Linkin Park, Little Steven, Snoop Dogg and 26 More Albums to Hear Now
Rolling Stone Recommends:
Jlin, Black Origami
The most talked-about electronic album of the year is rooted in the decades-percolating rhythmic traditions of footwork – a high-octane, disorientingly polyrhythmic dance music beloved by Chicago kids who move in frenzied blurs. But the second album from Gary, Indiana producer Jlin explodes footwork’s textural palette, making a pointillist fricassee of horror movie tension, wheedling noise, thumb piano buzz, digital woodwinds and other sounds that live in the uncanny, Cronenberg-ian dream world between the real and the synthetic. Whereas most footwork relies on repeated samples of movie dialogue and rapper boasts, Jlin inhabits a mystery land of disembodied syllables, flecks of sound and the occasional trumpeting elephant with assists from minimalist composer William Basinski and ASMR enthusiast Holly Herndon. If the frenzied press hype is to be trusted, a regional dance music has just produced the next Aphex Twin; if not, Black Origami is still a one-of-a-kind album of twinkle and jitter, pulsating with of virtual-reality expressionism and mind-rattling rhythms. Christopher R. Weingarten
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Low Cut Connie, Dirty Pictures (Part 1)
Philadelphia party rockers put down the Yuengling for a second and get ruminative. “The weight of the world is really with them on album four,” writes Jon Dolan, “and it’s helped add depth and power to their music.”
Read Our Review: Rock Revivalists Low Cut Connie Face Reality on Dirty Pictures
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Man Forever, Play What They Want
And what might that be? Maximalist drummer John Colpitts (a.k.a. Kid Millions) of indie-rock abstractionists Oneida explodes the intensely physical beatscapes of his current project with a busload of genre-agnostic kin. “You Were Never Here” is a samba-tinged cosmic-jazz journey with Yo La Tengo’s incantatory vocals; “Twin Torches” features Laurie Anderson meditating on stars and self alongside the billowing Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble. There are Harry Partch-like processionals and epic krautrock grooves, with harpist Mary Lattimore and pianist/composer Sam Yulsman adding bursts of color. Indie-rock-jazz-modern-classical fusion? Nah – that’s way too dull a tag for this intensely heady, ritualistic rhythm-magic. Submit. Will Hermes
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Casey Dienel, Imitation of a Woman to Love
No longer operating under the name White Hinterland, the Massachusetts-born, New York-residing producer and singer Casey Dienel sounds liberated on her first album under her own name since 2006’s Wind-Up Canary. On this sprawling, stunning collection, Dienel takes on the racket that is femininity in 2017 with clamorous, winding tracks that get a jolt from searingly honest lyrics (“I didn’t say a word/Swore not to complain/Held my arms Christlike/While they made the best of my silhouette,” she gasps on the churning “Complicated Silhouette”). The twisted travelogue “High Times” puts the lie to the romantic ideal of the no-strings vacation hookup; the hiccuping “Chill and Natural” ticks off a list of societal expectations in a world where “girls are shaving themselves for marriage.” The twists and turns taken by Dienel’s expansive, urgent compositions show that the other side of the feminine ideal is a pretty fun place to be. Maura Johnston
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Also of Note:
(Sandy) Alex G., Rocket
The Philly-based singer-songwriter’s eighth album includes hushed lo-fi ballads and clamorous, low-end-heavy freak-outs.
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Chastity Brown, Silhouette of Sirens
This Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter’s stripped-down soul gets a jolt from her no-nonsense delivery.
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Como Mamas, Move Upstairs
Como, Mississippi’s premier gospel trio raise their voices on stirring songs of praise.
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DragonForce, Reaching Into Infinity
The British power-metal outfit are back with more rapidfire drum breaks and finger-twisting solos—as well as the occasional downtempo track, which shows off frontman Marc Hudson’s impressive range.
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Erasure, World Be Gone
The New Wave legends take on the world’s ills on their 17th album.
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Faith Evans and the Notorious B.I.G., The King & I
The Faith Evans-helmed album of duets with her late husband honors his legacy with fiery tracks and cameos from key Biggie acolytes. “It’s about bringing B.I.G. back, letting them know what he did for the culture,” says Jadakiss, who appears on the track “NYC.”
Read Our Feature: Faith Evans on Her ‘Musical Movie’ About Life With the Notorious B.I.G.
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Nick Hakim, Green Twins
The debut from this Brooklyn-based soul man showcases his quixotic, impassioned spin on R&B.
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Jade Jackson, Gilded
This California country-punk’s new album was produced by kindred spirit and Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness. “He was like a father to me,” she tells RS. “If he thought I could improve on something, he’d tell me and I’d try it.”
