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!
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
I’ve always been a huge fan of two things: playlists and nostalgia. Lo and behold, I present to you that point of intersection! Since I first became an avid consumer of music back in 2010, I’ve been secretly compiling “greatest hits” versions of each year I’ve been on Sputnikmusic (I’m not counting 2008 or 2009 because I was barely present). It’s a hobby, sure, but it’s also a superhighway to connect me to any given point in time within the last decade or so. It goes without saying that these installments will be subjective in every conceivable way, but I also think that listeners – particularly on this website – might get something out these posts because my taste in music is essentially a product of what I’ve discovered on Sputnikmusic. I invite you to click ‘play’ on my selective 25-song 2010 playlist and get whisked away to some twelve year old memories. Because it obviously will not be the same as your 2010 experience, I invite you to share your own favorite songs in the comments below. Thanks for listening!
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?
A mere three days before the end of July, Chat Pile’s debut release became available to the masses after having been the subject of much hype. After the initial listen, God’s Country leaves one feeling like a corkscrew has been inserted into each ear and violently twisted. What has one just experienced? The answer, a savagely exasperated assault on a broken western society, transported to the ear canals with unprecedented levels of rage. While lyrical content concerning the failings of society is a well-trodden path with each new endeavour having potential to project yet another rehashed and redundant message, God’s Country does anything but.
You might ask what prevented God’s Country from falling into the rehash trap. It all comes down to the earnestness with which the message is delivered – no generic “fuck the government” material can be found here. Vocalist Raygun Busch launches a wide-ranged and carefully calculated attack on several aspects of modern American society which is both unapologetically scathing and depressingly accurate with its content. Amongst the themes of homelessness, mass meat production and the disgraceful condition of the environment are pockets of truly harrowing material in relation to the ongoing mental health crisis but rather than giving off the impression of wallowing, the overall message is one of downright rage, giving the record authenticity and ultimately, lyrical relevance.
While there is nothing overly complex musically speaking, the genre-fusion on offer…
The vast majority of the time, I don’t actually know if an album is going to leave a lasting impression when I first hear it (despite the many insta-5’s). There are LPs that seem immediate and others that feel like they’ll end up growing, but no matter how I feel about them initially, time is the only real measuring stick when it comes to determining a classic. With that said, there have been very, very few records (in fact, only two come to mind) that were so toweringand so unique that the second I laid ears upon them, I just knew. Sufjan Stevens’ Carrie & Lowell was the first, and Swans’ The Seer was the second.In The Seer‘s case, it had such an impact on me because I’d literally never heard anything even remotely close to it in style or breadth. It demolished me upon first listen, leaving goosebumps on my skin and my jaw upon the floor. The second, third, and fourth listens yielded the same results. Now, ten years and countless listens later, my reaction to The Seer hasn’t changed one bit.
This is an unsettling experience that makes you feel like you’re living in an eerie post-apocalyptic realm: there’s witch incantations (‘Lunacy’), weird quiet laments (‘The Wolf’), sprawling 32-minute drone tracks (‘The Seer’), creepy-as-all-fuck borderline-industrial rockers (‘The Seer Returns’), the aching, creaking, churning wheels of hell (’93 Ave. B Blues’)…and that’s all before…
The Sputnik Music Morning Show are delighted to have been joined live by renowned music critic ajcollins15, nominee for the 2022 Nobel Laureate of Literature and purveyor of pertinent pop. Listen in for our exclusive interview!
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ajcollins15, hello! It’s a delight to have you on the Morning Show today. Listeners all across the country are tuning in as we speak – would you introduce yourself for them?
I have listened to a lot of explorative metal music out there.
Awesome, and how’ve you been doing lately?
With Covid-19 being the dominant threat of 2020, millions and millions of people have been affected by it in one way or another.
For real. It’s brought the whole world together!
The biggest downside is that the cohesiveness in everything is a bit static.
Yuh-huh.
However, there is a much deeper understanding here that I feel many will miss; life is short and time moves fast.
Too true. Does this have much of an impact on your writing? How do you aim to write?
With a lot of class and a ton of self-reflection that we all kind of need in this transition period out of pandemic season.
