Blonde Redhead
Arthouse.
What the hell?
Back at university, I remember there being a point at which my dissertation tutor told me to put the whole thing on hold and read up on the meaning and application of arthouse. I spent approximately two hours of my life reading relatively uncomplex definitions and unpackings, but damn would it have been easier if he’d just sent me away and told me to check out Blonde Redhead (I’m sure he could have done, too – he pitched surrealist film to me using Pixies lyrics and half the reason I originally asked him to help me out was over a rant we had about the bonus tracks on Sonic Youth’s Bad Moon Rising, but I digress).
Sorry, what’s arthouse?
One big hybrid, innit. A bastard product of ‘high’ and ‘low’ art that’s not pure enough to satisfy elitists, too edgy to sell to the mainstream, but an exciting box of treats for anyone who doesn’t mind getting their paws a little muddy. It derives most of its innovation from pastiche and appropriation rather than groundbreaking originality, and the styles it draws from are often both a little behind the times in their sourcing and a cut above in the way they’re dealt with. Bonus points for any cross-cultural, trans-geographical or oh-it’s-quite-hard-to-label-comprehensively content, all of which amounts to a notoriously broad collection of categories. You get the picture.
Sorry not sorry for the wank onslaught, but all this fits Blonde Redhead down to…
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By Sowing
Thursday January 14, 2021
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50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 | EP/Live/Compilation
[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]
The modern era of The Ocean Collective — a settled aggregate as opposed to the revolving door era of the early 2000s — forced audiences across the metal world to pay attention with Pelagial. Unlike the prior -centric series, it was a record that combined the band’s growing emphasis on atmosphere with their crushing post-metal soundscapes, threatening sludge background, and emerging vocal talent in Loic Rossetti. No longer did an identity crisis plague the group; their newfound individuality, birthed from the novel ambient and progressive leanings, had been solidified in perhaps the crew’s best flowing and paced output in a titanic discography. Striving to succeed such a laudable effort with yet another concept release dual threat seemed like a second chance, correcting the criticism of years past. Armed to the teeth with members that had now begun to cooperate at a high level, the run began with the promising Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, which was designed with consistency in mind — a goal that the record, what with its stunning sonic environments populated by massive riffs and evocative moods, certainly excelled at reaching. Per the band’s own admissions, cliché as it may be from a marketing perspective, a treasure trove of surprises awaited in the anticipated second part. Eyes were predictably rolled in anticipation, yet what emerged precisely as advertised: a product that aimed to…
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By Sowing
Wednesday January 13, 2021
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50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 | EP/Live/Compilation
[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]
You’d be hard-pressed to pick Mass VI Live out of a lineup of Amenra’s studio records were you not already well acquainted with their 2017 release of the same name. The live rendition of the Belgian post-metal legends’ most recent opus is sublime, sporting better production values than most bands’ core albums whilst still packing in all the immediacy, wonder and passion you’d expect from an ‘in the moment’ performance, even with the notable absence of a live audience. “Children of the Eye” still hits like a freight train, “Diaken” bristles with all of the same gorgeous little details and “A Solitary Reign” is “A Solitary Reign” which, as you’ll know if you’ve heard the original, is all that it needed to be. It may have only made it onto this list at the whim of two particularly determined users, yet it deserves to be recognised amongst the most impressive releases of 2020, whether live or otherwise, because Mass VI Live is an event. Come and witness it. –Asleep
[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]
Three years after the fantastic Asheran, these UK proggers added a string to their bow by further smashing together metal genres. On top of their sludge/stoner recipe, some death, thrash, and even blackened elements spice up a formula that
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By Sowing
Tuesday January 12, 2021
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50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 | EP/Live/Compilation
[Official site] // [Spotify]
Abel Tesfaye always had the ’80s flair in him. Instead of the blatant hedonism of his reference decade, he uses the same tropes to criticize the lifestyle he lives. Self-loathing his way through new wave-y, dream-poppy R&B, Tesfaye appears less dysfunctional than ever, yet fails in becoming the man he strives to be. It seems he possibly can never become that man: the night never ends, the drugs never stop, and plastic surgery isn’t unaffordable anymore. Under such conditions, it’s no surprise his newest collection of songs falls into the category of the nocturnal mega-bangers, the kind of songs that ravage everything in its path thanks to its intelligent fusion of 808s rhythms and ’80s nostalchic elements. I bet this guy will crush the competition at the upcoming Grammy Awards. –Erwann S.
