Welcome to the second installment of our 2020 quarterly playlist/mixtape! Below you will find hand picked songs from April to June. 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 comments, 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:
Ad Infinitum – Marching on Versailles
Do a quick Google search for Melissa Bonny; she’s hot. Not just physically, but vocally. She seems to specialize in power metal, symphonic metal, and is also one of the more convincing female growlers out there. “Marching on Versailles” displays that ability with one of her many bands, Ad Infinitum. “Marching on Versailles” shares a lot in common with the proggy symphonic power metal of a modern Kamelot album execept heavier without nearly as much theatrics and cheese. — Willie
Andrew Judah – Hair of the Dog
If you’re into the theatrical, progressive rock of The Dear Hunter, then allow me to introduce you to
It’s easy to dismiss recent works by The Flaming Lips. 2017’s Oczy Mlody is insanely trippy, but not very memorable outside of small handful of sneaky hits. 2019’s King’s Mouth is overbearing in its ridiculous concept, which features a giant baby who grows up to become a king – who then swallows the universe in order to save its inhabitants from an avalanche. I mean, it’s The Flaming Lips – so these sort of out there stories are accepted as the norm – just as they were back in 2002 for their famed classic Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. They’ve always been easy to enjoy, but difficult to take seriously.
‘Flowers of Neptune 6’ strikes a slightly different tone. While the song still retains the band’s classic penchant for psychedelia and casual drug references (“doing acid and watching the lightbugs glow like tiny spaceships in a row“), the music itself feels much more accessible – rooted in acoustic guitars and soaring verses rather than impenetrable synths or exotic instrumentation. In the video, frontman Wayne Coyne can be seen adorned in an American flag, and also walking through a burning field in a bubble. The imagery isn’t lost on listeners in 2020, where COVID-19 has forced us to live in metaphorical bubbles while the world around us is seemingly in flames. While we do not yet know if there’s a central motif or theme surrounding the band’s upcoming September 11th release American Head, ‘Neptune…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 3, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 3, 2020 –
Boris: NO
Genre: Drone/Doom Metal
Label: Inoxia
Convocation: Ashes Coalesce
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Dream Wife: So When You Gonna…
Genre: Punk/Electronic
Label: Lucky Number
Holy Wave: Interloper
Genre: Psychedelic/Rock
Label: The Reverberation Appreciation Society
Paul Weller: On Sunset
Genre: Pop/Alt-Rock
Label: Verve Forecast
The Rentals: Q36
Genre: Indie-Rock
Label: The Rentals
Willie Nelson: First Rose Of Spring
Genre: Country/Folk
Label: Legacy Recordings
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a strange fascination with the end of the world. I know, I know – it’s practically a worn out cliche in 2020, when everything from SARS-CoV-2 to militarized police brutality casts an apocalyptic shadow over our lives…but I just can’t help myself. Part of it is a product of my religious upbringing – even if I’ve become a skeptic over time, certain things still temporarily give me pause. For example, I watched with fascination as mysterious trumpet-like sounds blasted out of the sky from every corner of the globe – knowing that there’s a scientific explanation (stealth aircrafts, the hum of a meteor, HAARP experiments), but also allowing myself to tumble down the rabbit hole enough to imagine that we’re actually hearing some sort of ominous preamble to Revelation‘s famed seven trumpets. Toss in the blood moon tetrad from 2014-2015 (“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord”), rampant locust outbreaks, COVID-19, riots, and now a historic continent-spanning dust storm that is blotting out the sun in certain regions – and it’s enough for even a cynic to begin wondering.
From a musical perspective, mewithoutYou’s 2015 LP Pale Horses rekindled my obsession with “the end” via terrifying accounts of a nuclear holocaust which fused Biblical and secular imagery. Trump’s shocking election the very next year and…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 26, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: June 26, 2020 –
Ahab: Live Prey
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Arca: KiCk i
Genre: Electronic/Experimental/IDM
Label: XL Recordings
Art Feynman: Half Price at 3:30
Genre: Psychedelic/Electronic
Label: Western Vinyl
Bad Moves: Untenable
Genre: Alt/Indie Rock
Label: Don Giovanni Records
Bell Witch And Aerial Ruin: Stygian Bough Volume I
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Carach Angren: Franckensteina Strataemontanus
Genre: Black Metal/Classical
Label: Season of Mist
Catafalque: We Will Always Suffer
Genre: Black Metal/Experimental
Label: Mom+Pop
Corb Lund: Agricultural Tragic
Genre: Country/Folk
Label: New West Records
Dirty Projectors: Flight Tower
Genre: Indie-Pop/Folk/Experimental
Label: Domino Recording Co
Evening Hymns: Heavy Nights
Genre: Alt-Rock
Label: Outside Music
Gordi: Our Two Skins
Genre: Indie-Pop/Folk/Electronic
Label: Jagjaguwar
Grey Daze: Amends
Genre: Grunge/Rock
Label: Loma Vista Recordings
HAIM: Women in Music Pt. III
Genre: Indie-Pop
Label:…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 19, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
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…
![So When You Gonna... [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71iEU5qVcqL._SS500_.jpg)
![Q36 [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/811Zwy1IcRL._SS500_.jpg)
![KiCk i [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81fOuS8eSTL._SS500_.jpg)
![Lamb of God [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81wWV4BUtZL._SS500_.jpg)
![A Wonderful Life [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91mQ9nZaK5L._SS500_.jpg)
![Goodbye Guitar [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8170D7zI-KL._SS500_.jpg)
![Hell Will Come for Us All [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81p6qX3Tp1L._SS500_.jpg)
![Disheveled Cuss [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81-2y8v3AWL._SS500_.jpg)
![Out In The World [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Z5jIIMf1L._SS500_.jpg)
![Ugly Is Beautiful [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ZGkTNdZiL._SS500_.jpg)
![Shrines [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81zrU2qc3NL._SS500_.jpg)
![Splinters from an Ever-Changing Face [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71-bCtO7dfL._SS500_.jpg)
![RTJ4 [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61yWO76iCtL._SS500_.jpg)
![Patience [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71H-zaXFV8L._SS500_.jpg)
![Curse of the Crystal Coconut [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/810lh7xcrbL._SS500_.jpg)
![A Forest [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81zbSiwn2JL._SS500_.jpg)
![Fracture [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81mHg3EHKlL._SS500_.jpg)
![Death in Pieces [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81AVCnURlAL._SS500_.jpg)
![Notes On A Conditional Form [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71uGnJmp2vL._SS500_.jpg)
![Hollywood Park [2 LP]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61zMEB8tO5L._SX522_.jpg)
![SPECIES [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Fs-X-DjSL._SS500_.jpg)
![Like A House On Fire [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91MF7wKgmML._SS500_.jpg)
![Lovers Rock [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cXE1KekwL._SS500_.jpg)
![American Love Story [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61ybk+3wAML._SS500_.jpg)
![Fake Names [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Bx4KbC4CL._SS500_.jpg)
![It Was Good Until It Wasn't [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81ZYajwB3cL._SS500_.jpg)
![Straight Songs Of Sorrow [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61Rdwj6L2hL._SS500_.jpg)
![Cerecloth [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91SZx3zvmQL._SS500_.jpg)
