New Releases: May 2016

Round-up of the most interesting albums, singles and EPs released in May 2016:

Albums

CAR SEAT HEADREST - Teens of Denial
RADIOHEAD - A Moon Shaped Pool
WHITE LUNG - Paradise
KRISTIN KONTROL - X-Communicate
THE DUKE SPIRIT - Kin
MARISSA NADLER - Strangers
JULIANNA BARWICK - Will
TANYA DONELLY - Swan Song Series
OPERATORS - Blue Wave
PANTHA DU PRINCE - The Triad
DEATH IN VEGAS - Transmission
HOLY FUCK - Congrats
DEATH GRIPS - Bottomless Pit
JAMES BLAKE - The Colour in Anything
ANOHNI - Hopelessness
OSCAR - Cut and Paste
EAGULLS - Ullages
BLANEY featuring MARK E SMITH - Urban Nature
KID CONGO AND THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS - La Arana Es La Vida
RICHARD ASHCROFT - These People
BETH ORTON - Kidsticks
JOHN DOE - The Westerner
BRITTA PHILLIPS - Luck or Magic
MARK KOZELEK - Sings Favorites
MALCOM MIDDLETON - Summer of '13
BAND OF SKULLS - By Default
SERATONES - Get Gone
TWIN PEAKS - Down in Heaven
A GIANT DOG - Pile
SUMMER CANNIBALS - Full of It
MARK PRITCHARD - Under the Sun
GOLD PANDA - Good Luck and Do Your Best
SHIT ROBOT - What Follows
CHANCE THE RAPPER - Coloring Book
AESOP ROCK - The Impossible Kid
YONI AND GETI - Testarossa
HOMEBOY SANDMAN - Kindness for Weakness
AUTECHRE - elseq 1 - 5
TERMINAL GODS - Wave / Form
HEAD WOUND CITY - A New Wave of Violence
NOTHING - Tired of Tomorrow
SO SO GLOS - Kamikaze
METHYL ETHEL - Oh Inhuman Spectacle
YAK - Alas Salvation
THOMAS COHEN - Bloom Forever
DAN MICHAELSON AND THE COASTGUARDS - Memory
WILD BILLY CHILDISH AND CTMF - SQ 1

Singles & EPs

RADIOHEAD - Burn the Witch
WOLF PARADE - EP 4
GOAT - I Sing in Silence
DESTROYER - My Mystery
FUJIYA AND MIYAGI - EP1 
SPRING KING - The Summer  
MRS MAGICIAN - Eyes All Over Town / Do You Wanna Walk Around in the Dark?
EXPLODED VIEW - No More Parties in the Attic / Strange Coincidences
ART TRIP AND THE STATIC SOUND - Oxymoron EP
WILD BILLY CHILDISH AND CTMF - A Song For Kylie Minogue
DIANE AND THE GENTLE MEN - Motorcycle
FIR - Summer Wasn't There / Winter Doesn't Care 
THE HAYMAN KUPA BAND - Someone to Care For / What Happened
THE BIG MOON - Cupid
PUMAROSA - Cecile
BRYDE - EP1
HOLY GHOST! - Crime Cutz
PETER, BJORN AND JOHN - Breakin' Point
JEAN MICHEL JARRE / PEACHES - What You Want 
JARVIS COCKER - Theme from Likely Stories EP

Car Seat Headrest - Vincent

Live: The Underground Youth @ Fuzz Club (Athens, May 20, 2016)

The rise of The Underground Youth’s popularity among indie music fans in Greece is a bit similar to the rise of Leicester City F.C. in the English Premiership. I don’t think that many would expect it, when Craig Dyer’s psych rock band made its Athens live debut in the fall of 2012 at the tiny Six D.O.G.S club that four years later they would be headlining at the Fuzz Club, currently the city’s largest rock venue.

I have to admit that a casual listen to their latest album, last year’s "Haunted", did not prepare me for the intensity of the band’s live show. Thankfully there was the good word of mouth from their previous gig at An Club a year ago and the fact that there aren’t many interesting rock gigs in town lately that convinced me to give them a chance and now I’m at the very pleasant position to testify that the rumors are true: The Underground Youth really know how to rock a stage!

Craig Dyer has said in interviews that he prefers to work alone when creating The Underground Youth’s music, but the added power and intensity that his music projects when performed live as quartet that also includes Frankie on guitar, Max on bass and his wife Olya on the minimal drum set, which she plays standing up bringing in mind the "Psychocandy" era Jesus And Mary Chain, is a testimony to the fact that music can be much more powerful when it is a collaborative effort.

Where their live show really takes off is when first Craig, and then also Frankie and Max, jump off the stage and start to perform among their fans the last songs of their set, true to the punk rock spirit of breaking down the barriers between musicians and fans. The Underground Youth showed us how music can be all you need to communicate with like-minded individuals and made every minute count in a truly memorable 80-minute set where psychedelic rock and post-punk collided to create some wonderful noise!

Among the highlights of their set we have singled out "Morning Sun" (which you can watch below), "Collapsing Into Night", "The Rules of Attraction" and a great cover of Suicide’s classic "Ghost Rider".

The Underground Youth - Morning Sun (live @ Fuzz Club, May 20th, 2016)

The Underground Youth, live @ Fuzz Club (May 20th, 2016)

Another plus of the fittingly rainy night was Echo Train’s performance that preceded The Underground Youth’s set. The Athens rock quintet’s music takes inspiration from ‘60s psychedelia and ’70 progressive rock, and although the latter is not high on my list of preferences, their half-hour set left a good overall impression thanks to the excellent voice and stage presence of lead singer Ren and the dynamic sound of the group.

Echo Train, live @ Fuzz Club (May 20th, 2016)