spirit"
13. Temples, "Certainty"
14. Syd Author, "Coal Mine"
15. Leisure, "Til the End of Time"
This article appears in Oct 20-27, 2016.