Listen to Our Interview: Hear Jade Jackson, Chris Shiflett Talk California Roots, Mike Ness
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Jarami, Sketches
The Swedish duo behind Frank Ocean’s “Chanel” offer up an EP of hazy grooves.
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Linkin Park, One More Light
The nu-metal titans plunge into pop’s deep end with hooky tracks that add zeitgeist-y touches (including a cameo by Kiiara) to their rap-centric mix.
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Little Steven, Soulfire
The longtime E Street Band returns to center stage on his first solo album since 1999.
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Magic Giant, In the Wind
The debut full-length from these buzzy, EDM-tinged indie-folkers, who are set for this summer’s Firefly Festival.
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The Mountain Goats, Goths
Singer-storyteller John Darnielle’s long-running musical concern ditches the guitars as it tells tales of outcasts.
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Oxbow, Thin Black Duke
Long-running weird-rock troupe Oxbow return after a decade with a heavily orchestrated rock opera of sorts that plays off Bowie’s mid-Seventies persona. Mercurial vocalist Eugene Robinson whines, whispers and wheezes a Waitsian narrative about the titular character with quixotic asides like, “When the Duke talks, he speaks like a mime.” While the band fuses doomy rock, jazz and intricate arrangements in fascinating and sometimes beguiling ways, Robinson makes it a point to put listeners on edge, challenging them in ways that are at times appealingly unpleasant. Kory Grow
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Papa Roach, Crooked Teeth
The ninth album from the angsty alt-metal stalwarts.
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Pokey LaFarge, Manic Revelations
The St. Louis-born rock revivalist returned to his hometown for this taut, soul-fueled collection.
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Rascal Flatts, Back to Us
The country-pop superstars’ new album is a back-to-basics affair that was produced at bassist Jay DeMarcus’ home studio. “You have to take a deep breath and say, ‘Wait a minute, people fell in love with us for distinct reasons. Let’s get back to what it was people loved about us at first,'” DeMarcus says.
Read Our Feature: Rascal Flatts Talk Past Missteps, Debut Chris Stapleton’s ‘Vandalized’
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Maggie Rose, Dreams > Dollars
This country upstart’s new EP blends the spunky (“I Won’t”) with the shimmering (“Body on Fire”).
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She-Devils, She-Devils
This Montreal duo’s beguiling, yet slightly menacing indiepop sounds filtered through an AM radio, with lead singer Audrey Ann Boucher’s come-hither whisper recalling Nancy Sinatra at her most coy while her partner in crime Kyle Jukka creates spaced-out textures that gently beckon even as Boucher’s singing of revenge (on the sinewy “Make You Pay”) and alienation (on the jittery “The World Laughs”). She-Devils dance across the line between dreampop and surrealistic nightmare fuel, winking the whole way. Maura Johnston
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Snoop Dogg, Neva Left
Though Snoop Dogg would become a pop icon, rap legend and TV star for songs like “Gin & Juice,” one of the most endearing traits of the Long Beach teenager that took the world by storm in the Nineties was his enthusiastic love of covers and tributes – a spin through Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick’s “La Di Da Di” on Doggystyle, a booming update of Biz Markie’s “Vapors” on Tha Doggfather, a version of Too $hort’s “Freaky Tales” for a covers comp. For anyone who loves Snoop the human oldies station, his 15th album is a living mixtape. Though he does live in the present for a booming song with K Camp (“Trash Bags”), much of the album is a WhoSampled.comp user’s gangsta paradise. “Neva Left” lets the Wu-Tang “C.R.E.A.M.” sample spin out longer into its original source, the Chantels velvety 1967 song “As Long As I’ve Got You”; “Big Mouth” is a lush remake of the 1984 Whodini classic; “Moment I Feared” turns the Slick Rick jam into slapping Oakland mobb music with Rick Rock. KRS-One, B-Real, Too $hort, Redman, some talkbox and scratching from DJ Battlecat add old school bonafides. “How can you get it if you ain’t been through shit,” he raps, “I’m just a seed that was planted by Ruthless.” Christopher R. Weingarten
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Tricot, 3
“Power math rock” is a slightly awkward phrase, but it’s the best way to describe this explosive Japanese trio, whose stop-start rhythms and manic riffing are the stuff dreamworld’s mosh pits are made of.
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Various Artists, Dirty Dancing (Original Television Soundtrack)
The made-for-TV remake of the Catskills romance gets a cover-filled companion album where teen heartthrob Greyson Chance takes on Eric Carmen’s “Hungry Eyes,” country smoothies Lady Antebellum tackle “Hey Baby” and Bea Miller gives “Be My Baby” a dancepop makeover.
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Wavves, You’re Welcome
The sun-soaked slacker rockers, led by Nathan Williams, sneer and shout on their sixth full-length.
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Jane Weaver, Modern Kosmology
The future-minded producer and singer returns with a collection of otherworldly synth-pop.
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