Lalalar - Yalniz Olu Baliklar Akintiyi Takip Eder from the 2022 album Bi Cinnete Bakar on Bongo Joe Switzerland. Lalalar are currently Turkey’s buzziest band and for good reason. The trio’s fusion of 70’s Anatolian rock and 80’s dark wave with a punk attitude make for an intoxicatingly fierce and innovative sound. While the band has only been around since 2018, Ali Güçlü Şimşek, Barlas Tan Özemek and Kaan Düzarat are established members of the Istanbul music scene so it was an almost-inevitable ...
Mar 17, 2023•6 min•Ep. 4449
Ill Considered - Dawn Lit Metropolis from the 2020 album Band Selects on Ill Considered / New Soil. Ill Considered are a UK-based improvisational jazz outfit that’s become a cult favorite after releasing nine albums between 2017-2019 of deep grooves made up completely on the spot. Led by Idris Rahman on sax, Leon Brichard on bass, Emre Ramazanoglu on drums, and Yahael Camara-Onono on percussion, the group’s recordings sound so tight it’s tough to believe that they weren’t written and rehearsed p...
Mar 16, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4448
Dame Area - "Esto me pertenece" from the 2022 album Esto me pertenece on Humo Internacional & BFE Records. Barcelona-based duo Dame Area deliver their most dance-oriented release to date with Esto me pertenece. The post-industrial twosome of Silvia Konstance Costan and Victor Hurtado met in 2014 via Màgia Roja, a cultural center and record label. Combining their loves of krautrock, industrial, and black metal, they released their first single by the end of 2015. On today's Song of the Day, t...
Mar 15, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4447
Inês Malheiro - "Overflowing" from the 2022 album Deusa Náusea on Lovers & Lollypops / Inês Malheiro. The debut album from Portuguese artist Inês Malheiro went through a few iterations before finally landing at Deusa Náusea , released late last year. The songs evolved throughout the lockdown, "polarized, reversed, perplexed, epithelialized by espectral processes and beleza pura," as it states on her Bandcamp . “The album was not all made at the same time, it went through several stages an...
Mar 14, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4446
Grove - "Feed My Desire" a 2022 single on Memorials of Distinction x Grove. Bristol-based artist Grove returns with a pulsating, gritty dancehall track, expanding on the club-inspired sound introduced on their 2021 debut release QUEER + BLACK . Today's Song of the Day finds Grove teaming up with fellow Bristol producer Kursa, as well as their partner EJ:AKIN. “After getting this beautifully dark, skippy UKG beat through from Kursa and making my own additions – the concept and lyrics spilled stra...
Mar 13, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4445
Cherry Ferrari - Call Me Up a 2023 self-released single. Cherry Ferrari is the project of teenagers Emma Wang and Oliver Crosby. While they’ve been in existence for roughly a year and currently have just two singles in their discography, those pair of songs are exciting enough to warrant paying attention to the young Seattle band. And people certainly have, if their slots on beloved local stages like the Crocodile and Barboza are any proof. Our Song of the Day, “Call Me Up,” is a slinky funk tra...
Mar 10, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4444
JusMoni & Nappy Nina - Henny Lavender a 2023 self-released single. If you feel like you just saw a Song of the Day feature from Seattle-based singer/songwriter JusMoni and Oakland-born/Brooklyn-based emcee Nappy Nina , it’s because you did. Earlier this week, we shared the song “Prayer Hands” off Nappy Nina’s latest album Morning Due and today we’re sharing another collaboration between the two artists, “Henny Lavender.” Released in February alongside the drop of an exclusive candle and clot...
Mar 09, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4443
Rahill - "I Smile for E" from the 2023 album Flowers At Your Feet on Big Dada. With today's Song of the Day, Iranian-American artist Rahill shares a sneak peek at her forthcoming debut album, Flowers At Your Feet , out May 12th via Ninja Tune imprint Big Dada. The track is a tribute to her late Aunt Elaheh. As Rahill writes on Instagram, "The rock of my fathers family. A beloved mother, daughter, sister, and wife. I wrote this song to celebrate and honor her, because the love shared and connecti...
Mar 08, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4442
Nappy Nina - "Prayer Posture (feat. JusMoni)" from the 2023 album Mourning Due on LucidHaus. On her latest LP Mourning Due , Nappy Nina , as she puts it , "considers grief a currency and questions who is owed what." The Oakland-born/Brooklyn-based artist delivers vulnerable lyrics in her distinctive rapid-fire style, like a conversation with a friend who's had too many cups of coffee. Mourning Due features a plethora of guests, including Moor Mother, Mavi, lojii, maassai, Cavalier, Stas Thee Bos...
