Author Archive
By Nocte
Thursday March 30, 2023
Is it evening yet? Or is the morning? Um…setting aside your schedule of busy Sputnikmusic comment posting and left click debauchery to get to the nitty gritty of “how to review music”, hacks, roms and workarounds. In this segment we’ll be cross checking different staffers’ approaches to putting words together. Maybe you’re a budding reviewer, on the cusp of greatness (how ’bout that?), searching for that piece of the puzzle lost on the floor or maybe your mum just logged you on to the household’s singular trusty laptop and you don’t know what to do with your fifteen-minute screen allowance before the older sibling demands the computer for…research? Either way, you’ve come to the right place!
Welcome to Part. 1! Today (or sometime this week more likely) we have…Jesper!!
First off. Who are you and how did you get here?
Hi! I’m Jesper and I probably got here in like 2015 while trying to find a review for Knuckle Puck or Brand New or something. Pop punk being part of your origin story is rarely a good sign.
How many reviews do you have on this site? No, disregard that. How many reviews are you truly proud of? Now you can circle back. How many reviews do you have?
Eh, out of my 155 reviews I might be truly proud of a few of them. I honestly don’t know because I never/rarely reread my own reviews after they’re up (mostly because I’ll have proofread them like 24 times…
By Nocte
Wednesday March 15, 2023
Here’s a list of notable new releases for the week of March 17th, 2023. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: March 17, 2023 –
100 gecs – 10,000 gecs
Genre: Hyperpop
Labels: Dogshow, Atlantic, Warner
All Time Low – Tell Me I’m Alive
Genre: Pop-Punk
Label: Fueled By Ramen
Black Honey – A Fistful of Peaches
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Foxfive
Blank Gloss – Cornered
Genre: Ambient
Label: Kompakt
Chelsea Grin – Suffer in Heaven
Genre: Deathcore
Label: ONErpm
Contrarian – Sage of Shekhinah
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Willowtip
Daddy Long Legs – Street Sermons
Genre: Punk Blues
Label: Yep Roc
Death and Vanilla – Flicker
Genre: Dream Pop
Label: Fire
deathcrash – Less
Genre: Slowcore
Label: Untitled
Downfall of Gaia – Silhouettes of Disgust
Genres: Atmospheric Black Metal / Sludge Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Elysion – Bring Out Your Dead
Genre: Gothic Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Emiliana Torrini & The Colorist Orchestra – Racing the Storm
Genres: Dream Pop / Downtempo
By Nocte
Thursday January 26, 2023
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of January 27, 2023. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: January 27, 2023 –
… And Oceans: As in Gardens, So In Tombs
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist
The Arcs: Electrophonic Chronic
Genre: Indie Rock / Psychedelic
Label: Easy Eye Sound
Ashen Horde: Antimony
Genre: Progressive Black/Death Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Ava Max: Diamonds & Dancefloors
Genre: Electro Pop
Label: Atlantic
Bizarrekult: Den Tapte Krigen
Genre: Post Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Complete Mountain Almanac: Complete Mountain Almanac
Genre: Folk / Indie Rock
Label: Bella Union
Elle King: Come Get Your Wife
Genre: Country / Pop
Label: RCA
Emarosa: Sting
Genre: Indie Pop / Electronic
Label: Out of Line
Fucked Up: One Day
Genre: Alternative / Folk
Label: Merge Records
Hammock: Love in the Void
Genre: Ambient / Post Rock
Label: Hammock Music
Kimbra: A Reckoning
Genre: Indie Pop / Soul
Label: Kimbra
King Tuff: Smalltown Stardust
Genre: Jam Rock / Psychedelic
Label: Sub Pop
Liv Sin: Kali Yuga
Genre:
…
By Nocte
Wednesday September 21, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 23rd, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: September 23, 2022 –
5 Seconds of Summer – 5sos5
Genre: Pop
Label: BMG
Alex G – God Save the Animals
Genre: Indie Folk
Label: Domino
Beth Orton – Weather Alive
Genre: Folktronica / Ambient
Label: Partisan
Big Scary – Me and You
Genre: Alternative / Art Pop
Label: Pieater
The Comet is Coming – Hyper-Dimensional Expansion Beam
Genre: Nu Jazz / Jazz Fusion
Label: Impulse!
Courting – Guitar Music
Genre: Art Punk
Label: PIAS
death’s dynamic shroud – Darklife
Genre: Vaporwave
Label: 100% Electronica
Editors – EBM
Genre: Post-Punk
Label: Play It Again Sam
Future Teens – Self Help
Genre: Indie Rock / Emo
Label: Triple Crown
Gaerea – Mirage
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Jake Blount – The New Faith
Genre: Bluegrass
Label: Smithsonian Folkways
KEN mode – Null
Genre: Noise Rock
Label: Artoffact
By Nocte
Thursday September 15, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 16th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: September 16, 2022 –
Behemoth: Opvs Contra Natvram
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
The Beths: Expert In A Dying Field
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Ivy League Records
BLACKPINK: Born Pink
Genre: Pop
Label: Interscope
Clutch: Sunrise On Slaughter Beach
Genre: Stoner Rock
Label: Weathermaker Music
Crack Cloud: Tough Baby
Genre: World
Label: Tin Angel Records, Meat Machine, Unheard of Hope.
