Stream of the Crop: 10 New Albums for Heavy Rotation

You’re not allowed to be mad anymore. Frank Ocean released 18 songs worth of music and went to all the trouble of becoming a goddamn carpenter. “But it’s not Boys Don’t Cry,” you’re whining into your computer screen right now. How’s your carpentry coming along there? Pretty good? Fancy yourself as your generation's answer to Norm Abram, do you? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

While we were sniping at him from afar, having only the spiciest takes on what he might owe us during pointless conversations at mediocre parties, Frank Ocean was risking splinters for his art. I don’t want to speculate on how many splinters he might have suffered through on this album cycle, but I know that it was probably more than the amount of splinters he’d have risked without building a spiral staircase. Mull that over.

Outside of the ceaseless Ocean cycle, there have been a bunch of other exciting and significant records released this week. We’ve gathered them together for you in one place here.

Listen to these, then go do a Bing search for Norm Abram.

Pure & Simple is Dolly Parton’s 43rd studio album. No amount of exclamation points will give that sentence the required emphasis. She’s a force of gosh darned nature and she’s still tearing it up on an extensive North American tour when she could just as easily be sitting at home in Tennessee and doing the occasional interview for a documentary about how great she is.

To many people, Sam Coomes is a hero. One half of Portland-based indie band Quasi alongside the magnificent Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss and an occasional collaborator with the late Elliott Smith, he’s had a hand in crafting some brilliant indie rock while somehow flying under the radar. Bugger Me is his first solo album after years of loyal service to the Pacific Northwest’s independent scene.

As the frontman for Pittsburg oddballs Black Moth Super Rainbow, Thomas Fec has danced consistently around the absurd. As Tobacco, he’s played with a similar aesthetic, linking up with Beck, Aesop Rock, and Rob Sonic on his first three albums. His fourth studio album is his second for Ghostly International.

The first set of new tracks to come out of the Teklife label, DJ Earl’s first full-length in three years features the work of pioneering artists like DJ Manny and DJ Taye. But it’s his collaborations with Oneotrix Point Never—“Rachett” and “Let’s Work”—that have most caught the eye in the run up to the release.

The making of Ohioan alt-folk artist Lydia Loveless’s fourth LP has already been documented by director Gorman Bechard (Psychos in Love, A Film About The Replacements). Who is Lydia Loveless? was released to critical acclaim in April. Expect Real to receive the same response.

Singer, rapper, producer, DJ, actor, and yoga instructor Sumach Ecks—better known as Gonjasufi—has been quiet since the release of 2012’s MU.ZZ.LE. The Californian artist’s new album promises to be one of his darkest to date, aided by the work of former Cure guitarist Pearl Thompson.

It’s not Boys Don’t Cry and, apparently, Boys Don’t Cry isn’t Boys Don’t Cry either. But there is a Frank Ocean album out there in the world. The visual album features James Blake, Arca, Alex G, and a whole lot more. Most importantly, it exists.

Endless is over at Apple Music. You can watch it here.

Nipsey Hussle has been dropping free music on a regular basis for a good while now, but the Los Angeles rapper doesn’t release full-length projects all that often. In fact, this is his first mixtape since 2014’s Mailbox Money. With Victory Lap, his first studio album, due out at the end of the year, and a collaborative album with YG in the works, Slauson Boy 2 is peppered with guest spots from Young Thug, Snoop Dogg, and a bunch more.

On the handful of singles that Brooklyn no-wavers Pill released around their 2015 self-titled EP, there was a sense of controlled chaos. They’ve made it clear that Convenience will exploring power structures and their functions, just as they have for the last year or so, using that same frantic but pointed attitude. Either way, it includes a free jam called “Sex With Santa.”

The early indications were that, in spite of everything, Crystal Castles would be fine in ex-frontwoman Alice Glass’s absence. Edith Frances is on the mic now and the band’s live show doesn’t appear to have suffered one bit. How replacing one half of the duo will work out on record remains to be seen, but everything suggests that it’ll be an interesting ride.

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