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By Sowing
Monday October 24, 2022
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As part of a new tradition, Sputnik will be putting together seasonal playlists to celebrate some of our favorite holidays/times of year. The first installment in this series is for the spookiest/eeriest tunes of 2022, just in time for Halloween! It’s a pretty eclectic mix, featuring everything from hip-hop to doom metal, so hopefully there’ll be something for everyone (even though I know that the lone Muse track will be the one that everyone jams relentlessly). This playlist was compiled by both users and staff utilizing only songs from 2022, which admittedly limits the output but also ensures that while listening, you can feel like you’re on the cutting edge of creepy music — a hallow-hipster, if you will. So to all of our readership, enjoy this round of fresh tunes on us. Have a scary but safe Halloween!
Playlist Contributors:
mkmusic1995 – (for Ptolemaea, Ronin, Vlastimil)
AlexKzillion – (for Centurion, Photograph, Pamela)
SlothcoreSam – (for The First Dead Body I Ever Saw, Satanic Slumber Party Part 2, subtle-body-horror)
Sowing – (for Nuages, Ghostland, Laguna Seca)
Hyperion1001 – (for Mangled as the Hideous Feed)
Sunnyvale – (for You Make Me Feel Like It’s Halloween)
PitchforkArms – (for Dead Friends)
dedex – (for Welcome to Hell, Bites on My Neck, Nabokov)
izakaya – (for Vanity)
cold – (for Blue Chalk, Golgotha)
JohnnyoftheWell –…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 21st, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: October 21, 2022 –
a-ha: True North
Genre: Pop
Label: Swinglong Ltd.
Archers of Loaf: Reason In Decline
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Merge
Architects: The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Epitaph
Arctic Monkeys: The Car
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Domino Recording Company
Avantasia: A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society
Genre: Power Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
A Wake in Providence: Eternity
Genre: Deathcore
Label: Unique Leader
Black Math Horseman: Black Math Horseman [EP]
Genre: Doom
Label: Profound Lore
Black Royal: Earthbound
Genre: Sludge / Death Metal
Label: M-Theory
Brutus: Unison Life
Genre: Post Hardcore
Label: Sargent House
Cabal: Magno Interitus
Genre: Death Metal / Deathcore
Label: Nuclear Blast
Carly Rae Jepsen: The Loneliest Time
Genre: Singer Songwriter / r&b / Pop
Label: Interscope
Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn: Pigments
Genre: EDM /…
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…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 14th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors and let us know what else you’re looking forward to hearing this week.
Any mistakes in genre/label identification can be blamed on Jom’s illiteracy and/or bad Googling.
– List of Releases: October 14, 2022 –
The 1975 – Being Funny in a Foreign Language
Genre: Art Pop / Pop Rock
Label: Dirty Hit, Polydor
Alter Bridge – Pawns & Kings
Genre: Alternative Metal / Hard Rock
Label: Napalm
Bill Callahan – YTI⅃AƎЯ
Genre: Americana / Singer-Songwriter
Label: Drag City
Birds in Row – Gris Klein
Genre: Post-Hardcore / Screamo
Label: Red Creek
Boston Manor – Datura
Genre: Alternative Rock / Post-Hardcore
Label: SharpTone
Brian Eno – FOREVERANDEVERNOMORE
Genre: Ambient Pop
Label: UMC
Daeva – Through Sheer Will and Black Magic…
Genre: Black Metal / Thrash Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Field Medic – Grow Your Hair Long If You’re Wanting to See Something That You Can Change
Genre: Indie Folk / Singer-Songwriter
Label: Run for Cover
Firtan – Marter
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal…
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By Sowing
Monday October 10, 2022
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Revisit other SputStaff Top 10 Lists:
| Bon Iver | Kanye West | Mastodon | My Chemical Romance |
| The National | Say Anything | Taylor Swift | Thrice |
         
Foreword:
We’ve arrived at our ninth installment of this wonderful little series, which happens to land on a group that has recently (and amicably) disbanded. mewithoutYou developed a cult following early in their career with A to B: Life and Catch For Us The Foxes before 2006’s Brother, Sister turned them into key players in the indie-rock/post-hardcore scenes. As the band pushed into the latter years of their career, they delivered some of their strongest material with the apocalyptic Pale Horses and the emotionally unhinged [Untitled] LP. Throughout their existence, they always delivered music that meant something. Frontman Aaron Weiss wielded his pen masterfully for two decades, in the process curating a world that often felt like it blurred the line between the playfully imaginary and sobering reality. In a way celebrating the life of this poetic and emotive vessel, the staff here at Sputnikmusic have created a list of the ten best mewithoutYou songs. We hope you enjoy.
