Here’s a sampling of June 7th, 2024 new releases. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors; or, let the people know what else should be on the community’s radar this week.
If there has ever been an, uh-huh, point to the KILL or KEEP series, odds are it’s been to dip into controversies still simmering, tracklists still disorganised, arguments still raging, and offer some passing aggregated opinionated stab at a Decisive Verdict – and if not a firm verdict on this/that/the other should-should-not be here, then at least a decisive snapshot of an argument still ongoing elsewhere in the world and (one hopes) interesting enough to be worth snapping to begin with.
This band/album/songwriter package has absolutely none of those. Nobody argues about Steven Wilson and the Porcupine Trees anymore. Everyone has chosen sides. The received wisdom of how much to listen to it if inclined (sparingly but intently) or if not (not at all, or else psychedelic ’90s years only!) is very received. The man’s music does not have the charm to sway indecisives – you either take it on his terms, or not at all. We all know what this means with prog rock. In Absentia was Wilson’s first metal album and has one of his stupidest concepts (I think we can all rejoice that auteurs tend no longer to mistake serial killer narratives as a cheap supplement for artistic clout). Here are thoughts.
Rules
The starting team was johnnyoftheWell, Koris and TVC.
Gatecrashers were welcome to this KILL or KEEP and we…
Here’s a list of new releases for the week of May 31st, 2024. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 31, 2024 –
Anna Tivel: Living Thing Genre: Indie Folk Label: Fluff and Gravy Records
Arooj Aftab: Night Reign Genre: Folk/Jazz Label: Verve Label Group
Ayra Starr: The Year I Turned 21 Genre: R&B/Soul Label: Mavin Global Goldings
Bat for Lashes: The Dream of Delphi Genre: Indie Pop/Folk Label: Mercury KX
Crowded House: Gravity Stairs Genre: Pop/Rock Label: Lester Records
Four Stroke Baron: Data Diamond Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal Label: Prosthetic Records
Half Waif: Ephemeral Being Genre: Indie Pop Label: Anti
IDAHO: Lapse Genre: Slowcore / Indie Rock Label: Arts & Crafts
King Hannah: Big Swimmer Genre: Ambient/Shoegaze Label:City Slang
The Marias: Submarine Genre: Indie/Dream Pop Label: Atlantic
Hello everyone! Checking in to report that everything seems fine and fully operational, but please feel free to let us know in the forums if you notice any problems and I’ll get someone to take a look. Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line, and your call will be answered in the order it was received. In the meantime, below is a list of some new releases for May 24th, 2024. Please feel free to request reviews from staff or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 24th, 2024 –
Abysm – Shadow of Malevolence Genre: Blackened Thrash Metal / Melodic Death Metal Label: [self-released]
Andrew Bird – Sunday Morning Put-On Genre: Standards / Vocal Jazz Label: Loma Vista
Astrid S – Joyride Genre: Electropop / Alt-Pop Label: Universal / Island
Bass Communion – The Itself of Itself Genre: Musique Concrete / Noise / Ambient Drone Label: Lumberton Trading Company
Bess Atwell – Light Sleeper Genre: Indie Folk / Dream Pop Label: Real Kind
Bring Me The Horizon – POST HUMAN: NeX GEn Genre: Emo-Pop / Alternative Metal / Hyperpop Label: Sony / RCA
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 17th, 2024. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 17, 2024 –
Ani DiFranco: Unpresedented Sh!t
Genre: Indie Folk Label: Righteous Babe
The Avett Brothers: The Avett Brothers
Genre: Americana / Folk Label: American Recordings
Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft
Genre: Pop / Indie Pop Label: Interscope
Botanist: Paleobotany
Genre: Experimental Black Metal Label: Prophecy Productions
Cage the Elephant: Neon Pill
Genre: Alternative Rock Label: Sony Music
Celestial Season: Mysterium III
Genre: Doom Label: Independent
Elvellon: Ascending in Synergy
Genre: Power Metal Label: Napalm Records
From Indian Lakes: Head Void
Genre: Indie Rock / Dream Pop Label: Independent
Gatecreeper: Dark Superstition
Genre: Doom/Death Metal/Hardcore Label: Relapse Records
Jamey Jasta: … And Jasta for All
Genre: Metalcore Label: Perseverance Media
Jinjer: Live in Los Angeles
Genre: Metalcore / Progressive
To put it simply, In Vain’s newest album Solemn is a near masterpiece. It’s an absolutely seamless blend of epic and natural sounding progressive death metal and devilish black metal passages. People talk about albums sounding epic, but Solemn is the epitome of that very word. The way that these guys effortlessly float between these different subgenres not only showcases a cohesive unit firing on all cylinders, but also goes to show the amount of time and effort they put into the album. Solemn is an extreme metal opera that may ultimately go down as one of the best of the decade. Do not miss out!
