Stream of the Crop: 5 New Albums for Heavy Rotation

After years of speculation, near-complete silence from the band, and fears that it might never happen at all, legendary Long Island rock band Brand New released their fifth full-length LP by surprise on Thursday evening. The follow-up to 2009's Daisy was produced, as ever, by Mike Sapone. It was originally only available on the Procrastinate Music Traitors website, but it arrived on streaming services Saturday.

Seven years after announcing the project, Lil B has finally released his Black Ken mixtape. The 27-track project features all seven of the songs that Lil B released a week prior when confirming the record. It was produced by The Based God, who is not Lil B, but this is no time to consider the theological implications of that duality. It's a good time watch the documentary that we made with Lil B last year. It's definitely the moment to listen to Black Ken.

Instead of listing all of his attributes and interests by way of attempting to explain him to you once again, I will simply present you with the facts:

- The album is called Come Over When You're Sober. It was originally due out August 11 before being pushed back at the last minute, to September 1, then appearing online late on Monday. There is now a "(Part 1)" added to the title, presumably relating to a since-deleted tweet where Peep said he'd be dropping a second album shortly after. Love to be an artist trying to simply release their music in the year 2017!

- He announced the release via an this peak selfie, this video and this tweet.

- It is about getting high and sucking dick.

- Also other stuff, like having a hard time with your mental health and finding escape in substances and sabotaging all your relationships. The vocal melodies are on point, track 6 sounds like it really wanted to sample "Okay I Believe You, But My Tommy Gun Don't" by Brand New, and if you don't like it and you're not a teen or didn't have From First To Last lyrics as your MSN name at some point then shut up because it's not for you anyway.

— Lauren O'Neill, Oh Boy, Lil Peep's Debut Album Is Here

Can a Grizzly Bear album matter in 2017? In an era when artful polemics, Antonoffed pop, and self-medicated party rap hold sway, this week's Painted Ruins is a gorgeous requiem reminding us that art for the sake of aesthetic beauty and veiled self-confessional remains as meaningful as ever.

—Jeff Weiss, Grizzly Bear Is Invincible

Considering her impact, it's strange that this is only Alice Glass' first ever solo collection of work, but though it's been a long time coming, it feels like a perfect encapsulation of who she is and the sound she's worked towards throughout her career. It's electronic pop full of feeling—rage, love—as though it's been played on a piano made of glass shards; kind of like looking at the last song of the night, sweaty and sentimental, through a kaleidoscope.

—Lauren O'Neill, Surprise! Alice Glass Dropped a Solo EP While Nobody Was Looking

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