Welcome back to another edition of our regular Monday stream-a-thon, wherein we hunt down the best and/or most notable records to preview for free over the Internet. This week we’re gushing over the arrival of the new Spiritualized album, which is on high rotation at Flavorpill central and will remain so until someone physically wrests control of the stereo away. Elsewhere, there’s the arrival of the Zambri sisters’ debut record, some gentle alt-country from Horse Feathers, deep-baked dub from The Black Seeds, and — for those who came in late — Screaming Females’ killer new record Ugly. Click through and listen to your heart’s content!
Spiritualized — Sweet Heart Sweet Light
The only thing we’re unsure about as far as Spiritualized’s seventh studio album goes is the cover art. Apart from that, this is a classic Spiritualized record from start to finish — as we noted in our April albums preview, you pretty much know exactly what you’re going to get with Jason Pierce, and this record delivers beautifully. As far as mood goes, the record falls somewhere between its two predecessors — the reflective mood of Songs in A&E and the more pared-back, garage-y Amazing Grace — and it’s great. Hear it via NPR.
Zambri — House of Baasa
Meanwhile, if dark pop music is your thing, you’re most likely already all over the debut album by Zambri, which is streaming this week at Spinner. Taking big Salem-esque synths and a faintly ominous atmosphere, and infusing them with a candy-coated pop sensibility, Zambri’s sound is both distinctive and intoxicating — from dragged-out Berlin samples (“Hundred Hearts”) to fractured vocal textures (“From the Starts”), this is a fine debut. Hear it right here.
Horse Feathers — Cynic’s New Year
We’re rather partial to a bit of gentle acoustic alt-country stuff here at Flavorpill, especially on Monday mornings when getting out of bed feels like essaying some insurmountably Sisyphean task. Thank goodness, then, for Portland, Oregon band Horse Feathers, whose fourth album Cynic’s New Year has just the right air of stately melancholy to reflect exactly how we’re feeling right about now. It’s streaming all week at NPR — check it out here.
The Black Seeds — Dust and Dirt
Also doing a fine job of capturing the atmosphere of a Monday morning are New Zealand dub combo The Black Seeds, whose fifth studio album Dust and Dirt is streaming at Spinner this week. For some reason, New Zealand and dub go together like peanut butter and jelly, and there’s a heap of deep, rhythmic music coming out of the country these days — having been around for the best part of 15 years, The Black Seeds are very much the elder statesmen of the Kiwi dub scene, and on this evidence, they’re getting better with age. Hear the record here.
Screaming Females — Ugly
And finally, if you read our article last week on great female-fronted punk bands and wanted to hear more of the new Screaming Females record, then rejoice — it’s streaming in its entirety via Spin as we speak. Click here to get in on the action.