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 26th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: August 26, 2022 –
Altered Images: Mascara Streakz
Genre: Indie Pop Label: Cooking Vynil
Becoming The Archetype: Children Of The Great Extinction
Genre: Tech Death / Deathcore Label: Solid State
Blackbear: In Loving Memory
Genre: Pop Punk Label: Alamo / Columbia
Bret McKenzie: Songs Without Jokes
Genre: Singer Songwriter Label: Sub Pop
Brymir: Voices In The Sky
Genre: Death Metal Label: Napalm
Butch Walker: Butch Walker As…Glenn
Genre: Hard Rock Label: Ruby Red
Current Value: Platinum Scatter
Genre: drum & bass Label: YUKU
The Dangerous Summer: Coming Home
Genre: Indie Rock Label: Rude
Declaime and Madlib: In The Beginning Vol. 2
Genre: Hip Hop Label: FB Distribution
Diamanda Galas: Broken Gargoyles
Genre: Experimental / Avant Garde Label: Intravenal Sound
From left to right: Chris Fielding, Jon Davis, Johnny King
One of the heaviest doom/sludge metal acts out there at the moment, Conan have gradually ascended to the top tier of the respective scene with a number of strong records over the past decade. Blending slow, crushing riffs with fast, scorching ones, the US loans-cash.net trio goes all in on their latest LP, Evidence of Immortality. Perhaps their most consistent release so far, this collection of songs displays fine samples of all their sonic strengths, with a touch of dark humor as well. I reached out to the group to find out more about it and thankfully, founding member Jon Davis (vocals/guitar) shared more insight into Evidence of Immortality, the gear he’s been using lately and how important is the image to a band today, among other topics. People love the popular Aviator crash game because the plane climbs upward and the multiplier grows rapidly until it suddenly disappears. Success depends on choosing the perfect moment to secure a win before the flight ends. Many appreciate the fast rounds and simple decisions that create real excitement in gaming sessions. Join now and experience this famous game for yourself. Play Aviator game right now, because thousands of people choose it every day for fast action and the potential for big wins in every session.
These two lines bookend the discography of mewithoutYou. One screamed out in anguish, in a voice furious at the world and itself, already resigned to a darker fate; one sung peacefully, almost with acceptance, as if the 16 years inbetween were just a pitstop on a lifelong journey of self-discovery. What a stop it was, though: crafty foxes and existential elephants, porcupines with threatening auras and spiders on leaves, apocalyptic prophecies and silly little fables. I could write for days and not begin to sift the multitudes mewithoutYou contained – truly, if any band has ever had cause to lay claim to being more than just the members it was comprised of, this was the one. Perhaps if I stick to their final night, I may find the words before the world ends.
mewithoutYou played their last show on August 20th 2022, and it’s hard to ask for a better setlist with which to say goodbye. Having burned through the big fan favourites on night one, the second night of the farewell tour was almost wall-to-wall deep cuts that would never get airtime within the confines of a normal tour. From their early rippers, receiving one final acknowledgement (god did “Bullet to Binary” go off though) to mid-career deep cuts that rank as some of the band’s best (“Nine Stories”, “The King Beetle on a Coconut Estate” and the bizarrely overlooked “Bethlehem, WV”) to a…
It’s been eight years since I first interviewed Bent Sæther, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist in the Norwegian act Motorpsycho. I remember being obsessed with rusbank.net their then-new album, Behind the Sun and wanting to find out more about the music, the band, their mindset and what not. Luckily, he answered many of my curiosities and shed some light upon their creative process as well. Since 2014, the group has been just as prolific as before, releasing a string of excellent albums that have become some of my favorites in their discography. Earlier this year, Ancient Astronauts was announced without much detail around it, so I reached out to Bent for another interview and I am happy he found the time to offer some updates on their latest records, including this brand new sonic journey out on August 19.
You entered this, let’s say in a broad term, progressive rock phase with 2010’s Heavy Metal Fruit. How do you feel Motorpsycho’s direction shifted since then, or if it’s easier, in the past 5 years, since we first listened to The Tower?
Oh, we’ve been called everything under the sun since always, but the ‘prog’ one was always there. I think we might even have called ourselves that way back in the earliest of days since it was so unhip in 1989!