[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]
Naas Alcameth is part of a restricted niche of artists who manage to embody their spiritual dimension in all its fullness. Those who are aware of his many musical projects know that his own private reality roams between consciousness and dream, trapped within a disturbing parallel existence. It is simply not enough to add some random dark tone to a composition to make it terrifying; it must be able to genuinely reverberate that unsettling dimension. Melinoë…
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By Sowing
Monday January 11, 2021
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50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1 | EP/Live/Compilation
[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]
Intronaut’s rise to fame over the last decade and a half has been anything but luck, but in a year as turbulent as 2020, the band’s Fluid Existential Inversions somehow moved past the success of their 2015 release and a change of drummers (normally a spanner in the works of any established band). Largely, the group’s newest piece offers up most of the familiar progressive nuance of the scene while adding a heavier all-around presence. Fans will find the likes of “The Cull” and “Speaking Of Orbs” more familiar — their mood reaffirms Intronaut’s more introspective, natural songwriting patterns — but it’s deeper cuts like “Contrapasso”, “Pangloss” or “Sour Everythings” that showcase a bunch of well-practiced musicians moving forward in a truly successful direction. Intronaut continues to meld a clinical display of rhythms into wonderfully crafted melodies while resonating with the success that’s followed them since their debut. –Robert Garland
49. Slift – Ummon
[Bandcamp] // [Spotify]
The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for black hole discoveries that revealed the “darkest secrets of the universe,” but Slift are the ones truly challenging the stretch of cosmic confines. With their blend of psychedelic space rock, stoner, and krautrock, the French riffaholics created an epic journey through space, time, and many, many mushrooms. –Erwann S.…
50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1
[Official site] // [Spotify]
This album could be Ichiko Aoba’s identity crisis, though on the subtlest of terms. I could be projecting. There just seems to be less of… her on it; but, in all fairness, that’s contingent on the singer being personally defined by a voice and permeable space, not also the denser surrounding arrangements and instrumental narratives. Which might be a bit unreasonable. While I’ve mostly known Aoba’s music to feel cloistered — burrowed in contentment, mostly alone — this album is one of a select few cases where the singer achieves a sort of induced wanderlust, though still often doubling back on the realization of self. “Prologue” sounds like meditating mid-air in a failed zeppelin as it disintegrates in slow motion, and pardon the silly specificity. “Pilgrimage” sounds like a world’s worth of joy failing to directly resolve a deep, esoteric personal anguish, and instead fortifying the gaps around it. “Dawn in the Adan” is resilient, and one of the more grounded pieces, even as Aoba’s voice soars. It’s weird to say this as someone who’s made a bit of a hobby of overanalyzing songs, but Windswept Adan is somewhat of a rare case, where superfluous words can indeed do a disservice (more so than I’d normally admit, anyway). I don’t want to talk about it much, as I’d much rather listen to it; and, I don’t…
50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1
30. Mac Miller – Circles
[Official site] // [Spotify]
I worry, listening to and writing about Circles, that I contribute unhelpfully to the celebration and mythologisation of the young, dead artist. I was never a particularly big Mac Miller fan — total discretion, I’m still not — but I think that, like much of the rapper’s expansive, largely unreleased catalogue (ask Rowan), Circles has much to offer. This is in spite of Miller’s death, not because of it. Ideally, Miller would still be alive; he would not have succumbed to his addiction; Circles would have received some kind of follow-up. As his (unfortunate) finale, however, the album feels remarkably conclusive. Not because it stands out in any particular way from the rest of his discography, but rather, because it doesn’t. That is, Circles doesn’t feel, necessarily, like the end of Mac Miller. Chronologically, yes (unless someone were to sort through the hundreds of unofficial loosies [expect, maybe, a wave of fan-made mixtapes]). Ultimately, though, as a continuation of Miller’s gradual shift into funk-inspired R&B, Circles does not (like many posthumous albums) feel at all out of place, or like an awkward cap on what the artist was doing, or where he was going. Its magic is that it could and does work either way. There’s significant comfort in that. –BlushfulHippocrene
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50-31 | 30-11 | 10-1
[Official site] // [Spotify]
One of the biggest surprises of the year, We Are Chaos sees Marilyn Manson entering a new chapter in his life, reinventing himself as a glitter Goth cowboy. Filled with mature reflections and a newfound peace of mind, the frontman seems at his most relaxed in his skin so far. His partnership with Shooter Jennings brought the best in him, often covering the bluesy mindset of The Pale Emperor with a sweet country flavor. Overall, the results are miles away from most of his albums, yet this unexpected twist came together with a rejuvenation. Whereas a bit hard to digest for a fair number of fans, the LP is actually a major grower featuring some of his most layered tracks in a long time. There is something for everyone here, as each song boasts a catchy groove — whether aggressive or mellow — and the storytelling is kept to the point, making for an enjoyable record. –Raul Stanciu
[Official site] // [Spotify]
To me, Katie Crutchfield’s career floundered after Cerulean Salt, a record I was obsessed with upon its release, especially the affecting closer “You’re Damaged”. Saint Cloud, then, represents a revitalization of the Waxahatchee brand for me as well as for Crutchfield, recently sober and in love with…
2020 hasn’t been a great year for much of anything… music was no exception. This is my favorite of what they decided to release during this dumpster fire. 2021 might be marginally better in the same way getting punched in the face a second time isn’t nearly as jarring as the first punch you didn’t see coming. Drink up!
