We’ve never been huge Queens of the Stone Age/Eagles of Death Metal (respect)/Josh Homme fans, but we are Iggy Pop fans, and we’re liking this new song from a collaboration between the two, born of an album recorded last January on the sly, it seems.

The album, Post Pop Depression, comes out March 18th and can be pre-order via Pop’s site; the first single from it, “Break Into Your Heart”, can be listened to below and streamed along with another track, “Gardenia”, at iggypop.com.

Long live the spirit of Bowie.

Going through old files, we came across these two album cover design drafts we did for my old band, Speedwell. A few years back, our old drummer, Jon, had a bunch of songs remastered and released as limited edition discography through Coolidge Records.

We’d designed these two cover options that, in the end, we didn’t end up using, which is totally understandable—I think they both convey much more our current-day design aesthetic than they do the sound of that band in the nineties and early aughts. The final design came from Jon’s now wife, Laura, and convey that time and sound much better. We like these nonetheless, removed from that sound, and thought we’d share.

You can listen to and download the tracks from the album via iTunes and Bandcamp and read a way too long interview we did with everyone on the event of the release back in 2013.

Coming hot off the heels of our December 2015 wrap-up and best-of mix, this month’s mixtape also marks our year anniversary of putting these compilations out. In all likelihood, this project’s ended up being as beneficial for us as it has been for anyone else, if not more so, putting us on a more deliberate, scheduled path of musical exploration that definitely and rewardingly takes us out of our comfort zone, but we nonetheless hope others have enjoyed this music too. At the end of the day, these mixes are about finding great new music and we’re happy that they’ve been accomplishing that on any level.

This month’s mix benefits from last month’s being a yearly retrospective, essentially giving us two months of new music to pull from, so it’s a pretty great one. We’ve got a really amazing track from Oakland’s Waterstrider (who have an equally amazing video for the same song); a chilled out, beautiful new song from opera-trained New Zealand musician, Andrew Keoghan; a song from the newly reunited Brazilian Girls; one from a Seattle band we’re liking a lot, Deep Sea Diver; and we’ve finally made room for a fun new collaborative effort between Los Angeles’ own TOKiMONSTA + Gavin Turek.

We’ve also got a track (featuring Rhye‘s Milosh) from a Brooklyn-based musician known as j.viewz (née Jonathan Dagan) who is blowing our minds. His DNA Project gives us an in-depth look at how every song on his album is created, step-by-step, as it’s created. Visiting his site, you might come upon a song that’s completed and essentially how it’ll appear on the final album, or you might come upon a snippet that’s destined to become a song, and at points along the way, the artist shows you the inspiration or individual sounds that make up songs or parts of songs. It’s a beautiful and inventive way to think about song-writing and album-making and, to top it all off, it’s presented via one of the most gorgeous, exciting websites we’ve seen in a long time (skillfully designed by the team at Hello Monday, who you should hire…I mean, if you don’t hire us).

So, yeah, we’ve got musician AND designer crush going on.

Give the whole mixtape a listen below; below that, a quick video from j.viewz’ site on creating a beat out of a river, a dolphin, and some leaves.

We started our monthly mixtape series at the start of this year in an effort to curate + share the myriad new songs we’ve come to love at raven + crow studio. Some have come from tried and true artists who have seen the music scene and industry change massively over the years, but a lot of it’s come from fledgling musicians who have grown up in this Internet age of music and blossomed with it.

Regardless of where the music’s come from though, one constant has always remained—these are songs we love, traversing genres and styles (but trending pretty heavily toward the orchestral pop and melodic electronic) and coming from bands from all over the world.

To craft a great song is admirable; but to create an entire portfolio of songs that call to you, many of which tell a story from start-to-finish, that’s worthy of high praise. So here we have our top ten albums of 2015, all great, all highly recommended.

It’s an inherently imperfect list considering the impossibility of being able to hear every album that came out this year, but these are the favorite ones we—and specifically me (Troy)—have heard. Doubtless, if my wife + partner Katie were curating the list, it’d definitely include Leon Bridges‘ soulful debut, Coming Home, and—though I’d argue against including a tribute album—maybe even Ryan Adams‘ awesome start-to-finish cover of Taylor Swift’s 1989.

Doubtless too, as is the case every year, I’m sure there will be albums we won’t hear until well into 2016 that we’ll love that came out this year.

