June Music Roundup
A monthly guide to what you should be listening to
Well, I finally made the big move to Brooklyn after ten years of living in Minneapolis. I’m going to miss a lot about Minneapolis and all the friends I made there, but I’m excited to be in a place with less chance of a May Day snow. I’m still recovering from the move, but there are a few great albums I’ve been listening to recently that deserve mention.
New Releases
Two Inch Astronaut and Chastity Belt are some of my current favorites and both bands released new albums on June 2. Two Inch Astronaut taps into the best kind of mid-90s indie rock and post-punk, made even more explicit on their new album Can You Please Not Help with J. Robbins (of Jawbox and Burning Airlines) producing. Basically, this is another classic for Exploding in Sound Records. “Name Out of Mouth” is a standout for me, but they also succeed in trying their hand at some poppier material with the track “Play To No One.”
Chastity Belt’s new album on Hardy Art, I Used to Spend So Much Time Alone, isn’t as immediately engaging as 2015’s Time To Go Home, but it is more sophisticated, serious, and demands repeat listens. I think it’s Chastity Belt’s best work and on its way to being my favorite record of theirs. Opener “Different Now” taps into the catchy guitar hooks and melodies that made earlier Chastity Belt songs so appealing, but Gretchen Grimm’s drumming is what I gravitate towards most on this album and tracks like “It’s Obvious” and “5am” showcase the band’s range and evolution.
I’ve been a huge fan of Jefre Cantu-Ledesma since seeing him perform with Liz Harris (Grouper) as RAUM at the Marfa Myths festival in 2016. Their performance, backed by Paul Clipson visuals, was one of the best I’ve ever seen. He put out an excellent tape on the Geographic North label last summer, but his latest full length On the Echoing Green on Mexican Summer adds pop and shoegaze elements to his more ambient, experimental guitar/electronic blend. Check out the ten-minute track “A Song of Summer” and the video for “Tenderness,” both with vocals from Paula Garcia (Sobrenadar).
Reissues and Previously Unreleased
In addition to brand new music, I’ve been listening to a lot of reissued classics and previously unreleased gems lately. First, Merry Clayton’s superb, very hard to find on vinyl album Gimme Shelter was recently reissued. Clayton is best known for her vocals on the Rolling Stones’ song “Gimme Shelter” (and her inclusion in the documentary 20 Feet from Stardom), but check out her own 1970 version of the song, the whole album, and her version of Neil Young’s “Southern Man” from her 1971 self-titled album.
Lynn Castle, the first “lady barber” in LA in the 1960s, cut the long hair of musicians during the day and created her own songs at night. Light in the Attic just released a new compilation showcasing Castle’s talent, which includes her fantastic 1967 45 “The Lady Barber” b/w “Rose Colored Corner” released on Lee Hazlewood Industries along with ten previously unreleased, stripped-down demos.
Dead Moon, the seminal Portland punk band, has a new live album, What a Way To See the Old Girl Go, which is, predictably, outstanding. The album features a 1994 set recorded around the time of the release of their album Crack in the System. Check out the live version of Crack in the System standout “It’s OK.”
Early 80s, South Bronx, funky post-punk heroes ESG released their album Step Off in 2002 and now, fifteen years later, you can grab a reissue on pink vinyl. I actually worked my way backwards to this band, loving current artists like Sneaks and Shopping and seeing ESG referenced so often. Here’s “Talk It” from the reissue, but make sure you check out ESG’s earlier material as well.
Odds and Ends
Nina Simone is so great and has so many great songs, sometimes it’s easy to forget about some of her best. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with her eight-minute song “22nd Century” from the album Here Comes the Sun. It is both beautiful and masterfully defiant in the unique way Simone’s best political songs tend to be.
The recently released Planned Parenthood benefit album Cover Your Ass, Vol. 1 is chock full of indie rock all-stars (Cass McCombs, Palehound, Deerhoof, (Sandy) Alex G, and more) covering other artists. The whole album is definitely worth purchasing, but my favorite track is Speedy Ortiz’s cover of my favorite TV on the Radio song “Young Liars.”
Finally, a few tracks from some great new(ish) releases that I haven’t had time to write about, but might very well end up being some of my top albums of the year:
Moor Mother & Mental Jewelry, “Hardware” (from Moor x Jewelry: Crime Wave)
Palehound, “Carnations” (from A Place I’ll Always Go)
Royal Trux, “Mercury” (from Platinum Tips + Ice Cream)
Com Truise, “Ephemeron” (from Iteration)
Kevin Morby, “Downtown’s Lights” (from City Music)
Slowdive, “Slomo” (from Slowdive)
Juana Molina, “Cosoco” (from Halo)
Mark Lanegan Band, “Nocturne” (from Gargoyle)
Horsebeach, “How Far Must We Go?” (from Beauty & Sadness)
Michael Nau, “Scumways” (from Some Twist)
Tara Jane O’Neil, “Blow” (from Tara Jane O’Neil)
Endless Boogie, “Vibe Killer” (from Vibe Killer)
Garrett Karrberg is based in Minneapolis
