Out This Week 7/20

The biggest surprise of the summer is the latest from veteran Chicago band Wilco, who snuck out their ninth full-length late last week. KEXP Music Director Don Yates describes the album as "a smartly crafted blend of stomping glam-rock, buzzing motorik post-punk, atmospheric space-rock jams, plaintive psych-folk ballads and more, combining a raw, live sound with shape-shifting arrangements and plenty of adventurous guitar work from Nels Cline." The long-awaited Tame Impala album finds the Australian psych-fiends "setting aside most of the guitars and heading in a more electronic-oriented direction for a beautifully crafted, psych-tinged blend of spacy electro-pop, sleek astral soul and disco-inspired dance-pop that combines a densely layered and intricately detailed sound with his Lennonesque, falsetto-laden vocals and reflective lyrics about loss and change."

Brooklyn-based duo Ratatat "returns to the more guitar-driven sound of their earlier records on their fifth album, while still offering a sleek blend of funk, hip hop and electronic styles with prog, psych and hard-rock on a variety of instrumentals ranging from crunchy, driving funk-rock to atmospheric, steel guitar-infused ballads." Another duo, longtime twosome The Chemical Brothers, share their eighth album (and first in five years), "a strong set ranging from psych-tinged acid house jams with squelchy synths and propulsive rhythms to atmospheric psych-pop ballads," featuring special guests Q-Tip, Beck, St. Vincent, Cate Le Bon, and more.

More highlights this week including two releases out of Oakland, California. Camera Shy is the new project of former Whirr vocalist Alexandra Morte and Whirr/Nothing bassist Nick Bassett, "a fine set of catchy indie-pop with jangly guitars, heart-tugging vocals and wistful melodies." And Happy Diving share "a strong 7-inch single of anthemic sludge-pop with fuzzy guitars, energetic rhythms, angsty lyrics and potent song hooks."

• The Bird and the Bee – “Will You Dance?”
• from Recreational Love on Rostrum Records
• Camera Shy – “Colors Radiate”
• from Camera Shy on Run for Cover Records
• The Chemical Brothers – “EML Ritual”
• from Born in the Echoes on Astralwerks
• Falcons – “Aquafina feat. GoldLink & Chaz French”
• from Terra EP on Fool's Gold
• Flo Morrissey – “Show Me”
• from Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful on Glassnote
• Flying Saucer Attack – “Instrumental 4”
• from Instrumentals 2015 on Drag City
• Happy Diving – “So Bunted”
• from So Bunted EP on Topshelf
• Iron & Wine / Ben Bridwell – “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”
• from Sing Into My Mouth on Black Cricket / Brown
• Jason Isbell – “24 Frames”
• from Something More Than Free on Southeastern
• Jesse Hackett – “Sacred Oblivion”
• from Junk on Circle Star
• Mountain Language – “Other Ends And Oblivions”
• from Caustic Surge of Weary Oceans on HeWhoCorrupts, Inc.
• MS MR – “Painted”
• from How Does It Feel on Columbia / RCA
• Peacers – “R.J.D. (Salam)”
• from Peacers on Drag City
• Pictureplane – “Hyper Real”
• from Hyper Real: The Remixes EP on IHC 1NFINITY
• Ratatat – “ABRASIVE”
• from Magnifique on XL
• Tame Impala – “Eventually”
• from Currents on Fiction / Interscope
• White Reaper – “I Don't Think She Cares”
• from White Reaper Does It Again on Polyvinyl
• Wilco
• from Star Wars on dBpm