#needs ep

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Halloween Head // Carroll

baby girl

you dont know how bad

it hurts my heart when

we run in circles

[donaldshair]

Rations

Another week, another ten releases from this year that you might want to hear. See what else I've been listening to while I eat entire one-pound bags of pretzels here.

Carroll - Needs EP

Carroll are an indie-pop outfit from Minneapolis and, as far as I know, Needs is their first release. They carry themselves with the swagger of a seasoned band and include elements of shoegaze and electronic ambiance, with crisp vocals that sound like if Julian Casablancas was actually coherent. 

Francoise Hardy - s/t

I don't really know a lot about French pop but Francoise Hardy seems to be, like, the Jay-Z of the genre. She's got dozens of albums so I'm not sure if this is a reissue, but the album is a nice break from the "now" by way of visiting tracks that are altogether foreign. Everything about this album is soft, inviting, and dreamlike. 

Ghostface Killah - Twelve Reasons to Die: The Brown Tape

Ghostface, the self-elected leader of the mighty Wu-Tang Clan, once again delves into the grimy underbelly of Mafia cannibalism on Twelve Reasons to Die. The Brown Tape is a variation of the album, offering new, more hip-hop friendly beats that replace the cinematic rendering of Adrian Younge. Bump this on your way to the lake this summer and you'll emerge from your car with forty gold chains and a fedora. 

Junip - s/t

I'll be upfront about just how sleepy this album makes me but it also has a charming way of growing into your everyday life. Junip is great for the springtime, especially when it's rainy and the only answer is a bucket of pho and a warm blanket. I especially love the hypnotic feeling on "Suddenly" because it reminds me of Jenny Lewis in 2006, which is pretty close to feeling love, I guess. 

Kurt Vile - Walkin On A Pretty Daze

Kurt Vile's created this funny reputation for himself as this wonderful street poet masked by lackadaisical psych-riffs and a general lethargy that, sadly, kept him away from my radar for a long time. His latest album is how imagine longboarding feels, which I guess is awesome. Also, I didn't realize it until a few weeks ago, but Kurt Vile used to front The War on Drugs. I'm an idiot.

Milk Music - Cruise Your Illusion

A lot of words have been written about Milk Music's ability to dip into the 90's garage rock, college rock sound. Truly, they sound of that era, but Cruise Your Illusion has a sort of young energy that's more universal than that. The album is gravelly and has sort of forlorn lyrics but the result is music that seems wise and content. 

Shlohmo - Laid Out EP

The EP opens with a How To Dress Well feature, which is a pretty sure way to get my attention. Tom Krell's lace-thin falsetto accompanies Sholohmo's hazy production style really well. Laid Out has an ultimately dark atmosphere and, with some R&B vocal samples that seep into the mix, reminds me of the aesthetic of his Vaction EP from last year. 

Sin Fang - Flowers

Sin Fang perpetuates the area-sized electronic-pop that M83 made so goddamn popular a few years back. The main difference is that Sin Fang seems more concerned with actual songwriting and intelligible vocals, scattered across pleasant compositions. There's a ton of stuff going on in Flowers but, most importantly, it's energetic and upbeat, making it great for too-hot nights even with the windows open.

Special Explosion - Past/Future

Both tracks on this 7" sound big. Special Explosion standout because they commit to math-rock precision but have these comforting, low-hum vocals that are way prettier than I remember.

  The Hectors - Her Dark Majesty

Surf-rock is a pretty crowded genre these days but The Hectors masterfully navigate between scraped knees garage rock and sweet pop melodies. The Hectors seem like, even though they adhere to a popular genre, they have a deep-seated interest in pop punk, which is especially apparent from the vocals on tracks like "Sleeper" and "Back to Normal", which makes you feel kind of wistful.