The Fat Angel Sings

 the 10 year anniversary pressing of “Love’s Crushing Diamond” which also includes a remastered version of the preceding “Cowboy’s Prayer” EP. It will be ready to ship in the spring. If there ever was an album that deserved to always be played from start to finish while lounging in the morning sun on a bed made of assorted throw pillows… then this would be that album.

Originally released October 7th, 2013

Small-town dream pop band Wild Nothing is set to release their sixth studio album “Hold” next month, and their second single, “Suburban Solutions,” is a shimmering synth soundtrack of subversive suburbia—the counterpart to previous groovy single “Headlights On” (featuring Hatchie).

Wild Nothing (aka Jack Tatum) is releasing a new album, “Hold”, on October 27th via Captured Tracks. he has shared its third single, “Dial Tone,” via a music video. Min Soo Park directed the video (or visualizer as they are calling it), which features two lovers trying to find each other in a city.

Jorge Elbrecht (Japanese Breakfast) mixed “Headlights On,” which features drum production by Tommy Davidson of Beach Fossils, and backing vocals from Hatchie’s Harriette Pilbeam. Tatum self-produced Hold and Geoff Swan (Caroline Polachek, Charli XCX) mixed it. The album also features Molly Burch, Becca Mancari, and Tatum’s his wife, Dana.

“I’ve sat with this record for a very long time now, so naturally I’m both excited and apprehensive to let it see the light,” said Tatum of “Hold” in a previous press release. “It’s my first record as a father. My first self-produced record since my debut. It’s a record that deals in existential themes but doesn’t always take itself too seriously. It’s not afraid of pop but it’s hopefully not afraid to be strange either. It has fun, gets sad, dwells in the quiet moments and embraces the loud ones. It’s me doing what I love and feeling grateful for it.”

Packed with an unflinching ‘80s pop influence and a biting satire of the beloved decade, Jack Tatum’s comeback after five years of new fatherhood and the return of personal production is off to an impeccable start. The chorus delivers a jingle for a fictitious company, reassuring us to “Take a deep breath, “Suburban Solutions” has your back.” The single is the perfect merger of nihilism and nostalgia, punctuated with the promise of a colourful album we can’t wait to indulge in. 

Jack Tatum’s synth-pop band Wild Nothing expands their range with some thrilling results on “Hold”. Kicking off with the rhythmic, ’90s-inspired jam “Headlights On” featuring like-minded peer Hatchie, it veers into oddball New Wave (“Basement El Dorado”) and epic romance (“Alex”) while making space for detours such as the stunningly gorgeous instrumental “Presidio” along the way. Meanwhile, Tatum sings his most personal and vulnerable lyrics yet. These new dimensions give “Hold” a strong case for best Wild Nothing album yet.

As Wild Nothing, Jack Tatum has explored just about every corner of ’80s pop, from the Cure-isms of his 2010 debut through lush sophistipop, synthpop and R&B. For Wild Nothing’s fifth album, and first in five years, Tatum has his eyes squarely on the charts, aiming straight down the middle, as in mid-’80s and the middle of the Billboard Hot 100 where some quirky stuff lurked on the edges of the Top 40 at the time. On Hold, Tatum fully embraces widescreen Big ’80s production — think Tango in the Night, Invisible Touch, Dancing on the Ceiling, Welcome to the Pleasuredome — with layer upon layer of synthetic and organic instrumentation, including such touchstone sounds as gated drums, fretless bass, and sampled orchestra hits.

If you have a fondness for these kind of visions of excess, Tatum shows a mastery of the form and it’s hard not to be impressed by the technique even if it’s not your cup of tea. Unfortunately, like much of what was produced in the ’80s, a lot of the album rings hollow. Tatum is still capable of writing stick in your head pop melodies and big hooks (“Dial Tone,” “Alex”) but, even more than on 2018’s Indigo, the songs get a bit lost in all the shiny overproduction. As an exercise in style, though, Hold is an empty calorie feast for the ears. Patrick Bateman would’ve loved it.

