Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (August 3rd - August 16th)

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly recap of this week's new music. We're sharing our favorite releases of the week in the form of albums, singles, and music videos along with the "further listening" section of new and notable releases from around the web. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music we've included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.

*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of top-notch quality too.

CONWAY THE MACHINE | “Lemon” (feat. Method Man)

Anytime Griselda and Wu-Tang get together is cause for celebration. The Buffalo rappers have revived the sound that Wu-Tang perfected in the 90’s, bringing the raw and grimy street rap back into the focus with a constant stream of albums from core members Benny The Butcher, Westside Gunn, and Conway The Machine. With two great EPs already released this year, Conway is set to share From King To A God, his latest full length album with features from Freddie Gibbs, Havoc, Lloyd Banks, his Griselda counterparts, as well as Wu-Tang’s Method Man. “Lemon,” the first single is everything you might hope from a Conway and Method Man collaboration, a track that forgoes any sort of traditional hook for two dusty verses crackling with punch lines, hood knowledge, and the difficulties of the street lifestyle.

DIG NITTY | “Palm Springs”

It’s been a while since Dig Nitty released “Lomita,” the first single from their debut album, Reverse of Mastery, but these are extraordinary times and sometimes it’s best to take a step back. Now back on track with a new release date, September 18th, the band shared the album’s second single, the gorgeous and airy “Palm Springs.” The song opens with a strolling desert atmosphere as a reverberating progression sets the twangy tone. Erin McGrath’s voice sinks in perfectly, the delicate melody sitting just on top the peaks and valleys of soft psych warble. The song is a blissful moonlit jaunt into shared experiences never discussed, and it’s as stunning as it is haunting.

FACELESS BURIAL | “Speciation” LP

There’s been a resurgence of band’s committed to classic 90’s death metal and perhaps no one is doing quite on the level of Faceless Burial. The Melbourne based band just released their third album, Speciation, via Dark Descent Records (Spectral Voice, Blood Incantation) and the record is a relentless barrage of shifting riffs and primal intensity. With an unflinching focus and direction, the trio claw and shred with unholy strength, blasting through their own death metal perfection of garbled vocals, complex drum fills, and some of the best damn guitar playing I’ve heard from a metal release this year. There’s a touch of psych thrown in every now and then, but Faceless Burial keep it relatively classic, digging into the primordial ooze and spewing out a dexterous filth.

HELVETIA | “This Devastating Map” LP

Jason Albertini may be a member of Duster, and he may have played in Built to Spill, but all his finest work has come via the ever inspirational Helvetia, a project that has stayed as delightfully askew yet brilliant since it’s earliest days. From it’s lo-fi beginning to it’s slightly less lo-fi current state, Albertini has been on an incredible run where it has truly seen each and every record is getting impossibly better, with the last few full lengths earning classic status as far as we are concerned. This Devastating Map follows in that tradition, arguably Albertini’s best work yet, a record that takes the bleak yet kaleidoscopic world of Helvetia’s many textures and careful tonality shifts and collages them into deconstructed pop. There’s something new to appreciate with every single listen, from the transportive lyrics to the bent melodies and warm tape hum.

HOLY MOTORS | “Endless Night”

Estonia’s finest, Holy Motors, are set to return with their sophomore full length album, Horse, due out October 16th via the always intriguing Wharf Cat Records (Palberta, Public Practice, Macula Dog). Channeling the dark and dreamy atmospheres of Mazzy Star before them, the band play a mixture of lulling, haunting, and expansive slowcore, built on twang and Lauri Raus’ beautiful voice. The entire album is brilliant, a continuation of what they began on Slow Sundown, but with a finer attention to detail and ambiance. The album’s second single “Endless Night” is both meditative and surreal, a hard cracked dreamscape of country fried shoegaze that would make David Lynch proud. The glory is in the details, from the ever so slight vocal melody shifts to the surfed out guitar warbles.

