All Aboard the Hype Train

The last part of 2015 is going to be simply nuts.

Last week, we got the incredible--I say again--incredible new album from Carly Rae Jepsen. If you haven't given this album a listen yet, do it. Especially if the only reason you haven't heard it yet is because it comes from the same pop darling who gave us "Call Me Maybe". Shed the chains that bind thee, brethren! There is a whole world waiting for you in the shiny landscapes of bubblegum pop! Listen to the song below and tell me that if it weren't for the subject matter, you would swear that Daft Punk was back to making ass shaking music again.

About a month ago, Krallice surprised everyone with a new album loaded onto bandcamp. Having heard Krallice briefly a couple years ago when they put out Years Past Matter, I figured I'd give it a listen. I hated Years Past Matter when I first heard it, and Ygg Hur was no different. However, like the first time I heard Oneohtrix Point Never, something kept drawing me back to this release. Having listened to the album a dozen times, I can confirm it is one of the weirdest albums I have ever heard, but I am completely hooked. Perhaps my love affair with Deathspell Omega earlier this year helped prepare me for this album. At least Deathspell gives you a tasty riff in between passages of utter chaos. Not Krallice. This thing is dense, spastic, and throat ripping for the entire duration. Here's the best introductory song I could come up with.

Speaking of Oneohtrix Point Never... HE'S RELEASING AN ALBUM IN NOVEMBER! I almost thought we were going to go an entire year without an OPN album. Thankfully sound master Daniel Lopatin will grace us with another sure-to-be-headfuck of an album before the year is out. Just listen to the clip below. If it's any indication of the album's sound, I don't think we are ready.

Also, my girl Joanna Newsom put out a music video teasing her album which is due in October. It sounds like she's continuing in the vein that she took on Have One On Me, which is a very good thing indeed. I absolutely love everything this woman puts on record, and owe her an incredible amount of gratitude for getting me through a particularly shitty time in my life. Love you JoNew.

Today while I was at work, I was thinking to myself "Gee, that Mgła sure is a swell band. I have all their music in my mp3 library, but heck, I might as well see if they're on bandcamp." And lo and behold... Not only do they have a new song up advertising their new album, but that album drops NEXT WEEK.

Now we will see how many times I can listen to "Exercises in Futility II" before the album's release on Friday. You can catch up by spamming the video below. In my excitement for this album to drop, I rushed home and purchased every LP, EP, and compilation in their discography. I've never bit the bullet before because you can only find their stuff in Europe so the shipping is astronomical. Leave it to the hype train to convince me that I could save on shipping if I just got it over with and purchased their entire discography. Makes sense to me shut up.

My New Most-anticipated Release of 2015

2015 has been a solid year, in many parts thanks to the always excellent record label Gilead Media. They put out two of the best Black Metal albums I've heard in False's Untitled and Pale Chalice's Negate the Infinite and Miraculous. And don't forget the sort-of Gilead released The Departure of Consciousness from Fórn.

Outside Gilead, we got a return from one of the most extreme bands in my library, Napalm Death, and possibly (definitely) the best hip hop album I've ever heard in Kendricks' To Pimp a Butterfly.

Well done, 2015.

But we still have a quarter of the year to go, and I am super stoked about a number of albums. Recently, one album has my interest so pitted piqued I can't wait.

No, not Beach House.

Not even Joanna Newsom (although when this drops I will likely have a conniption)

Mutha. Fuckin. CARLY RAE JEPSEN.

I was not too familiar with Carly before yesterday. I mean, she had "Call Me Maybe", which has an excellent bridge that redeems the start-stop nature of the rest of the song, but that's really all I knew. There was definitely no reason for me to think that she'd ever see the light of day again. But her lead-off single "I Really Like You" caught my attention as it fell into that hyper-sweet synth-saturated pop that I am always drawn to, and yesterday I checked out the rest of her promotional singles from her upcoming album Emotion, and they are so good!

She's got this neo-retro 80's sound to these tracks that sound like she (or her producers) still have Random Access Memories on repeat in their hatchbacks. If Emotion is the result of such a shitty album, I think I can forgive Daft Punk.

Thank you Daft Punk.

Get some bubblegum and listen to the songs below. Emotion drops August 21.