INDISPENSABLE NEW MUSIC PICKS
November 2021
Kristine England
Nov 30, 2021
IDLES
Crawler
Idles are BACK. And they are still really pissed off, lucky for us.
FEATURED TRACK: "Crawl!"
Curtis Harding
If Words Were Flowers
Curtis Harding’s latest is topical without being irrationally angry, classic without sounding old, uplifting without being sappy. It’s soulful, groovy, and it’s on constant rotation here at IM. It's "an album that focuses on the need to be more empathetic and bring people together personally and collectively..." (No Depression)
FEATURED TRACK: "Hopeful"
Kills Birds
Married
This LA punk trio caught the attention of Dave Grohl who invited them to record their second album at his very own studio. The critics seem pretty taken with it. Life of Best Fit: "Unapologetically punk while maintaining a melodic appeal." NME: "heavy and sharp throughout, swirling together elements of grunge, punk, garage and noise-rock into a murky pool of sound...these songs often feel as though they could explode at any second." You get the idea.
FEATURED TRACK: "Cough Up Cherries"
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Raise The Roof
Robert Plant has teamed up once again with Alison Krauss for a new collection of cover songs, produced by T. Bone Burnett. This performance was streamed globally from the Sound Emporium Studios in Nashville.
FEATURED TRACK: "Searching For My Love"
The Acharis
Blue Sky / Grey Heaven
The Shoegaze (yes, that’s a genre) duo from Oakland has released a full-length follow-up to 2017’s debut EP, Lost in the Vortex. They remain captives in their dark and fuzzy whirlwind of sound.
FEATURED TRACK: "False Positive"
Portico Quartet
Monument
Portico Quarter fuses elements of jazz, electronica, and ambient music. The second of two releases this year (Terrain came out earlier), Monument tones down the ambient in favor of more electronica and percussion to create its sonic textures.
FEATURED TRACK: "Monument"
Deep Purple
Turning To Crime
Deep Purple releases its 22nd studio record, an album of covers. Louder proclaims the record, "a covers album that shows that covers albums don’t have to suck" The band reinterprets songs from Little Feat, Jeff Beck, Bob Seger, the Allman Brothers, the Spencer Davis Group and a lot more.
FEATURED TRACK: "Rockin' Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu"
Lindy-Fay Hella & Dei Farne
Hildring
Intriguing sounds from Norway. Lindy-Fay Hella teams up with Dei Farne (Roy Ole Førland and Ingolf Hella Torgersen) to create ambient, yet highy percussive soundscapes. It's quite compelling. "Everything LINDY-FEY HELLA & DEI FARNE have made here is layered with purpose and a dual will to be both in the past and future, meeting in the present to capture your ear and imagination." (Distorted Sound)
FEATURED TRACK: "Hildring"