KNOT | “HORSE TROTTING, THE FEET NOT TOUCHING THE GROUND”

We’re now less than two weeks away from Knot’s debut album, so it’s safe to say this Summer wasn’t a complete bust. The quartet (which as we’re sure you know, features all of Krill’s former line-up) will release the self-titled record on August 28th, an album recorded with frequent collaborators Julian Fader and Carlos Hernandez (of Ava Luna). “Horse Trotting, The Feet Not Touching The Ground” is the last single before the album’s impending debut, another fine example of the band’s slightly tangled but easily accessible smash-hit songwriting. There’s an effortlessness that exudes from these songs, one that feels instantly familiar and utterly inescapable, from the weaving rhythm, to the twin guitars, and Jonah Furman’s contemplative vocals. Knot feels like a classic record from first listen, a dream realized in terms of the old post-break up thought “but maybe their next project will be even better.”

MAGIK MARKERS | “CDROM”

Back in July, Magik Markers returned after a seven year absence with a surprise EP, Isolated From Exterior Time: 2020 released via their long time home at Drag City Records. When we wrote about the single “Machine” we ended the blurb saying that we hoped the band were truly back and that the EP wasn’t a one off release tossed out into the world. The Western Mass band didn’t keep us waiting too long to find out and, great news, they’ve announced an upcoming full length, titled 2020. Due out in October, the first single “CDROM” is a brilliant first listen to the record, a song that sprawls out for seven and a half minutes of the songs no-wave meets psych delights. It’s hypnotic, unnerving, and compelling all at once with a primitive beat, guitars that drift like warning signs and Elisa Ambrogio’s half-sung lyrics as sharp and pointed as ever. We can’t wait to hear more. Finally, something truly good has happened in 2020.

OCEANATOR | “Heartbeat”

Oceanator understand the importance of a dynamic album. On their upcoming Things I Never Said, due out August 28th via Plastic Miracles, each song every song is given it’s own space, it’s own full realization, while the record retains an impeccable sense of cohesion. We’ve already featured “A Crack In The World” and the cinematic “I Would Find You” and the band’s latest single “Heartbeat” offers something a little different, another side of Oceanator that is every bit as essential. The immediately upbeat song opens with a frantic power-pop riff (the kind that could be skate punk if played dirtier) but Elise Okusami’s remain cool and rooted in control. There’s a sense of 90’s pop punk that blends with something a bit more retro, but it’s the little nuances to the song, the quick but effective harmonies, the modulated bridge, and the tempo shifts where Oceanator always glows.

TRAAMS | “The Greyhound”

It’s been four years since we heard from the UK’s TRAAMS and their delightful blend of krautrock, noise pop, and slacker indie punk. Following the release of 2015’s Modern Dancing, the band shared “A House Burning” (a song we named one of the best that week in 2016) and then went quiet. They’ve since broken that silence with “The Greyhound” a song that builds on the hypnosis of “A House Burning,” taking its own expansive path over it’s near ten minute run the time. The groove is thick and sticky, easy to swallow you whole, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Locked in with a laid back pulse and a razor tight beat, the band are joined by Black Country, New Road’s Lewis Evans on saxophone, as they lean into the motorik beyond and blast their way through. It’s a welcome return that finds TRAAMS hitting upon everything that made their previous output so special. We can only hope a new album isn’t too far behind.

TROPICAL FUCK STORM | “Legal Ghost”

Having released two of the absolute best records of the last two years, I was really hoping Tropical Fuck Storm would make it three for three. This year has been an utter mess (in case you’re just waking up from a coma) and it’s possible they would have, but it seems as though we’re going to have to settle for another new single (their second this year) instead of a new full length. When it comes to the illustrious Tropical Fuck Storm however, any new music is reason to be excited and “Legal Ghost” certainly lives up to their catalog. Originally recorded and released by guitar/vocalist Gareth Liddiard together with collaborator Rui Pereira, the song is given new life under the Tropical Fuck Storm framework, one that bleeds fractured noise and spectacular layers of warped guitars into what could otherwise be a folk song. True to form, the band take a leisurely approach to an ever impending crescendo, building tension along the way, steadily drifting toward eventual implosion.

August 03 - August 09

AUG 10 - AUG 16