10 Best Songs of the Week: Wild Nothing, The Love Language, Tomberlin, Tunng, and More

Jul 20, 2018 Christopher Roberts

Songs of the Week returned last week after a five-week hiatus and now we're back into the full swing of things. This week's list features some returning artists who have appeared on other Songs of the Week lists lately, including a repeat #1, as well as some artists making their debut on the list. It all ends with one of the silliest songs to ever make the Songs of the Week list, which will hopefully lift your spirits.

The End: The Essex Green

Jul 20, 2018 Web Exclusive

To end out the week, we ask The Essex Green some questions about endings and death. The indie-pop trio (Sasha Bell, Jeff Baron, and Christopher Ziter) haven't released an album in 12 years, since 2006's Cannibal Sea, but last month they released a new album, Hardly Electronic, via Merge.

Amen Dunes on “Freedom”

Jul 16, 2018 Web Exclusive

I found Damon McMahon on the southern route of his U.S. tour, headed to Louisville from Nashville in a van with his bandmates listening to him answer questions about, among other things, them, which is strange. 

Soccer Mommy on “Clean”

Jun 26, 2018 Issue #63 - Courtney Barnett

On the final track of Clean, the debut full-length album from Nashville's Soccer Mommy (aka Sophie Allison), the ground opens up. Under the weight of the uncertainty and pain that Allison describes on the proceeding tracks, she imagines the ground buckling: "I dreamt the sidewalk broke in two. 

Beach House - 10 Best Songs:  Ranking the Best Tracks from Teen Dream to 7

May 23, 2018

With their latest album 7, Beach House has now released eight albums (seven studio albums and one rarities and B-sides release) and 83 songs. Distilling these 83 songs down to a 10 best was a daunting task but one that was met with an enthusiastic glee. Not much is better than revisiting Beach House's entire catalog of their signature dream-pop formula of airy guitars, hushed indie-rock beats, and ethereal vocals. From their self-titled 2006 debut to the recently released 7, their sound shimmers with lush and gossamer melodies, catchy beats and softly soaring guitar riffs. Of course it proved too difficult to pick just 10 tracks, so below is list of the top 14. A 10 best and four honorable mentions.

Of course all of this is subjective, this is simply the opinion of one writer. No doubt you have your own list of favorite Beach House songs. And yes, we are aware there are no songs from the band's first two albums, 2006's Beach House and 2008's Devotion; we feel they truly came into their own with their third album, 2010's Teen Dream. By Matt the Raven

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SOPHIE at Ladyland in Brooklyn, NY on June 22, 2018

Jul 12, 2018 By Max Freedman

There is no such thing as a SOPHIE DJ set. Behind a table littered with MIDI controllers and with the volume—mostly the bass—turned to at least 12, she can make any pop song with even a hint of darkness sound like she produced it. Each and every sound heard when she takes the stage is an expression of herself, her influences, her musical goals. 

Reissued and Revisited: Matthew Sweet

Jul 19, 2018 By Frank Valish

Intervention Records reissues Matthew Sweet's 1995 album 100% Fun on vinyl with an additional LP of extras.