Palehound mastermind, Ellen Kempner, explains the influences and origins of her new LP, A Place I’ll Always Go, in this interview with Bandcamp! The LP is set to release Friday, June 16th, 2017 on Polyvinyl Records, and impacts radio on Tuesday, June 13th, 2017.

Read part of the piece below!

In the end, it’s easy to see Kempner’s music as her way of creating all of the things that weren’t available for her as a teenager. It’s deeply therapeutic—for her, and for the listener—and it’s also allowed Kempner to become an important queer voice. “I want people to be able to listen to the record and hear their experience in it, somehow,” she says. “Specifically, I want queer people and people who’ve suffered loss to have something to grab on to…”

Check out the full feature here.

A Place I’ll Always Go is out June 16th on Polyvinyl Records.

Listen to the new single, “I Want to Sing for Them All”, by jazz artist Meklit Hadero at Vibe Magazine. This Brooklyn based Ethiopian born singer is influenced by American hip-hop, jazz, and pop, as well as her mother’s Ethiopian tapes. Keep an eye out for her upcoming LP When The People Move, The Music Moves Too.

Read part of what Vibe Magazine had to say about the track below:

“I Want to Sing for Them All” is a beautiful medley of lush and rich sounds from the African diaspora that inspired the song. The spirit of the record aims to uplift and captivates your spirits, and its eclectic, colorful, and artistic video channels the vibrant spirit of Ethic-Jazz in such a way that will make you dance.

When The People Move, The Music Moves Too is out June 23rd on Six Degrees Records!

Read the full Vibe article HERE.

ATO Records’ latest signee is Australian singer/songwriter Slow Dancer. After developing his sound playing in a few bands in Melborne, Simon Okley has now crafted his own soothing sound. Noisey got to know him and wrote a great piece featuring his new song “It Goes On” off the LP In A Mood.

Read part of the piece below, or check it all out HERE.

A more texture-heavy production, In a Mood creates a blanket of sound, each layer blending smoothly, a sonic gradient of guitar, organ, strings, bass, and vocals. Every tone lays in the baritone range, creating complementary combinations even when basslines are groovy and guitar licks are jazzy. The record straddles the line between past and present with nods to Van Morrison and Steely Dan and hints of more recent acts such as John Mayer and Whitney. Lead single “Don’t Believe” begins with a moseying blur, a sexy Hall & Oates-esque groove. Okely’s timbre maintains a steady flow, never escalating, exuding an authoritative sense of contentment—here’s who is confident in his storytelling so there’s no need to yell it.

In A Mood is out May 5th, 2017 on ATO Records!

Luaka Bop has compiled rare recordings from Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda during the later part of her life. Privately distributed during the ‘80s and ‘90s at Sai Anantam Ashram, these songs will now be featured on the upcoming record World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. Pitchfork premiered the track “Om Rama” and included some liner notes from the record. Read interviews with her two children, and great nephew Flying Lotus. 

Stream the track and read it all HERE!

Catch part of the feature below:

On May 5, David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label will release a new Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda compilation called World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda. The record features music that Coltrane made while she lived at the Sai Anantam Ashram, which she established in 1983; the tracks had previously been available only on cassettes distributed within the community. Following “Om Shanti,” the latest offering from the compilation is the rare song “Om Rama.”

World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda will be released May 5th on Luaka Bop!

Track Rambler caught up with award winning Reggae group Morgan Heritage at SXSW about their new LP Avrakedabra. Following the success of their 2015 album Strictly Roots, we are excited to hear Avrakedabra due out May 19th on VP Records.

Catch part of the interview below:

[Track Rambler]: How special was it for Morgan Heritage to collaborate with Stephen and Ziggy Marley and what were they able to bring to this recording?

Morgan Heritage: It was a dream come true to finally have a collaboration with Ziggy & Stephen and what makes it even more special is that they are on the same song with us. What they brought to the song is what we have as a family. The oneness, the love, the unity. Together we were able to share with the world what many have long waited and hoped for.

Listen to “Journey Into Avrakedabra pt. 1″ and read the full interview HERE!

Keep an eye out for Avrakedabra coming May 19th.

Juana Molina has announced her seventh LP Halo on Crammed Discs. Listen to one of the tracks, “Cosoco”, over at Stereogum! Keep an eye out for it’s release on May 5th!

Read some of what Stereogum had to say below:

The song is a playful one that showcases the inventive instrumentation Molina’s known for. You can hear those inclinations best toward the end of this track, when Molina’s words give way to what sounds like the simulated hoot of an owl.

Listen to the track HERE!

Originally from Sierra Leone, Janka Nabay has infused Bubu music from home into a unique and fun sound. His new record Build Music is set to release later this month on Luaka Bop. You can listen to one of the tracks now at The Fader!

Read some of what The Fader had to say below:

It’s difficult to ease a specific genre out of the sound that Nabay and his collaborators in the Bubu Gang have developed. True to his roots, Nabay fixes the sounds of the bubu horns as a focal point around which a few other elements swirl, but the brief, glitchy beats that fizz beneath the percussion feel entirely new.

Listen to “Build Music” here!

