All right. Hey, hi, hello, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. Hope you're doing well. We're doing a great albums video, catching you up now that it is the end of the month of May.

What are the albums from this past month that I was really enjoying, loving, going crazy for. That's the point of this video. I don't want these records to slip through the cracks on you, so I am recommending them, throwing them back in front of you once again, because personally, I think they're great, especially now having had time to sit and ruminate on them a little bit. So let's get going.

Now, this one is from a collaboration that maybe a lot of you are not super familiar with. I wasn't familiar with when I first heard this album, Infinity Knives & Brian Ennals. A City Drowned in God's Black Tears, is the name of this record. If you're looking for some super experimental, very bold, very vocal, socially speaking, hip hop with, I think some of the most creative production I've heard so far this year, and frankly, bars that are so biting, I'm even afraid to repeat some of them because they're quite nasty. But still, spitting facts much of the time. I would say I highly recommend this album. It was super entertaining. I think there's a lot of validity to Brian Ennals's bars throughout the record. Infinity Knives's production is super creative and even pushes this album into genres far, far, far, far, far outside of hip hop itself. There's even almost like, I would say, an indie folk cut on here. There's like a sludge metal cut on here, too. This is a record you really have no idea where it's going to go, what it's going to do next. It's constantly throwing something different at you. And even when it is riding a predictable, I guess, groove or direction for a hip hop album, there's always some switch up. There's always some wild bar. There's a lot to this record. I'm still digging into the layers and the randomness of it, but yes, I'm liking this one quite a bit.

Would also highly recommend the new Viagra Boys album, viagr aboys, essentially a self-titled from the band, and I feel like with this record, they're really sticking to their guns, really delivering on pretty much everything that has made them such a great and solid band up until this point, with some different lyrical themes dealing in physical and mental health, and a lot of, I would say, maybe imposter syndrome, identity crisis, that thing on a lot of these tracks with just a continuation of the band's usual scuzzy, post-punky, groovy, weirdo sound. Some tracks throwing it back to some grungey '90s rock and alternative rock vibes on a few moments here and there, like a little Marcy's Playground, a little Butthole Surfers, but it fits them really well. It fits their style really well, honestly. So it's cool to hear them experiment a bit.

Also sounding very solid is Natalia Lafourcade on her latest album, Cancionera, killer project, absolutely killer project. Natalia really giving us an emotionally varied collection of songs that, once again, pull from a lot of classic Latin styles, A little jazzy here and there, but I would say this record is definitely more folk and singer-songwriter-oriented than my personal favorite from her, De Todas Las Flores, which again was much more of a jazzy affair. This one still, great mix of tracks, beautiful tunes all around. Natalia continues to prove that she was one of the best singers out there in popular music today, and some decent crossovers and collabs here and there as well. Again, just some of the most gorgeous music that you're going to hear, gorgeous new music you're going to hear this year if you dare try this album out.

All right.

We also have Deerhoof, who are back with, I think, one of their best albums in quite a while, honestly. This legendary indie rock band is coming once again with their trademark combination of quirk and underground rock, and noise, and pop. But with this time, they're delivering with some their best production ever. Even some tracks that have some very heavy arrangements and strings and beautiful layers to them, an incredible and intense closer, and a lot of content and commentary that is very much a reflection on the grim state of the world, which frankly, I think, goes over very well. Again, one of their most creative LPs. If there's any issue I have with it, it's that it's a little on the short side. I wish it was longer. I wish it was more material, more everything, because it is so good. I'm just left wanting more.

All right, we also have this new one over here from Model/Actriz. Pirouette is the title of this LP. And yeah, I feel like the band sticks to their guns on this record as well. If you listen to their last LP, you know these guys have a really grim, dark, but super dance-centric and groovy post-punk sound with a lot of spoken word vocals, great spoken word vocals, in fact. And I feel like they are pretty much pulling on all of those sounds and influences and ideas once again on this record. But if there's anything that makes this one a little different, they are embracing melody more. They are embracing choruses and hooks more. If there was any shortcoming on their last record, it's that the mellower moments, the softer moments, any spot in which they varied away from that very direct, noisy, groovy, no wave type sound, those tracks weren't quite as strong. This album, I feel like, is just more all around a solid release, more varied, more to it for sure. I would say some more personal lyrics as well, dealing in a lot of queer experiences and stuff like that. But yeah, very thoughtful album from the band. Definitely digging depth-wise in terms of just lyrical content, the different instrumentation, more melody. And yeah, I just think it's a really solid project from the band, and they're really building up a great sound and hopefully a super solid discography into the future.

Also liking this new album from a band who are apparently like vets of the Norwegian punk scene, Honningbarna, and Soft Spot is the name of the record. And this is like a really, really great, noisy, hardcore album with some math rock and post-hardcore influences and noise rock influences. Like the vocals are just searing and intense. The guitars are angular and crazy. The drums really propel the album so well. The songwriting can be quite catchy sometimes on tracks that go in maybe more of a garage punk and pop punk direction. If you're into bands like Refused and Hives, older garage punk acts and so on and so forth, from the '90s and stuff like that, you're going to get a lot out of this record, honestly. Also, classic post-hardcore and noisy post-hardcore acts like Blood Brothers. You're going to dig on this. This is really fun. This is really intense, very colorful. It's quite relentless outside of the handful of moments that are super catchy.

And finally, this new EP from MSPAINT, who are an up and coming band that previously I've been a little on the fence with. Not super nuts for some of their more, I guess, lofi synth punky stuff, but I feel like they're varying their sound in a really interesting way on this project. Sure, the brash synth punk vibes are once again there, but it's being infused on some tracks on this EP with some prog rock, and the vocals tend to run, I think, dare I say, rap-centric. It feels rap-adjacent. I feel like I'm listening to a rap album a little bit. I mean, I wouldn't say it's a traditional rap flow, but it's this talk-sung thing, and there is a bit of a rhythm to it, and it's very shouty and in your face a little bit. It's almost giving a Rage Against the Machine vibe at some points. But again, it doesn't feel like a typical rap record or anything like that. Again, it's a little difficult to describe. There is a very interesting blend of genres going on here where it's hard to where one starts and another begins. But you do have the sense in the electronics. You got the riffs, you got the really punchy drums and grooves, you got the shouty, almost rapped vocals. Again, it's punky, it's proggy, it's hip-hoppy in a way, too. It's doing a lot of stuff, but still undeniably creative and visceral, for sure. At the very least, it is that.

And yeah, those are all of the releases that I wanted to recommend to you guys. Think very highly of all of these albums. I think you absolutely should, should, should, should, should check them out.

And that is going to be that.

Music. Great albums. Month of May. Forever.