As he transitioned out of absurdist shock humor, Japanese-Australian entertainer George Miller effectively reinvented himself as Joji. His unofficial mixtape Chloe Burbank had a compelling plunderphonic aesthetic of jazzy piano and nuanced beats, which the more one-dimensional EP In Tongues toned down. Joji’s debut LP Ballads 1, could still benefit from…

Throughout the band’s 20-year journey, Brazil’s Soulfly has remained a vehicle for frontman Max Cavalera’s spirituality and cultural roots—his ongoing relationship with indigenous tribes like the Navajo and his undying love for heavy metal. While increasingly similar to the groovier side of his old band, Sepultura, his vocals and…

After two decades and eight albums, Swedish neo-psychedelic trio Peter Bjorn and John has developed an unduplicatable chemistry. The band wears this collective identity on its sleeve, combining the first names of vocalist-guitarist Peter Morén, bassist Björn Yttling and drummer Johan Eriksson in its name. The natural way the three play off…

Every week, there’s a plethora of new music at our fingertips. Artists on platforms such as Spotify and Bandcamp are plentiful, and the radio offers a steady deluge of new singles, but who has time to sort through all that? RIFF does! We pooled our resources to find some of the…

Madeline Kenney, courtesy. Oakland’s “folk-gaze” up-and-comer Madeline Kenney returned from a U.K. tour opening for Wye Oak with a note-to-self: colosseum stairs and heavy music gear don’t mix. “The buildings were built before giant amps were in consideration,” she said, laughing. “We were often carrying heavy gear up colosseum…

IDLES perform at The Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2018. Photos: Kyle J. Kohner. LOS ANGELES — English rioters IDLES gave the Teragram Ballroom a bodacious reminder that post-punk can, and should, embody the timeless aggression of traditional U.K. punk rock in the last date of…

Matthew Dear remains a staple of Detroit’s electronic and avant-pop scenes. His six-album discography covers intelligent dance music (IDM), downtempo, deep house and even post-punk. It’s been six years since his last album, and he seems aware of that. Bunny clocks in at more than an hour with 14 songs,…

Pennsylvanian experimental rockers MewithoutYou have remained woefully underappreciated due to their unorthodox evolution. By the time bands like Listener and La Dispute discovered frontman Aaron Weiss’ bombastic spoken word delivery, he had run from his clout by emphasizing inconspicuous singing. Tracks like “Allah, Allah, Allah” befuddled Christian fans, while…

Boston’s Marissa Nadler has spent the past 18 years developing her unique blend of dream-folk and Southern gothic. With the “slow music” niche she carves with her expressive voice and guitar, the songwriter’s eighth album plunges into unprecedented emotional depths. From the nebulous oil-painted album art to her chilling…

Countless songwriters only scratch the surface of love as a connective human experience. Sumac transcends that trope on Love In Shadow. The post-metal power trio pushes itself to its compositional limit on its third LP, pouring all of its primal passion into an erratic rumination on a cornerstone of consciousness.…