We’ve got some great stuff in today’s edition of Freeloader Friday. Whether you’re familiar with these artists or not, they’re definitely worth taking the time to discover — and we’ve got some for every ear: Country, Classic Rock, Soul, Indie, Psychedelic… that’s what I call a great variety.
Opening the batch are Country staples Lonestar, who are celebrating their 20th anniversary with their latest album, out next week. Catch the exclusive pre-release stream on Amazon, nestled on the top right corner of this page. Moving onto Rock legends with Black Star Riders — a newly-formed reincarnation of Irish Rock band Thin Lizzy — who are appropriately streaming their just-released album on Classic Rock Magazine.
Soul powerhouse Charles Bradley has a new song from his album Victim of Love on The Village Voice, and Pitchfork is streaming a previously unreleased track from Matthew Dear‘s last album Beams, of which a “Complete Edition” is coming out in a couple of weeks. You’ll also find tracks from British Rockers, Tripwires; Indie Rockers, The Mantles and Surf City; and Electronic producer/member of Daylight Curfew, Dfalt.
The Black Angels take it home with the premiere of the music video for “Don’t Play with Guns.” It’s not necessarily what you’d expect what from the Psychedelic bunch, or from the title of the track, but it’s very entertaining and well-produced, and definitely worth a watch.
Happy listening, folks. See you next week at the top of June!
Lonestar: full album stream via Amazon
Life As We Know It out June 4 on 4 Star Records
Black Star Riders: full album stream via Classic Rock Magazine
All Hell Breaks Loose out now on Nuclear Blast
Charles Bradley: “You Put The Flame On It” via The Village Voice
Victim of Love out now on Daptone Records
Matthew Dear: “She’s Just That Way” via Pitchfork
Beams (Complete Edition) out June 16 on Ghostly International
Tripwires: “Catherine, I Feel Sick” via YouTube
Spacehopper out June 18 on Frenchkiss Records
The Mantles: “Shadow Of Your Step” track premiere via Stereogum
Long Enough To Leave out June 18 on Slumberland Records
Surf City: “It’s A Common Life” via Pitchfork
We Knew It Was Not Going to Be Like This out August 19 on Fire Records
Dfalt: “The Beggars” track download via XLR8R
Helsinki Beat Tape: Part 1 out June 11 on Daylight Curfew
The Black Angels: “Don’t Play with Guns” music video premiere via VEVO
Indigo Meadow out now on Blue Horizon
Happy Friday and Happy August, Freeloaders! We can’t believe how fast the summer has flown by already. So to start August off with a bang, we have a lot of free tracks and videos for you today from Beach Day, Conveyor, Lovely Bad Things, Menahan Street Band, Matthew Dear and TESTAMENT.
Happy listening!
Beach Day: “Beach Day” via SoundCloud or YouTube
Beach Day out now on Kanine Records
Conveyor: “Woolgatherer” via SoundCloud
Conveyor out now on Paper Garden Records
Lovely Bad Things: “I Just Want You To Go Away” and “Dinosaur Song” via YouTube
New Ghost/Old Waves out now on Volcom Entertainment
Menahan Street Band: “The Crossing” via RollingStone
The Crossing out October 30th via Dunham/Daptone Records
Matthew Dear: “Her Fantasy (Poolside Remix)” via Pitchfork
Beams out August 28th via Ghostly International
TESTAMENT: “Native Blood” via YouTube
Dark Roots of Earth out now via Nuclear Blast Records
If you’re a fan of Matthew Dear‘s EP Headcage, released in January this year, you’ll remember the dense, mutating cluster of breaths, whispers and assorted technicolor sounds that coalesced into a hearty chug. Take that as Mr. Dear — the DJ/dance-music producer/experimental pop artist/bandleader – offering an early taste of what to expect from his fourth full-length Beams, the first since his 2010 shadowy masterpiece Black City.
Speaking of early tastes… Matthew just recently released “Her Fantasy,” the celebratory lead single from the album that signals its queasy optimism in classic Matthew Dear avant-pop form — that is, without verses and choruses per se, but by hustling through a series of wickedly catchy sections. The twisted internal logic of these sections becomes clear as the song progresses and builds to an ecstatic climax.
Beams, which is slated to hit stores in the U.K. and E.U. on 8/27 and in North America the next day, was recorded in Dear’s home studio and mixed at Nicolas Vernhes’ Rare Book Room studios in Brooklyn. The album evokes a day-lit dreamworld at once strange and familiar, and though its dancefloor-ready tempos, major keys, and sun-warmed synths may signal Beams as the lighter, brighter response to its predecessor, if you take a closer look you’ll see that it actually reveals a squirming mass of oddball details. Matthew’s latest productions creak and groan like anxious organisms, with slivers of guitar, electric bass and drum kit darting in and out among the synths and samples.
It may be odd to hear this former techno-wunderkind playing rock music, but the manic punk pulse of the track “Earthforms” is just one facet of Beams‘ kaleidoscopic journey. Call it a well-mixed cocktail of optimism and uneasiness or a battle between musical mischief and lyrical maturity, Beams is the latest transmission from one of pop music’s most fascinating creative minds!
