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Here’s a list of notable new releases for the week of November 24th, 2023.  Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 24th, 2023 –

Burden Of Grief

Burden Of Grief: Destination Dystopia
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Massacre Records

Busta Rhymes

Busta Rhymes: BLOCKBUSTA
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: Conglomerate Ent.

Obsidian Refractions

Cruciamentum: Obsidian Refractions
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Label: Profound Lore

Ephemeral

Ephemeral: Into Being
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: These Hands Melt

Fetty Wap

Fetty Wap: King Zoo
Genre: Hip-Hop/R&B
Label: A RFG Productions

Guided By Voices

Guided by Voices: Nowhere To Go But Up
Genre: Indie-Rock/Lo-Fi
Label: Gbv Inc

Midnight Odyssey: Biolume Part 3 – A Fullmoon Madness
Genre: Ambient Black Metal
Label: I, Voidhanger Records

Olivia Rodrigo - GUTS: the secret tracks Lyrics and Tracklist | Genius

Olivia Rodrigo: GUTS: the Secret Tracks
Genre: Pop/Rock/Punk
Label: Interscope

Panopticon: The Rime of Memory
Genre: Black Metal/Folk/Bluegrass
Label: Panopticon

The Sleeping Souls

The Sleeping Souls: Just Before The World Starts Burning
Genre: Folk/Rock/Punk
Label: Xtra Mile Recordings

Spector

Spector: Here Come The Early Nights
Genre: Alt-Rock
Label: Moth Noise

Zak Kusz: The Brother and the Bridge
Genre: Instrumental Progressive Rock
Label: Self-Released


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In Memoriam: Chris Whitley

I’ve been listening to Chris Whitley for more than 20 years. At first, I was resistant to enjoying his music — how ridiculous we can be. I was in my early 20s, and I met a lanky guy who had grown up in international schools, and had a penchant for open tunings. He spoke in a soft American accent, he played guitar brilliantly, and he was outrageously cool. He leant me a record called Living with the Law and I scoffed at it. The man on the cover looked trapped in that weird, out-of-touch crossroads hangover between the ’80s and the ’90s. At the time, I was discovering indie music — and this seemed the anathema to it. I mocked it, tossed it aside, and dug my heels with immature abandon.

However, I had listened to it. And after hearing it a few times, the hooks were in. The title track truly is one of the great openers of the ’90s — grudgingly, I could not deny the pockets of beauty in the space created by those soft, chalky chord changes. The voice sounds as if it comes from a wagon trail, a passenger exiting a taxi, a shortwave radio, a factory PA, or a campfire hidden in an unending canvas of pine trees. Chris Whitley sounds of the city and the country, and of any age.

Whitley never achieved much fame beyond that album; he always…


Sufjan_Stevens_-_Javelin

 

Sufjan Stevens-Javelin

Sufjan Stevens has long since passed the point in his career where anything he makes is inevitably going to be discussed in terms of how it relates to his previous works, and given Stevens’ status as one of the rare truly prolific artists to emerge in the last few decades, as well as one of the most lauded, that’s a hell of a lot of material for a new release to stack up to. Yet Javelin does so effortlessly, and already seems destined to reach a similar status as Stevens’ consensus classics. On first brush, both in terms of its sound and in the context of the multiple tragedies that Stevens experienced in the months leading up to its release, the album seems clearly to be a follow-up to his 2015 indie folk masterwork Carrie and Lowell. And this is true, in a way, but further analysis reveals Javelin to have its own identity, even if pretty much every idea it presents has been explored by Stevens at some point in his career. While this is, at heart, a folk album, with most songs featuring prominent acoustic lines as their primary grounding, alongside Stevens’ personal (and often heartbreaking) lyrics and vocals, the reality is more complicated. Most of these songs build gradually over the course of their runtimes, adorned by lush arrangements complemented by electronics which end up dominating significant portions of the tracks, as well as gorgeous, reflective ambient passages. Never as bombastic as much