It’s also imperfect and random to choose a number like ten for the best albums, but we felt like it made sense to downsize our usual mix of 15 new songs that we do every month to focus on the best of the best from 2015. That said, there are many great albums that nearly found their way into our final top ten; among them, Jaime XX‘s debut; White Men are Black Men Too from Scotland’s Young Fathers; the debut full-length from Vegas’ Shamir; Petite Noir‘s severely under-appreciated La Vie Est Belle; the superb debut from London’s Georgia; the new one from Melbourne’s Dick Diver (who we interviewed earlier this year); the debut from Grecian disco goddess Monika; and a minimal, beautifully weird new album from Archy Marshall, AKA King Krule, that just came out a few weeks ago (a great example of why these kinds of lists should come out at year’s end, not in November or early December).

So, yeah, hard to narrow such a long list of great albums from great musicians. But we gave it a go. Below, the result. I highly recommend every one of these albums. They all made me really feel something deep down, which is really what good music should do—make you feel it fundamentally in some hard-to-explain, primal, gut-level way.

We’ve linked through each artists’ names to their band page or Facebook page and, for the sake of simplicity, each album name to its place on iTunes in case anyone’s got a holiday gift card burning a hole in their pocket. We’d encourage you to go through the artists and purchase the albums directly from them or through their label though as that’s the best way to get them the most money possible and keep them doing what they do best for as long as possible.

Just below, our playlist of highlights from each of the ten albums; below that, a write-up on each with links through to the bands and their 2015 albums.

Enjoy.

1 . Braids . Deep in the Iris . Artubus Records
I’ve long been a fan of this band, but their sound changed massively and beautifully when they went from a four-piece to a three-piece a few years back. I liked their sound previously—somewhat drone-y and jammy, but highly melodic—but what they turned into with their third album, Flourish // Perish, it’s soooooooo what I am into. Crazy complicated, layered, high-paced melodies that now showcase singer Raphaelle Standell-Preston’s strong vocals. When we saw them live earlier this year, it was honestly hard for me to keep it together the show was so good and so perfect. And the new album, Deep in the Iris, sounds like it was somehow written just for me. Easily my favorite album of the year. 

2 . Joanna Newsom . Divers . Drag City
I’m a longtime fan of Joanna Newsom’s beautiful chamber-rock-folk-whatever-it-is and this new album from her showcases the best of her songwriting and instrumentation while also presenting an amazing cyclical narrative that’s gotta be one of the best examples of putting out an album—not just a set of songs. As others have already written, it takes the massive scope of her previous four-record, 18-track release, Have One on Me, and boils it down and condenses it into something just as huge, but so much more succinct, showing a remarkable level of skill in Newsom’s craft.

3 . Boxed In . Boxed In . Nettwerk
This is a band and album that came out of nowhere and floored me, taking tight, clean, crisp electronic music and building it out into a beat-driven, highly rhythmic, full-band sound that’s catchy as hell. It’s a great debut and it has us excited to see what the British band will give us next.

4 . Foals . What Went Down . Warner Music Group
Oxford’s Foals is a band that would likely really have to go out of their way to do wrong by me. I’ve loved every album they’ve done since their 2008 debut, Antidotes. This fourth record presents the band at their most diverse, sprawling from heavy, roaring arena rock to dark, quiet, melodic pieces informed by a more emotive, math-rock-y past. It might strike some as too disparate, but I love its scope and look to the guitars and vocals of frontman Yannis Philippakis for a common thread to bind the songs.

5 . Hop Along . Painted Shut . Saddle Creek
Philly’s Hop Along is easily one of the best new live bands we’ve seen this year and their most full-length, Painted Shut, does a superb job of capturing both the nuanced melodies of their music and the blaring wildness of their rock. And, with her raw, powerful voice, Frances Quinlan has our vote hands-down for the best vocalist of the year. Add to all that the fact that Hop Along crafts songs worthy of Springsteen’s playbook and you’ve got one of the best albums of the year.

6 . Christine and the Queens . Chaleur Humaine . Because Music
Like Hop Along, we caught French musician Héloïse Letissier—AKA Christine and the Queens—at Los Angeles’ Echo, and we feel lucky to have seen both bands in such an intimate venue before their mutual inevitable rise to stardom. Letissier owns the room when she’s performing her poppy, 70s-and-80s-informed electronic music and her debut full-length somehow expands on her live sound, making it even more subtly beautiful and hook-filled.

7 . Purity Ring . Another Eternity . 4AD
Though I truly love Purity Ring—they’ve long been my favorite band, only recently being dethroned by friends and fellow Canadian Angelenos, Braids—I originally didn’t think this album would make the cut. Though it’s really awesome, it doesn’t exactly cover a lot of ground or evolve the band’s sound from their excellent 2012 debut, Shrines. But…it’s really awesome and, in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to not include it. It’s a great set of songs, all of which I really love, and I’d far prefer the same amazing sound and style than some new lesser version of Purity Ring.

