Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 12, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: June 12, 2020 –
Arabs In Aspic: Madness and Magic
Genre: Hard Rock/Psychedelic/Progressive
Label: Karisma
Aversions Crown: Hell Will Come For Us All
Genre: Death Metal/Metalcore
Label: Nuclear Blast
Bibio: Sleep on the Wing
Genre: Electronic/IDM
Label: Warp
Behold The Arctopus: Hapeleptic Overtrove
Genre: Progressive/Death Metal
Label: Willowip Inc.
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 5, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
One of my favorite phenomena in music is when a band renowned for pristine, flawless production has lesser-known/stripped-down roots. It’s actually a very common occurrence, as typically bands enrich their sound over time when better resources/more expensive equipment becomes available. Nevertheless, I felt that it would make for an interesting set of case studies, observing where a band began, what they ended up sounding like, and whether that journey made them better or worse (in this blog, “before” indicates they were better before polishing their brand, “after” implies the opposite). There are several examples that could be used, but today I’m going to go with a handful of artists that have been making frequent rounds on my rotation of music. We begin with one of my all-time favorite bands, The Antlers:
Case Study #1: The Antlers
In contrasting ‘Palace’ from The Antlers’ 2014 LP Familiars to ‘In the Attic’ off their 2007 sophomore record In The Attic of the Universe, you can hear the development of the band’s sound quite clearly. On ‘Palace’, frontman Peter Silberman reins supreme, his vocals the central focus of everything as the surrounding instrumentation is highly orchestral and elegant. It works wonderfully, resulting in a crystalline, glass-like glaze that covers the album. If you’re anything like me, you got into The Antlers later in their career – probably circa Hospice – so it was quite the aesthetic shock when I trekked backwards to In The Attic of the Universe,…
It’s not always about being on the cutting edge. Sometimes, as hard as it can be to slow yourself down, it’s just about living in the moment and taking it all in.
An interesting thing happened to my perception of music over time. If you were to go back to my heyday on this website – let’s say 2010-2012 just for argument’s sake – everything changed my life. That heartfelt guitar solo. The lyric about overcoming depression. The slow burner that paralleled my own rage boiling beneath the surface. Everything was so relatable. Every moment within the music mattered.
Now, I can barely feel it.
The music plays, and I can discern (certainly to a debatable extent among some of you) the quality albums from the poor ones. Occasionally I’ll get wrapped up in a moment, but then that moment passes and I move on to the next one. Gone are the days where an album would imprint itself upon my life; there’s no Southern Air that defines my marriage the way that pop-punk slice of summer originally did for my most meaningful relationship. There is no The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me that makes me question my faith in 2020. I’ve tried in vain to find an album to emotionally attach to the birth of my son, but I keep coming up empty-handed. Maybe I’m burned out, or maybe I’m just getting way too old for this…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 29, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 29, 2020 –
Alestorm: Curse of the Crystal Coconut
Genre: Power Metal/Folk/Thrash Metal
Label: Napalm
Baths: Pop Music / False B-Sides II
Genre: Electronic/Downtempo/IDM
Label: Basement’s Basement
Behemoth: A Forest
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Bleed From Within: Fracture
Genre: Metalcore/Melodic Death Metal
Label: Century Media
Centinex: Death in Pieces
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Agonia
The Chain Gang of 1974: Honey Moon Drips
Genre: Indie-Pop/Electronic
Label: Fever Ltd.
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 22, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 22, 2020 –
The 1975: Notes On A Conditional Form
Genre: Indie-Rock/Electronic
Label: Polydor Records
The Airborne Toxic Event: Hollywood Park
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: Rounder
Badly Drawn Boy: Banana Skin Shoes
Genre: Indie-Rock/Folk
Label: One Last Fruit
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 15, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 15, 2020 –
Asking Alexandria: Like a House on Fire
Genre: Metalcore/Post-Hardcore
Label: Sumerian Records
Binary Code: Momento Mori
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Independent
Charli XCX: How I’m Feeling Now
Genre: Pop/Electronic
Label: Atlantic
The Dears: Lovers Rock
Genre: Indie/Alt Rock
Label: Dangerbird
Einstürzende Neubauten: Alles in Allem
Genre: Industrial/Experimental/Noise Rock
Label: Potomak
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit: Reunions
Genre: Folk/Country/Americana
Label: Southeastern Records
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 8, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 8, 2020 –
…and Oceans: Cosmic World Mother
Genre: Black Metal/Industrial
Label: Season of Mist
Brant Bjork: Brant Bjork
Genre: Blues/Stoner Rock
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Butch Walker: American Love Story
Genre: Pop Rock/Folk
Label: Ruby Red Recordings
Daedelus: What Wands Won’t Break
Genre: Hip-Hop/Electronic
Label: Dome of Doom
The Weeknd – “House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls”
This is one party that I wish I wasn’t so late to. Hell, by the time I got there the party was over.
I discover The Weeknd when “Can’t Feel My Face” hits the airwaves in 2015, which I think is a catchy tune so I download it. I check out samples of few other songs and decide it’s not for me. Yep, I’ll just stick with that one song and add it to my upbeat party mix. Cool.
