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Long before we were all forced into it, Fiona Apple turned social distancing into an art form. For the better of the early 21st century, the masterful 42-year-old singer-songwriter has sequestered herself away from the pop mainstream she once uncomfortably ruled. In the past 20 years, she’s only put out three albums — including her latest, Fetch The Bolt Cutters — and the gap between releases has grown longer with each LP. That she retreated to her home in Venice Beach was not a surprise — at the height of her early fame, she famously stared down the vacuous hordes at the MTV Video Music Awards and declared that “this world is bullshit.” This clearly was not a person who longed for the red carpet. What is surprising, however, is how this separation from the larger culture hasn’t diluted her skills as an artist or perceptive observer of human nature. Read the Uproxx review of her latest masterwork here.

-- Steven Hyden, Uproxx Cultural Critic and author of This Isn't Happening: Radiohead's "Kid A" and the Beginning Of The 21st Century

Geoff Rickly is here to help you soundtrack any mood in our new show Making A Mixtape. Hit the banner above to watch Rickly and some special guests curate a short playlist to fit a specific moment or experience during the day, whether that be “moody,” “energy,” or “details.”

OPENING TRACKS

CAR SEAT HEADREST

Next week Will Toledo and company will release one of the most anticipated indie albums of 2020, Making A Door Less Open. From the sounds of the singles, this won’t be a mere retread of 2016’s Teens Of Denial. In fact, we’re not sure what to make of “Hollywood.”

LISTEN ROMY MADLEY CROFT CHROMATICS

Moody British indie-pop group The Mysterious retro synth-rockers xx has been inactive for a while Chromatics have been teasing an now, but their singer Romy Madley album called Dear Tommy for Croft recently assured fans on more than five years. It seemed Instagram that the trio is still intact. like the LP was destined to stay However, for now Croft apparently lost when the band recently is busy with her own solo album, dropped Closer To Grey. But now which she previewed with a song it appears that Dear Tommy will called “Weightless.” finally see the light of day.

LISTEN LISTEN

DEEP CUTS DEERHOOF TRACE MOUNTAINS

These venerable sonic adventurers This new project from former LVL are always good for sounds that go UP member Dave Benton benefits beyond the staid and the stale of from his recent move from NYC to conventional indie. Their latest the bucolic Hudson River Valley. single, “’Farewell’ Symphony” — You can see that re-location culled from the forthcoming album referenced in Trace Mountains’ Future Teenage Cave Artists, due debut LP, Lost In The Country, as May 29 — characterizes well as hear it in the likeable sprawl Deerhoof’s gift for delightful and of the music. strangely catchy skronk.

LISTEN LISTEN

VINYL OF THE WEEK 'PURPLE RAIN DELUXE' by PRINCE

Are there many musical moments more uplifting than the outro guitar solo in "Purple Rain"? Almost 40 years after its initial release, Prince's album of the same name remains one of the most influential albums of all time, but you’ve never heard it like this before. Purple Rain Deluxe boasts the official 2015 remaster of the original tapes overseen by Prince himself, a final word on his definitive masterpiece.

PICK IT UP

THROWBACK

'THE IDLER WHEEL...' by FIONA APPLE Since we all have Fiona on the brain, why not revisit the masterpiece she made before Fetch The Bolt Cutters? The inventive vocal and rhythm arrangements of Bolt Cutters are next level, but you can hear Apple starting to hone those experiments on the 2012 release.

LISTEN

LINER NOTES

How Empty Country Went To Hell And Back To Make One Of 2020’s Best Indie Albums

One of our favorite albums of 2020 so far is the self-titled debut by Empty Country, the new project formed by Joseph D’Agostino of Cymbals Eat Guitars. Read about the album’s fraught, fascinating backstory here.

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