8 . Tall Tales and the Silver Lining . Tightropes . Other Music Recording Co.
Like the aforementioned Monika, LA’s own Tall Tales and the Silver Lining was singed by the record label arm of one of our favorite record stores, Other Music. Very much unlike Monika, Tall Tales channels a easy, laid-back, rootsy rock that personifies a beautifully deep, panoramic California sound full of sage-filled breezes and mountain-to-ocean views. It’s the perfect album for that picturesque sunset ride down the PCH.

9 . Little Simz . A Curious Tale of Trials + Persons . Age 101 Music
Our only true rap album on the list, the self-released A Curious Tale introduces us to the smart, quick, edgy song-writing of London’s Little Simz, née Simbi Ajikawo. This album sounds more fresh and experimental than anything we’ve heard in this genre in a long, long time with songs full of nimble rhymes and undeniable hooks. If you’re looking for something new and bright and sparkly in rap, this album is definitely it.

10 . Eskimeaux . O.K. . Double Double Whammy
Finally, we have Brooklyn’s Eskimeaux and their beautiful, folky, poppy, honestly bare album, O.K. We interviewed the band’s founder and front woman Gabrielle Smith last month soon after first hearing the album and falling in love with it. As with other newcomers on this list, they’ve got us really excited to see what’s to come from such young talent, especially with the storytelling we hear in the songs that make up this record.

Over at our sister journal and collaboration with longtime developer and music-lover, Paul Singh of Pel—Forgotten Favorite—we’ve written a piece on old-fashioned ways of discovering music being kept alive by friends in Los Angeles. And crazy-awesome Thai music of the sixties + seventies. Give it a look/listen.

Last week, we were pursuing the latest and greatest our watch-anything-now TV offerings, looking for a low-key, slightly holiday-themed night in when we came across Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas, described as the following: “Bill Murray rounds up an all-star cast for an evening of music, mischief and barroom camaraderie in this irreverent twist on holiday variety shows.”

It was pretty much exactly that and, though it took a little but for us to track what it was going for, it ended up being a great take by Murray on the holiday special genre, lampooning it and celebrating it at the same time. Directed by Sofia Coppola, the hour-long show is characteristically (for her) artistically slow and drawn-out in a wonderful way, featuring a bizarre array of guests that we won’t spoil save for the following: Of the many musical numbers in their many varied forms, one of our favorites came from the unlikely combination of Bill Murray, Paul Shaffer on piano, Jason Schwartzman on drums (who, in addition to his acting chops, used to has [had?] a great solo band called Coconut Records), and French popsters Phoenix playing a multitalented hotel kitchen staff.

The song they play—”Alone on Christmas Day”—is a little-known Beach Boys song from an unreleased Christmas album and it’s pretty awesome. It’s available as a limited edition 7″ and digital download via iTunes + Spotify, with all proceeds going to benefit one of our favorite clients—UNICEF. Given the fact that Coppola’s been married to Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars since 2011, Murray’s little quip at the end of the track’s pretty nice.

And yes—coolest married couple ever.

Following the first single they dropped from their coming third studio album (which we featured on our November mixtape), Swedish pop maestros Miike Snow released another excellent single yesterday that’s got us very excited for the new release.

Genghis Khan follows their usual, hook-filled pop formula and we love it. Give it a listen below; the new album, iii, is available for pre-order as of today via the band’s Web site.

Okay, yes, Bruce Springsteen is easily one of the most covered musicians of our time, and yes, covers of this particular track are about a dime-a-dozen, but I’d wager that Hot Chip‘s take on “Dancing in the Dark” is one of the best to date.

Watch the band’s 80’s commercial-filled video for the song and see what you think. You can buy the track on the EP of the same name, which also includes a new version of “Cry for You” and two remixes of “Huarache Lights”.

Holy shit, ya’ll. On top of Missy’s outta nowhere awesomeness last week, David Fucking Bowie dropped an insanely rock-operatic 10 minute single last night along with an equally epic, creepy-gyration-filled weird-space video/short film.

The song, “Blackstar”, is the title track from Bowie’s forthcoming 25th studio album (!!!)—due January 8th, Bowie’s 69th birthday (!!!!!!); pre-order via iTunes or Bowie’s site—and it is legitimately great, getting us excited to hear the other seven tracks.

Watch the short film below.

Noise’s also got an interviewwith the film’s director, Johan Renck, where he details the collaborative creative process with Bowie.

HOLYSHITHOLYSHITHOLYSHIT, guys—speaking of Missy Elliott…Missy Elliott is back!

After years of relative silence (minus that last Super Bowl), Missy Elliot dropped a brand new single + video (the latter of which features a puppet Pharrell Williams) out of nowhere today and they are predictably fucking awesome.

Enjoy. You can purchase the single via iTunes.