Newer Music:


Jake Xerxes Fussell : Good and Green Again
The North Carolina folk artist Jake Xerxes Fussell continues to carve out his charming, invaluable niche in
the modern indie music scene. Good and Green Again is the fourth album Fussell has put out featuring
his modern interpretations and performances of traditional folks songs of the past. It is almost a bit
remarkable that he continues to unearth so many underappreciated folk gems to offer a platform for
modern appreciation. Love Farewell and Breast of Glass are as gorgeous and uplifting as any songs in his
catalog. This new album is unique in that it features the first original instrumental compositions of
Fussell’s career. While certainly worthwhile music, here is hoping that his future original work doesn’t
distract him too much from finding more lost treasures to revive.
Standout Tracks: Love Farewell; Breast of Glass; Frolic; Carriebelle; Washington

Yard Act : The Overload
Another month brings another buzzy British post-punk band demanding your attention—but how long
will they be able to keep it? Yard Act somehow managed Number Two on the UK charts on release
week; a pretty impressive feat for an upstart Leeds four-piece in the current media landscape. As is
often the case with the recent gaggle of similarly promising indie rock bands coming out of the UK, not
much new musical territory is being pioneered here. However, what Yard Act lack in invention, they
certainly more than compensate for with likability and catchy songs overflowing with attitude.
Standout Tracks: The Overload; Pour Another; Dead Horse; Payday; Land of The Blind

Pinegrove : 11:11
New York-based indie/alt-rock band Pinegrove emerged from the pandemic with a new record that will
potentially return them to the upward trajectory they occupied a few years ago as one of the indie
bands most likely to breakout to a next level of success and notoriety. 2016 debut record Cardinal and
2018 follow-up Skylight featured some of the best indie rock from those years in highlight tracks Old
Friends and Darkness, respectively. Frontman Evan Stephens Hall commands attention with his vocal
performance and earnest lyrics that recall early Death Cab for Cutie. Pinegrove have a tour scheduled
this spring that will be worth seeking out to hear this new record fit in seamlessly within an already fairly
impressive discography.
Standout Tracks: Alaska; Orange; Habitat; Respirate; Iodine

Bonobo : Fragments
LA-based Brit DJ and producer Bonobo just released the strongest LP of his career entitled Fragments.
Originally from the Brighton music scene, Simon Green has been releasing music as Bonobo on acclaimed electronic music label Ninja Tune for over two decades now. He brilliantly combines strong
beats and samples with some excellent guest contributions from Jamila Woods, Jordan Rakei, and
Kadhja Bonet, among others. This record will almost certainly soundtrack many high-end sushi dinners
across the land in 2022.
Standout Tracks: Rosewood; Shadows; Tides; From You; Day By Day

Shinichi Atobe : Love of Plastic and Soichi Terada : Asakusa Light
Speaking of interesting electronic music, a significant amount of the best electronic music being
produced right now is coming out of Japan or from Japanese artists based in Europe. Two of the
strongest such artists, Shinichi Atobe and Soichi Terada, both released top-quality records this month.
Atobe followed up his outstanding 2020 LP Yes with his new album Love of Plastic. Terada returned from
a 6 year hiatus with the release of Asakusa Light. Both records feature complex, upbeat house music
that make for great background music when I need to get stuff done.
Standout Tracks: Atobe—Love of Plastic 1; Ocean 2 /Terada—Bamboo Fighter; Diving Into Minds

Miles Kane : Change The Show
The British pop artist Miles Kane is perhaps best known for being the other half of the duo The Last
Shadow Puppets with his close friend Alex Turner, the much more famous frontman of the Arctic
Monkeys. That is somewhat justified due to The Last Shadow Puppets being an unquestionably fantastic
side project for both artists. However, it also somewhat obscures the pretty solid solo discography that
Kane has managed to put together completely under the radar compared to the world-beating exploits
of Turner and his bandmates. We are now a decade removed from Kane’s excellent debut Colour of the
Trap (that stunning title track ballad!) and this new record Change The Show shows that we should be
paying more attention to Miles even when he’s not tearing it up on stage or on record with Alex.
Standout Tracks: Caroline; Don’t Let It Get You Down; Nothing’s Ever Going To Be Good Enough; See
Ya When I See Ya; Tears Are Falling

More January New Music Worth Checking Out: Grace Cummings : Storm Queen; Kids On A Crime
Spree : Fall In Love Not In Line; The Soundcarriers : Wilds; Erin Rae : Cosmic Sigh ; Pedro The Lion :
Havasu; Silverback : Archive Material; Fazer : Plex; Ari Roar : Made To Never Use; Oli Astral : From The
Astral; Burial : Antidawn EP; FKA Twigs : CAPRISONGS;

Throwback Selection:
Blur : Parklife and The Great Escape
I recently made the quick trip down to LA to catch the lone US show of Blur frontman Damon Albarn
supporting his beautiful solo album from last year called The Nearer The Fountain, More Pure The Stream Flows. Albarn, along with a single guitarist and a three-piece string section, played almost the
entirety of that lovely record, followed by a string of covers (of songs Albarn wrote) of highlights from
his two best-known projects, Gorillaz and Blur. For me, the highlight of the show was probably the cover
of beloved Blur single The Universal from the 1995 album The Great Escape. The goosebumps of hearing
Damon sing The Universal live inspired me to revisit their two peak Britpop-era albums, Parklife from
1994 and the aforementioned The Great Escape. It is genuinely stunning to realize just how much great
music Albarn and his Blur bandmates produced at the height of the heady Cool Britannia days of the
mid-90s. Pure genius.
Standout Tracks: The Universal; To The End; End of a Century; This Is A Low; Girls and Boys; Parklife;
Country House; Badhead

To listen to the standout tracks from these recommended albums, please check out the most recently
added songs in the spotify playlist found below:

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