by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)

Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly recap of this week's new music. We're sharing our favorite releases of the week in the form of albums, singles, and music videos along with the "further listening" section of new and notable releases from around the web. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music we've included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.

*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of top-notch quality too.

BLESSED / TUNIC | "Sound" / "Teeth Showing"

Two of Canada's finest, Blessed and Tunic have released a digital split single to coincide with their upcoming tour. While they might not be the most similar sounding on paper, the two band's are both pushing the boundaries of their respective genres, and both are pretty damn impeccable, so let that be reason enough. Blessed's wonky art-rock and post-punk experimentation goes for expansive structures and mind bending arrangements. Tunic offer pretty much the opposite, dirt encrusted noise rock that pummels and rips with primal aggression. It's everything you want and more from two bands that are steadily perfecting their craft on the road. Be sure to catch them on tour in a town near you. Let Tunic bludgeon and dement your senses, only to have Blessed blow them your mind into pieces. An unlikely match made in heaven.

OPERATOR MUSIC BAND | "Communicator 4"

One could argue that Operator Music Band are as good at making videos as they are at making music. Personally, I prefer music to videos, but there's no need to choose! The creative process expands beyond just recording for the Brooklyn band, and their latest video, "Communicator 4" is a meticulously spectacular affair. The song, a brilliant sprawl into mechanical pop that grooves over disconnected rhythms, finds Dara Hirsch's vocals sparkling over the futuristic drifts. It's Operator Music Band on a whole new level, and the video follows suit. With the band captured as marionettes interspersed with their live selves in a compact shelving system, the colors are vibrant and the syncopation is amazing. As the song breaks from its confines, so does the video, switching to an ultra sheen retro futurism, in the absolute best of ways. Directed by Barbie Boy, Operator Music Band continue to make the best videos in recent memory.

PLLUSH | "Ortega"

If there are two sides to San Francisco's Pllush, the band's early singles from Stranger To The Pain capture them with at their best. While "Shannon" highlights the dreamier aspects of the band (I'm still not over that piano refrain), "Ortega" leans toward the band's penchant for fuzzy slacker punk. The song, a reflection of growing up and figuring shit out, takes solace in that while everything may not be perfect, it's all the learning experience that is part of getting older. With stretched syllables and walls of thick guitars, Pllush maneuver melodic ideas in and out of distortion, casually creating deep hooks and layered bliss. The detached nuances speak toward their reflections on youth, a passive sort of contentment that says "oh well, life moves on". It's a perspective we can all use from time to time.

THE SEDIMENT CLUB | "The Payoff"

It's been three long years since we've heard new music from The Sediment Club but the wait is over. Set to release, Stucco Thieves next month via Wharf Cat Records, the New York band's sordid punk is as chaotic as ever. There's a new focus on "songs" within the album, but it's a refinement that only devoted fans will notice, as the band still embrace inaccessibility and discordance at their core. "The Payoff" is as good an introduction to the new record an any, a reward for those who have been waiting patiently. In less than two minutes, The Sediment Club invoke the ghosts of no-wave inflected krautrock, riding a tightly wound groove as the melodies swing wildly around, gasping and shouting at one moment, calm(er) and focuser the next. The song bounces in hypnotic being before gradually speeding up and splintering into a dust storm of contorted glory somewhere between the avant-punk of U.S. Maple and the crisp post-punk of Uranium Club. Which is to say, it's great. Have a listen.

SHILPA RAY | "Shoot This Dying Horse"

Last year Shilpa Ray released Door Girl, a collection of songs that revolved around Ray's experience working the door at a venue in New York's lower east side and the culture that revolved around the city's nightlife and hard living. It was undoubtably one of the year's best records, an essential album delivered with incredible lyrics and performances alike. Later this month Ray and her band return with the Nihilism EP, a two song set featuring new single "Shoot This Dying Horse" and a cover of Alice Cooper's "Is It My Body." The single is somber, a crushing ballad that still finds plenty of life in Ray's gorgeous vocals even as she questions "how could I get this so wrong, how could I be so wrong." The rain comes and goes, but we'll always have Shilpa Ray to remind us we're not alone and there's beauty to find even in the sourest of times.

Further Listening:

Fuzzy Meadows: The Week's Best New Music (April 23rd - April 29th)