Four albums in, and on the heels of their collaboration with Jay Som as Bachelor, El Kempner delivers their most consistent album yet in “Eye on the Bat”. If you like guitars, layered upon guitars, layered upon guitars, “The Clutch” puts that song in single of the year category. But it’s the more heartfelt and confessional (not a new approach for Kempner) songs that win the day here. The back-to-back openers of “Good Sex” and “Independence Day” rotate quickly from amusing anecdote to a detailed remembrance of a breakup. While the closing two songs (“Right About You” and “Fadin’”) are softly hued, lump in the throat gems that help to showcase Kempner’s full range of abilities.

With their latest album, “Eye On The Bat”, Palehound have unleashed a sonic tour de force that cements their status as one of the most exciting and forwardthinking artists in indie rock. Recorded with Sam Owens (Big Thief, Cass McCombs) at Flying Cloud Recordings in the Catskill Mountains, the album is a breathtaking showcase of artistic growth and evolution, with primary songwriter El Kempner (as well as multi-instrumentalist Larz Brogan) delivering a stunning batch of new songs that brim with energy, vulnerability, and raw emotion. From the explosive guitar riffs to the thunderous drumming and Kempner’s signature vocals, “Eye On The Bat” is the most thrilling and exhilarating album Palehound has made to date. The album’s sharp and introspective lyrics explore themes of selfdiscovery, anxiety, and empowerment, adding a layer of depth and nuance to the album’s uncompromising vision.

In addition to Kempner’s recent work with Bachelor (a collaborative project with Jay Som’s Melina Duterte), Palehound has earned widespread critical acclaim in outlets such as The New York Times, Pitchfork, and NPR, which praised their unique sound and fearless artistic direction.

Palehound’s long and storied touring history has seen them play shows around the world alongside some of the biggest names in indie rock, including Big Thief, Sylvan Esso, Lucy Dacus, PUP and more. And it’s not just other artists who have been inspired by their music – Kempner’s passionate and introspective song writing has struck a chord with fans around the world, cementing Palehound’s status as a deeply admired and widely influential artist.

“Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” is a 2021 documentary film about the Beach Boys’ co-founder Brian Wilson directed by Brent Wilson.

It follows Brian and Rolling Stone editor Jason Fine as they drive around Los Angeles and visit locations from Brian’s past, interspersed with footage from recording sessions and comments from musical artists about his influence on the industry.

The film was accompanied by the release of a soundtrack album consisting of previously-unreleased recordings by Wilson, several of which dated from his unfinished 1990s collaborations with producer Andy Paley, and one new song, “Right Where I Belong”, that Wilson co-wrote with My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James for the film.

Join The Beach Boy’s Brian Wilson on an intimate journey through his legendary career as he reminisces with Rolling Stone editor and longtime friend, Jason Fine. Featuring a new song written and performed by Wilson and interviews with Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Jonas, Linda Perry, Jim James, Gustavo Dudamel and Al Jardine.

For Wilco album number 13, Cate Le Bon stepped in as the Chicago institution’s first external producer in 16 years – “To have someone else keeping an eye out for my maudlin tendency,” Jeff Tweedy told us. If 2022’s “Cruel Country” privileged a singular take on roots tradition, “Cousin” was informed by chillier art-pop, by new textures, as Wilco gradually melded them with their own experimental instincts and their finely-honed songcraft – and with Tweedy’s imperishable humanity.

Wilco spent years trying to shake off the Americana tag that’s dogged them from the start of their career before they finally embraced it with a full-force hug on 2022’s “Cruel Country”. Both proactive and reactionary, the double album flipped country music upside down and sideways as Jeff Tweedy and company stripped down for their most organic-sounding album since they got experimentally weird following 1995’s fairly conventional debut, “A.M.“

In true to form, “Cousin” – “Cruel Country’s” follow-up, and Wilco’s 13th LP overall – takes a different path on a career that’s strayed far from the expected ever since Wilco holed up in a studio for their first double album, 1996’s rock ‘n’ roll history lesson “Being There“. The left turns and sonic highways of albums such as “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot”, “A Ghost Is Born” and “The Whole Love” have softened the surprise factor a bit, but part of the band’s appeal is that none of their records sounds like the one before it.