Death Cab for Cutie: Asphalt Meadows
Genre: Rock
Label: Atlantic Records
The Devil Wears Prada: Cold Decay
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Solid State Records
Epoch Of Unlight: At War With The Multiverse
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
Label: Independent
Jesca Hoop: Order Of Romance
Genre: Indie Folk
Label: Memphis Industries
The Mars Volta: The Mars Volta
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Universal, Warner
Michelle Branch: The Trouble With Fever
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Audible Eagle
Noah Cyrus: The Hardest Part
Genre: Singer Songwriter
Label: Colombia Records
No Devotion: No Oblivion
Genre: Alt Rock
Label: Banquet Records
The Proclaimers: Dentures Out
Genre: Rock, Pop
Label: Cooking Vinyl Limited
Rina Sawayama: Hold The Girl
Genre: Pop
Label: Dirty Hit
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By Nocte
Tuesday August 30, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 2nd, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: September 2, 2022 –
Aeternam: Heir Of The Rising Sun
Genre: Symphonic Blackened Death Metal
Label: Independant
The Amazons: How Will I Know If Heaven Will Find Me?
Genre: Alternative
Label: Fiction Records
And Now The Owls Are Smiling: Epitaph
Genre: Post Black Metal
Label: Clobber Records
Blind Guardian: The God Machine
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Epica: We Still Take You With Us
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
The Front Bottoms: theresa
Genre: Folk Punk
Label: Fueled by Ramen/Wuacasole
Kings X: Three Sides Of One
Genre: Rock
Label: Inside Out
Nadja: Labyrinthine
Genre: Doom/Expiremental
Label: Katuktu Collective
Megadeth: The Sick, The Dying, And The Dead
Genre: Thrash/Heavy Metal
Label: Universal
Miss May I: Curse Of Existence
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Sharptone
Oceans Ate Alaska: Disparity
Genre: Djent
Label: Fearless Records
Rina Sawayama: Hold The Girl
Genre: Alt Pop
Label: Dirty Hit
Tom Chaplin: Midpoint
Genre: Rock
Label: Intersect
Two Door Cinema Club: Keep On Smiling
Genre: Indie Pop Rock
Label: Lower Third
Vermin Womb: Retaliation
Genre: Death Metal/Grind
Label: Closed Casket Activities
Xenobiotic: Hate Monolith [EP]
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Unique Leader Records
YUNGBLUD: YUNGBLUD
Genre: Alternative
Label: Locomotion and Geffen Records
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By Nocte
Wednesday June 29, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 1st, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 1st, 2022 –
Black Cilice: Esoteric Atavism
Genre: Raw Black Metal
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Blood Command: Praise Armageddonism
Genre: Punk Rock
Label: Hassle Records
Conjurer: Páthos
Genre: Hardcore, Sludge, Doom
Label: Nuclear Blast
The Dear Hunter: Antimai
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Cave & Canary Goods
Frayle: Skin & Sorrow
Genre: Gothic, Doom Rock
Label: Aqualamb Records
Ghost Woman: Ghost Woman
Genre: Cinematic Punk Rock
Label: Tower
Guided by Voices: Tremblers And Goggles By Rank
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Rockathon
Greg Puciato: Mirrorcell
Genre: Experimental Metal
Label: Federal Prisoner
Imagine Dragons: Mercury – Act 2
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Kidinakorner, Interscope
The Mountain King: Tsunami Of Hope
Genre: symphonic poems about the status quo of humanity
Label: Independent
Municipal Waste: Electrified Brain
Genre: Thrash
Label: Nuclear Blast
Paolo Nutini: Last Night In The Bittersweet
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Atlantic
Protector: Excessive Outburst Of Depravity
Genre: Thrash, Death Metal
Label: High Roller Records
Shinedown: Planet Zero
Genre: Rock
Label: Atlantic
Thūn: II
Genre: Cthulhu, Death Metal
Label: Independent
Vidres A La Sang: Fragments De L’Esdevenir
Genre: Death Metal, Black Metal
Label: Abstract Emotions
Xaon: The Lethean
Genre: Symphonic Death Metal
Label: Independent
Zorya: Escapism [EP]
Genre: Blackgaze
Label: Self-Released
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By Nocte
Thursday April 7, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 8th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 8, 2022 –
Angel Nation: Antares
Genre: Power Metal
Label: Inner Wound Recordings
Archive: Call To Arms & Angels
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Dangervisit
BANKS: Serpentina
Genre: Electronica, Alt-R&B
Label: AWAL
Bekëth Nexëhmü: De Dunklas Gravrit
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Purity Through Fire
Black Swan: Generation Mind
Genre: Melodic Hard Rock
Label: Frontiers Music SRL
Calexico: El Mirador
Genre: Alternative
Label: City Slang
Camila Cabello: Familia
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Epic Records
