Once again, we were overwhelmed with great new songs from outside RVA that showed up in our inbox or around the net this week--and once again, we're sharing them all with you! So check out these fresh new jams and get your weekend started right!
Action Bronson - Watersports
Apparently this is yet another outtake from Saaab Stories, the EP Action Bronson made earlier this year in collaboration with producer Harry Fraud. As good as these outtakes have been so far, we're starting to wonder if they shouldn't have just made a full-length album. As long as they give us the tracks eventually, though, I guess it doesn't make a difference. This one features Action and Harry's pal Big Body Bes doing the same sort of over-the-top braggodocio he unleashed on Saaab Stories opening track "2 Virgins," and Bronsolino gets into the act by talking about dunking on Dikembe Mutombo. Then he spits some typically great verses over a sweet flute loop.
RJD2 - Her Majesty's Socialist Request
It's been a while since we got a new one from legendary producer and DJ RJD2--The Colossus, his fourth album, dropped three years ago. But the wait is (almost) over--More Is Than Isn't is set for an October release date. And just to whet your appetite, RJ released the first single from the album this week, "Her Majesty's Socialist Request." Over a pounding start-stop bassline (sometimes augmented by metal guitar chugs), with handclaps and chopped-up vocal interjections accenting the beat, piano and violin melodies add texture even as the rhythm keeps your head nodding.
Chimaira - All That's Left Is Blood
One of the leading lights of the New Wave Of American Metal scene that also brought Lamb Of God to the world's attention, Chimaira have at this point been through so many lineup shakeups that only singer Mark Hunter remains from the lineup that recorded 2003's classic Impossibility Of Reason. Nonetheless, it seems that Chimaira have still got it, laying down a crushing midtempo groove throughout new track "All That's Left Is Blood," which features a thematically appropriate crimson-toned video. New album Crown Of Phantoms dropped this week as well, so if you like what you hear on this video, check out the whole thing here.
The Band In Heaven - Dandelion Wine
You might remember The Band In Heaven from last year, when our pals over at Revolt Of The Apes interviewed them and we shared that interview with you, but things are ramping up for this psychedelic shoegaze ensemble. Their latest video, "Dandelion Wine," is almost like an outtake from the 1968 acid-sploitation classic Psych-Out--hippies dressed all in white frolic through a park and dance around a bonfire. The band, also dressed entirely in white, delivers this gorgeous tune with more of a 90s vibe, but in the end it's all good.
King Khan & The Shrines - Darkness
Garage rock genius King Khan keeps busy, working with everyone from the Black Lips (who he collaborated with for the group Almighty Defenders) to GZA, but he hasn't made a record of new material with his backup group, The Shrines, since 2007's What Is!? That's about to change, though, as North Carolina's Merge Records (Superchunk, Arcade Fire) is set to release Idle No More on September 5. "Darkness" is the second track we've heard from Idle No More, following last month's premiere of "Born To Die," and unlike that upbeat rocker, this tune is a melancholy retro-soul/blues ballad featuring falsetto vocals from the King. "Darkness" gets more emotional than we have previously seen from Khan, with an affecting lyric about struggling with depression. The exquisite stop-motion video that accompanies the song, which is directed and produced by Hylas Film's Benjael Halfmaderoz, tells the tale of a death-defying human cannonball who can't seem to find satisfaction in his life, and heads off on a quest for fulfillment. What happens next? Watch the video. Then preorder the new King Khan And The Shrines record right here.