Then comes 2016’s “Starboy” – which I hear at a night club/bar as I’m halfway to my goal of not remembering a damn thing from the night – and I think to myself that it’s the greatest fucking song ever. Spoiler: it isn’t, but consuming copious amounts of alcohol helps.
Skip ahead four years and After Hours is receiving all kinds of acclaim on sputnikmusic dot com; I’m skeptical, but I dive in. As I’m clicking “play”, I peruse the album’s ratings and I see that Doof gave it a 2/5. I immediately raise one eyebrow and my expectations as well.
Fast-forward another two hours and I’m finding After Hours to scratch an itch that R&B rarely does for me. I slap an admittedly hasty 4/5 on it,but I still find myself more intrigued by everyone’s comparisons to this “Trilogy.” I press on, and download the whole thing on an impulse.
As House of Balloons begins, I’m immediately sucked into…
A monthly curated bite of word salad on the hottest new tracks to come out across the globe, targeting artists of all genres and popularities. Brought to you by myself and a few other friendly writers, this blog series intends to inspire something new yet familiar to this wonderful music review site. This first post is purposefully short; I know for a fact there’s many others out there like me who do the daily Spotify / new music release check’n’scroll, people that are just dying to get their opinions out about their favorite (or least favorite) singles of the week! If you see something that’s missing, don’t just tell me how derivative and basic my music taste is, go and prove it by writing the hell out of a 1-paragraph review for whatever recent single you think will win you those imaginary obscurity points. Best part? You can act like your favorite staffer by giving out a nifty .1 incriminate rating! Just track me down and give me a Gmail friendly email address whenever you have the review, streaming link, and single information typed up. Without further ado, here’s the very first edition of the Spotlight Singles Series, featuring special guests ArtBox and AsleepintheBack!
We all know how sophomore efforts go; slumps, successful refinements/reinventions/re-etc., sometimes a healthy mix of both. And sometimes they just sound like…
Welcome to the first installment of our 2020 quarterly playlist/mixtape! Below you will find hand picked songs from January to March. Feel free to jam the playlist below while reading what our writers had to say about each selection. Tell us what your favorites are in the comment, as well as any new artists you may have discovered here – or, alternatively, tell us what we missed! Thanks for reading/listening.
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Tracklist:
(#1) Algiers – We Can’t Be Found
On their new album Algiers show that they are not afraid of taking risks. We Can’t Be Found is a haunting dub-inflected track that’s all about the ghosts of the past. Yet, the verses build up to a soaring chorus that feels like a much needed release from all the doom and gloom. –Greg.
(#2) Yuri Gagarin – QSO
This is one of Yuri Gagarin’s most raging tunes, pushing forward soaring, noisy guitars over punishing drum beats. Solos abound and windy synthesizers roam along, growing steadily until a gentle coda puts things to rest. For
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 1, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 1, 2020 –
An Autumn For Crippled Children: All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet
Genre: Black Metal/Post-Rock/Shoegaze
Label: Prosthetic
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 24, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 24, 2020 –
Anubis Gate: Covered in Colours
Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal
Label: Nightmare
AWOLNATION: Angel Miners & The Lightning Riders
Genre: Electronic/Indie-Pop
Label: Better Noise Music
Birds of Tokyo: Human Design
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: Birds of Tokyo Pty Ltd
Brendan Benson: Dear Life
Genre: Indie-Pop
Label: Third Man
Cirith Ungol: Forever Black
Genre: Doom/Heavy/Power Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Dance Gavin Dance: Afterburner
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Progressive Rock/Math Rock
Label: Rise
Danzig: Danzig Sings Elvis
Genre: Doom Metal/Gothic
Label: Cleopatra
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 17, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 17, 2020 –
Abysmal Dawn: Phylogenesis
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
The Black Dahlia Murder: Verminous
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
dvsn: A Muse In Her Feelings
Genre: R&B
Label: OVO Sound
Enter Shikari: Nothing is True & Everything
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Electronic
Label: So Recordings
Can desire best be described as a train running into a tunnel? In popular culture, desire is rarely written with the nuance (or maybe, the trepidation) it deserves, reduced as it is to the slickest surface of its skin and hardly deeper. Sex is a commodity that enforces possession and hierarchy, something to receive or give depending on a narrative. In music production, we can find erotic platitudes that extend the length of an appendage environed by the digital squalor of diamond-studded algorithms. Pop music, great trains, running into tunnels: sex as a deliberate force acted upon us by the external forces we internalize and, by god, in turn, externalize. Art as submissive constructs to societal norms. If not trains, what then?
The answer Jenny Hval offers is immediate, though you’d be forgiven for thinking it the iconic opening gambit: “I arrived in town / with an electric toothbrush / pressed against my clitoris.” Rather, we are drawn inward by the quiet intensity of her arrangements, in the discordant ambiance that slowly envelops the stark percussive elements. There is a timeless quality to the mixture of industrial and folk music, in the glacial way the tracks erode and subside only to build into discomfiting calamity. The songs unspool with seeming spontaneity…