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50. Ulver – Flowers of Evil
 Genre: Electronic/Art Pop
Recommended Track: Little Boy
**A laid back extension of their ’80s goth/synthpop style with more guitars and steady rhythms pretty much from beginning to end. While the unpredictable shifts in tone and experimentation from The Assassination of Julius Caesar is missed, this is still a solid effort from the wolves of Norway. Flowers of Evil is a dark yet inviting “pop” album and a highlight of 2020 music. — TalonsOfFire
Until now, it never felt like Ulver had created the same album twice. On Flowers of Evil, though, they pick up right where The Assassination of Julius Caesar left off, except with less experimentation and no real surprises. Having said that, I’ve always liked Ulver more when they use vocals and I’m also a big Depeche Mode fan. This album is 90s-era Depeche Mode with a bit of an Ulver twist.
49. Within The Ruins – Black Heart
 Genre: Technical Death Metal / Metalcore
Recommended Track: Domination
**Although not as great as their magnum opus Phenomena, this album doesn’t trail too…
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By Sowing
Monday December 14, 2020
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![folklore (deluxe version) [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91PYDrG2ejL._SS500_.jpg) 
Overwhelmed by all the stuff on your news feed about Taylor Swift? Does the task of listening to 32 tracks (49 counting the Long Pond Sessions, 51 counting the yet-to-be released Evermore bonus tracks) appear daunting? Well, there’s no longer any need to fear ostracizing from your social circles due to a humiliating lack of familiarity with T-Swizzle’s most recent masterpieces – folklore and evermore – which quite frankly make Abbey Road sound like dogshit. Lest you be caught in such an awkward situation as not knowing that ‘marjorie’ is a tribute to Swift’s late grandmother, give this brilliant mashup between her two 2020 LPs a listen. folkever (or morelore) delivers only the highest quality cuts from each album, and in a little under an hour. For best results, give this a spin while sipping Starbucks™ lattes in your very own privately owned ski lodge overlooking lush gardens and majestic mountain ranges.
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By MarsKid
Wednesday December 9, 2020
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Post-Metalcore:
The Little Engine That Could
A four-part series by MarsKid
Part IV: Changing the Game
On paper, detractors that remained in the metalcore scene had plenty of ammunition in 2016. After years of providing the most chaotic brand of the genre to hit a mainstream audience, The Dillinger Escape Plan announced that they were terminating the band, concluding an enviable career with their swan song Dissociation. Their counterparts in Converge, though not absent from the scene, had not released new material since 2012, creating a subtle sense of doubt over whether or not there would be more to come. In the prog-core circle, proceedings apparently reached a grinding halt once key groups began to falter late in their career, in part due to personnel alterations. Erra presented Drift, which was caught in the shadow of Augment — a tall task to defeat such an influential record, in fairness — while Northlane began a steady decline in quality. Younger acts that took up the mantle were similarly faltering; Invent, Animate disappeared following Stillworld and lost a critical component when vocalist Ben English decided to depart from the band. For those that desired another surge in the creativity of the underground or the progress metal crossover realm, the classification seemed to have launched headfirst into a brick wall and shattered, with little…
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By Sowing
Wednesday December 2, 2020
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the entire month of December 2020. These releases have been condensed into one post as, historically at least, December is a slower time for new musical releases. In the meanwhile, our staff will be working on compiling their highly anticipated “Top Albums of 2020” feature, so stay tuned to see what we anoint as the album of the year. With regards to the below releases, please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums. From our staff and userbase to you, we wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season. We’ll see you in January!