Honorable Mentions:
15. Messes of Men
14. Magic Lantern Days
13. The Fox, the Crow, and…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 7th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: October 7, 2022 –
A.A. Williams: As The Moon Rests
Genre: Singer Songwriter / Doom / Post Rock
Label: Bella Union
Aenaon: Mnemosyne
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Agonia
Alvvays: Blue Rev
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Polyvinyl
Armed For Apocalypse: Ritual Violence
Genre: Sludge
Label: Candlelight
Avantdale Bowling Club: Trees
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: Years Gone By
The Bobby Lees: Bellevue
Genre: Punk / Garage Rock
Label: Ipecac
Bonny Light Horseman: Rolling Golden Holy
Genre: Americana
Label: 37d03d
Borealis: Illusions
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: AFM
Broken Bells: Into the Blue
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Awal
Bush: The Art Of Survival
Genre: Alt Rock
Label: BMG
Charlotte Wessels: Tales From Six Feet Under Vol II
Genre: Goth Rock / Symphonic Metal
Label: Napalm
Cloud Rat:…
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By Sowing
Tuesday October 4, 2022
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2022 :: Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4
Sputnikmusic Staff’s Q3 Playlist 2022
Welcome to our third installment for our 2022 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, as well as any new artists you may have discovered here — or, alternatively, tell us what we missed! Thanks for reading/listening.
Tracklist:
The 1975 – “I’m in Love with You”
Being Funny in a Foreign Language
I’m historically mixed on the results whenever The 1975 go straight at their default, somewhat-played ’80s pop throwback sound. For every instant classic like “If You’re Too Shy (Let Me Know)” there are a handful of overbaked, cloying cuts which end up with titles like “She’s American” and “She Way Out”. Thankfully, the genuinely adorable “I’m In Love With You” leans towards the quality of the former; an irresistible groove underpins a hook that I’d describe as repetitive if it wasn’t so lovable. “I’m In Love With You” is so cutesy you may feel your strings being yanked, especially watching the too-twee video with Matty Healy doing silent slapstick and a Phoebe Bridgers cameo — but if I’m gonna have good vibes force-fed to me, it may as well be via a…
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By Dewinged
Wednesday September 28, 2022
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 30th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: September 30, 2022 –
Acausal Intrusion: Seeping Evocation
Genre: Black Metal / Death Metal
Label: I, Voidhanger
Acephalix: Theothantology
Genre: Black Metal / Doom / Death Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Alice Cooper: Live From The Astroturf
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Good Records
Autopsy: Morbidity Triumphant
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Peaceville
The Bad Plus: The Bad Plus
Genre: Jazz
Label: Edition Records
The Big Pink: The Love That’s Ours
Genre: Indie Pop / Shoegaze
Label: Project Melody
Björk: Fossora
Genre: Electronic / Experimental
Label: One Little Indian
City of Caterpillar: Mystic Sisters
Genre: Post Hardcore
Label: Relapse
Clark: 05-10
Genre: Electronic
Label: Warp
Darkest Era: Wither On The Vine
Genre: Progressive Metal / Doom
Label: Candlelight
The Dead Daisies: Radiance
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Ward
Yesterday, I went back and read both staff reviews for The National’s I Am Easy To Find (one by klap and one by Rowan). Impressively, they’re both among the classic pieces on Sputnikmusic.com in my book (even if that lovable mess of an album in no way deserves any rating over a 4.0), combining this site’s trademark tolerance of loving fanboyism with genuine insight, not to mention being a bunch of beautiful words strung together in beautiful ways. In this case, both writeups isolate and explore The National’s tendency to ponder the idea of distance (whether physical or emotional): in klap’s words the album is “another release about distances and quiet tragedies”, in Rowan’s estimation the band’s always has been obsessed with “distance, the lack of it, and the ways people are transformed by those extremes”. In short, I think these claims are essentially right, and all the more impressive because I’d never thought to put the band’s music in that context, even having jammed the band’s songs thousands of times by the 2019 release of I Am Easy To Find.