Ladies, gentlemen, and everyone in between: welcome back to Weekly Releases! Below is a list of notable new releases set to premiere on May 10th, 2024. It’s quite a jam-packed and genre-bending list, so feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. Cheers!
– List of Releases: May 10th, 2024 –
A. G. Cook – Britpop Genre: Electronic / Experimental Label: New Alias
Amen Dunes – Death Jokes Genre:Alternative / Folk / Singer-Songwriter Label: Sub Pop
Amy O – Mirror, Reflect Genre:Alternative / Indie Pop Rock Label: Tower Records
Anette Olzon – Rapture Genre:Power Metal / Symphonic Metal Label: Frontiers Records
Angus & Julia Stone – Cape Forestier Genre:Folk Rock / Indie Pop / Americana Label: Sony
Arab Strap – I’m Totally Fine with It Don’t Give a Fuck Anymore Genre:Indie Rock / Slowcore Label: Rock Action
Bibi Club – Feu de garde Genre:Indie Pop Label: Secret City Records
Bossk – .4 Genre:Post-metal / Sludge Metal Label: Deathwish
Bugzy Malone – THE GREAT BRITISH DREAM Genre:Hip-Hop / Grime Label: Ill Gotten Records
Conway the Machine – Slant Face Killah Genre:Hip-Hop Label: Drumwork
Hair’sa leest of new releezas per May 3rd, 2024. Dalee probly besa otha albums in da commentens from da frendly Ewoks. Informateonesa most gud geesas beeza Googlen en besa berry accuraten. Pleasen feel free to requesten reviews per any of da followen albums from da staff en/or da contribudas. May da 4th besa wit yousa. Leeven longo en prospa!
– List of Releases: May 3rd, 2024 –
Adeem the Artist – Anniversary Genre: Americana / Alt-Country Label: Thirty Tigers
Agriculture – Living is Easy (EP) Genre: Blackgaze / “Ecstatic Black Metal” Label: The Flenser
American Culture – Hey Brother, It’s Been a While Genre: Post-Punk / Indie Rock Label: Convulse
Aquilus – Bellum II Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal / Dark Folk Label: Northern Silence
As the Sun Falls – Kaamos Genre: Melodic Death Metal Label: Theogonia
Better Than Ezra – Super Magick Genre: Alternative Rock / Pop Rock Label: Round Hill
To put it simply, Frail Body’s Artificial Bouquet is an immense record. From the clear influences of Converge and Deafheaven being found in almost all corners of the band’s sound, it is obvious that this was going to be the case. The band plays their strongest hand all the time – their seemingly innate ability to arrive at the needed potency for each moment. The riffs feel like an explosion for each harsh, dissonant chord that is attacked, and the visceral vocals manage to add even more intensity to the overall composition. However, this abrasive soundscape isn’t the band’s only trick. Before the album’s most effective crescendos, the band tones it down to rather lush soundscapes. While they may not last long, they do maximise the catharsis of these crescendos to their fullest potential. In its essence, Artificial Bouquet’s main goal is to be an emotional catharsis for both the band members and the listeners. They without a doubt achieved this goal, making for an absolutely monstrous 41 minutes of raw, honest chaos.
Some hard jams that promise to bring back the rock will be released on April 26th, 2024. Soft jellies will probably be in the comments. Being unbanned this whole time but posting on alts is a long game I did not know I was still playing, but I had to promise not to spam my meme conspiracy-laden YouTube channel in every thread or else my wings will get clipped 4real this time (lists are fine even though I have over 700). Come get ya boi so that I might behave for at least 15 minutes!!!!! Maybe I will sell one of my alts. Texan has wares if you have coin. You can request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors if they’re not too busy jamming hard or hardly jamming.