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Here’s a list of significant new releases for the week of November 17th, 2023.  Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 17th, 2023 –

Aeternus

Aeternus: Philosopher
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: Agonia

Celeste: Epilogue(s)
Genre: Black Metal/Hardcore
Label: Nuclear Blast

Ceremonial Bloodbath: Genesis Of Malignant Entropy
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: Sentient Ruin

Danny Brown

Danny Brown: Quaranta
Genre: Hip-Hop/Experimental
Label: Warp

Earthside

Earthside: Let The Truth Speak
Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal
Label: Mascot Label Group

Emeli Sandé

Emeli Sandé: How Were We To Know
Genre: Pop/Soul/R&B
Label: Venus Records

Kurt Vile

Kurt Vile: Back to Moon Beach
Genre: Folk/Americana
Label: overnite kv incorporated

Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine: Who Can See Forever Soundtrack
Genre: Indie-Folk/Americana
Label: Sub Pop

Julie Byrne & Laugh Cry Laugh

Julie Byrne: Julie Byrne With Laugh Cry Laugh
Genre: Folk/Psychedelic
Label: Ghostly International

Lacey Sturm

Lacey Sturm: Kenotic Metanoia
Genre: Pop Rock/Hard Rock
Label: Lacey Sturm

Welcome 2 Collegrove

Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz: Welcome 2 ColleGrove
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: Polyvinyl

MAUL: Desecration And Enchantment
Genre: Death Metal/Hardcore
Label: 20 Buck Spin

Nicki Minaj: Pink


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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 10th, 2023.  Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 10, 2023 –

Aesop Rock

Aesop Rock: Integrated Tech Solutions

Genre: Hip-Hop/Experimental
Label: Rhymesayers

AJR

AJR: The Maybe Man

Genre: Pop/Rock
Label: AJR Productions

Beirut

Beirut: Hadsel

Genre: Indie-Folk/Rock
Label: Pompeii

Broadside

Broadside: Hotel Bleu

Genre: Alternative / Pop Punk
Label: Self released

Higher (CD)

Chris Stapleton: Higher

Genre: Country/Blues/Americana
Label: Mercury Nashville

COLD WAR KIDS

Cold War Kids: Cold War Kids

Genre: Indie Rock/Indie Folk
Label: Downtown Records

Funeral

funeral: asphyxiated

Genre: Doom Metal/Gothic
Label: siqaeda

Gama Bomb

Gama Bomb: Bats

Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: Prosthetic

Lonely The Brave

Lonely The Brave: What We Do to Feel

Genre: Alt-Rock
Label: Easy Life

Meshuggah

Meshuggah: Chaosphere (25th Anniversary Edition)

Genre: Progressive Metal/Djent/Thrash
Label: Warner Chappell Music

Tales

Night Crowned: Tales

Genre: Black/Death Metal
Label: Noble Demon

PinkPantheress

PinkPantheress: Heaven knows

Genre: R&B/Garage
Label: Warner

Fronzoli COKE BOTTLE GREEN MIX

Psychedelic Porn Crumpets: Fronzoli

Genre: Psychedelic/Stoner Rock
Label: What Reality?

Too Good To Be True - Album by Rick Ross & Meek Mill - Apple Music

Rick Ross & Meek Mill: Too Good To Be True

Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: Atlantic

Shylmagoghnar

Shylmagoghnar: Convergence

Genre: Death/Black/Progressive Metal
Label: Napalm

Inward To Gethsemane

Vastum: Inward To Gethsemane

Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin


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For me, Thurnin’s new record, Utiseta, is easily one of the best albums of the year. Coming as a recommendation, Thurnin’s sophomore album blindsided me with its incredibly astute songwriting, rich instrumentation, and resonant Pagan aesthetics. Given my obsession with this LP since its release in September, it seemed only logical I get some discourse going with Jurre Timmer – the project’s mastermind – to discuss the thought processes behind the project, his sudden success with Thurnin’s debut LP Menhir back in 2021, and how he approached moving forward with a successor.