Soul veteran Don Bryant returns to the spotlight after 40 years with a new record, Don’t Give Up On Love. NPR premiered the brand new track “How Do I Get There” and the accompanying music video. 

Read more about Bryant’s return in the article HERE. Catch some of the warm words below:

The album’s first single, “How Do I Get There,” showcases Bryant’s talents as not just a writer, but as a formidable soul singer. You can hear him lingering over each word, rolling it around and breathing feeling into it, before releasing it — inspired in every sense of the term — to the heavens. Under Bryant’s vocal percolates a churchy organ laid down by Charles Hodges of the original rhythm section at Hi — famously home to that other preacher of gospel sacred and secular, Al Green.

Don’t Give Up On Love is coming out May 12th on Fat Possum Records

Happy Magazine recommends to take “a shot of pure soul” with Zillanova’s “The Fader”. This track is off an upcoming EP with the same name on HopeStreet Recordings. Don’t wait! Dig into this amazing track now.

Listen to “The Fader” HERE!

Read part of what Happy Magazine has to say about Zillanova:

Joshua Tavares has been struck by the soul gods. Born and raised into a family of singers, with his uncles serving as the voices behind the widely revered seventies disco group Tavares, it’s no wonder Zillanova have soared to spirited heights with him as their front-man.

The Fader EP is impacting radio February 28th!

Melina Duterte, aka Jay Som, got interviewed by Jenn Pelly of Pitchfork Magazine. Pelly wrote a great feature in addition to a discussion of Duterte’s newest record Everybody Works on Polyvinyl Records. The interview covers things from Karaoke as a kid to some of her favorite artists. 

Check out part of the interview below:

[Pitchfork]: With your singing, sometimes it feels like you’re telling someone a secret. You have lyrics like “Our pinky promises/Were never meant for this” on “Remain,” and you sing “Are secrets still a thing?” on “The Bus Song.” Is that all intentional?

[Jay Som]: It is very intentional. I like my singing to be intimate, like I’m right there with you. I like doing that live, too. I just sing quiet. A lot of this work—I’m solo. At it’s core, it’s all about the comfort in solitude. Sometimes with my work, I’m very private about it. Sometimes I feel like: “I don’t have to share this song.” It’s about taking that courageous next step to show people how you can be vulnerable and show that you’re human, in a sense. Sharing art, it’s not for everyone. I’m still working on that.

Read the full feature HERE!

Everybody Works is impacting radio on March 7th!

The Bay Bridged wrote a great breakdown on the upcoming King Woman record Created In the Image of Suffering on Relapse Records. Set to hit shelves on February 17th, King Woman is playing a release show at Starline Social Club in Oakland, CA. Don’t miss out on this record!

Read what The Bay Bridged had to say:

The first preview pummels forth from the starting line on “Utopia.” In line with previous singles, the aurally haunting Kristina Esfandiari guides you through a barrage of dead-waking guitar and cymbal crashes. Colin Gallagher (guitar), Peter Arensdorf (bass), and Joey Raygoza (drums) create a doom-laden sound that repeatedly hits hard enough to never allow the dust it knocks off the walls to settle. Personally, I’ll be looking forward to finding another sprawling hypnotic number in the vein of “King of Swords” on the new record. It, like a handful of others that you’re likely to hear live, will leave you feeling just lost enough by the time your ears stop ringing.

Read the full article HERE!

Created In the Image of Suffering is impacting radio on February 14th.

Brooklyn Vegan premiered “Get Out”, the new track from Sallie Ford. Stream the song before the release of her upcoming LP Soul Sick on Vanguard Records. 

Read some warm words from Brooklyn Vegan below:

We’ve got the premiere of “Get Out,” which is the kind of retro-but-modern rocker that Sallie does so well and has a wah-pedal guitar solo that’ll bring you right back to the ’60s. She says this song “is about how my insecurities of my music are related to the insecurities I feel about me in general. I tend to want to give up or easily feel overwhelmed and want to escape.”

Stream the song, and read the full article HERE!

Soul Sick is out February 10th on Vanguard Records!

Clash Music premiered the music video for Izo Fitzroy’s “Reckoning” from her upcoming full length record Skyline on Jalapeno Records. Skyline hits shelves on February 24th.

Read some of the warm words from Clash Music:

Izo Fitzroy hails from London, yet her husky voice and powerful delivery sound more like Chicago’s south side circa 1964.

Imagine Etta James working with a funky backbeat and you’d be close, with Izo Fitzroy stamping her own individuality over each song.

Read it all, and check out the music video HERE.

Seattle’s The Stranger covers the release of The Gods Themselves new music video “Tech Boys” in anticipation of their new LP Be My Animal out on January 20th! The trio takes classic ‘80′s style dance pop and add their own take on todays societal trends.

Read part of the piece below:

Musically, “Tech Boys” is a gloriously strutting number that does the splits in a silver jumpsuit between disco’s coiled rhythmic efficiency and neo-glam rock’s bawdiness. “You gotta feel that rhythm, that algorithm,” Patterson sings with caustic knowingness.

Read the full piece, and watch the music video for “Tech Boys” HERE!

Be My Animal is going for ADDs on January 24th!