Tim Hecker’s discography is a patchwork of ambient treasures, as rewarding to the deepest pursuits of one’s navel as it is deceptively tourist-friendly. As such, in honour of his latest album, No Highs, the Staff team has undertaken to give it the Treatment. Here are our picks! Patience goes a long way with Mr. Hecker, and so we have taken a generous length of time to absorb No Highs and reflect on the rest of his corpus. We hope the wait has been worth it.
Tim Hecker’s music feels natural and synthetic at the same time; it’s therefore no wonder that he’s been drafted mercilessly into the ranks of Forward-Thinking Electronic Artists in the early part of the 21st century, with its various temporally specific concerns about the divisions between the kinds of artistic “decisions” made by a computer program and those made by those with eyes to see cathedrals everywhere.…
Another year, another grid! Yes, yes, half a year late, but I couldn’t live with myself if there was a gap year, and I couldn’t risk letting such beautiful (or decidedly not beautiful) album covers go unnoticed. As always, this list is neither ranked nor listed in any logical order, but rather ordered through an aesthetic progression of color, framing, and connective imagery. This is by no means an exhaustive (though it was exhausting) list of 2022’s best album artwork, but I did do my best to provide covers of varied styles, genres, and backgrounds. I’m sure some will let me know if I didn’t succeed! For now, I’ll let the artworks speak for themselves.
It is 2023, and SputStaff is back. The time is right now and the occasion is (checks notes) the release of the latest Metallica album-that-now-exists 72 Seasons! We did our best to get inspired from that record’s impetus and momentum and, uh, given that it’s now been out for over a month, we’ll leave it up to you to decide how easy a feat this was! In all sincerity, though, practically all of us jive with ‘tallica to some degree or another and in terms of ballots alone, this might have been the most full-handed collaboration of the lot. Please enjoy probably the least controversial selection of Metallica classics of all time (and righteously so!), freshly critiqued for your consumption.
In an alternate universe, “Blackened” is the kickoff to an imperial second era of classic thrash; in ours, it’s the last time Metallica ever managed to out-Metallica themselves. …And Justice for All needed to instantly satiate the ravenous appetite of a metal world…
I don’t usually like writing about, recording or otherwise chronicling live performances out of respect for the integrity of the moment, or whatever, and in Ichiko Aoba’s case, this effect is so pronounced that I avoid the whole live side of her discography in spite the intimidating levels of acclaim heaped on it. I know what she sounds like live and I would rather revisit my own memories than hear a recording (unpick the cognitive dissonance here as you see fit). This time was different; this show had pronounced discursive questions floating over it, mainly to do with the popularity spike Aoba has enjoyed since I last saw her, but also her incorporation of chamber arrangements into otherwise spartan solo performances. Given the factors that originally made her so compelling to me, I’ve always treated both of these with a certain amount of suspicion, which translated into very clearly defined expectations and reservations for this show; in puzzling out my own answers to these, I inadvertently ended up with ample material for a decent-sized feature. So, in we go:
This was my third time seeing Ichiko Aoba, and she now commands a decidedly larger international following than on the first two (both 2019). Those shows were spent cross-legged on pub floors, spellbound by her tiny figure lit by a single lamp in the middle of whichsoever space, keenly aware of the inhalation and drink-sippingrates of what felt like every other person in the space. Her performances were…
Hello and welcome to the future of Sputnik’s recently rebooted, charm offending, hernia cleansing, fool hunting, wokeshopping mania avenue for the brave and brainless. Staff Wars is back! This is where we stick members of the Staff team against the wall and interview them within an inch of their lives. Steel yourself as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you’d never had the courage to approach before surpass your wildest expectations.
Today’s subject is an adorable young bean of Good Sput Stock, so fresh-faced that I originally misremembered the number of years he has been on Staff by a factor of 0.5 (this has been edited and I have been shamed). His penmanship is pointy, his reverence is zany and his charm is a gosh darned weapon. Please welcome: AsleepintheBack!
AsleepintheBack hi. What day/time is it and how is your day?