Give us a bit of background on yourself. 

Jurre: I started doing mostly metal back in 2015, which was when I was really getting into songwriting. I released two albums under a previous project [Algos], but I drifted away from that because it’s a really expensive and difficult genre to produce in if you’re doing everything solo. So after that I shifted my attention and made a doom album under the moniker I, Forlorn, but then all my equipment broke, so I decided to go back to what I had originally started doing, which was acoustic music. I wrote this demo which ended up being “A Lament for the End” – which was the only song on Menhir that was completely improvised – and showed it around to some friends, who encouraged me to go down this path and make more of it. So I set out to make this really chill album without any stress or…


In advance of the release on Friday, November 3rd of their third LP, Summer Moon, all five members of There Will Be Fireworks took some time to answer some questions posed by Sput’s own Sunnyvale. Yes, you’re not going crazy, there was indeed another interview with two members of the band posted on this site last week, but the more the merrier!

For ease of reading, please find the initials of each band member below.

Many thanks to the band!

AK – Adam Ketterer (drums)

DM – David Madden (bass)

GF – Gibran Farrah (guitar, vocals, synthesisers, piano)

NM – Nicholas McManus (vocals, guitar, synthesisers, piano)

SD – Stuart Dobbie (guitar, piano)

November 3rd, 2023 marks a day many fans doubted would ever come – the release of a long-awaited follow-up album to The Dark, Dark Bright. Anything you can share on how things transpired/how the creative process unfolded between the 2013 release of that record through the finished product of Summer Moon?

NM: A lot has changed for us since 2013! We released The Dark, Dark Bright in November 2013 and played a few shows around that time and in 2014. We had a clutch of other songs at that point that we loved but that just didn’t feel right for The Dark, Dark Bright. And, to be honest, I think we need that little natural break from writing for a bit. We all had a lot of life stuff going on too – starting out in our careers, some


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Here’s a list of significant new releases for the week of November 3rd, 2023.  Please note that your idea of “significant” might not align with this list: some of you may die, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. Genres/labels are best guesses based on cursory Googling and should not be taken seriously. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. Or don’t, whatever. I’m not your mom.

– List of Releases: November 3rd, 2023 –

Actress – LXXXVIII
Genre: Outsider House / IDM
Label: Ninja Tune

Angra – Cycles of Pain
Genre: Power Metal / Progressive Metal
Label: Atomic Fire

Cold War Kids – Cold War Kids
Genre: Pop Rock / Indie
Label: AWAL

Drop Nineteens – Hard Light
Genre: Shoegaze / Indie Rock
Label: Wharf Cat

Dying Wish – Symptoms of Survival
Genre: Melodic Metalcore
Label: SharpTone

Empty Country – Empty Country II
Genre: Heartland Rock
Label: Get Better

Flying Raccoon Suit – Moonflower
Genre: Ska
Label: Bad Time

Fuming Mouth – Last Day of Sun
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast

Gong – Unending Ascending
Genre: Psychedelic Rock / Progressive
Label: Kscope

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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 27th, 2023.  Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: October 27, 2023 –

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Aegrus: Invoking the Abysmal Night

Genre: Black Metal
Label: Osmose Productions

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Angie McMahon: Light, Dark, Light Again

Genre: Singer Songwriter
Label: Gracie

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Autopsy: Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts

Genre: Death Metal
Label: Peaceville

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Closure In Moscow: Soft Hell

Genre: Alternative / Progressive Rock
Label: Self released

a3351414636_16

DJ Shadow: Action Adventure

Genre: Electronic / Hip Hop
Label: Mass Appeal

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Dokken: Heaven Comes Down

Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Napalm

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Doro: Conqueress

Genre: Heavy Metal
Label: Season of Mist

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Duran Duran: Danse Macabre

Genre: Pop rock
Label: BMG

a3003686906_16

End: The Sin of Human Frailty

Genre: Metalcore
Label: Closed Casket Activities

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Endseeker: Global Worming

Genre: Death metal
Label: Metal Blade

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The Gaslight Anthem: History Books

Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Thirty Tigers

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Gazelle


This interview was conducted and formatted by user Slex

After a ten year hiatus in which the band remained hard at work, beloved (at least on Sput) alternative rock band There Will Be Fireworks have finally returned with a follow-up to the cult classic The Dark Dark Bright. Ahead of the impending release of Summer Moon on November 3rd I was able to correspond with Nicholas McManus (vocals, synths, guitar) and Adam Ketterer (drums).

