New Music Adds 3/28/2024

written by Amir Lahoud on

The only thing I love about Thursdays is WUVT's new music reviews!

I Got Heaven album cover. A blue sky with the top quarter of an animals face in the lower left of the frame. Only the eye and a majority of the fur are visible.

Mannequin Pussy - I Got Heaven

Label: Epitaph
Genre: Grrrl / Alt / Punk
For Fans Of: Bikini Kill, Wednesday, Sleater-Kinney, Chastity Belt
Reviewed by: Kate Stanko
Truly raw and beautiful album that questions love and femininity and abandonment. Tracks 3, 4, 7, and 10 are softer, whereas FCC are hardest, and leftovers are a good mix. I DO NOT recommend saying this band name on air, although it's so fucking awesome. Try a fun substitite, like Mannequin Kitty, Mannequin Vagina, Mannequin P-Word, etc. Some tracks remind me of Turnstile pacing and riffs (track 9), and of course there's some obvious riot grrrl influence too. Def listen to FCCs and front to back on your own time!

Where's My Utopia album cover. A cartoon depiction of a beach with a large skeleton man on fire, staring at the ocean. The words Yard Act and Where's My Utopia are centered at the top of the frame.

Yard Act - Where's My Utopia

Label: Island
Genre: Indie Rock / Indie Pop
For Fans Of: The Murder Capital, IDLES
Reviewed by: Brody Toth
Fun and fuzzy indie dance numbers are all across this album. It's main selling point is the various tv/radio program samples that separate Where's My Utopia from other indie albums. The only thing that would stop me from playing this album in heavy rotation is how good the FCC tracks are in comparison to the others. If you've got a late night show this is the album for you!

New Concepts In Piano trio Jazz album cover. The trio playing their respective instruments, with the same image seperated by two white bars displaying the album title and group name.

Matthew Shipp Trio - New Concepts In Piano Trio Jazz

Label: ESP
Genre: Piano Jazz / Avant Garde / Minimalism / Experimental / Post Bop
Reviewed by: Len Comaratta
There is a through line from the first Matthew Shipp Trio album, 1990's Circular Temple, to this release. New Concepts in Piano Trio Jazz sounds completely thoroughly composed and yet completely spontaneously improvised at the same time. Once again, silence and space are used as intricately as bass, drum, or piano. While creating a whole new cosmos, the Matthew Shipp Trio manage to escape every cliché that exists in jazz and in avant jazz.

Two Trios album cover. a collage of black, gray, and brown scraps with the words Two Trios centered in the frame with black and red lettering. The album title and band name are also displayed at the bottom of the frame.

Guillermo Gregorio - Two Trios

Label: ESP
Genre: Avant Garde / NCP Jazz / Experimental / Modern Composition
Reviewed by: Len Comaratta
Gregorio has been exploring space, form, and gesture in music for a very long time. It continues here. There is a lot of space, silence, and softness in these compositions. Almost such that the silence itself is an instrument. Track 1 is almost 7 minutes of near silence.

The Great Bailout album cover. Camae Ayewa centered in the frame in black and white, cut off around the chest.

Moor Mother - The Great Bailout

Label: Anti
Genre: Experimental / Gothic Chamber / NCP / Avant Garde
Reviewed by: Len Comaratta
Camae Ayewa’s latest for Anti is not her most accessible album, nor is it hard or abrasive like her debut. It is visceral, and one of her more compelling works. Based on her research on British colonialism, and in particular, Parliament's Slavery Abolition Acts of 1833 and 1835, The Great Bailout uses an experimental sound to connect this medium to its history. For the latter, the British government borrowed £20 million (now equivalent to £17 billion), one of the largest loans in history, in order to compensate former slave owners, rather than those who were enslaved. Ambrose Akinmusire and Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core) are just two among a litany of guests.

Bite Down album cover. Rosali's face with wide eyes and smile hidden behind the thick leaves and branches of a plant.

Rosali - Bite Down

Label: Merge
Genre: Indie Folk Pop / Rock
Reviewed by: Hayden Swenson
Bite Down is clearly a combination of great production and classic folk, rock, and americana influence, and it is these qualities which give it its almost timeless quality. Although it's under Rosali's name, this is not a solo record: the instrumentation provided by David Nance & Mowed Sound is skillful and diverse, creating a lush backdrop for Rosali's soft, at times Stevie Nicks-like, vocals. Rewind is especially fantastic, with layers of piano, acoustic, and electric guitar coming together to create something that sounds beautifully triumphant.

Echoes of the Inner Prophet album cover. Melissa Aldana centered in the frame in black and white, with her name and album title displayed beside her.

Melissa Aldana - Echoes of the Inner Prophet

Label: Blue Note
Genre: Contemporary Jazz / Post Bop
Reviewed by: Len Comaratta
On her latest album, her third as leader, Aldana digs deeper into her own introspection, revealing her inner prophet as her older, wiser self. Though the impact of Sonny Rollins on Aldana's playing is well documented, it is Shorter's aura that looms largest here, as evidenced by the tonal smears and vocal-like phrases in the title track, one dedicated to Shorter.

Run Your Race album cover. Kandace Springs centered in the frame in black and white looking at her piano beside her, with her name and album title displayed beside her.

Kandace Springs - Run Your Race

Label: SRP
Genre: Vocal Jazz / Contemporary Jazz
Reviewed by: Len Comaratta
With a generational voice, undeniable from the first note, Kandace Springs’ personal style blends jazz, soul, and blues, and ranks among the best vocalists/voices today. #4 is the Billie Eilish Barbie track

Tiger's Blood album cover. Young woman standing under a large sign, with a red truck and red shed on either side of her.

Waxahatchee - Tigers Blood

Label: Anti-
Genre: Americana
Reviewed by: Baile Liu
Waxahatchee (Wax-ah-ha-chee) continues the same sonic road in Tigers Blood with similar type of instrumentals from Katie Crutchfield's well known previous album, Saint Cloud. Track 1 is incredibly catchy. In track 4, with MJ's Lenderman's backup, they sing about a relationship being steadily held by the one partner while the other wanders and struggles to "get right back to it." Surprisingly haunting lines in track 7. Overall, not my favorite Waxahatchee album. With the exception of a few tracks, it fails to differentiate itself from her previous work.

Life is Funny that Way album cover. Fay Victor centered in the frame in black and blue looking at the camera, with her name and album title displayed beside her.

Fay Victor / Herbie Nichols Sung - Life Is Funny That Way

Label: AUM Fidelity
Genre: Avant Garde / Standards
Reviewed by: Len Comaratta
Victor is an acclaimed vocalist-soundartist-lyricist-bandleader; Herbie Nichols Sung is a dedicated and profoundly gifted quintet of veteran jazz performers. This set is a celebration of Nichols’ compositions through innovative and contemporary arrangements. In the same way Ella Fitzgerald used her voice to go beyond just singing, so too does Victor. She also takes the opportunity to shine a light on Billie Holiday, the first to write lyrics to a Nichols’ tune (Holiday turned his “Serenade” into her “Lady Sings the Blues” – Disc 2, Trk 3)

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