The Friday Refrain: What's New In Music

The air is cooling and the flurry of albums is slowing finally as we head towards winter. But the flurry of Christmas albums is increasing and I’ve started my list and will be checking it twice but first today…

New Music

Must be November because we have the next edition of Bob Dylan’s Bootleg Series, More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14. Comedic rockers Tenacious D are back with Post-Apocalypto. Electronica The Prodigy is back with No Tourists. Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash releases She Remembers Everything. Rap albums out today: Vince Staples with FM! and Action Bronson with White Bronco. Barbra Streisand returns with Walls. Alt rockers Sun Kil Moon release the ep This Is My Dinner. And as per usual, I end with a favorite of mine, the sludgy desert rock of L.A. Witch with their new ep Octubre.

Should I Bother?

• L.A. Witch: This album is just as fuzzy as always with vocals so muffled it’s hard to understand at times. Really wish I could have gone to Desert Daze, hearing L.A. Witch and Kikagaku Moyo in the same fest would be so fun… I digress

• Tenacious D: You’re going to hear this phrase a lot today, “this album stays true to the band’s core sound” and definitely continues the style of rocking storytelling

• The Prodigy: It is unmistakable that this album is The Prodigy from beginning to end

• Rosanne Cash: I will be honest this album didn’t catch me immediately like her last album did, but that was only after a quick scan through a few tracks. I’m still looking forward to returning to this album later.

• Vince Staples: The first track is a good single, and it’s a fun concept to sound like listening to the radio.

And I’m going to be honest, I’m not the best judge for Action Bronson or Sun Kil Moon, so I’m going to let you decide on those two for yourselves. And there we have it, another Friday, another Refrain. Happy Listening!