_DSC2048

The first question I have is, did you guys ever feel burdened by the legacy of The Dark Dark Bright? At least on Sput it was hailed by many as an instant classic, did that shadow ever loom as you guys worked on Summer Moon?

NM: I think it’s all relative. We’re aware that there are these amazing little pockets online that still love The Dark, Dark Bright – and we’re really appreciative of that and humbled by it – but we’re equally aware that in the grand scheme of things we’re a little DIY band self-releasing records to a small audience. To be honest, we kind of thought everyone would have forgotten about us anyway. It wasn’t until we re-released The Dark, Dark Bright on vinyl earlier this year that we realised how many people still cared. There’s a certain freedom that comes from all that. Also, we don’t do this for a living, we’re not actively involved in any scene and we’ve not been playing shows, so for most of the last ten…


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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 20th, 2023.  Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: October 20th, 2023 –

Afterbirth: In But Not Of
Genre:
Progressive Death Metal
Label: Willowtip Records

The Amenta: Plague of Locus
Genre: Industrial / Blackened Death Metal

Label: Independent

Angelus Apatrida: Aftermath
Genre:
Thrash
Label: Napalm Records

Asagraum: Veil of Death, Ruptured
Genre:
Black Metal
Label: Edged Circle Productions

Blink-182: One More Time
Genre:
Pop Punk / Alternative
Label: Columbia Records

Bombay Bicycle Club: My Big Day
Genre:
Indie Pop / Indie Rock
Label: Mmm… Records

The Callous Daoboys: God Smiles Upon the Callous Daoboys
Genre:
Mathcore / Metalcore
Label: Independent

Catch Your Breath: Shame On Me
Genre:
Alternative / Metal
Label: Thriller Records

Cirith Ungol: Dark Parade
Genre:
Heavy Metal / Power Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

City Girls: Raw
Genre:
Hip-Hop
Label: Capitol Records

Daria Zawialow: Dziewczyna Pop
Genre:
Electronic / Pop
Label: Sony

Dreamwell: In My Saddest Dreams, I Am Beside You
Genre:
Post Hardcore
Label: Prosthetic Records

Duff McKagan: Lighthouse
Genre:
Rock
Label: The World


download (4)

 

yeule-softscars

I was introduced to yeule through last year’s enigmatic Glitch Princess, an ethereally digitized outpouring of self-doubt and alienation consistently channeled through the prettiest of vocal melodies. I absolutely positively did not think it could be improved upon with… of all things… the addition of electric guitars to yeule’s warped palette. What makes softscars feel like such a jump is how yeule is able to push their sophisticated songwriting into a more approachable direction while maintaining their elusive aura. They can turn what is essentially an indie guitar ballad like “software update” into one of the most over-stimulating pieces of music you’ll hear this year with no sweat. The striking amount of detail hiding within these seemingly skeletal nostalgia-laden alt instrumentals almost acts as a mirage for the sharp stabs of nihilism and the longing for real connection in the digital age within yeule’s lyrics. Contrasted with Glitch Princess, where pitch-corrected existential dread threatened to swallow them whole, softscars sees yeule finding a little solace in the struggle of being human, expressed through rawer yet familiarly chameleonic vocal stylings and all the reverb an android can process. softscars is endlessly catchy and infinitely layered and potentially the best album of 2023.

-AlexKzillion


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Here’s a list of notable new releases for the week of October 13th, 2023.  Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: October 13th, 2023 –

Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.