I am somewhere in France on a Wednesday evening after a most adequate day thanking you I hope you are swell.
What are you jamming at this moment?
The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble – Here Be Dragons (thank you MoM).
Hmm. Let’s break some ice: what can humans learn from birds?
How to fall with style (penguins exempted).
Love penguins. Which problematic historical figure do you find most attractive?
I’d bang Stalin tbh (he can Soviet my Union, wink wink etc.).
Yikes hot, great! Now, the question on everyone’s lips: why are you named after an Elbow album?
God knows lol. My dad likes Elbow. I like my dad. There was probably some further reasoning between those two…
Hello and welcome to the futureof Sputnik’s recently rebooted, charm offending, hernia cleansing, fool hunting, wokeshopping mania avenue for the brave and brainless. Staff Wars is back! This is where we stick members of the Staff team against the wall and interview them within an inch of their lives. Steel yourself as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you’d never had the courage to approach before surpass your wildest expectations.
Today is dedex. No fancy introductions, for you know him, for he is Sputnik. What is Sputnik, this Sputnik, this Sputnik you speak of? It is dedex (you fool)! dedex is the still-in-his-prime mentor figure they put in the tutorial level so you have an idea of the character the game narrative wants you to level up to. The game is Sputnik (and you, uh, win or you die); he is the mascot and you can talk to him and learn from him, but can you be him? Hell no! And now he is Staff! Let’s go:
dedex HELLO! Welcome to SputStaff 2023! How do you feel?
First of all HELLO!!
Well I feel good because I’m staff lol. In all seriousness, life is hectic but in a good way, which is basically the best way to live, right?? Or not, I’m tired.
Is there anything I can do for you before this interview starts?
Please be a good boi!
Okay – psych?!!? – I’m just nervous full of giggles because this is both the first Staff Wars in a year and the first nu-Staffer interview I’ve…
Here we are having already closed the books on January, a month more tied to dearth than plenitude: dearth of sunlight, dearth of warmth, and somehow, usually, a dearth of halfway decent music, as the big consumption season of the holidays spends itself into a kind of productive dormancy. The year so far seems to be belying that notion, as an uncommon number of quality releases are being dug up from the frozen ground and passed around as sustenance through the hard months. The most conspicuous fruit of this early-year gleaning is also, paradoxically, among the most minimalist, and, to be frank, the most musically unremarkable, while still remaining one of its creator’s great artistic statements.
12 is easy to pigeonhole as a mere collection of etudes for piano and synthesizer, a soothing, lukewarm, ambient bath recalling the melancholic tranquility of Satie and Eno, always lovely, but sometimes minimalist to the point of being threadbare in execution. It takes a bit of a deeper reading of the thing for it to open up to the listener, a bit of reflection on what exactly this austere approach is revealing. Ryuichi Sakamoto’s 12 was recorded in the winter of last year, and its threadbare qualities often reflect that; the austerity of its titles, its art, and its music are, in a way, those of the bare clinging on and enduring that life can seem to be during this season. But of…
Hello and welcome to the futureof Sputnik’s recently rebooted, charm offending, hernia cleansing, fool hunting, wokeshopping mania avenue for the brave and brainless. Staff Wars is back! This is where we stick members of the Staff team against the wall and interview them within an inch of their lives. Steel yourself as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you’d never had the courage to approach before surpass your wildest expectations.
Today we catch up with a Staffer who should have long since been on here! Both uninterested in all things rock and metal, and in near-invariable alignment with the powers of logic and common sense, it bears no overstatement to call granitenotebook one of Sputnik’s most valuable, talented and frequently overlooked writers. No more of that! No time to waste! In we delve:
granitenotebook, hello! How are you?
i’m doing good! just finished some homework so now I’m on to more important tasks like watching The X-Files
What day of the week are you responding from, and what bearing does this have on your overall state of being?
it’s saturday afternoon, so i’m relaxing and trying my best not to worry about all of the things i know i would benefit from just getting done already.
