#kevin-barnes

#kevin-barnes

No Fun Fest returns to NYC for the first time since 2009 as No Fun New Perspectives, a three-day event featuring avant-garde and improvisational music.

Indie veterans of Montreal have announced an expansive 2026 North America tour set for June through August. Cormae and Sloppy Jane will serve as openers on select dates for the Kevin Barnes-led band. Spanning 36 dates, the summer run kicks off on June 19th in Athens, Georgia, with subsequent stops in major cities including New York City, Chicago, Nashville, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC.

I offered myself FOUR days rather than just the two, and perhaps that's a cheat, but since it was Memorial Day weekend I decided to allow it.

Between our daily coverage, our Notable Releases and Indie Basement columns, and our monthly punk and rap roundups, we post tons of new music all the time here on BrooklynVegan. In an effort to keep track of all the new music we're excited about, we've been posting a new playlist each week with many of the songs we love that were (mostly) released that week.

While Modern Baseball co-vocalist Jake Ewald and bassist Ian Farmer have remained very busy with Slaughter Beach, Dog since MoBo's breakup, and drummer Sean Huber stayed active with Steady Hands, it's been a while since co-vocalist Bren Lukens has performed or really done anything at all in the public eye.

What if Portishead's Dummy, Radiohead's Kid A, and Bjork's Homogenic were made today by one band on one record? It might sound something like this. London art-psych band Ulrika Spacek have always had a collage-like approach to their music, taking ideas from jam sessions and using them as raw materials for fully formed songs.

Having already released two EPs under the moniker Georgia Gets By, 2024's Split Lip and 2023's Fish Bird Baby Boy, Georgia Nott (also of BROODS) has announced the project's debut LP, Heavy Meadow. We don't have more details on it yet, but earlier this week, she wrote on Instagram, "I have been imagining and growing this place for the last two years and to be on the cusp of beginning to share it with you all has me shaking with delight. More info forthcoming..."

Designed by Korean up-and-comer Woojin Yang, Everglow is a handheld mini-keyboard that fits into any bag. The "musical sketchbook" of sorts allows artists to quickly jot down ideas when they're not in front of their instruments or computers. The sleekly-designed device comes with a generative AI-based sound system that allows them to iterate and develop a song on the spot, not just transcribe the initial tune.

Like so many 20 year olds before him, Zion Battle found something transcendent in Joshua Tree National Park. Since age 16, Battle had been working towards becoming a musician, studying for a time at CalArts and New York's The New School. Then, in 2024, he left behind his academic training to begin making music as Katzin, exploring a more intimate sound shaped by a healthy love for the bedroom dream pop of early Orchid Tapes releases and the fuzz of 1990s indie rock.

The first, "JCMF," is a rebellious song about Jesus punishing those who are cruel and helping the children upon his return, while the second single, "No More Darkness," calls for a return to the light and a pursuit of goodness. In a press release, Sparhawk explained that "JCMF" is an older track that he's played on the road for the past year.

Two years after parting ways with Republic Records, James Blake will release Trying Times, his first independent studio album, on March 13 via Good Boy Records. "Death Of Love," the lead single with the London Welsh Male Voice Choir, is out now. Listen to it below. The 12-track LP features contributions from UK rapper Dave and Los Angeles-based vocalist Monica Martin. Blake first teased Trying Times to fans three days ago, through the website tryingtimes.info.