Mar 07, 2023•2 min•Ep. 4441
Lavarr the Starr & Shabazz Palaces - "Glass Top Roof (The One)" from the 2023 album Illusions Ago on Glass Cane Records. Like many of Ishmael Butler 's projects, this collaboration between Lavarr the Starr & Shabazz Palaces is shrouded in mystery. Their Bandcamp tells us they're based in Lagos, Nigeria, and that today's Song of the Day features "Lavarr sings of blissing, riding around with 🧁 sun roof peeled tunes floating cuz Love Ain't Dead." Luxuriate in a backyard hang with the track...
Mar 06, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4440
Zari Alexandria - (Gotta Get) Over You from the 2022 self-released Congratulations, I'm Angry EP. 19-year-old Zari Alexandria has been honing her vocal abilities since childhood, performing in choir and musical theater and delving into songwriting at fourteen. After spending the past five years sharpening her skills and finding her sound, she released her debut EP Congratulations, I’m Angry in 2021. Made up of six tracks of emotionally-charged R&B/pop tracks, it’s an excellent introduction t...
Mar 03, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4439
Yves Tumor - Echolalia from the 2023 album Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) on Warp. Genre-bending visionary Yves Tumor is set to release their fourth full-length Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) on March 17th and the anticipation couldn’t be higher. After breaking through in a big way with their acclaimed 2020 record Heaven To A Tortured Mind , Tumor has been proving their rock god excellence t...
Mar 02, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4438
Petite Noir - "Simple Things (feat. Theo Croker)" from the 2023 album MotherFather on Roya. Petite Noir (real name: Yannick Ilunga) shares a message of empowerment on today's Song of the Day. “’Simple Things’ is about taking back your power,” the Congolese artist states in a press release. “It’s a song for the people, to embrace harmony, reject division, and recognise that freedom comes from within.” The track features trumpet from Grammy-nominated, Floridian jazz musician Theo Croker, and will ...
Mar 01, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4437
M83 - "Amnesia" from the 2023 album Fantasy on Mute. Earlier this month, M83 shared six songs from their forthcoming ninth LP Fantasy , due out March 17th via Mute. In a press release, primary songwriter/frontman Anthony Gonzalez claims it'll be his most intimate release yet. "I wanted to be more present lyrically and vocally even if that was daunting at first. I thought if I could achieve that, this album will be more personal than those that came before.” He adds, “I wanted this record to be v...
Feb 28, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4436
June McDoom - "On My Way" from the 2022 June McDoom EP on Temporary Residence Ltd. Singer/songwriter June McDoom taps into her family history for her music: her parents relocated from Jamaica to New York City in the 1970s. As an adult, she began listening to folk artists from that era, like Joan Baez and Judee Sill, vintage soul from The Delfonics and The Supremes, and reggae artists her family listened to, like Alton Ellis and Phyllis Dillo. On her self-titled debut EP, she infuses these influe...
Feb 27, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4435
Pilot Seat - Spinning Circles a 2022 self-released single. The Shoreline, WA-based band Pilot Seat only just started playing together in 2021 and released their first three singles in 2022 but have already made a name for themselves locally with a strong legion of loyal fans huddled closely to the stages they’ve played. The video for their second single “A Place Like Nowhere Else” has already racked up 2.7k views in the five months since its release which is nothing to scoff at for a band just a...
Feb 24, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4434
Spirit Award - Pushing Forward from the 2023 album The Fear on Share It Music. Seattle’s Spirit Award , the project of Daniel Lyon and currently with Chris Jordan of Sunny Day Real Estate on bass, has been fine-tuning his brand of doom-filled psychedelic indie for over seven years now, with his upcoming fourth studio album The Fear destined to be one of his best. While they may only have one single out, it’s an incredibly strong one and shows that Spirit Award are only getting better. “Pushing F...
Feb 23, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4433
Thrillhouse - "Fatal Flaw," a 2022 self-released single. Brighton duo Thrillhouse channel the '80s (Echo & the Bunnymen, in particular) on their latest single, "Fatal Flaw." ("Hopefully it’s not toooo similar. Eek," they joked to Analogue Trash .) "We’ve never really settled on a sound," they continued. "Will probably be the cause of our eventual demise down the road. But it’s nice to write different types of songs otherwise the whole thing gets a bit stale, I think." With today's Song of the...
Feb 22, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4432
Screaming Females - "Brass Bell" from the 2023 album Desire Pathway on Don Giovanni Jersey trio Screaming Females continue to pave their own punk-rock path on their latest LP Desire Pathway , out now via Don Giovanni Records. Vocalist/guitarist Marissa Paternoster speaks to the album title, sharing, "Maybe there was one in your neighborhood growing up, a corner where everyone decided it took too long to go around, so they made their own pathway to cut through. There’s this cool unsaid group cons...
