Snoop Dogg — Peaches N Cream

I am way out of touch on the movements of Snoop Dogg, apparently, as I’ve just learned he’s released an album every one or two years since 1993. He’s now poised to release his thirteenth album, BUSH, due to hit the proverbial shelves on May 12.

“Peaches N Cream” is the first single from the Pharrell Williams-produced album, and it is funky. Snoop’s style of rap is very distinctive, but when it’s thrown on top of Pharrell’s well-produced dance beats and Charlie Wilson’s backup vocals, it transcends into greatness.

The above video is the fantastic lyric video that was released last week, directed by special-effects wizards Wolf & Crow. And just yesterday they released another video for the song, this time featuring Snoop, Pharrell and Wilson, in a trippy, funked-out visual feast.

I don’t know if I’ll ever feel comfortable singing the words “Damn her ass is so big,” but I’ll be damned if I don’t thoroughly enjoy this song.

Tweedy — Low Key

I’m not sure how Sukierae, the new album from Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco) and his son Spencer (from their new duo, simply called Tweedy), released last September, went unnoticed. But what’s done is done.

Check out the insanely star-studded video, for the song “Low Key” directed by TV’s Ron Swanson (the everyman’s man Nick Offerman). Low key is about how exciting the song gets, so the title is apropos. The video is fun, and the song isn’t exactly off-putting, either, so I’ll happily put it up on the Bacon Review.

Watch for guest appearances by Melissa McCarthy, Conan O'Brien and Andy Richter, Mavis Staples, Steve Albini, Chance the Rapper and Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche, as well as bit parts by always-scary Michael Shannon and always-funny John Hodgman, among many many others.

Amason — Duvan

Here’s a kooky video from a new band out of Sweden, Amason. Amason formed in 2012 as a side project for members of other well-known Swedish bands, Miike Snow and Dungen. After releasing a few singles and an EP throughout 2013 and 2014, the band’s excellent debut album, Sky City, came out last month. Check it out.

Viet Cong — Continental Shelf

(The above video is NSFW) My well-documented love for indie-rock bands from Canada is growing. Viet Cong, from Calgary, sound a bit derivative at times, but overall they’re putting enough “new” into their work to warrant some attention. The song above, “Continentaly Shelf,” is from the band’s self-titled debut album, which came out on January 20. This song sounds so much like Spencer Krug, I looked into it. (Nope, that’s Matt Flegel on vocals. But Viet Cong and Moonface are on the same label, the fantastic Jagjaguwar out of Bloomington, Indiana) Not sure if that’s a positive or a negative for you (it is a positive in my book), but give them a listen. Their use of computer-generated fuzz throughout the seven-song album was surprisingly soothing, given the harshness of the sound. I’m curious if you agree.

The Decemberists — A Beginning Song

I can’t get this song out of my head. It’s been stuck there for a week now. It took a little while for me to discover it, and then for it to plant itself deep in my brain, as it’s the final song on the brand new album from The Decemberists, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World. But it‘s also the best song on the fantastic new album from these Portland indie-rock stars. The album comes out Tuesday, January 20.

One question about the video: where are the string performers? There’s clearly at least one cello prominently playing throughout the song, and at the very end of the song, what sounds like a full string quartet comes in to fill out the song. Let’s see the string players!

The Decemberists — Make You Better

After a long break, the baroque pop outfit The Decemberists have a new album coming out January 30, 2015, called What a Terrible World, What a Beautiful World. The hype machine is in full swing, and they’ve released a video for the first single from the album, “Make You Better.” Directed by Bill Fishman, the video stars Nick Offerman as the German host of a fictional performance show (a la The Ed Sullivan Show) called “The Old Blue Rock Palace Show.”

The entire video is a study in bizarreness. I’m a big fan of The Decemberists, but this video may be pushing the “Portlandia Hipster” envelope a little too far. The song isn’t one of their best, but even their worst song is better than most. The band is also embarking on a tour in the new year. Definitely get out and see them if you can.

UPDATE: Rob Lifford, friend of the Review, provided more insight to the weirdness. Apparently the video is a direct parody of an infamous taping of the band Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show performing on the German television show Der Musikladen in 1974. Watch the whole thing. It’s a hilarious trainwreck.

