Listen: Amherst – “Disco Thuggin EP”

A couple weeks back one of Amherst’s Disco Thuggin tunes was mistakenly identified as a new Avalanches song, that should kind of tell you that what your in store for is a lot of fun. Taking bits and pieces of Young Thug’s hits and layered them over some dance floor heavy disco complete with horns, air horns and good vibes.

Stream the four tracks from below and buy the whole thing for $1 over at Bandcamp.

Listen: Lightning Bolt – “The Metal East”

Noise duo Lightning Bolt recently announced Fantasy Empire, their first album in over five years will be released on March 24 via Thrill Jockey. "The Metal East" is our first taste of the record and it’s a welcome return that definitely brought a smile to my face after hearing it. Lots of polyrhythms going on here with distorted vocals and heavy fuzzed-out baselines.   

Listen: - Cannibal Ox – “Harlem Knights”

More new music from Cannibal Ox to share in anticipation of their first new LP in thirteen years, Blade Of The Ronin. “Harlem Knights” see’s Vordul Mega and Vast Aire dropping some serious rhymes over a synth heavy beat from Bill Cosmiq. Look for the record to drop on March 3^rd.

Video: Shlohmo – “Buried”

Shlohmo teams up with director Lance Drake for forthcoming LP Dark Red’s first video. “Buried” is a very bleak clip that goes exceptionally well with the producer’s dark and moody tune.  Shlohmo has said the record is intended to be” devastating and violent” and I would say tone has definitely been set.

The viewer is taken on a six minute journey whose lead character is a distraught pregnant woman giving birth on the streets of LA. The whole thing has an 80’s John Carpenter type grit to it that fits like a glove.  Look for Dark Red to drop on April 7th via True Panther.

Listen: HU₵₵I – “404 EP”

Hu₵₵i dropped a new EP titled 404 earlier in the week that I’ve been enjoying quite a bit on the ol’ headphones. Even though the Brighton producer calls the release an EP it is twenty-two tracks and over an hour long.  You can grab the whole thing right now for a name your own price exchange, but it be worth it even at retail price. Plenty of killer tracks, including some I’ve shared in the past. New early highlights for me include "Mula" and late album cuts “Thir$t” and “Moon.”  Give  it a spin below and pick the whole thing up HERE.

Video: Doomtree – “Final Boss”

Friday the 13th, gotta say my luck has been pretty awful today and all week for that matter, but hey! It’s a long weekend and  to top it off Doomtree released a new video for All Hands tune, “Final Boss.” Maria Juranic handles directing duties in the super dark dinner-party-gone-bad clip.

Listen: Chromatics – “Just Like You”

About an hour ago the Chromatics shared the first music from their forthcoming LP, Dear Tommy, which is due out in March and one of my most anticipated lof the year. Check out “Just Like You” below and download it for free courtesy of the band.

Video: Vessel - "Drowned in Water and Light"

A new video from Tri Angle recording artist Vessel popped up yesterday. "Drowned in Water and Light" appears on last year's Punish, Honey, the NSFW clip was directed by Pedro Maia, and reads like a home porno art film of sorts which kind of seems to be a theme for the visuals off the record thus far.  Check it below and if you are in the NY area you can see the producer perform tonight at The Wick in Brooklyn.

Listen: Cannibal Ox – “Iron Rose” ft. MF DOOM

NYC hip hop duo, MCs Vordul Mega and Vast Aire, aka Cannibal Ox have been perpetually making a comeback for quite some time now. Last year an EP was released to little fanfare but much curiosity and after a failed Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a proper full length, the guys seemingly pulled the cash together from someplace, and have finished their sophomore full-length, Blade Of The Ronin. Bill Cosmiq handled production, and features from the likes of MF DOOM, U-God, Elzhi, and Artifacts are said to be included. Our first taste from the record comes in the form of “Iron Rose” featuring the aforementioned MF DOOM. Look for the record to drop on March 3^rd.

Download/Listen: Aphex twin 110 Demos

Right after dropping his latest offering “Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt2 EP,” Aphex Twin, or someone close to him, went ahead and shared 110 various free demos, yes that’s right one hundred and ten songs. Clearly Richard saw that there is interest in his music still,as its seemingly woken a sleeping  giant in regards to the amount of music he has shared in the last 6 months. Stream and download from below…

Video: Doomtree – “Gray Duck’

The new Doomtree record, All Hands, slays, there isn’t a track on it that I don’t like, actually I straight up LOVE at least ten of the thirteen tracks, which is saying a lot considering their last LP, No Kings, didn’t really do it for me.  I would say All Hands is a straight up mixture of the Minnesota collective’s self titled record and No Kings, a better mix of the commercial pop hooks and “arty” hip hop, there is a whole lot of energy throughout.  The first video was directed by AndrewMelby for “Gray Duck,” a reference to a regional version of the children’s game “Duck Duck Gooose” which should help explain the masks. Make note of Sims' line towards the end which should make some people smile...

"I' really real, half Built to Spill half Kill at Will."

Onomatopoeia's Best Music of 2014

Welcome to Onomatopoeia’s year-end best of 2014, I am a little late but still here so thanks for the patience.  I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record but 2014 truly was an abysmal year for music. To be fair it wasn't so much a bad year for music as it was for the album format. To say it was difficult for me to even compose a list of thirteen would be a huge understatement.

My process usually begins around September, I try and get the ball rolling and start making a list with what I've really enjoyed in the months leading up to this moment. I had something like seven albums listed with only three months to go.  So rather than force a full list I made sure to go back to everything I remember enjoying but not necessarily loving and re-exploring them in greater detail. In the end I did find thirteen releases that I felt happy with along with a solid honorable mentions section.

For those who frequent this space most of the material should be familiar, I don't know if there are too many surprises but as always I hope some of you get something new out of it.

CONTINUE TO ONOMATOPOEIA"S BEST OF 2014.