Jackson Whalan • Gimme Some Truth • 2020

Jackson Whalan, a lyricist and producer creating eclectic hip-hop with a modern flair to invoke positive societal change. His music is influenced by a mix of iconic artists that came before him which include but aren’t limited to J. Dilla, De La Soul, and Bruce Springsteen among others.

This time around, Whalan draws inspiration from one of the most prolific songwriters of our time, John Lennon, and covers the provocative song “Gimme Some Truth”. Unlike “Imagine”, “Gimme Some Truth” juxtaposes the idyllic song and screams out for answers to the problematic world we live in.

The Avett Brothers • NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert • 2009

With all due respect to its terrific albums and kinetic, frenetic live shows, if The Avett Brothers could put on a three-song acoustic concert at every workplace in America, the band would be a world-beating colossus. For proof, listen to this performance in the NPR Music offices.

Popular Music • Philadelphia • 2020

"In the Summer of 2019, we drove out of Los Angeles en route to our new home — a 19th century barn in Nowheresville, New York. We'd been there once. The few people we've spoken with since tend to inquire about our motives in varying tones of confusion and concern, and since neither of us had a particularly good answer, we've since taken to telling people that we'd "lost our son." Suffice to say, we don't have many friends.

We left Los Angeles with the better part of this album recorded, but after stumbling upon a long-coveted Optigan organ in the Berkshires, we decided to add one more song. It's probably sacrilege to say this, but "Philadelphia" is my favorite Neil Young song. We both literally cried just working out the chords. This recording documents the sound of a mournful ghost trapped in an old wooden barn in the woods."

Mayflower Madame Swallow • 2020

"A seriously heady concoction of netherworldish sonic dabbling on a canvas of foreboding postpunk beauty wrapped in a psychedelic blanket. Utterly superb" – Louder Than War

"Deeply atmospheric psychedelia" – Clash Magazine

"A feverish nod to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club... the spacey menace of early Verve" – Q Magazine

"The love child of post-punk and neo-psychedelia" – Classic Rock Magazine (Germany)

"Their sneering vocals and wickedly distorted guitar riffs are pure Jesus & Mary Chain, the ominous, echo-drenched atmospherics recall Sisters of Mercy, and the overall and very palpable sense of fear and dread harken back to Faith-era Robert Smith" – BlackBook

Oliver James Brooks • Flyin' Real Low • 2020

www.ThatEricAlper.com

“It’s an intimate, acoustic-only album that was… Born out of necessity,” Brooks offers. “There’s something very personal and powerful — and a little scary — when you go into the studio, let everything out from inside, and leave with something that ultimately timestamps your feelings at that exact moment. 

“When it came to the recording process, I wanted to ensure everything captured was completely honest and genuine. I didn’t want what I was feeling to hide behind any special effects, or anything like that. 

Kestrels • "Grey and Blue" ft. J Mascis • 2020

You might already be familiar with them, but Kestrels are a fuzzy, reverb drenched power-pop band from Halifax, Nova Scotia who excel at crafting huge sounding songs with big hooks and ripping riffs. Ostensibly a pop record filtered through classic mid 90’s indie rock, Dream or Don’t Dream is Kestrels’ follow-up to their self-titled 2016 record which was praised by places like The FADER, VICE, BrooklynVegan, KEXP, the BBC and more. 

Sports Team • Here's The Thing • 2020

The six-piece have been causing a bubble of hype to grow ever larger over recent years as their enigmatic live show brought down the club circuit one venue at a time. Coupled with their killer instinct when it comes to songwriting and you have a serious band on your hands.

Sports Team are one such band as they provide not only the clout needed to make a dent in the industry but the artistic chops to make sure it’s an impact left in their image.

TJ Roberts • Sinceridipity • 2020

http://www.LibertinoRecords.com

‘Sinceridipity’ is a song written in the time honoured tradition of barely comprehensible nonsense; loosely charting the cringe of looking back on the faux (and often misinformed) personas that develop through adolescence. Equally inspired by the dark-eyed Lou Reed and Mark Everett (Eels) as it is the rambunctious energy of Dinosaur Jr. and Fugazi. Featuring the highest-grade noise from guitar hero Zac White (Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard, Zac White).

