First Listen: Sinkane, ‘Mean Love’
Over memorable hooks and wickedly inventive grooves, Ahmed Gallab sings in an earnest, persuasive voice. Sinkane’s music conjures East and West African music, James Brown, free jazz and shoegaze.
Category: Music
First Listen: Blonde Redhead, ‘Barragán’
The last decade has seen a marked softening in Blonde Redhead’s sound, to the point where the quietest moments on Barragán don’t sound like songs so much as vapors infused with tunes.
First Listen: The Gotobeds, ‘Poor People Are Revolting’
This rowdy, ramshackle party house of a band is built on the intersecting bedrock of post-punk and indie rock. On Poor People Are Revolting, there’s something crazy going on in every room.
First Listen: The Bug, ‘Angels & Devils’
In its outermost extremes, this excoriating, enervating music offers the promise of a cleansing, like greasy hands scoured with gritty soap. But it’s got sensitivity and a sense of craft, too.
First Listen: Shovels & Rope, ‘Swimmin’ Time’
It’s easy to feel the romance in the musical relationship between Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, who’ve become musical embodiments of how loving couples make it work.
First Listen: J Mascis, ‘Tied To A Star’
Though not entirely unplugged, Tied to a Star showcases the soft intricacy of a veteran craftsman who knows when to hang back and decide to pulverize another day.
First Listen: Merchandise, ‘After The End’
A DIY spirit pervades Merchandise’s dark, well-crafted songs, even if they sound more at home in the gloomy climes of Manchester than in sunny Tampa, where the band is based.
First Listen: Imogen Heap, ‘Sparks’
Sparks documents a fruitful time for one of popular music’s most curious explorers. But it also captures how, in the 21st century, art, technology and life meld to make whole new narratives.
First Listen: Kimbra, ‘The Golden Echo’
She’s working with refracted echoes of sounds that came before, but Kimbra makes them golden on her second album. Throughout The Golden Echo, she has a grand time testing the limits of her music.
First Listen: Bishop Allen, ‘Lights Out’
Summery but subtle, Lights Out is the sound of a band that’s mastered the art of quality control, just in time to release an album that’s all highlights.
The Clientele Live At WAMU
Suburban Light, the warm and wistful full-length from British indie-pop ensemble The Clientele, was one of those records that seemed…
First Listen: Bunji Garlin, ‘Differentology’
The Trinidadian soca star is ready to follow up on the success of his breakthrough single, “Differentology.”
First Listen: JJ, ‘V’
On V, the Swedish duo strikes a curious balance among wildly divergent sounds. Along the way, it draws from cringe-worthy soft pop, indie-rock, and cutting-edge R&B and hip-hop.
First Listen: Sarah Jaffe, ‘Don’t Disconnect’
A ferociously intelligent singer-songwriter, Jaffe never stops inventing, reinventing, exploring and reflecting on her (and our) place in a forbidding, foreboding world.
Playlist: Music You Need To Hear In D.C., July 28 To Aug. 3
Sound Advice is Bandwidth’s recurring playlist of artists we think you should catch around D.C. this week. Ready your fanny…
First Listen: Panopticon, ‘Roads To The North’
Inspired by the birth of a child and a new career, Austin Lunn’s triumphant, ebullient new album as Panopticon steps outside his curveball mixture of metal and American folk.
First Listen: Adult Jazz, ‘Gist Is’
This English band’s ideas move fast — riffs erupt only to disappear just as quickly. It’s as though they’re chasing super-concentrated bursts of bliss that gather into epic music.
First Listen: Spider Bags, ‘Frozen Letter’
Frontman Dan McGee writes songs with more personality than almost any in garage rock. This album exudes the unabashed glee that comes from music played hard and with reason.
D.C. Hip-Hop Producers You Should Know: SlimKat78 And Kev Brown
Rappers might be the face of D.C.’s growing hip-hop scene, but producers are its pulse. In this multipart series, Bandwidth…
Playlist: All The Music You Need To Hear In D.C., July 21 To 27
Sound Advice is Bandwidth’s recurring playlist of artists we think you should catch in D.C. this week. This week’s playlist…