The Pulse is the Uproxx Music guide to the best new albums, mixtapes, and other music releases that matter this week.
Migos is back and bigger than ever, as they got an absolute ton of high-profile guests on their new hip-hop opus. Meanwhile, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda has unleashed onto the world a brief but poignant collection of tracks mourning the loss of his friend and alternative rock icon Chester Bennington, and there’s some alluring new electronica coming via Nils Frahm, the return of No Age, and fresh material from indie rock oddballs Django Django and Calexico.
Migos — Culture II
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Migos’ rise to hip-hop superstardom came on the back of Culture, but on Culture II, the group is taking advantages of all the high-profile connections it made along the way. The record features guest spots from 21 Savage, Big Sean, and Drake, as well as production via Kanye West, Pharell, Metro Boomin, Mike Dean, and Quavo himself.
Mike Shinoda — Post Traumatic
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Mike Shinoda has struggled to deal with the passing of Linkin Park bandmate Chester Bennington, and now he’s doing some real public grieving on his new solo EP. A sample lyric: “And every step I took I looked and wasn’t any closer / ‘Cause sometimes when you say goodbye, yeah, you say it / Over and over and over and over.”
Nils Frahm — All Melody
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The German electronic artist has had a prolific past 13 years, he’s released nine albums in 2005. His latest effort sees him diving into minimalist-but-driving electronica and ambient soundscapes that sound like a great soundtrack for a dark room with a glass of wine and the day behind you.
Calexico — The Thread That Keeps Us
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Indie rock mainstays Calexico have been around since the ’90s, and on their tenth album, the group continues melding traditional Latin sounds with high-quality indie rock, such as on the melodic, horn-inflected single “Under The Wheels.” The band’s Joey Burns says of the record, “There’s a little more chaos and noise in the mix than what we’ve done in the past.”
No Age — Snares Like A Haircut
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Five years is an eternity in the music world, and that’s how long it’s been since the last No Age album. A lot has changed since then, too: They’ve hopped over from Sup Pop to Drag City, for instance, but what hasn’t changed is the quality, like on the atmospheric slowcore single “Send Me.”
Django Django — Marble Skies
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On their third album, experimental indie rockers Django Django continue to provide the strange and different, such as on the breakneck-but-chill psychedelic single “Tic Tac Toe,” which somehow also features shades of ’50s pop and still totally works.