OK Go — I Won’t Let You Down

When a music video has OK Go, a multi-copter pilot (Kenji Yasuda) listed in the credits, and many many Honda self-balancing scooters, you know it’s going to be a video worth watching.

The song comes from OK Go’s new album, Hungry Ghost, which came out two weeks ago. I don’t have to remind you that OK Go make awesome music videos. Combine their penchant for the viral and Japanese video director Morihiro Harano’s creative know-how, and I don’t really need to say anything else. Just watch the above video. Over and over again.

Meghan Trainor — All About That Bass

Sometimes I’m so far down the indie-rock rabbit hole that songs seemingly heard by everybody else misses me completely. Such as 20-year-old Meghan Trainor, whose song “All About That Bass,” above, has, at the time of this writing, 180+ million views on YouTube, and I only am now watching it for the first time. The song is, at its core, a fantastic remake of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s “Baby Got Back,” but sung from the woman’s perspective. This song features on Trainor’s debut album, Title, which comes out in January 2015. In the mean time, you can download this and a handful of other songs from her right here right now.

Spoon — Do You

A month ago I posted a live performance of my favorite song from the new Spoon album, the fantastic They Want My Soul. Here’s a video for my second favorite song from the album, “Do You.” It’s quite a cool video, with lead singer Britt Daniel driving a car and singing along in slow motion while a bunch of shit happens around him. Enjoy.

Taylor Swift — Shake It Off

I’m as surprised as you are to see a Taylor Swift video here on the Bacon Review. A good friend of mine cajoled me into watching this new video from Taylor yesterday, and, by the magic of pop music, the song and video were still on my mind this morning.

“Shake It Off” is the first single from Swift’s new album, 1989, which comes out October 27. There’s nothing particularly spectacular about this song or this video. It’s perfectly simple and simply perfect; watch and you’ll agree. And then you’ll watch again.

Happy Friday, ya’ll.

Jungle — Time

This week has been less than stellar, and this video from English modern electronic soul band Jungle was perfect for lifting me out of the funk. I tried to figure out who the dancers in the video are, to no avail. They’re fun, regardless.

Jungle is also the name of the band’s debut album, and it was released last month. I’m only now starting to listen to it, but it’s making me bounce in my seat, so that’s something, espicially today of all days.

Jamie T — Don’t You Find

I was unfamiliar with Jamie T, an English singer/songwriter, until seeing this video last week. And I still know very little about him. This infectious song, “Don’t You Find,” is from his forthcoming third album, Carry On The Grudge, which is out October 6.

The video and song above have seeped into my subconscious. I hear this song, even though it’s not actively playing in my ears, and the woman’s heroin-chic downtrodden dancing is eerily effective. The song itself feels formulaic enough that I might just hate it in six months. But for now, I’m going to keep hitting play. Over and over and over and over again.

Spoon — Knock Knock Knock (live)

The new album from Spoon is going to be on every end-of-year top 10 list. The band’s eighth full-length in the last 18 years, it’s one of their best. “Knock Knock Knock,” shown above, is my favorite song from the album. Watch as they perform the song in a fantastic set live at the KEXP studios from last week.

Paolo Nutini — Iron Sky

This new video, by Scottish singer/songwriter Paolo Nutini is fantastic. The song feels very similar to what I love about DJ Shadow, or U.N.K.L.E. It blends sampled storytelling, powerful horns, piano, drums, and Nutini’s voice, raspy and intense. The drug-addicted visuals push it all over the top, a masterpiece of the artform.

“Iron Sky” is from Nutini’s third full-length, Caustic Love, which came out back in April. I haven’t yet heard it, but now I want to do nothing else until I’ve heard every minute of it.

FKA Twigs — Two Weeks

So I finally got around to listening to what a few of you have been yelling about in my general direction these past few weeks, and all I can say is “WOW.” FKA Twigs, the chosen moniker of Tahliah Barnett, at first blush appears to be exactly where trip hop should be headed.