+++(Crosses): Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete
Genre: Alternative Rock/Electronic
Label: Warner

Queen Of Time Live At Tavastia 2021

Amorphis: Queen of Time (Live at Tavastia 2021)
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Atomic Fire

Anna Hillburg

Anna Hillburg: Tired Girls
Genre: Indie-Pop
Label: Speakeasy Studios

Beartooth

Beartooth: The Surface
Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore
Label: Red Bull Records

Nick Keller - Beastwars - Tyranny Of Distance

Beastwars: Tyranny of Distance
Genre: Sludge Metal/Stoner Rock
Label: Destroy Records

Blue October

Blue October: Spinning the Truth Around Part 2
Genre: Alternative Rock / Pop
Label: Up/Down Records

Body Void

Body Void: Atrocity Machine
Genre: Sludge Metal/Doom Metal/Hardcore
Label: Prosthetic Records

Boygenius Announces Surprise EP 'The Rest' | uDiscover

Boygenius: The Rest
Genre: Indie-Folk/Indie-Rock
Label: Interscope

Cmat

CMAT: Crazymad, For Me
Genre: Country/Indie-Pop
Label: CMATBABY

Creeper

Creeper: Sanguivore
Genre: Gothic/Indie-Rock
Label: Spinefarm

Free Throw Lessons That We Swear to Keep Punk Rock Theory

Free Throw: Lessons That We Swear to Keep
Genre: Emo/Indie-Rock
Label: Triple Crown

Geese

Geese: 4D Country
Genre: Post-Punk/Indie-Rock/Country
Label: Partisan Records

Goat

Goat: Medicine
Genre: Psychedelic/Folk
Label: Rocket…


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Just in time for the start of pumpkin spice spooky season, here’s a list of notable new releases for the week of October 6th, 2023.  Genres/labels are best guesses based on cursory Googling and should not be taken seriously. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. Or don’t, whatever. I’m not your mom.

– List of Releases: October 6th, 2023 –

Carnifex – Necromanteum
Genre: Deathcore / Symphonic Black Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast

Citizen – CALLING THE DOGS
Genre: Alternative / Post-Punk Revival
Label: Run For Cover

Claire Rosinkranz – Just Because
Genre: Bedroom Pop
Label: Republic

Colbie Caillat – Along the Way
Genre: Country Pop
Label: Blue Jean Baby

The Dear Hunter – Migrant Returned
Genre: Art Rock
Label: Equal Vision

Dogstar – Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees
Genre: Alternative Rock / Garage Rock Revival
Label: Dillon Street Records

Dorian Electra – Fanfare
Genre: Hyperpop
Label: Dorian Electra Inc.

Drake – For All the Dogs
Genre: Alternative R&B / Trap Soul
Label: OVO, Republic

Ethan P. Flynn – Abandon All Hope
Genre: Art Pop / Indietronica
Label: Young

EXEK – The Map and The


2020 | 2021 | 2022

2023 :: Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4

Sputnikmusic Staff’s Q3 Playlist 2023

Welcome to the third installment for our 2023 quarterly playlist! 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, any new artists you may have discovered here, or let us know what we missed!


Tracklist:

Angelo De Augustine – “Memory Palace”
Toil and Trouble

Proving himself as more than just the best Sufjan knockoff ever, De Augustine has now successfully built the cutest little unique kingdom all to himself, perfected on his 4th LP, and you should visit. The melancholic ivy spiraling around “Memory Palace”, in particular, is surprisingly warm. More than that: it’s the slow-burning summer HIT that never was. –Asleep

Bearings – “Howie, You’re a Freak”
The Best Part About Being Human

Every once in a while I delude myself into thinking that I have outgrown pop punk. Next thing you know, “Howie, You’re a Freak” deploys its incredibly infectious chorus to work its way into my head and overtake my summer. Dammit. At least pop punk will never outgrow me, either. –jesper

Big Thief – “Vampire Empire”
Vampire Empire


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