Concilivm: A Monument In Darkness
Genre: Black Metal, Death Metal
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Destruction: Diabolical
Genre: Speed Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Epitaphe: II
Genre: Blackened Doom
Label: Aesthetic Death
Et Moriemur: Tamashii No Yama
Genre: Atmospheric Doom/Black Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Father John Misty: Chloe and the Next 20th Century
Genre: Alt Rock
Label: Sub Pop Records
Hällas: Isle Of Wisdom
Genre: Adventure Rock
By Nocte
Thursday March 24, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of March 25th of 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: March 25th, 2022 –
ABBATH: Dread Reaver
Genre: Black/Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
Absent In Body: Plague God
Genre: Doom/Post/Sludge Metal
Label: Relapse Records
Aldous Harding: Warm Chris
Genre: Alternative Folk
Label: 4AD
Ande: Vehemence
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Naturmacht Productions
Animals As Leaders: Parrhesia
Genre: Progressive Metal/Djentlemen
Label: Sumerian Records
Architects: For Those That Wish to Exist at Abbey Road
Genre: Metalcore, Live
Label: Epitaph
As The World Dies: Agonist
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity Records
Bâ’a: Egrégore
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Osmose Production
BillyBio: Leaders And Liars
Genre: Hardcore/Metal
Label: AFM Records
Bomber: Nocturnal Creatures
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Napalm
Camp Cope: Running with the Hurricane
Genre: Self-Described Power Emo
Label: Run for Cover
Caracara: New Preoccupations
Genre: Alternative
Label: Memory Music
Confidential: Devil Inside
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Label: Massacre Records
Crystal Viper: The Last Axeman
By Nocte
Sunday March 20, 2022
By now you guys have probably read dmat’s review for the new Lack The Low album, God-Carrier (and if you haven’t you really ought to go do that…right now yeah?). And while Mathias’ review pushed my own precarious dib aside like an uncle’s least favourite, annoying nephew…his review really hits the nail on the head. Kind of like Lack The Low’s God-Carrier. Anyhow… I got to chatting to the mastermind behind the tunes, multi-instrumentalist and Melbourne-based pop mastermind, Kat Hunter.
How do you think your music should be described. Baroque? Avant Garde? Pop? Pop-adjacent? What is Kat Hunter’s go-to style?
I think it’s pretty hard to describe even for me! I normally say avant-pop, but honestly the music just makes itself, and the classification comes later.
In regards to the album imagery? Are you bending over backwards to please a select few, or is there a deeper meaning to the arched back-ism, dark palette and the pillar which carries the weight of one (or many)?
The picture on the cover was taken by photographer Jeff Andersen Jr. When we were getting together to discuss my music and figure out ways of conveying it in photography, he came up with the idea of making some photos in the style of a Caravaggio painting. It was totally all Jeff’s idea and his ability to pull it off, but that’s where a lot of the ideas around dark shading and posture came from.
God-Carrier is relatively short. Do you think about length when composing? Did you have…
By Nocte
Wednesday February 23, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of February 25th of 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: February 25th, 2022 –
Abraham: Débris De Mondes Perdus
Genre: Post Metal, Progressive, Sludge
Label: Pelagic Records
Allegaeon: Damnum
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records
Avril Lavigne: Love Sux
Genre: Pop Punk
Label: Warner
Bad Omens: The Death of Peace of Mind
Genre: Rock, Metalcore
Label: Sumerian Records
BAMBARA: Love on My Mind
Genre: Alternative, Pop, Noise
Label: WHARF CAT RECORDS
Basia Bulat: The Garden
Genre: Alternative, Folk
Label: Secret City Records Inc
Blood Incantation: Timewave Zero
Genre: Ambient (This Release)
Label: Century Media
Brood Of Hatred: The Golden Age
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Gruesome Records
Caroline: Caroline
Genre: Minimal Folk
Label: Rough Trade Records
Carson McHone: Still Life
Genre: Country
Label: Merge Music Publishing
CMAT: If My Wife New I’d Be Dead
Genre: Pop
Label: AWAL Recordings
Cobra The Impaler: Colossal Gods
Genre: Metal
Label: Listenable Records…
By Nocte
Tuesday February 15, 2022
Earlier this week and much of last week I had the opportunity to do something I’ve not done before (yay!). I reviewed Skin Tension’s latest…um, full length, which has a pretty daunting runtime of twenty-seven hours. You can read the review here. On the back of that I caught up with half of the duo responsible, (which naturally got me the whole lineup) to chat about the new album, the band’s influences and what’s next.
