Out This Week 3/23

Spring is springing with excellent new releases, including the highly-anticipated debut (of sorts!) from Melbourne, Australia artist Courtney Barnett. KEXP Music Director Don Yates calls the release, "a masterful set that improves upon her promising early releases with even sharper songwriting and a more urgent and confident sound. The diverse set of songs ranges from stomping garage-rock and ‘90s-steeped grunge-pop to psych-tinged jangle-pop and bluesy, atmospheric ballads, though the focus rightfully remains on Barnett’s deadpan vocals and delightfully frank, witty and insightful lyrics balancing wry humor with a deep poignancy." (You can also read a further in-depth review of the album here.)

Other highlights this week include the sophomore release from L.A. rapper Kendrick Lamar. Yates says, "Featuring a densely layered sound, the album masterfully combines dark, gritty grooves heavily steeped in ‘70s funk and jazz with Lamar’s tricky, elastic delivery and intricate, often-politically charged rhymes that delve deep into feelings of guilt, anger and self-doubt." Seattle's own Chastity Belt follows up their debut with "a consistently strong set of moody post-punk songs combining ringing, surf-inflected guitars, jagged rhythms and Julia Shapiro’s jaded, often-sardonic lyrics." UK artist Laura Marling releases an excellent fifth album featuring "a more edgy and electric sound for her brooding folk-pop, combining her intricate acoustic guitar finger-picking with rumbling electric riffs and washes of guitar noise along with galloping rhythms for a more aggressive backdrop for her husky, elastic vocals and dark, often-biting lyrics. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion share their latest, recorded at the Daptone House of Soul in Bushwick, which they call "a document of New York City, a chronicle of grit and terror and love." And JEFF the Brotherhood return with a new one, which frontman Jake Orall calls, "the most fully realized JEFF The Brotherhood record we've ever made."

• Action Bronson – “Actin Crazy”
• from Mr. Wonderful on Atlantic
• Big Data – “The Glow (feat. Kimbra)”
• from 2.0 on Warner Bros.
• Björk – “Lion Song”
• from Vulnicura [physical release] on One Little Indian
• Broken Water – “High - Lo”
• from Wrought on Night People Records
• Buena Vista Social Club – “Macusa”
• from Lost and Found on World Circuit Records
• Chastity Belt – “Time to Go Home”
• from Time To Go Home on Hardly Art
• Chilly Gonzales – “Freudian Slippers”
• from Chambers on Gentle Therat
• Courtney Barnett – “Pedestrian At Best”
• from Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit on Mom + Pop Music
• The Cribs – “An Ivory Hand”
• from For All My Sisters on RED
• Earl Sweatshirt – “Grief”
• from I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside: An Album by Earl Sweatshirt on Tan Cressida/Columbia
• The Go! Team – “The Scene Between”
• from The Scene Between on Memphis Industries
• Hayden – “Hey Love”
• from Hey Love on Arts & Crafts
• James Bay – “Running”
• from Chaos And The Calm on Universal
• Jeff the Brotherhood – “Black Cherry Pie”
• from Wasted On The Dream on Infinity Cat Recordings
• The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – “Betty vs the NYPD”
• from Freedom Tower - No Wave Dance Party 2015 on Infinity Cat Recordings
• Kendrick Lamar – “King Kunta”
• from To Pimp a Butterfly on Interscope / Aftermath
• Laura Marling – “Strange”
• from Short Movie on Ribbon Music
• Lightning Bolt – “The Metal East”
• from Fantasy Empire on Thrill Jockey
• LoneLady – “Bunkerpop”
• from Hinterland on Warp
• Nellie McKay – “Murder In My Heart for the Judge”
• from My Weekly Reader on 429 Records
• Strung Out – “The Animal and the Machine”
• from Transmission.Alpha.Delta on Fat Wreck Chords
• Vetiver – “Current Carry”
• from Complete Strangers on Easy Sound Recording Company