Record Shop is a weekly Tomorrow’s Verse column to help readers find the best new music out each Friday.
Foo Fighters – Medicine At Midnight
It’s arguable that Foo Fighters are only getting better with age, perfecting their stadium-sized brand of alternative rock in the last decade. The band’s newest, Medicine At Midnight, certainly justifies this opinion. Over the course of nine songs, Foo Fighters show every side of their sound – from riff-heavy rockers to melodic hooks to delicate, acoustic moments – without ever sounding repetitive. An overall upbeat affair that boasts pop sensibility without losing muscle, Medicine At Midnight is an insatiable listen, and difficult not to enjoy.
Ryley Walker & Kikagaku Moyo – Deep Fried Grandeur
Since moving from Chicago to New York City two years ago, fans haven’t heard much new material from genre-defying songwriter Ryley Walker. There was the pleasant, atmospheric folk collaboration with drummer Charles Rumback, Little Common Twist, and the surprisingly great Dave Matthews Band cover album, The Lillywhite Sessions, and now his newest continues to find Walker exploring new possibilities by means of collaboration. Working with fantastic Japanese psychedelic-rock band Kikagaku Moyo, Deep Fried Grandeur features two 18-minute songs that are experimental in nature, slow-brewing jams where ideas and melodies emerge and dissipate organically. Challenging but rewarding, the album benefits from the artists’ creativity and talent in equal parts.
Psychedelic Porn Crumpets – SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound
Rising stars in the modern rock scene, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets blend psych-rock, punk, garage and prog-rock into a spastic, sometimes overwhelming sound that is distinctly theirs. SHYGA! The Sunlight Mound sticks to this formula with great success. Blasting through 14 tracks in 40 minutes, the band never loses energy while seemingly trying out every idea that comes to them throughout. Driving riffs, screeching solos, explosive choruses and layered effects combine to become an almost stereotypically trippy sound, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
The Weather Station – Ignorance
Canadian indie-folk band The Weather Station return with the follow-up to 2017’s stunning self-titled breakthrough. Ignorance continues mining new ideas from the band’s well-developed-but-understated sound, with gorgeous arrangements prominently featuring strings, horns and pianos atop an otherwise delicate folk backing. Vocalist Tamara Lindeman’s songwriting and delivery fit perfectly into this musical backing, stepping up or backing off as needed. A beautiful set of songs that show true maturity from a late-blooming musical act, Ignorance is certainly not an album you’ll want to miss.
Shovels & Rope – Busted Jukebox, Volume 3
Folk-rock staples Shovels & Rope released the third volume of their Busted Jukebox series, featuring ten eclectic covers. Featuring a slew of notable collaborators, including Sharon Van Etten, M. Ward, The War And Treaty, and Deer Tick, the album has an informal, patchwork feeling that, like a jukebox, favors a lack of predictability. Though more of a fun exercise than a true album, Volume 3 remains a rewarding listen for fans and newcomers alike.
Femi Kuti & Made Kuti – Legacy+
Truly keeping it in the family, afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s son, Femi Kuti, worked with HIS son, Made Kuti, to create Legacy+. A double album, Femi recorded ten songs, which feature Made, in a traditional yet modern afrobeat style. Made’s half features eight songs, with all instruments performed by him, and pushes the envelope for afrobeat into more progressive territories. It’s an extremely fun listening experience, and certainly an achievement within the family legacy.
Various Artists – Allen Ginsburg’s The Fall Of America – A 50th Anniversary Musical Tribute
Celebrating the anniversary of the influential The Fall Of America – Poems Of These States 1965-1971, a collection of Ginsburg’s work meant to represent America in a similar fashion to Kerouac’s On The Road, a number of notable musicians collaborated to create musical representations of the poems. Featuring Andrew Bird, Mickey Hart, Yo La Tengo, The Handsome Family, Devendra Banhart, members of Sonic Youth and more, it’s an appropriately kaleidoscopic trip that pays tribute to the strength of Ginsburg’s words.