July is hitting a lull as far as local releases, but that doesn't mean there isn't awesome music coming out, including four new albums this week. We'll start with the online releases, and the first comes to us from Hel Audio. The Orem-based label just released an album from London electronica producer Matt Nida. The six-track cassette titled Explorer is a mighty fine piece of engineering, with a cosmic ambiance that you'd expect from looking at the cover. You can snag it for just $5 off the label's Bandcamp page.

While we're in Utah County, this week also saw the debut release from Jack Pines, a three-piece indie-rock band formally from Mesa, Ariz., and now residing in Provo. They've been one of the rising bands in the Velour lineup with occasional shows around the county, but haven't really left Provo aside from a few performances in Arizona. Their debut EP, River Bear, has a good sound to it, but like many bands that haven't been together very long, you can definitely hear areas where they're still working on their groove. You can download it for $4 off their Bandcamp page.

Next up is another cassette release, this one from SLC label Red Light Sound, which is still pushing out noisy and weird music you probably wouldn't hear elsewhere. Their latest release comes from the band P.I.G.S., an experimental industrial-noise project out of SLC. The album, titled Lifesentence, is described as “harsh wall noise,” which is a fair description, but I think it sounds more like a microphone recording the rushing wind as you speed down a highway. If you're into it, you can download it for $4 or get the cassette for $5 though Red Light's Bandcamp page.


And finally, our only release show of the week comes to us from Jay William Henderson. I won't need to say much about the singer/songwriter, because City Weekly's own Kolbie Stonehocker wrote him up in this week's issue. What I can say is that the album, Hymns to My Amnesia, is available for download now on Bandcamp for $9, or you can buy a physical copy for $10. But if you'd like to hear it in person, you can catch him tonight at Velour as he plays alongside Isaac Russell and Sammy Brue. Tickets are $8, and the show starts at 8:30 p.m.

Love music, head out, buy local.