Libertino · TJ Roberts - Sinceridipity

Cassette Spence • Solstice • 2020

Talented artist from New York, Cassette spence’s music is described by Adafruit as a “fog thick with atmosphere and emotion” her habitual bedroom recordings started in her early teens in south texas and continue today in her new york apartment. she’s toured north america as an instrumentalist in bands Pepper Rabbit and Verb the Adjective Noun, and has released two albums with her best friends as Vassals. 

J. Laser • Sunshine • 2020

“...a beautiful array of synth work … almost like all of the ideas he had stuck in his head during M83 are just being set free out of the cage, and this, I think, is exactly what being abducted by aliens would sound like....” — BBC1 Radio Next Wave with Jack Saunders

Rose Brokenshire • In a Spell • 2020

'In a Spell' was the first song of five written in early April of 2020. It is about the feeling of having just woken up from a strange dream, trying to remember the details before they fade away. That dream-like state you might find yourself in as the morning turns to night in the blink of an eye, trying to recall what you did that day and how it could have possibly passed so quickly.

Ladyshark • Good Stuff • 2020

http://www.ladysharkband.com

Ladyshark are a 3-piece, punk band currently based in New York. This all female trio uses guitar loops, bass, vocals and drums. Sarah Vardy is on guitar/guitar loops/lead vocals, Megan ‘Raygun’ Dillard is on bass/backup vocals and award winning percussionist Jane Boxall is on drums.

Ladyshark were Anu Sava. Anu Sava started out as a solo project from Sarah, front woman of Girl With Cake.

Jenn Nucum • Snakebite • 2020

jennnucum.com

 Beautiful yet dramatic guitar lines open this haunting piece that will soon merge with the embracing notes generated by a cello. Jenn’s soft voice creates a powerful contrast with the sharpness of the meaning behind this song: a political stance against social inequity but also a quest for kindness. Its chorus arises as gently as a carol and as strong as a statement, thus interspersing the entire song with a very peculiar elegance that, although its subject, incredibly attracts the ears of the listeners. Jenn creates a piece that goes beyond music, something able to raise questions about identity and inequality, even through its stunning beauty.

Daniel Joseph Cohen • Strange • 2020

www.danieljosephcohen.com

I write whimsical pop songs that bring out a sense of child-like wonder and am super influenced by artists like David Bowie and Cat Stevens, 50's pop, and the magic of Disney.

SPC ECO • 6月LP June LP • 2020

spceco.com

The Declining Winter • Occupying The Blanks • 2020

thedecliningwinter.com

Valium Aggelein • The Black Moon • 2020

A year prior to Duster’s landmark debut album Stratosphere, Clay Parton, Dove Amber, and Jason Albertini quietly issued a prequel LP into the great expanse. An ode to ’70s Kosmische, Hier Kommt Der Schwartze Mond is a skeletal space nap for the prozac generation. Remixed and remastered from the original 16 track analog tapes, the 1998 album has been adjoined by 15 period-appropriate bonus tracks. A fuzzy masterpiece, hidden in plain sight, by the most important slowcore band of all time.

Benjamin Gibbard • Proxima B / Filler • 2020

Benjamin Gibbard debuted live stripped-down acoustic versions of "Proxima B" during the Smithsonian's National Air; Space Museum virtual concert Space Songs: Through the Distance, and during his weekly livestream performances from his home in Seattle. This is the fully fleshed-out studio version of "Proxima B", paired with b-side "Filler," a revelatory piano-vocal cover that brings Gibbard's trademark melancholy to the straight-edge DC hardcore classic by Minor Threat. 

#TheShowMustBePaused

Gary Olson • Giovanna Please • 2020

The album's first single "Giovanna Please" sounds like the Norwegian countryside, too, not too far from what Ladybug Transistor is known for, but verdant and very spring-like with those knockout strings. "If you listen you may notice it’s a bit of a Greenwich Village song," says Gary, "which was a playground for me during my high school years.”