“Cousin” is another aural tour de force, this time overseen by experimental Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon, the first time Wilco has worked with an outside producer in almost 20 years. From the opening track “Infinite Surprise” – all ticking clocks, heartbeat percussion and ambient hums working toward a slow build – the band is back in their familiar post-YHF territory, as strangled guitars make their entrance at the halfway point of the nearly six-minute song.

Tweedy, purposely so, barely works up emotion in “Ten Dead,” a summary of modern indifference; “Meant to Be,” the album’s chugging closing song, surveys the cost of that indifference with the hope of making things right. And that’s the core theme of “Cousin”: fixing the state of the human condition against often insurmountable hurdles. The music, drifting among the avant-pop playground Wilco has spent the past two decades traversing, suits the occasionally despairing, often hopeful mood. As much as “Cruel Country” cleared the air regarding a part of their past, “Cousin” mostly dispels another chapter in Wilco’s history, that of a stubbornly determined band working without compromise.

“It’s too late to be unclear,” Tweedy sings in “Evicted,” one of the album’s most musically and lyrically direct songs. While tangled connections surface again in “Cousin’s” title song, unlike 2019’s “Ode to Joy” – with its disheartened Trump-era uncertainties for the future – there’s an optimism here that everything will turn out OK in the end. Not even the typically hazy soundscapes can obscure that message.

Wilco fans could be forgiven for expecting another album of low-key acoustic tunes, given that that’s the wheelhouse they’ve mostly been sticking to since 2016’s “Schmilco”. “Cruel Country” began to wriggle out of that particular mode, going back to the twangy sounds of their 1995 debut to satisfying effect. But “Cousin” is a new beast entirely, with Jeff Tweedy & Co. The vibe is still relatively gentle throughout, but the clever soundscapes and arrangements of tracks such as “Infinite Surprise” and “Sunlight Ends” crackle subtly with electricity, while the more straightforward songs still sprawl and spread in a fresh way. Nearly 20 years after “A Ghost is Born“, it’s thrilling to see Wilco still able to conjure that same magic.

Le Bon’s influences — among them the inclusion of saxophone, cheap Japanese guitars, and a cinematic, New Wave-style drum machine — drive the album into the future. The result is Wilco’s most pointed and evocative album, one related but not tied to our present moment, truly new ground for a band that has tested musical boundaries throughout its lengthy career

“Follow the Cyborg”, the debut album from Korean-American musician and Mute’s newest signing Miss Grit, moves towards deeper electronic sound and is a sonic leap forward for the artist, occupying a world of chaotic electronic experimentation and stirring electric guitars. Using the scuzzy, guitar-based indie rock heard on their two early EPs as a launching pad into the inevitable future, “Follow the Cyborg” is decidedly more cinematic in both approach and scope. As moods morph from murky to majestic and back again, the songs are crafted with creativity and a willingness to experiment and are informed with a Fantastical, sometimes heavenly, vibe while also exhibiting a subterranean edge.

Margaret Sohn’s velvety voice acts as a common thread that links the tracks into a cohesive album while occasionally showing off her guitar chops. The album as a whole impresses and excites with sophisticated and soothing electronic foundations adorned with waves of atmospheric indie rock wrapped in creative melodies with waiflike vocals, justifying repeated plays that are more rewarding each time. 

Following the release of acclaimed EPs Talk, Talk and Impostor, Follow the Cyborg sees Miss Grit aka Margaret Sohn pursue the path of a non-human machine, as it moves from its helpless origin to awareness and liberation. This album was fully produced by Sohn in their home studio and features guest collaborators Stella Mozgawa of Warpaint, Aron Kobayashi Ritch of Momma, and close friend and fellow songwriter Pearla. 

A triumphant third album, Nation of Language’s Strange Disciple doesn’t waste any time as it immediately dives into new sonic territory. Yes, the Brooklyn three-piece still succeed in shepherding us through a transformed New Wave landscape, but the cornerstones here are sleek, advanced, modern.

