Best of June 2023

  • July 1, 2023
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We're keeping track, so you don't have to. Check out some of our favorites from June!

Jenny Lewis / Joy'All
Jenny Lewis teamed up with producer Dave Cobb in Nashville to record her fifth solo album at the legendary RCA Studio A. Much of the songwriting began during the height of the pandemic, at a songwriting workshop put together by Beck, on zoom, where everyone wrote new songs inspired by prompts passed out to the group. Lewis took those song ideas into her recording sessions with Cobb and the result is a soulful, sunny sound that could have fit perfectly on the airwaves of 1970's radio. - Ebay Hamilton
Check Out: Psychos, Puppy and a Truck, Love Feel, and Balcony

Meshell Ndegeocello / The Omnichord Real Book
Grammy-winning bassist, vocalist and producer, Meshell Ndegeocello is back with her first album of all-originals in nearly a decade, and first for the Blue Note Record label. Following the death of her parents, Ndegeocello was tasked with sorting through their belongings when she rediscovered her first Real Book (that her father had given her) and her parents old record collection, which she grew up listening to. Those discoveries were the inspiration for The Omnichord Real Book. She says this album "is about the way we see old things in new ways," and has recruited a stellar list of musicians to create these 18 tracks: Josh Johnson, Jason Moran, Jeff Parker, Brandee Younger, Julius Rodriguez, Cory Henry, Joan As Police Woman, and others. The result is a sprawling, expansive mix of Soul, Funk, Hip-Hop and of course, Jazz, touching on the topics of grief, pain, and growth, in her signature laid-back, spiritual groove. - Ebay Hamilton
Check Out: Clear Water, ASR, and Good Good

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Weathervanes
At this point in Jason Isbell's career, when we hear he's got a new album, we can bet it's going to be good. Thankfully, Weathervanes is better than expected. His current creative run took off in 2013 with the Southeastern album. Now five records and ten years later Isbell remains able to tap into thoughtful, emotional territory that feels like he's still discoving new aspects of his life and the world he inhabits. He's an artist at the top of his craft who's musical output feels limitless. - Eugenie Hero Jaffe
Check Out: Deathwish, Middle of the Morning, When We Were Close

Christine & The Queens: Paranoïa, Angels, True Love
French singer Heloise Letissier — a.k.a Christine and the Queens, Chris, or Redcar, or Red, has created an immersive project for his fourth album, Paranoïa, Angels, True Love. Drawing on the themes of his mother’s recent death and Tony Kushner’s award-winning play Angels in America, the album is delivered in three acts sending the listener on a journey of genre-bending introspective songs of fear in one’s identity, a spiritual awakening and finding love and comfortability in one’s self. -Courtney Blair
Check Out: Tears Can Be So Soft, To Be Honest, Aimer Puis Vivre

Bdrmm: I Don't Know
Britain’s bdrmm (pronounced bedroom) caught critics attention with the release of their reverb-drenched guitar driven 2020 debut album, Bedroom. Since then they’ve gained fans like Shoegaze legends like Ride and Mogwai. The band have returned stronger and more confident on their sophomore album, I Don’t Know, which marks their first release with Rock Action, the label founded and run by Mogwai. This time around exploring new territories and drawing influencers from Thom Yorke’s solo material, Boards of Canada and incorporating layers of atmospheric electronic sounds. - Courtney Blair
Check Out: Alps, It’s Just a Bit of Blood, Pulling Stitches

TEKE: TEKE Hagata
Montreal's seven piece psych-rock collective, TEKE::TEKE, started as a tribute band to Japanese guitarist Takeshi Terauchi but proved their skills with the release of their 2021 debut, Shirushi. Their sophomore release, Hagata, is a musical kaleidoscope exploding with personality. Vocalist Maya Kurokii belts out high-octave notes and screams in her native Japanese, layered over elements of surf rock, psychedelic rock to Japanese folk. - Courtney Blair
Check Out: Garakuta, Gotoku Lemon, Doppelganger

Other notable June releases worth checking out:
Gov't Mule / Peace... Like a River
Janelle Monae / The Age of Pleasure
Killer Mike / Michael
Bettye LaVette / LaVette!
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard / PetroDragonic Apocalypse...

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