Today's Top Tune

Tank & The Bangas are up for Best Spoken Word Poetry at the Grammys this year for their album The Heart, The Mind, The Soul, with each song a chapter chronicling the powerful journey of Black womanhood. “I want for poetry to get that much more respect and for even more young people to get into the expression of poetry,” Tank expresses. “I want it to be seen as even more cool again. Poetry has always been my first love because it loved me back, it loved me before music even.” We’ll let the words flow on “Ghetto Earth.”

We got a great throwback for you today: Earlier this year, just around their tenth anniversary, Canadian band Alvvays celebrated the release of their self-titled debut album that immediately connected them to newly-minted fans. Gently caustic and full of bite, “Archie, Marry Me” led a generation through the pros and cons of marrying young while saddled with student debt as they navigate the perils of relationships in the long run.

New Orleans Grammy-winning artists Hot 8 Brass Band are putting the finishing touches on their new album due in late February 2025, so while we wait, let’s take in their signature party-marching-band sound on the title track “Big Tuba.”

Coming up from the rock clubs of Denver, CO, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats need no introduction as they’ve played a mind boggling amount of concert halls, festivals, and arenas throughout the USA since their debut back in 2015. South of Here is their fourth studio recording and contains the gem “Call Me (Whatever You Like).”

LA indie rockers Peel Dream Magazine — whose name pays tribute to the late BBC DJ John Peel — recently released their fourth full length album Rose Main Reading Room. It’s perfect for soul-stirring listening via headphones: lying on the floor in a dark room, on a train watching the landscape, or waiting for your holiday flight at an airport terminal. Astute at weaving transportive personal stories, Peel Dream Magazine shares “I Wasn’t Made For War.”

It’s been a meteoric year for North Carolina-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist MJ Lenderman — a man who unsurprisingly found himself on many year-end “Best Of” lists. His keen balance of wit and sadness is clear on “She’s Leaving You.”

Ibiza- based duo The Ting Tings skyrocketed to international fame in 2008 with a couple of insta-classic bangers —“That’s Not My Name” and “Shut Up and Let Me Go” — off of their debut album We Started Nothing.. And subsequent albums have only refined their sound. A new album Home, their first in six years,, is due on Feb. 28, 2025. Inspired by classics from Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan and Christopher Cross — here is “Danced On The Wire.”

Thai-born, Canada-based drummer, producer, and composer Salin gifts us with an edgy mix that conjoins the sound of her native homeland with 70’s psychedelia from West Africa. The track is called “Puaj,” which is Thai for the indigenous bamboo jew’s harp that provides such a heady mix. “Each note tells a story, echoing the lives and experiences of those who play it,” says Salin. “It’s a reminder that music is a universal language, transcending borders and uniting us all in a shared experience of joy and creativity.”

Cincinnati’s Curt Kiser goes by the alias Carriers and recalls early Bob Dylan and Kurt Vile. In the case of “Sometimes,” Kiser took a bumpy week and turned it into a song. The idea came to him quickly after a scary car accident was followed by his musical gear being stolen while on tour. The song brings to focus the burdens of daily reality we all must endure.

Tonight we’ll experience the season finale of School Night at Bardot in Hollywood. School Night has long been LA’s premier music discovery showcase and tonight’s installment will feature four buzzy bands, among them, Sea Pipes. And, speaking of school nights, for this band, it’s literal because they are still in high school. Assembled just this past summer, and drawing inspiration from The Black Keys, these guys make it a habit to channel their problems through their music. They already issued a debut EP The Right Through, which features “Unnameable Loss.”

After a couple grueling years touring around the country for their debut album Shadowglow, powerhouse indie rock band flipturn will soon release their sophomore album Burnout Days (early reviews have been raves). Tucked away in a cabin in the North Carolina mountains, the band wrestled with exhaustion to gain their endurance and envisioned an immersive world only they could create. Visit that world now through this shiner of a song, “Rodeo Clown.”

It’s Monday and who doesn’t like starting their week with a banger?! That’s why we’re so happy to share the first new music in several years from singer, songwriter, and dang-good pianist Neal Francis. His latest is the dance-ready track “Back It Up.” Let’s get laced-up, friends.

In 2020, Laura Marling released Song For Our Daughter, a collection of music dedicated to a daughter that didn’t yet exist. The album she’s released now, Patterns in Repeat, was written after her actual kiddo was born and it mirrors the patterns at play when it comes to family. Check out “Child of Mine.”

And now a breath of fresh air from our friend Zach Condon, best known as the musical mind behind Beirut. Addressing his concerns of preservation and impermanence, Condon wrote the song as part of a soundtrack composed for the Swedish contemporary circus company Kompani Giraff. Let the soothing sound of “Caspian Tiger” wash over you anytime by grabbing it as a free download.

Slowly but surely, O & The Mo, are teasing out tracks from their forthcoming album, Make Way For The Sun (set to drop in late January, 2025). Recorded in their home studio in the pastoral valley of Wakapuaka, New Zealand, “The High” captures their signature sounds as they emanate from a handmade nikau palm guitar.

Let’s turn now to a band that you might not be aware of. Trupa Trupa is a post-punk band from Gdańsk, Poland, known for their unique blend of brooding alternative rock and psychedelic influences. Dark, dense, and full of mystery — “Sister Ray” recalls the beat of the 1980s in the best way possible.

Australian indie-poppers Parcels know how to bang out hooks. ”Leaveyourlove” has all the ingredients you need to strike up your dopamine receptors and keep them flowing: retro grooves, catchy lyrics, and sweet sentiments. It’s the band’s first new song in a while and just the thing to tide us over as they return to the studio to record their third album.

British-born, Stockholm-based poet and musician Joshua Idehen makes magic by intertwining both mediums. On “Mum Does The Washing,” Idehen dissects world theories via a simple-yet-meaningful analogy that will make you laugh (and think). And be sure to check out his cover of Talking Heads’ “Once In A Lifetime.”

As Japanese-Canadian musician Saya Gray gears up to release her (semi)self-titled debut album on February 21, 2025, we are told to expect an album that will delineate the past from what the future holds. Until then, enjoy “H.B.W.” (shorthand for heartbreak wave), the latest tease from the forthcoming lp. It’s an undulating and delectable ditty.

It’s crazy to think that the postmodern, post-punk, post-human collective known as The Mekons are celebrating roughly 50 years together. These rebellious souls are still doing their thing, challenging and entertaining us at the same time. “You’re Not Singing Anymore” will find you ruminating on their acidic wit and most likely singing along to the chorus.