Nation of Language their album, “Strange Disciple” on Play It Again Sam. Following performances at Primavera Sound, Pitchfork Festival, Outside Lands and dozens more of their biggest headline shows to date, the Brooklyn band’s third LP is one that is meant to invoke wandering, wondrous walks through city streets both foreign and familiar. In the three short years since their acclaimed debut, 2020’s “Introduction, Presence”, Nation of Language have sustained an increasing ascent from small, hyperlocal scenes to international stages and late-night television, while their musical evolution has embodied three distinct modes of moving through the world: lead singer and songwriter Ian Devaney imagines the band’s first album, 

Introduction, Presence, as taking place in a car, whereas second album “A Way Forward” occurred on and as a locomotive, influenced by the chugging sound of krautrock. Now, as their first record to be fully created and released outside the confines of a pandemic-instilled lockdown, “Strange Disciple” is centred around groove-driven songs and bouncing basslines that feel ambulatory and wayfaring, informed by the excitement of exploring new places the band never thought they would see on tour.

Highlights include Talking Heads-esque “Surely I Can’t Wait,” the hypnotic “Weak In Your Light,” and one of the best songs the band has ever released, “Spare Me the Decision.” The latter of these makes one want to dance alone in their room, not to cassette tapes but to your streaming service of choice on a Bluetooth speaker.

This collaborative effort of oddly paired trailblazing artists Graham Coxon (Blur) and Rose Elinor Dougall (The Pipettes and her solo work) shows off a unique musical style that is a genuinely entertaining mix of cinematic British rock and indie pop, brought to life with polished vocals.

The catchy rhythms on the handful of indie rock-oriented songs are skillfully constructed and executed and settle into a groove of nuanced pop rock that erupt with bursting melodies and vibrant accents. Other tracks offer a more blithe pop vibe, whose arrangements have surreal qualities that add up to a feeling of being enveloped by whimsies and trances as they navigate a varied landscape of delicate melodies.

With flashes of pure rock and roll splendour, “The WAEVE” contains warm and fuzzy rock with woozy orchestrations, an amiable swirl of sound, and a pleasant cacophony of motley instrumentation, from a band that’s super talented and not afraid to take chances.

Pacific Northwest singer-songwriter Katherine Paul, whose music has been featured on ‘Reservation Dogs,’ talks about the lifetime of experience that went into her fiery, brilliant new album Katherine Paul’s third album comes on with the subtlety of a freight train as “My Blood Runs Through This Land” thunders through the speakers. 

Not one to shrink from truth, Paul shares mental health struggles on the brooding “Treeline” and graces us with the gift of her singing with her parents on the chill-inducing “Spaces.” “The Land, The Water, The Sky” runs as deep as Paul’s pride for her community and gives the listener many paths to explore. 

“‘The Land, the Water, the Sky’ feels like KP is reaching out, more so than her previous, more introspective albums, to an expansive version of what Black Belt Eagle Scout can be . . . with each song, you can feel the weight of an entire community behind her.” When Katherine Paul thinks back to the experiences that inspired her sweeping new album, she thinks about Sčičudᶻ, a forested path near the Salish Sea, and the salmon berries that grow there.

Salmon berries, for those who live outside of the Pacific Northwest, are sweet, tart fruits resembling blackberries or raspberries. Their name comes from their color — shades of pink or a deep red — and they’re hard to get outside of their natural habitat, as they are fragile and spoil quickly. The singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who goes by KP and performs as Black Belt Eagle Scout, would often take hikes along Sčičudᶻ, witnessing the seasons change.

“That place is really special to me,” says KP, 33. “I would go there a lot during the last two, three years, to hang out and to witness what was going on. There’s a lot of things going on there.”

She recorded her new album, “The Land, the Water, the Sky”, at a studio in Anacortes, Washington, about 10 miles north of that path. But she wrote the album at various places like Sčičudᶻ, bringing a guitar along to strum chords and “feel what was around me.”

“I’m sorry I’m being a little bit of a nerd,” she says with a laugh. “But when I was saying there’s a lot that goes on, it’s like… You watch the salmon berries grow.”