I’ve always thought your username was a great image! Could you explain the inspiration behind it?
thanks! ultimately I’ll have to keep that a secret, but it’s definitely not a random series of words that i put together becauseiI thought they sounded cool when i needed a new social media username, i…
Hello and welcome to the futureof Sputnik’s recently rebooted, charm offending, hernia cleansing, fool hunting, wokeshopping mania avenue for the brave and brainless. Staff Wars is back! This is where we stick members of the Staff team against the wall and interview them within an inch of their lives. Steel yourself as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you’d never had the courage to approach before surpass your wildest expectations.
For this interview, we turn to Olympus new blood and bring you an exclusive tell-all from none other than MarsKid. Who is MarsKid? Where did he come from (MARS, idiot!)? What does he bring? How much does he owe you and how much is he owed? What happens if you make it to the final line of any of his reviews? What the sour octopus is post-metalcore? YIKES let’s grill the boy!
Hi Mars! Of all our new crop of staffers, I think you’re the one whose taste and coverage can most easily be summed up as a concrete Niche (although it’s probably inevitable that I’d draw that conclusion after all the intensive profiling I threw at your ratings and reactions for last year’s Build-an-Album competition) – so go on! Sum it up. Preferences and proclivities here please, both practised and conceptual:
So there’s this thing called post-metalcore, not sure if you’ve heard of it but it’s kinda a big deal, y’know. Basically, it asks the all-important question of “What if metalcore could FEEL” although not in the Counterparts “lol I’m gonna die” manner of…
Time has passed. How much – too much! The gang at KILL and KEEP are getting back together, and where better to turn our attention than on Taylor Swift’s never-forgotten recently-reclaimed coming-of-age epic post-teen mess of an album Red.
This was the time! Most of us were dumb teenagers when Red was red-hot off the press and had complicated relationships with everything and anything including this album. How awesome! Now that post-Red history has continued and happened, we have the privilege of parsing it for Taylors past, present and future – for there was a whole lotta Taylor in that melting pot! She was fresh from stabbing the entire republic of Nashville in the front and exporting her domination of teenage bedroomspace to teenage dancefloordom: no more tiptoeing towards pop stardom, this was where Taylor Swift began to stomp (but on whomst’ve?).
Also, Sputnik was down for whatever reason while we were doing this lol. Let’s go!
Rules
The team is DavidYowi, johnnyoftheWell, Sinternet and Steak
Every song must either be KILLed or KEEPed.
The version of the album used is the original because we were invested in the time capsule, and because it is shorter and one of our number was midway through a 24-hour exam window, and Taylor Swift is rich enough as it is.
Hello and welcome to the first instalment of this year’s maybe-annual JAWs!
Here are your questions:
Who Are You?
I am johnnyoftheWell!
How Are You?
I am well. I am in a cafe procrastinating an essay deadline and stressing about my laptop battery, which is not long for this world. How are you?
How Was 2022 For Music?
2022 was(/is!) pretty awesome for music! There have definitely been a few lulls, but I’ve had an overall great time digging up silly treasures, listening to people’s recs and just following them trends (which has been a good deal more fruitful than in previous years lemme tell ya). 2022 is good!
What The Flying Frick Is A JAW?
One of my best features tbh, but also um, it had a definite phrasing and I forgot it. (This one’s for you, Cimnele:)
It might have been an acronym for something like Johnny Awards Winners or Jackpot Ablutions from the Well, but I think in my head at the moment it’s a syllabic abbreviation from Jotw AWardsor maybe JotAWwww. It is absolutely not an initialism – say Jay Ayy Double-you out loud and I will slap you and eat mx.
tl;dr it’s a nice way to spotlight some year highlights that I think deserve to be spotlit.
I’m not posting a full list from the year or declaring an AOTY at this point because the Cram is still in session…
Welcome back to the Digbox for a three-in-one collaborative special!
The Digbox has been undug for rather a long time, but we are back once more with a sexy square container and a voluptuous square NUMBER – give it up for it up for number nine, folks (it might be square, but boy I wish it were single…)
Nine is very much key here: nine collaborators, nine digs. Usually one intrepid digger will command full Digbox autonomy, but this time we have many paws scooping from many angles. To streamline this somewhat, we are going to tackle today’s excavation from three distinct angles: Food, Dogs and God.