Feb 21, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4431
Eyelids - "Colossal Waste of Light" from the 2023 album A Colossal Waste of Light on Jealous Butcher. Portland supergroup Eyelids have gotten even more powerful on their fourth LP, A Colossal Waste of Light , which will be released on March 10 via Jealous Butcher Records. Songwriters John Moen (of The Decemberists) and Chris Slusarenko (formerly of Guided by Voices) are now joined by Victor Krummenacher (of Camper Van Beethoven) alongside existing members Jonathan Drews (guitar) and Paulie Pulvi...
Feb 20, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4430
King Zaae - Someplace Somewhere a 2022 self-released single. Seattle-based artist King Zaae may be young at only 17 but he already has a widespread discography of genre-fluid sounds in the six years he’s been making music when he started fiddling with making music on his iPhone at eleven years old. Since 2021, though, his music has really started to take shape, refining his production techniques for a fully formed yet ever-changing musical identity. His earlier mixtapes like I Hate This Town and...
Feb 17, 2023•4 min•Ep. 4429
Oddisee - Try Again from the 2023 album To What End on Outer Note Label. In January, rapper/producer Oddisee dropped his twelfth studio album, To What End , which explores human ambition, posing the question: “How far are you willing to go, and why?” This idea is expressed in our Song of the Day and early single “Try Again.” Backed by a funky groove, the DC-based emcee waxes about growing from the trials and tribulations he previously endured. "Couple wins, couple L’s / Took a hit but I prevaile...
Feb 16, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4428
Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad - "Fire In Detroit", a 2023 single on Jazz Is Dead. Launched in 2020, the Jazz is Dead series is an ongoing series from producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad , aiming to elevate some legends of the genre with original collaborations. For the latest edition, the guys team up with trombonist Phil Ranelin and saxophonist Wendell Harrison , founders of the '70s Detroit-based label and collective, Tribe Records. Tribe Records was more than just an i...
Feb 15, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4427
Ivy Sole - "Don't Hide (feat. Kingsley Ibeneche)" a 2023 single on Ivy Sole LLC / Venice Music Candid , the latest album from Philly-based Pan-Africanist artist Ivy Sole , is presented as triptych, inspired by her parents' love story and how it shaped her own views on relationships. As she told Metal Magazine , "How the story unfolds in this album is not identical to how it transpired in the lives of my parents, or even in my life, but this much is true – Candid helped me love myself and love my...
Feb 14, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4426
C.S. Armstrong - "MA EMILY (feat. Rapsody)" from the 2022 self-released album THE MAKINGS OF ME . During the three years of lockdown, Houston, Texas-based artist C.S. Armstrong didn't release any original music. But the period gave him time to reflect. "The pandemic allowed me to sit with myself" he continues. "God told me to began producing, with not much knowledge I started to learn how to produce. I used God and my ears, I followed both until I reached this project that I’m so happy to finall...
Feb 13, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4425
Fight Milk - ICU from the 2022 self-released Fight Milk EP. Fight Milk is the project of Redmond, Washington-based project of Jackson Leavitt, who has been releasing singles and EPs since 2019 under the name. Influenced highly by campy ‘80’s new wave bands like Devo, Fight Milk’s shows are a multi-disciplinary audiovisual experience made to entertain. Our Song of the Day, “ICU,” comes off of 2022’s self-titled EP and is a high-energy bop led by tapping synth rhythms and a scorching guitar melody...
Feb 10, 2023•2 min•Ep. 4424
Avalanche Kaito - Dabalomuni from the 2022 Dabalomuni EP on Glitterbeat Records. Avalanche Kaito is as their name suggests, an avalanche of disparate sounds, ideas, and ancestral odes. Made up of Burkinabe griot singer and multi-instrumentalist Kaito Winse and Brussels noise punk musicians Benjamin Chaval (drums, electronics) and Nico Glitter (guitar), the trio fuse West African oral traditions with pummeling post-punk for a sound so unique it defies categorization. Our Song of the Day, “Dabalom...
Feb 09, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4423
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Feb 08, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4422
Tautumeitas - "Spodrē Manu Augumiņu" from the 2022 self-released album Skrejceļš . Latvian ensemble Tautumeitas take traditional folk songs and folklore from their homeland and update them with modern beats and production. Their latest album, Skrejceļš , was crafted with their long-time producer Reini Sējanus, as well as Swedish producer Povel Olsson. Today's Song of the Day is a celebration of the winter solstice, as captured in the accompanying video, directed by Dārta Apsīte. The clip w...
Feb 07, 2023•3 min•Ep. 4421
Jembaa Groove - "Bassa Bassa" from the 2022 album Susuma on Agogo Records. The word “Jembaa” translates to “life,” and a "groove in life" is what Berlin-based Afro-Soul band Jembaa Groove aims to inspire with their music. Bassist/composer Yannick Nolting and vocalist/percussionist Eric Owusu happened to meet in late 2020 when they were each picking up their sons from kindergarten. Before too long, they'd assembled a seven-piece band to meld influences from traditional West African styles (like H...
Feb 06, 2023•5 min•Ep. 4420