While I like the idea of progressiveness in music, this labeling in reality just makes it…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 19th, 2022. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: August 19, 2022 –
Au Suisse: Au Suisse
Genre: Electronic / Synthpop Label: City Slang
Cass McCombs: Heartmind
Genre: Singer Songwriter / Alternative Label: Anti-Records
The Chats: Get Fucked
Genre: Punk Label: Bargain Bin
Conan: Evidence of Immortality
Genre: Doom / Sludge Label: Napalm
Dawnwalker: House of Sand
Genre: Post Metal / Folk / Experimental Label: Self released
Demi Lovato: HOLY FVCK
Genre: Pop Rock Label: Island
Doldrey: Celestial Deconstruction
Genre: Crust Punk / Death Metal Label: Pulverised
Ferum: Asunder / Erode
Genre: Black Metal / Doom Label: Avantgarde Music
Five Finger Death Punch: Afterlife
Genre: Alt Metal Label: Better Noise Music
Hammer King: Kingdemonium
Genre: Power Metal Label: Napalm
Heilung: Drif
Genre: Neofolk / Nordic Folk Label: Season of Mist
On Thursday 8/11/22, the day after my mom’s 63rd birthday (and 11 days before my 27th (and 9 days before my sister’s 31st)), I flew from JFK to Seattle, arriving at about 8 p.m., to attend a three-day music festival called Day In Day Out. My brother lives in Seattle as a PhD student at the University of Washington, and I stayed with him, sleeping on the couch in his cabinlike one-bedroom apartment that is its own tiny building in which he and his girlfriend live for $1350 a month. I went back from Seattle to NYC on Monday, arriving at JFK at 10:30 p.m. I saw 14 bands that weekend, and missed Turnstile (whose Glow On I really don’t like), Julie (whose EP I really like), and Japanese Breakfast (which is a goddamn crying shame—don’t ask). Armed with the handy Pentax K1000 that my first girlfriend gave me for my 18th birthday, I ended up interviewing five of the artists—a member of the band I call my favorite ever, a favorite rapper of mine, and three artists I frankly didn’t know until seeing their name on the poster. (I didn’t know who The Kerrys were until the day before the first day of the festival, when they functionally replaced the COVID-troubled Soccer Mommy.)
For what it’s worth, barring the dreamlike All Tomorrow’s Parties New York festival that unfolded at Kutsher’s Hotel (?) in goddamn Monticello, NY around the turn of the 2010s, Day In Day Out was probably the…
The best music appeals to us emotionally, which leads to future feelings of nostalgia. I’m not going to pretend that every album I’ve enjoyed has had this effect; Kid A, while indisputably and objectively better than any Yellowcard album, provides me no rose-tinted glimpses of the past even though I consider it to be one of the most groundbreaking records to come out in my lifetime. Perhaps that’s because it’s an inherently cold record, or maybe it’s because I was barely in middle school when it dropped. Musical nostalgia at its very best requires a precise blend of intangibles; where you are in your life, what kind of music you’re listening to, what happens to get released at that exact moment, and whether or not you encounter it. The stars must align perfectly. For me, only a few albums have struck such a chord – and among those, Yellowcard’s Southern Air tops them all.
As Southern Air turns ten years old today, I’m amazed by its ability to instantly transport me back to the most turbulent, yet amazing, year of my life. 2012 began as no picnic: my heart was left in shambles by a girlfriend who moved out of state with a fiance she never told me she had; my “career” had stalled at a dangerous and low-paying entry level position; my roommate and I were gradually drifting apart; my…
Regardless of your political stance on treating boys like sluts, daine’s ability to fit the lyrics “treat that boy like a slut” into the first second of ‘boythots’ is highly impressive. Moreover, it signals a gratifying shift in the Filipino-Australian artist’s style: where her previous output largely mimicked Lil Peep-isms by combining trap beats with spaced out twinkly riffs, this brand new single is much more energetic and immediate. Trading melodrama for drama, daine finds a newfound sense of life in wonderful lines like “Steppin’ in the club in my vegan Uggs / Slappin’ all these hoes in my Prada puff” and her crystal clear goal of, yes, treating a boy like a slut. It’s ambitious yet firmly embedded within reality; aware of limitations and more than willing to face them.
While it’s a highly delicate exercise in vulgarity and meditation, ‘boythots’ also manages to be highly self aware. It’s snappy; it knows precisely what it’s doing. Clocking in at just over two minutes, the song delivers its message without overstaying its welcome or dragging at any point. Its framework comprises an addictively pulsating beat and enough ethereal qualities to feel like a natural progression from daine’s past output; nothing more, nothing less. While ‘boythots’ might last as long as its subject matter, it manages to feel much more satisfying and complete.
![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)