Hi guys, thanks for putting up with me this weird and wonderful afternoon, or is it a balmy breakfast time in Nashville?
Josh: Totally, kind of chilly here.
Cool. Cool. More to the point…who are you and what are your roles in Skin Tension?
Josh: I’m Josh Byrd, I play drums
Edward: I’m Edward Longo, I do guitar, vox, and keys.
Josh: Sometimes all three at once, no joke
Right. To the elephant in the room then. Or something just as big. Why an album with a runtime of 27 hours?
Josh: It’s a bit of a long story, fitting I guess.
We’ve got the time.
I bought a cheap mixer in September of 2020 to try out some no-input mixing and solo noise stuff, just for fun. I started recording it as an archival sort of thing at first, and after one month, I had about 30 hours of noise recorded. Around this…
By Nocte
Saturday February 12, 2022
Hello and welcome back to our ongoing sexification of Staff past and present and hopefully present-and-future by way of deep-diving casual-reading power-lifting interview posi-sharking antics: Sputnik’s very own Meet the Spartans. Steel yourself as impossible questions are posed and the Staffers you wish you’d had the courage or attention span to acknowledge surpass your wildest expectations.
Hide your kimonos and prepare your most shrewd takes, for today we vie for forum dominance with a veritable king of typed discourse, a reformed metalhead, and a bloody cheeky wee jokester to boot: JohnnyoftheWell!
*quickly dons Joe Pesci voice imitation* Hey cutie. How does it feel, huh? Not so easy on the other side of the Google Doc, is it?
Who gave you this number I must relieve myself immediately hello.
Staff Wars is your baby yes and a chance to get to know your fellow co-conspirators and staff writers, but are there any particular colleagues you’d fear would turn this interview back on its maker? Why?
I wouldn’t call this my baby! I was all for anyone else on Staff stepping in, similarly to what we’re seeing with Sowing’s freshly founded singles blog series. Needless to say, no-one (apart from you!) wanted to, and here we are.
If you mean having the interview declined outright, then I had a hunch that Rowan would step further into the Mr. Robot brief and get camera-shy. This technically proved half-correct; he passed it up due to Covid last I asked, but…
By Nocte
Thursday February 10, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of February 11th of 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: February 11th, 2022 –
Alt-J: The Dream
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Atlantic Records
Amorphis: Halo
Genre: Melodic Metal, Doom
Label: Atomic Fire
Arð: Take Up My Bones
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions
Author and Punisher: Krüller
Genre: Electronic, Doom Metal
Label: Relapse Records
Beaumont: Cookies
Genre: Lo-fi Hip Hop, Jazz
Label: Vinyl Digital
Big Thief: Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: 4AD
Cult of Luna: The Long Road North
Genre: Post Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records
Dan Andriano & The Bygones: Dear Darkness
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Epitaph Records
Dead American: New Nostalgia
Genre: Rock
Label: Velocity Records
The Delines: The Sea Drift
Genre: Country, Soul, Rock
Label: Decor Records
Eddie Vedder: Earthling
Genre: Rock
Label: Republic
Empath: Visitor
Genre: Croc Rock
Label: Fat Possum Records
Fort Romeau: Beings of Light
Genre: Ambient, Electronica
Label: Ghostly International
Foxes: The Kick
Genre: Pop
Label: PIAS Recordings
…
By Nocte
Tuesday January 25, 2022
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of January 28th of 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: January 28th, 2022 –
Aaron Lewis: Frayed At Both Ends
Genre: Country
Label: Big Machine Label Group
Aegrus: The Carnal Temples
Genre: Death Metal, Black Metal
Label: Osmose Productions
Alice Glass: PREY//IV
Genre: Pop
Label: Eating Glass Records
Amber Mark: Three Dimensions Deep
Genre: Soul/R & B
Label: Interscope Records
Amoth: The Hour Of The Wolf
Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Rockshots Records
Anaïs Mitchell: Anaïs Mitchell
Genre: Singer Songwriter
Label: BMG
Bad Suns: Apocalypse Whenever
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Epitaph
Beirut: Artifacts
Genre: Folk, Rock, Indie
Label: Pompeii Records
Ben McElroy: How I Learnt To Disengage From The Pack
Genre: Folk
Label: The Slow Music Movement Label
Celeste: Assassine(s)
Genre: Sludge, Black Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Cloakroom: Dissolution Wave
Genre: Post Hardcore, Shoegaze
Label: Relapse Records
Dawn Of Solace: Flames of Perdition
Genre: Death, Doom, Progressive
Label: UCP.ONE
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