"axl au stade" - AXLAUSTADE

Yesterday, Montreal-based instrumental grunge group AXLAUSTADE (taking their name from an Axl Rose-related incident) dropped their debut self-titled album. The group envisions it as "the soundtrack to a cool story." Very apropos of the height of grunge, the protagonist's love interest is imagined to be a woman who resembles Winona Ryder.

Although instrumental grunge is not a genre I tend to gravitate toward - nor is grunge in general really - I have to say, AXLAUSTADE crafted a compelling record (with the mixing help of Justin Raisen who has previously worked with the likes of Angel Olsen and the mastering help of Mike Bozzi who has worked w/ Childish Gambino). It's certainly heavy in places, much more mellow in others, and it is extremely polished with ventures off into shoegaze periodically. Check out "axl au stade" below:

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"Anchors" - AM Higgins

Here's a nice breezy, almost sensual song from AM Higgins (the solo project of musician Annie Toth) to start your Tuesday off right. Her debut album "Hymning" will be out November 5th on Victorialand Records. The album was mixed by Casey Foubert, a frequent collaborator of Sufjan Stevens. The album "captures the first years of moving from an American city to rural France." Sounds like "Hymning" will be a welcome escape from the world we live in right now, especially considering that Annie Toth counts poets Mary Oliver and Thomas Merton as influences.

"Happy New Year"- Let's Eat Grandma

There's no way to start the New Year like some extremely upbeat music about the New Year! That's where this new synthpop-heavy single from the British duo Let's Eat Grandma comes into play. It's a delightful song, and it helps increase any excitement about their third album, "Two Ribbons," which will be out this April. I personally am looking forward to hearing more from Let's Eat Grandma, who deserve way more attention than they currently get. Hopefully, 2022 will be a big year for them. Here's one of their older tracks I quite like:

3 New Lana Songs Come Out From Upcoming Album "Blue Banisters"

Not even that far off from "Chemtrails Over The Country Club" being released this past March, Lana Del Rey dropped three new singles off her upcoming project, "Blue Banisters." They include the title track, "Text Book," and "Wildflower Wildfire." All three songs seem to merge the worlds of "COCC" with "Norman Fucking Rockwell," specifically Lana's mouthful of a track "Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me To Have But I Have It." They also seem uncharacteristically more confessional than most of Lana's catalog to date, specifically "Wildflower Wildfire," which alludes to a conflict with her mother. She even starts the track with "Here's the deal," readying to show more of her backstory than she ever has in her decade-plus-long career. The three songs are gorgeous - especially "Text Book," which has a haunting quality to it (she mentions "Black Lives Matter" i

The Useless Critic 2.0

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