– List of Releases: December 4, 2020 –
Arctic Monkeys: Live At The Royal Albert Ha
Genre: Alternative/Indie Rock
Label: Domino
Blackfield: For the Music
Genre: Alt/Progressive Rock
Label: WM Germany
Calexico: Seasonal Shift
Genre: Country/Americana/Folk
Label: Anti/Epitaph
Com Truise: In Decay, Too
Genre: Electronic/IDM
Label: Ghostly Int’l
Deafheaven: 10 Years Gone (Live)
Genre: Black Metal/Shoegaze
Label: Sargent House
The Deviant: Rotting Dreams of Carrion
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: Soulseller
![Sea Savage [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81OY34ZrSmL._SS500_.jpg)
Gama Bomb: Sea Savage
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: Prosthetic
![Death of an Optimist [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/719tVud-WVL._SS500_.jpg)
grandson: Death Of An Optimist
Genre:…
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By MarsKid
Wednesday December 2, 2020
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Post-Metalcore:
The Little Engine That Could
A four-part series by MarsKid
Part III: Death of a Genre?
What exactly causes a genre of music to ‘die’? The concept is used commonly, yet the specific definition shifts depending on who utters it. For some observers, a category experiencing a demise means that it has lost any and all creativity. Others contend it occurs when, as far as mainstream coverage is concerned, the genre appears to lose whatever relevance it had. In an extreme case, there may be so few named players in a scene that it might as well be declared obsolete. If anything, I find that the latter explanation seems most appropriate. First, the concept often supplied of ‘lacking imagination’ is less of a “genre is dead” scenario and more of a case of stagnation. Groups still exist in the classification — perhaps even in high amounts — but none of them are diverging from the classics that led to their emergence. Secondly, the mainstream is a poor judge of measuring viability, since the underground will never receive the same press coverage. Thus, a scene where the big-league bands are struggling can give a false illustration, because what happens under their domineering popularity might be compelling. The nadirs of metalcore may not have been at the productivity witnessed years prior, but it was…
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By staff
Monday November 30, 2020
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Do you ever listen to music and feel like it was made for you, when it clearly wasn’t? Sometimes even when you know an artist absolutely has not had the same experiences, something about their music feels personalized, as if they were watching your life and wrote it with you in mind. I can’t speak for the entire transgender population, obviously, but I have a theory that trans people face this more than other people. We don’t have the privilege of being surrounded by art that was created by people like us, for people like us. As much as trans music has achieved more mainstream acceptance in the past decade (looking at you, Arca, SOPHIE, and 100 Gecs), there’s still very little out there, especially for people who like music that isn’t pop-adjacent experimental electronic. I think there is a lot of discussion to be had about what makes some music so relatable to certain trans people (read: me, a trans woman). So that’s what this is about – music that isn’t specifically for or by trans people that feels like it is.
First on my list is “Morning Train (Nine to Five)” by Sheena Easton. This song is very traditional in its portrayal of gender roles, glorifying a man who works hard to find his (narrating) wife waiting for him when he gets back home, fucks her that night, and then continues the cycle the next day. It’s understandable that from an outside perspective, this…
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By Sowing
Wednesday November 25, 2020
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Category I: Welcome
It’s the conclusion of yet another interesting year in this, um, “unique” corner of the internet. Our site’s aesthetics may be firmly entrenched in 2010, but this “best of” feature ushers 2020 out of our collective memories. For many of us that brings immense relief, even if most of the same issues that plagued this year will follow us right into January. Still, there are reasons for optimism as we delve further into this still young decade. One of them is how music stepped up to the plate in a time of crisis. It’s during humanity’s most trying times that art seems to give us the most hope, and from invigorating protest music to pensive quarantine albums, musicians acted like first responders to our emotional needs in 2020.
Everyone’s way of navigating this crazy, chaotic year was different – a fingerprint consisting of our own unique challenges. Personally, I found myself relating to mellow folk (and even country!) as an escape from the psychological stresses caused by the pandemic and its consequences, but it’s just as understandable for others to have taken solace in elated pop, metal, or woke hip-hop (and there’s a little of each here!). It was all we could do not to sink into despair, basically. That’s part of the reason I decided to, at least temporarily, retire my Sowing’s Music Awards shtick (2014-2019, RIP) – replete with its “worst album” and “biggest disappointment” categories…
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