The Spirit

Bakermat

Weddings and Funerals

Def3, Late Night Radio

Tired of guns, money, weed in all of your modern hip-hop music? Come take a ride on this uplifting, positive joyride of an album with Def3 and Late Night Radio. Weddings & Funerals is a PG-rated collab album brand new to 2021 where Late Night Radio brings the beats and Def3 brings the rhymes. Late Night Radio is soul and funk-influenced after growing up going to church every Sunday and watching his mom sing. He doesn’t hide any of that on Weddings & Funerals. Def3 comes overtop with the perfect flow and annunciation so you can listen and sing along without feeling like a total poser. Play this with your Grandma in the car. Play this with your kid in the same room. No worries, just good times.

One hilarious album review: This website, Ghettoblaster, has got to have one of the funniest album reviews of Weddings & Funerals I've encountered. They describe the song Lift Off as, “your new summertime party jam and it’s a shame you won’t get to wave your arms to this track at some sweaty festival this summer.” We feel you friend. We feel you. Another gem from this review goes like this, ""I’m not a “no bad days” type of person because false positivity is some wack-ass shit, but sometimes you need someone else telling you that shit’s gonna be alright. And that’s alright."" Well Album Daily community, everything is going to be alright, and this new album helps accentuate that.

Nickle Creek

Nickle Creek

We're throwing it back to the turn of the millennium with this one. This album also happens to contain one of the best instrumentalists in the world, the artist with the 4th most Grammy Award wins of all time, and perhaps one of the sadder songs you'll ever hear. Oh, and a song about a fox eating chickens. All of that and it's just Wednesday?!? Nickle Creek's debut album features renowned mandolinist Chris Thile and Grammy Award-winning singer and producer Allison Krauss. Although the album is firmly progressive-bluegrass, it also features elements of rock, jazz, and even classical music (a favorite of Thile's). If you're looking for a new musical style that's still easily digestible thanks to crystal clear vocals, potent lyrics, and smooth harmonies, then Nickle Creek (not to be confused with Nickleback) is the new album for you to try today. Oh, and make sure you grab the tissue box for The Lighthouse's Tale. It's as sad as The Fox is fun and lighthearted.

What's up with the mandolin, anyways? This tiny 8-stringed guitar looking instrument is prominent on this album and on all of Thile's music. It's discernable because of its high-pitched twangy sound as it shifts quickly from note to note. I've always thought a tiny human would be great at playing such a tiny instrument but Thile proves that humans of all sizes are qualified to strum such an instrument. Who better to explain the quirks of playing the mandolin than the mandolin maestro himself!

The Golden Casket

Modest Mouse

To start, this is not an album you bring home to Dad. This album has scars and tats and tells your Dad you’ll be home by 11 but takes you out behind the mall to smoke weed and skateboard. The Golden Casket is weird, quirky, and experimental… but also kind of metal in a way. The best analogy I can come up with is that if Uncle Eddie from Christmas vacation was an album, he’d be this latest album from Modest Mouse. Jolly and pleasant at times but also willing to kidnap your boss because you didn’t get that Christmas bonus. Anyways, if you’re coming back for some more “Float On,” look to “We Are Between” or “The Sun Hasn’t Left.” If you’re into the tats and skateboarding behind the mall, check out “Wooden Soldiers” or “Lace Your Shoes” and prepare for a trip. Very unique - keep reading below for more fun facts about The Golden Casket and let us know what you think!

Modest Mouse is quirky: According to Pitchfork, early in production of The Golden Casket, Issac Brock (guitar) “pledged not to play any guitar on the record.” He did, in fact, play some guitar on The Golden Casket, but he saved a ton of room for the real star of their new album: percussion. The credits and catalogue for this album are insane. They’ve credited “each musician’s contributions down to their finger snaps, because this is the kind of record that differentiates between the sounds of different fingers.” A list of “instruments” that band members play on this album are: “Fun Machine, piano, mini Korg, Crumar, banjo, melodica, vibraslap, spacephone, and “soft drink percussion” (aka a soda can).” Maybe one day I can learn how to play the Fun Machine :(

OK Orchestra

AJR

OK Orchestra is the fourth studio album from the Manhattan-based trio, AJR. It’s perhaps their most emotionally charged album to date, born out of the lonesomeness brought on by COVID-19 as they contemplate common quarantine struggles - mental health, connection with others, and simply being human. Despite vulnerable undertones, the album still feels mostly upbeat and fun-loving. It’s hard not to crack a smile when they ponder one of life’s greatest mysteries: “I keep losing my socks - where the hell did they go?” Of course, they have their classic thumping baselines, inspiring synths, and experimental electronic samples that put their signature doo-wop beats on full display. It’s the instrumentation in OK Orchestra that takes this album to the next level and shows off the true brilliance of AJR as a group. They’ve got violins, drums, trumpets, pianos, and even old-timey choirs highlighted throughout the album that ultimately help create the theatrical world of OK Orchestra. 

Bonus Content: AJR is comprised of brothers Adam, Jack, and Ryan (hence the name AJR) and who basically grew up creating music in their bedroom on beat pads, keyboards, and computers. It’s this eclectic style their audience has come to know and love and is a process they have been super transparent about sharing with their fans. Check out this video where AJR breaks down exactly how they created one of their most popular songs, Bang!

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