This week saw the longest ever Oscars speech and the longest ever presidential address to Congress. 😩 But soon we’re getting the longest ever Car Seat Headrest song. 😃 Here’s a short list of this week’s excellent comments.

Toronto’s New Friends Fest will return this summer for three days of emo, screamo, and blackgaze at the Lithuanian House. (I’m learning today that Lithuanian House is not a DIY punk house but a longstanding banquet hall and events center on the city’s west side.) The fest will take place from Aug. 1-3, and its lineup is dotted with some truly impressive names. Snowing! Rolo Tomassi! Home Is Where! Tenue! Respire! Nuvolascura! There’s also an appearance from Black Market/Michael Nelson favorite Sadness, which I thought was now defunct? So that’s exciting. Tickets are available here, and the full lineup is below.

Two years ago our esteemed metal columnist Brad Sanders anointed the one-person LA black metal project Lamp Of Murmuur as a Band To Watch. The man in question, who goes by the name of M., is one of those types who release music under a range of identities on Bandcamp. Today we behold the first under a new moniker.

D’Wayne Wiggins, a founding member of the great Oakland R&B group Tony! Toni! Toné!, has passed away. In an Instagram statement, Wiggins’ family announces that he passed away this morning, surrounded by family, after a battle with bladder cancer. Wiggins was 64.

Music Can Hear Us, the delightfully titled new DJ Koze album, is just four weeks away. Today we get one last advance single, “Brushtaxi.” DJs including Keinemusik, Black Coffee, and D E S I R E E have spun the track ahead of its official release, but now you can bask in all eight-plus minutes. “Buschtaxi” is also available on a new 12″ vinyl EP opposite Koze’s recent Marley Waters collab “Brushcutter.” This one’s a lot lighter and airier than that one, and you can hear it below.

The infectious energy of Perennial’s latest LP Art History landed them on our list of the Best New Acts Of 2024. Today, the New England mod-punk trio is announcing their new EP of ’60s-inspired tunes titled Perennial ’65.

Black Moth Super Rainbow are back! The Pennsylvania electro-psych rock group have announced their new studio album Soft New Magic Dream, the follow-up to 2018’s Panic Blooms. It’ll be out in June, and you can hear lead single “Open The Fucking Fantasy” now.

In 2021, Ghost Mountain — a member of the eclectic, hyper-online music collective Haunted Mound — wiped his music from the internet and went on hiatus. Today, the cult-followed maverick is back with his debut mixtape October Country, made with Sematary.

Last week, LISA unveiled her debut solo album Alter Ego, which featured Doja Cat, Rosalía, Megan Thee Stallion, Future, and more. Now, fellow Blackpink member JENNIE’s debut solo album Ruby is out as well, and it includes the Dua Lipa collab “Handlebars.”

Mayhem has descended upon us. Lady Gaga’s long-awaited return to pop is finally here, following a rollout that has lasted for nearly seven months and overlapped with last fall’s jazzy Harlequin project.