Durham, NC based poet and songwriter Shirlette Ammons will be releasing her sophomore album, Language Barrier on Churchkey and SugarQube Records on February 5th, 2016.

The first single, “Earth Intro”, features a guest appearance by Grammy Award-winning duo The Indigo Girls. Other guests on the album include Meshell Ndegeocello, Amelia Meath (Sylvan Esso), Hiss Golden Messenger, German rapper sookee, Heather McEntire (Mount Moriah), Median (Foreign Exchange Music Group), Joceyln Ellis, and Phil Cook (Megafaun). All of the music was composed by Daniel Hart whose credits include St. Vincent and Broken Social Scene amongst others. shirlette worked with a broad and talented roster of award-winning guests to create a record that blends and bends genres.

After an action-packed year of touring the world, Spray Paint return with their second LP of 2015, Dopers. It was recorded last August in the middle of 87 shows in 66 cities and in 12 different countries by Chris Woodhouse (The Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Mayyors). Easily the most hi fi they have ever been recorded, but without losing the scum. Moments of Jesus Lizard, Glenn Branca, Sister-era Sonic Youth come to mind at different points. Dopers is set for release October 23rd on Monofonus Press and you can cheek out the first smasher that debuted on Noisey.

Superhuman Happiness create music for a dance party inhabited by the emotionally complicated. Led by Stuart Bogie—a perpetually in-demand songwriter, arranger and performer whose resume includes stints with Arcade Fire, David Byrne, Iron & Wine, TV On The Radio and Antibalas—the Brooklyn-based ensemble construct instantly infectious and relentlessly rhythmic records that makes bodies move. Underlying the groove, however, are lyrical concepts that take a long look at the human condition. Their latest LP, Escape Velocity, is a seven-track effort that explores how human made technologies inversely shape our internal emotional landscapes. Songs like “VHS” and Super 8” merge broad influences like ‘80s dance pop and ‘70s prog, while lyrically examining how various media used in storytelling and communication impact how we see our own memories and derive a sense of meaning as people. The damaged art disco of “Date & Time” addresses the addictive aspects of social media with the refrain “we’re going nowhere clicking on those pretty pictures.” If this sounds overly heady, the album’s soaring vocal harmonies, celebratory handclaps, lush synths and crisp rhythms let it be known that joy and contemplation can be mutually inclusive.

In the writing and recording of Escape Velocity, Bogie and founding member Eric Biondo reconstructed the band to feature vocalist Andrea Diaz, whose vocal approach take the songs to new heights of expression. They also called upon old friends saxophonist Colin Stetson, violinist Sarah Neufeld and drummer Joe Russo to contribute. Once described as “physical cinematic dance rock,” Superhuman Happiness push the proclamation even further on these seven songs.  In physics, escape velocity is the speed at which the sum of an object’s kinetic energy and its gravitational potential energy is equal to zero. It is the speed needed to “break free” from the gravitational attraction of a massive body. Superhuman Happiness subscribe to the idea that music and art, when brought into our hearts, minds and bodies can provide human lives this same propulsive force.