Five Albums You Should Be Listening To Right Now

Great new records from Japanese experimental metal to neo-Motown.

Every week, titans of the mediasphere give Hooksexup their music recommendations. This week: Sam Cannon, of 3hive.

1. Boris, Heavy Rocks and Attention Please

Japan's experimental-metal giants, Boris, recently released a pair of albums on the same day. One, Heavy Rocks, rocks heavily as only Boris can, while its alter ego, Attention Please, showcases guitarist Wata's angelic vocals over shoegazer haze. Each one is independently mind-blowing. However, I've found great pleasure in shuffling them together. Kind of like Hot Tamales and buttered popcorn — only better, because they don't get stuck in your teeth.

Listen: "Riot Sugar"

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Listen to "Hope," from Boris' Attention Please on Facebook

2. DMA, Drem Beb

Much as it defies listening at first, David Moose Adamson's solo album lumbers into your eardrums and sets up shop in corners previously reserved for Butthole Surfers or The Fall. DMA kicks up a distorted, hypnotic ruckus until, next thing you know, you've kind of grown used to having him around.

Listen: "Riding Holiday"

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3. Mayer Hawthorne, Impressions

Motown Records left Detroit long before Mayer Hawthorne was born, and yet our boy from nearby Ann Arbor, Michigan has held faithfully to the soulful spirit of the city. Here, he plies his silky pipes on an EP of daring covers spanning from Chromeo to ELO. Not a bust in the bunch.

Listen: "Fantasy Girl"

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4. Cabaret Voltaire, The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord

Cabaret Voltaire have been credited as the forefathers of just about every electronic music genre of the past three decades. Influential though they may be, their catalog is hard to swallow whole, but this funky slab of blips and grunts has held up well. It's been over twenty-five years, and I seem to come back to it again and again.

Listen: "Kick Back"

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5. Edan, Beauty and the Beat

I was going to list Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two — but who doesn't already have that on repeat? So now might be a good time to revisit Edan's classic sophomore LP. Like Hot Sauce Committee, it taps a vein of raw, psychedelic production laced up with playful braggadocio. And you're far less likely to hear it on ESPN promos.

Listen: "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme"

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