Out This Week 7/8

Highlights for this week include the debut release from The Proper Ornaments, a UK group led by Max Claps and Veronica Falls’ James Hoare. KEXP's Music Director Don Yates describes their first full-length as "a sturdy, well-crafted set of hazy psych-pop with jangly guitars, warm harmonies, wistful melodies and often-dark lyrics."

Another stand-out debut this week comes from Bay Area band Cold Beat, led by Grass Widow bassist Hannah Lew. Yates describes it as "a smartly crafted blend of sparkling New Wave pop, urgent post-punk, dark synth-pop and more, with concise, hook-filled songs featuring Lew’s ethereal vocals and dark lyrics about modern-day San Francisco."

Los Angeles singer-songwriter Matt Kivel shares his sophomore release for Woodsist Records, "a fine set of understated folk-pop combining gentle acoustic and electric guitars with unhurried rhythms and hazy vocals." (Speaking of Woodsist, their founding band Woods share a new 7" single today featuring two non-album tracks.) Former Zero 7 vocalist Sia releases her sixth solo album today. Avant-garde metal group Wolves in the Throne Room throw everyone for a loop by abandoning bass and drums on their latest, for an ambient instrumental release spotlighting analog synths.

In live music, The 13th Floor Elevators release a 2-CD set featuring a legendary 1967 show from Houston Music Theatre, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young share a box set of live recordings from their 1974 reunion tour, available in a wide range of formats, including 3-CD sets, blu-ray, six 12" records, and more.

• Braid - "Bang"
• from No Coast on Top Shelf Records
• Chicks on Speed - "Text, Vodka & Le Rock N Roll"
• from Artstravaganza on Chicks on Speed
• Cloud Boat - "Hideaway"
• from Model of You on Apollo
• Cold Beat - "Mirror"
• from Over Me on Crime On the Moon
• Comet Gain - "Long After Tonite's Candles Are Blown"
• from Paperback Ghosts on Fortuna Pop
• Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - "On The Way Home (Live 1974)"
• from CSNY 1974 on Atlantic / Rhino
• French Style Furs - "Turn or Burn"
• from Is Exotic Bait on Frenchkiss Records
• Gene the Southern Child - "Smackman"
• from Southern Meridian on Adult Swim
• Gulp - "Seasoned Sun"
• from Season Sun on Everloving
• Judas Priest - "Redeemer of Souls"
• from Redeemer of Souls on Columbia
• Matt Kivel - "Insignificance"
• from Days of Being Wild on Woodsist
• La Roux - "Let Me Down Gently"
• from Trouble in Paradise on Polydor/Cherry Tree/Interscope
• Craig Leon - "One Hundred Steps"
• from Anthology of Interplanetary Folk Music Vol. 1 reissue on Rvng. Intl
• Madlib - "Black Dreams (Sludge Fight)"
• from Rock Konducta Pt. 2 on Madlib Invazion
• The Mastersons - "Good Luck Charm"
• from Good Luck Charm on New West
• MNDSGN - "Eggs"
• from Surface Outtakes on Leaving/Stones Throw
• Origin - "The Absurdity of What I Am"
• from Omnipresent on Nuclear Blast
• The Proper Ornaments - "Summer's Gone"
• from Wooden Head on Fortuna Pop / Slumberland
• Sia - "Chandelier"
• from 1000 Forms of Fear on RCA
• The Skygreen Leopards - "Leave The Family"
• from Family Crimes on Woodsist
• The 13th Floor Elevators - "Reverberation Doubt"
• from Live Evolution Lost on Charly Records / Snapper
• Viet Cong - "Oxygen Feed"
• from Cassette on Mexican Summer
• Steven Wilson - "The Day Before You Came" (ABBA cover)
• from Cover Version on Kscope
• Wolves in the Throne Room - "Celestite Mirror"
• from Celestite on Artemisia / Revolver USA
• Wolvhammer - "A Light That Does Not Yield"
• from Clawing Into Black Sun on Profound Lore
• Woods - "Tambourine Light"
• from "Tambourine Light" b/w "Tomorrow's Only Yesterday" 7" on Captured Tracks