Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, Electronic, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Indie/Rock/Pop Releases: June Edition

 

Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Fiona Apple turned our small corner of the internet into a frenzy with her SXSW performances earlier this year; a new record from the sullen girl herself was long, long overdue, and very, very anticipated. The good news is, Apple didn’t really seem to care about any of that expectation or hype, not now, and not during the making of The Idler Wheel… (could just save the trouble and say ‘not ever,’ I guess). “Every single night’s a fight with my brain,” she sings on lead song/single “Every Single Night,” followed by “every single fight’s all right,” which, thank god, either way. “I just want to feel everything,” she states, making an anthem for her believers out of words. She does it again on “Anything We Want.” She’s as complex and giving as ever and, like Patti Smith, who also appears in this list, is carving her own spot deeper. (Epic)

Ty Segall Band- Slaughterhouse
	If you still care about guitars in music here’s an album you should probably listen to from a guy who keeps wielding his guitar and songs all over the place, always, and keeps actually getting audibly better. (In The Red)

Patti Smith – Banga

There’s something about being a Patti Smith fan that doesn’t even necessitate loving all of her songs; certainly I don’t love all of what I hear on Banga, her first in five years. I’ll always take a ferocious “Banga” Patti over a croony “This Is the Girl” Patti, but what it is is that everything she says is carried straight to hearts with the same heaviness regardless. Banga is a collection of Patti’s past, present, and, always, the future, with songs inspired by postcards, Amy Winehouse, literature—the usual. A restless artist, an important one, so listen. (Columbia)

Metric – Synthetica

I’ve been surprised at how much Metric songs have been sticking with me these past few outings, most of all here on Synthetica. It’s not even the obvious hits (“Youth Without Youth,” already an actual hit; “Speed the Collapse”). It’s the past and the future meeting in the middle, most poignantly on the distorted, reverb-soaked minimalism of standout moment “Dreams So Real”; “Have I ever really helped anyone but myself/To believe in the power of songs/To believe in the power of girls. I’ll shut up and carry on/A scream becomes a yawn.” Emily Haines heart and soul to the bone. (MMI)

No Joy – Negaverse

Everyone fell in love with No Joy because Best Coast tweeted about them but then everyone fell more in love with them when they heard their shoegazey debut album Ghost Blonde and, even more so when they saw the Montreal band play live. On follow-up EP Negaverse, No Joy retreated back from the stage a bit more again, maybe not even intentionally, to reveal some craftier songs while still punching up indiscernibly catchy songs like opener “Junior” with some reckless guitar to kick things off. (Mexican Summer)

Surprises, disappointments and albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: A few songs from Wintersleep’s Hello Hum will not get out of my head. And I don’t even want them to! Also, is it just me, or is there like, one killer, vintage Billy melodies buried deep in that new Smashing Pumpkins album?

Disappointment of the month: That I still have a shred of expectation for a new Smashing Pumpkins record, landing them ultimately in a disappointment category. It’s ONE MELODY.

Out in July: One of my always-favourites Brian Borcherdt is releasing a new album as Dusted. Also, Dirty Projectors. I AM LISTENING.