– List of Releases: April 26th, 2024 –
Accept – Humanoid Genre: Heavy Metal Label: Napalm
Adult Jazz – So Sorry So Slow Genre: Art Pop Label: Spare Thought
Alien Ant Farm – Mantras Genre: Alternative Rock / Post-Grunge Label: MRI
Black Tusk – The Way Forward Genre: Sludge Metal Label: Season of Mist
Bullion – Affection Genre: Dream Pop / Avant-Pop Label: Ghostly International
To the average music enjoyer, the phrase “I really like Yellowcard” is fairly meaningless. At worst, it’s even slightly embarrassing – yeah, Ocean Avenue was pretty cool, but dude, you just admitted to liking pop punk, yikes. However, to the average Yellowcard enjoyer, the phrase “I really like Yellowcard” means so much more: it’s the kind of iykyk that conveys being in on the band’s quality beyond the two-ish hits from 2003. You appreciate the beauty of “Keeper”s chorus, you know “Life of Leaving Home” by heart, hell, you’ll even admit being aware of how excellently “Fragile and Dear” soars. Long story short, it’s hard to be a casual Yellowcard fan.
Above all, however, Yellowcard has meant many different things to many different people – a sentiment that would be horrifically corny and generic if it weren’t so crucially embedded in the shared experience of enjoying their music. Everyone has different memories intrinsically tied to different records – a testament to the band’s consistency both in terms of quality and ability to connect with their ageing audience. Now, a slice of this old, tired audience have combined their forces to decide on Yellowcard’s ten finest cuts. It’s you and me and one spotlight on the…
Here’s a list of notable new releases set to premiere on April 19th, 2024. Inevitably, there will be other new releases in the comments. Bless. Genres/labels are best guesses based on cursory Googling and should not be taken seriously. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 19th, 2024 –
A Certain Ratio – It All Comes Down to This Genre: Funk Rock / Dance-Punk Label: Mute
Anne Wilson – REBEL Genre: Country Pop / Contemporary Country Label: Sparrow
BIG|BRAVE – A Chaos of Flowers Genre: Drone Metal / Doomgaze Label: Thrill Jockey
Blaze of Perdition – Upharsin Genre: Black Metal Label: Metal Blade
Bongripper – Empty Genre: Doom Metal / Sludge Metal Label: Burning World
Brian Eno – Eno (Film Soundtrack) Genre: Ambient Pop / Neo-Psychedelica Label: Universal
The Ferret in Preston is a venue very close to my heart, as I’ve played there a few times in various bands over the years. However, I hadn’t been to Preston for quite some time and obviously didn’t know what The Ferret was actually like since the last time I had been there (about a decade ago). When I walked in, the place was exactly how I had remembered it being, only now the vibes were even better. The stage had been moved to the opposite end of the room, with a really eye-catching neon “The Ferret” sign adorning the back wall of the stage, as well as some moody red lighting which receded the room’s dominating darkness.
The first act of the night was Fuck Money – a band I knew by name but hadn’t actually had chance to check them out before seeing the show. Four guys walked onto the stage, with the band’s frontman – a towering, intimidating figure (he’s actually a really nice guy) sporting a striking mouth grill, suited out in a black boiler suit with their logo and some black face paint. Immediately, the band grabbed the audience with their ferocious blend of hardcore, punk, and noise rock. The musicianship was excellent, with bassist Jeremy Humphries in particular really catching my eye with his blistering down stroke technique, but as a whole the band were supremely tight and the songs were concise and engaging to listen to and watch. TaSzlin kept the energy up…
2024 has already been a wonderful year for music, so it makes sense that we’d be treated with some exceptional artwork as well! Below are my 49 favorite album covers of the first quarter of 2024, unranked and lightly organized by color/aesthetics. This is not as exhaustive or delicately arranged as the year-end list will be, but I’ll likely be pulling from it later. Scroll all the way down to see the 7×7 grid–a taste of things to come 😉
Enjoy, and feel free to comment some of your favorite covers I might’ve missed!
Tierra Whack // World Wide Whack
Beyoncé // COWBOY CARTER
Scrim // lonely boy
Dissimulator // Lower Form Resistance
Erika de Casier // Still
Gesaffelstein // GAMMA
Roxy Radclyffe // The Median’s Ark
Kali Uchis // orquídeas
Ornette Coleman // The Complete Science Fiction Sessions
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 12, 2024. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 12, 2024 –
Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties: In Lieu of Flowers
Genre: Folk/Americana/Emo Label: Hopeless Records
Asha Jefferies: Ego Ride
Genre: Indie Pop Label: Nettwerk Music Group
Castle Rat: Into the Realm
Genre: Doom Metal/Hard Rock Label: King Volume
English Teacher: This Could Be Texas
Genre: Alt-Rock/Post-Punk/Psych Label: Island Records
…