She has two EPs released currently, aptly titled EP1 and EP2, and her debut album, LP1, will take the world by storm on August 12. For now, check out the stuff she’s released to date and watch the above video. Get prepared. You’re going to need it.

The New Pornographers — War on the East Coast

A super-group built over time. That is what The New Porngraphers are. Even though the Pornos formed after each of the band’s most prominent members (Neko Case, Dan Bejar, and de facto band leader AC Newman) had released records under solo or alternative bands, their first joint album, 2000’s Mass Romantic, has been recognized as one of the most influential indie-rock albums of the past two decades.

Fun fact about the amazing video above: even though AC is lip syncing throughout, it’s actually Dan’s voice we hear singing. I am not as drawn to the songs in the New Pornographers’ repertoir that don’t feature Neko’s powerful vocals, but this song, “War on the East Coast,” is an instant classic.

Bejar, with his band Destroyer, has made quite a name for himself. And Neko’s last solo record was my fifth favorite album last year. But when those two combine to sing and play Newman’s lyrics and power chords, magic happens. Brill Bruisers, the supergroup’s sixth record, comes out August 26th. I will be the first in line to pick it up.

Jenny Lewis — Just One of the Guys

And now for some more fun. Jenny Lewis has been doing her own thing for quite a while (since Rilo Kiley broke up for good in 2011, with their last recorded work coming out all the way back in 2007). Lewis’s third solo album, The Voyager, comes out July 29, 2014. The video above, for the first song released from the album, “Just One of the Guys,” is a fantastic send-up of gender and parenthood roles in the music business and beyond.

Helping Lewis convey this fact are Anne Hathaway, Kristen Stewart, Brie Larson and drummer Tennessee Thomas, sometimes dressed in drag. Listen to the words of this one. Joking nature aside, there are some very poignant things being said within. I can’t wait for more.

Weird Al Yankovic — Word Crimes

I’ll make this short, because everybody has already heard about this elsewhere. “Weird Al” Yankovic is back, and he’s as good as he ever was at what he does. Before OK Go, there was Weird Al, master of the viral. The 2014 version of Weird Al is no different. Beginning yesterday, and running for the next eight days, Al is releasing a new music video from his 14th album, Mandatory Fun, which came out today.

Yesterday’s video was for a parody of Pharrell Williams’s “Happy,” titled “Tacky,” and features many very funny comedians (Kristen Schaal, Jack Black, Margaret Cho and others) lip syncing and dancing to the wonderfully silly song. The video above, for a parody of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” is great for someone like me, with a real affinity for all things grammarian. I’m looking forward to seeing what videos come out over the next 6 days. These first two have been a real joy to watch.

Vinyl Jacket — Safari

Sometimes an encounter with a band feels entirely random. Take Vinyl Jacket, for instance. I was quietly enjoying the new We Were Promised Jetpacks single “Safety In Numbers,” and, as SoundCloud does, it continues unabated into something else once the song you’re listening to ends. Thank you, SoundCloud, for pointing me to Vinyl Jacket. The song above, “Safari,” is about as catchy a tune as you can ask for.

Sounding seemingly like a mix of Yeasayer and Vampire Weekend, Vinyl Jacket is four guys from small town England playing songs that sound as if they originate from a sunny equatorial country. They only have seven songs released to date (three recorded in 2013 and released in the UK in April of this year, and four more released as two separate singles, also in the UK, from 2011). No word on when a full-length album will come out, or if they’ll be properly distributed here in the states, but I’m clamoring for more.

I hope they can expand their sound to cover more ground, but I’m dubious that’s possible. Perhaps they’re only one-hit-wonder material. Fingers crossed that that’s not the case.

20syl — Kodama

Until this morning, I knew nothing of 20syl. It’s now an hour into the day, and I still know very little about him. But I’ve watched the above video three times, and it’s continuing to play in the background as I type this.

I’m trying to put the pieces together. It appears that 20syl is a French DJ/producer (based on his Facebook posts being in French. Maybe he’s Canadian.) According to the notes on the video, he has an EP, Motifs, available digitally for download. And based on this song and video, I’m definitely going to check it out.

Happy Summer, y’all.