There was a reason I went down this particular rabbit hole, and (spoiler alert), it wasn’t because of an overwhelming nostalgia for the Sputnik of three years ago. Fast forward a few hours, and my wife and I were at the new Boston concert venue Roadrunner for The National’s concert, standing on the mezzanine, amidst the punks and cannonballers. I’ve been pretty much enthralled by the band for a…
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By Nocte
Wednesday September 21, 2022
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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
Conan – Evidence of Immortality
With the release of their fifth full-length instalment, one thing about Conan is abundantly clear: It exists as a powerhouse of doom metal that embodies a distinct stubbornness. A stubbornness almost equalling the unstoppable forces of geology which created our very existence. Evidence of Immortality exhibits the staunch refusal of Conan to let the quality of their music slip below the commendable standard fans have come to expect. Containing monumental, crushing doom riffs, faster, more bellicose sludge passages and a desperate sense of mounting tension, this album can be considered somewhat a summary of the material comprising the preceding four albums all neatly packaged into an incredibly satisfying 50 minutes of apocalyptic doom metal bliss. Get comfortable and whack that volume up!
Immediately, the humongous opener “A Cleaved Head No Longer Plots” fast-forwards a simulation of the formation of Pangaea (a supercontinent which began to break up again roughly 200 million years ago at the start of the Jurassic period to form the arrangement of continents we know today). The robust sound dominating the album is impressive for a three-piece and atmospherically speaking, the sense of foreboding projected is nothing short of remarkable. The listener is transported to a medieval and geological war zone where all hope for survival rapidly evaporates. It’s just a question of whether you will succumb to a horrific wound from Jon Davis’ battle axe or if you’ll be swallowed whole by the…
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By Nocte
Thursday September 15, 2022
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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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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
Jesper: okok fine i will listen
Johnny: king park nightcore mashup with this when
Jesper: lmao kinda slaps
Johnny: around 1:30 onwards is fire
Jesper: ok yes banger will…
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By Sowing
Monday September 12, 2022
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Revisit other SputStaff Top 10 Lists
| Kanye West | Mastodon | My Chemical Romance | The National | Say Anything |
| Taylor Swift | Thrice |
 ![Blood Bank [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Dh2pzab1L._AC_UY218_.jpg)  ![22 (Over Soon) [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81V16uzmDML._AC_UY218_.jpg) 
Foreword:
Welcome back to the SputStaff Top 10, where we answer the music-related questions that keep you up at night. On today’s menu is Bon Iver, everyone’s favorite snowed-in log cabin dwelling acoustic guitar wielding vocoder falsetto warbler. You might remember the name from any number of mainstream pop artists who have featured him in their songs in a vain attempt to forcibly acquire indie cred (often stylized as “ft. Justin Vernon of BON IVER”). Vernon’s name has become virtually synonymous with the indie/folk genre, and he’s arguably one of the most popular and influential artists ever to grace that scene. Our staff decided to review his entire discography and enshrine his ten best songs to-date; no simple task but also one that we were excited to undertake. Scroll down to see the complete list (including five tracks that narrowly missed the cut) as well as a Spotify playlist where you can jam all of Bon Iver’s greatest songs in one place. Enjoy!
Honorable Mentions:
15. Skinny Love / Naeem [TIE]
14. Beth/Rest
13.
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 9th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: September 9, 2022 –
The Afghan Whigs: How Do You Burn?
Genre: Alt Rock
Label: Royal Cream
Allen/Olzon: Army Of Dreamers
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Label: Frontiers
An Abstract Illusion: Woe
Genre: Death Metal / Black Metal
Label: Willowtip
Bloodbath: Survival Of The Sickest
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Napalm
Bones: Sombre Opulence
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Invictus Productions
Built to Spill: When The Wind Forgets Your Name
Genre: Indie Rock / Indie Pop
Label: Sub Pop
Crippled Black Phoenix: Banefyre
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Season of Mist
Escarnium: Dysthymia
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Cianeto
Fallujah: Empyrean
Genre: Deathcore / Atmospheric Death Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Flogging Molly: Anthem
Genre: Celtic Punk
Label: Rise
Highly Suspect: The Midnight Demon Club
Genre: Alt Rock
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