Please leave a comment specifying:
a) which of these themes is your favourite and
a) which Digbox contributor is the most attractive.
Let’s go!
[“Digbox” – reimagined by SandwichBubble, 2021]
Foodbox
Deepchord – “Alfama”
As I write this, I’m wiggling on my desk chair. Yes, moving and grooving, foot-tapping, and thinking about how even the most punny could possibly construct a food metaphor from “Alfama,” a driving, yet soothing dub techno tune by Rod Modell, aka DeepChord. Without lyrics to extract perceptible wordplay, the listener is left only with minimalist dance music structure and, of course, their own thoughts. “Would I dance to this?” “Would I eat food to this?” “How far is Alfama from the nearest KFC/Taco Bell?” Questions are…
Jesper and Johnny’s neoclassical meme journey through ’90s trance
Prologue: Boyfriends & Dolphins
Once upon a time there was a cat called JesperL and a porpoise called JohnnyoftheWell. It was springtime and anything was possible. Johnny introduced Jesper to Guangzhou’s finest emo indie biscuiteers yourboyfriendsucks! (Qiii Snacks Records) and all was well because they could both dig that band and look very earnestly dapper for it.
But it was not enough. All things must end, and then begin once more. New digs must be found.
In this case, the dig was the Japanese ‘90s acid trance/techno act Dream Dolphin, who boasts many great qualities including the best artist name of all time and the recently resurfaced cult classic Tsuki no Iyashi, Umi no Mahou (1998). Subsequent discourse went as follows:
Johnny: Let’s dig Dream Dolphin!
Jesper: It has been dug. will maybe listen to it
Johnny: it is um believe it or not better than yourboyfriendsucks
Jesper: split ep when
Johnny: are we ready for emotrance to be a thing
Jesper: tbh that actually sounds very tiktok ready. get some la dispute ass lines before a sick vibedrop
Johnny: omg you hexed it – the moment you said tiktok this came on
The Sputnik Music Morning Show are delighted to have been joined live by renowned music critic ajcollins15, nominee for the 2022 Nobel Laureate of Literature and purveyor of pertinent pop. Listen in for our exclusive interview!
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ajcollins15, hello! It’s a delight to have you on the Morning Show today. Listeners all across the country are tuning in as we speak – would you introduce yourself for them?
I have listened to a lot of explorative metal music out there.
Awesome, and how’ve you been doing lately?
With Covid-19 being the dominant threat of 2020, millions and millions of people have been affected by it in one way or another.
For real. It’s brought the whole world together!
The biggest downside is that the cohesiveness in everything is a bit static.
Yuh-huh.
However, there is a much deeper understanding here that I feel many will miss; life is short and time moves fast.
Too true. Does this have much of an impact on your writing? How do you aim to write?
With a lot of class and a ton of self-reflection that we all kind of need in this transition period out of pandemic season.
KILL or KEEP is back and we are doing the White Album! We have never done the White Album before, and this is quite important to stress because why the hell hadn’t we? It is the Beatles’ longest album. Is it their magnum opus? Some people think so, and most of them are wrong about literally everything! Let’s show those frauds! But first, we will go so far as to tender an apology for not already having KILLed and KEPT it, reasons for which go something along the lines of:
“Hey Phero, when are we going to KILL or KEEP the White Album?”
“Idk man sounds like a great idea. Sounds perfect. Let’s get porc and do it!”
“Sweet yeah, good shout. porc would be perf for this rofl. Hold on one sec, I’ll get in touch…”
70000 unanswered voicemails and two months later.
“Hey Johnny, remember when we had that great idea about KILLing or KEEPing the White album?”
“Oh shit man yeah, that was such a good plan why haven’t we done it yet?”
“Um no idea, but shall we do it now?”
“Yes let’s, actually wait, how about we do an actual good double album that everyone agrees is good instead?”
