NME New Music � The best new bands, tracks, albums and videos

• New Video - Vic Mensa, 'Orange Soda'

  Either I missed some subtle connotations back in the day on Nickelodeon, or Vic Mensa's version of 'Orange Soda' is a little different to the one Kenan and Kel were so into as a teenager. Preferring to smoke rather than drink it straight from the fridge, Mensa brings the same laid back attitude that saw him light up 'Cocoa Butter Kisses' on Chance The Rapper's 'Acid Rap' mixtape. Favouring weed as his drug of choice, Mensa's laid back flow is backed by a joyous beat just longing to be looped forever on long summer nights. Read More

• New Music - Parquet Courts, World Cafe Session

  Never ones to stick by the rules of the music industry, Parquet Courts recorded three brand new songs for American radio station World Café back in April. Read More

• Track Exclusive - Splashh, 'Feels Like You'

  Psych-rockers Splashh return with a brand new single, 'Feels Like You’. It's due out July 8 on Luv Luv Luv Records but you can exclusively stream it right here, right now. The band's debut album ‘Comfort’ will follow on September 2, and reports are emerging that the band have stuck true to their DIY ethic by self-producing the whole thing. Read More

• Radar Band Of The Week - Arthur Beatrice

  "There is a tension between us that’s really important. We try not to meet in the middle on things, even if it means someone loses the battle. We’d rather do nothing than do something we’re not entirely happy with.” The words of Orlando Leopard sum up the heart of his band Arthur Beatrice perfectly. Here are a four-piece who, with just a handful of rabidly received gigs under their collective belt, decided to disappear completely while they set about mastering their craft. Read More

• Radar Band Of The Week - Daughn Gibson

  It comes as little surprise to find that imposing, gutter-sweeping storyteller Daughn Gibson used to work in a porno bookstore. “It was incredible,” he booms down the line from his middle-of-nowhere hometown of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, telling us about lipstick-smeared drag queens and filth-obsessed businessmen regulars. “I think it inspired my whole life – like, pull back the curtain a little bit and see what’s inside. Read More

• New Music - Drop Out Venus, 'Death Is Screaming'

  Drop Out Venus have been creating wired and wonderful music for a while now (like last year's magnificent 'Love In Vein'), and here they return sounding drastically different to before. This isn't too surprising – they've always been prone to turning their heads and hands to a myriad of different styles and making it work. Read More

• Track Exclusive - Waxahatchee, 'Swan Dive'

  Waxahatchee is Kate Crutchfield, an Alabama-born, Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter who spent her teenage years touring with feminist punk bands and honing her guitar skills. Read More

• Radar Band Of The Week - The Weeks

  If you really want to know where The Weeks are at, you need to hear about the insane bar where they cut their swamp-punk teeth in their hometown of Jackson, Mississippi. Legendary über-dive WC Dons not only let these county-rock rabble-rousers in from the age of 12, it also used to be a brothel. Oh, and rumour has it the place was once run by a convicted murderer (“He was a nice dude!” the band say unconvincingly when Radar meets them in a dusty Austin alleyway). Soon enough, this mini-mob became the de facto house band. Read More

• Festival Guide: Sounds From The Other City 2013

  Salford's premier new music festival, Sounds From The Other City, takes place this Sunday (May 5). Here, local writer Samuel Breen gives his top picks and explains why the bash is so worthwhile. Sam: "This centreless city and former borough of Manchester has always been the underdog. Its houses are packed that little bit tighter, its factories that little bit more rundown. But between the torched pubs and hollow structures of Chapel Street there's a wealth of activity from this event that's hosted Manchester firsts from the likes of Alt-J , Lapalux and Dutch Uncles. Read More

• Track exclusive – Kult Country, 'Amongst The Dead Forever'

  More gloriously dishevelled stuff from Salford's Sways Records here. Kult Country have been knocking around for a while now – they played a few packed out, reverb-heavy (x 1 billion) shows in London at the tail end of 2012 which garnered much excitement - and now their debut seven-inch proper, 'Slowburn'/'Amongst the Dead Forever', has been released. Read More

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