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.
10. Manchester Orchestra – A Black Mile to the Surface
Genre: Indie Rock // Released: 2017
I remember things that I have business remembering. I remember things that are strangely specific and serve no purpose other than adding another aspect to a memory. It might be that it helps me connect to it easier, yet the last thing I desire is for it to remain in my head, its lingering ghost consistently roving about whenever a single thought drifts towards it. The crux of the occurrence is unchanged; I still ran out of a crowded room, I still ended up on a street corner in the cold winter of the Appalachian outskirts, I still got picked up by a patrolling police car, I was still at in a room where I heard the same comments as I’ve always heard, and I still ended up in my dorm—no escort or assistance other than a throwaway recommendation. But what constantly reappears during this recollection is that while curled up in a fetal position, rocking back and forth in a torn sweatshirt that hardly protected against the lowering temperature, I repeated to myself the same phrase: “It’s no cold.” I kept count and reached 121 utterances of this hollow mantra before the officers came by, doubtlessly believing I was yet another drunk college student out of control. Though the former was false,…
Death sucks. That goes without saying, especially now, yet we never seem to grow tired of those artists who explore the topic, at least where broached with due care and respect. Those aren’t words I would typically associate with Mark Kozelek, were I to fixate on the brash manner in which he tends to conduct himself in the public sphere, but that’s exactly what Benji is: intensely contemplative and deeply respectful. The arbitrary injustice of that senseless equaliser is addressed via anecdote, through tales whose underlying meaning (or lack thereof) is seldom unpacked. The tragedy of Jim Wise is recounted without passing judgement, favourable or otherwise. Purpose isn’t grafted onto Carissa’s passing, although Mark searches. Micheline and Brett are mourned, with no overarching narrative plastered over their loss. There’s no silver lining to be coloured in; no higher meaning to be gleaned or uncovered. It is what it is. Yet this acceptance of meaninglessness is meaningful, in and of itself, and with it Benji becomes more than just another folk record about death. Unadorned and matter-of-fact, absent vague platitudes and superficial conjecture: it’s the real deal. And it’s terrifying. – Asleep
I’d bet Michael Gira still cracks a good chuckle every now and then when recalling that time he tried to sell his soul to the Devil in exchange for eternal inspiration and unbridled creativity, and the Lord of Flies laughed at his face arguing he had no use for a soul like his. Post-reunion Swans’ unholy run of three albums, namely The Seer, To Be Kind and The Glowing Man, certified that Gira and co. had reached a musical ecstasy desired by many and achieved only by a few, and that a spirit binding contract was, thus, unnecessary.
Sandwiched between two of their most acclaimed releases, To Be Kind seems to have been driven by one of the most devastating existential crisis experienced by Gira. Going in you’ll be welcomed by an asphyxiating apathy which slowly evolves into hypnotic instrumental lunacy. Gira’s singing suffers a transfiguration throughout the album. It’s the sound of a man forlorn into his self-imposed quest for meaning, which mid-album ejaculates the overwhelming grandiosity of the infamous 34 minute epic combo baptized as “Bring The Sun/Toussaint L’Ouverture”. And the band tails the deranged frontman toe-to-toe, stretching from the unsettling calm of songs like “Some Things We Do” to the infuriated euphoria of enrapturing jams like “She Loves Us” or “Nathalie Neal”. Even if To…
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.
There’s a case for any Hop Along album to be placed here, but Bark Your Head Off, Dog stands out as their most accessible and most innovative work. It saw them shift from releasing superior versions of the records every other indie band was churning out to making the record those bands *wished* they could. Bark… is equal parts coffee shop and arthouse, full of adventurous songwriting that sees the band eager to expand their sonic palette. It packs punchy hooks, but for every “Somewhere a Judge” there’s a “Look of Love.” Frances Quinlan is unafraid to meander here, yet she’s a mature enough writer that these parts are considerable assets. The best cuts combine both: “The Fox In Motion” and “Prior Things” are indie wet dreams, sophisticated arrangements supporting freeform vocal tour-de-forces. In a few years we may look at this as the album that ruined Hop Along; if that’s the case, they’ll have taken a sizable chunk of the hipsterverse with them. – Johnny
74. Casualties Of Cool – Casualties of Cool
Genre: Ambient/Blues/Country// Released: 2014
While Devin Townsend temporarily abandoned gonzo theatrical progressive metal for the sparse and spacious Casualties of Cool, his attention to sonic detail and willingness to fearlessly experiment made it a…
The version of Thrice that made Major/Minor was an enviously well-oiled machine, a savvy group of veterans effortlessly creating some of the best rock music of the decade. A natural conclusion to the band’s sonic transformation, in some alternate universe where the hiatus is a permanent break-up, Major/Minor is viewed as the perfect swan song. Thrice’s return five years later, however, does not make Anthology any less anthemic, nor negate Yellow Belly as the best opener in the band’s catalog, nor does it diminish the irresistible groove the Breckenridge Bros lock into on some songs. Teppei found many of his best textures and tones here (see Treading Paper and the underrated Blinded), and Dustin’s vocal performance (aside from some rehashed lyrical themes) is refined to the ideal mix of soul and grit. Everything fits together perfectly, making Major/Minor one of the best albums from one of the 21st century’s most reliably great bands. – BroFro
99. Cult Of Luna – Vertikal
Genre: Post Metal// Released: 2013
At once claustrophobic and expansive, Vertikal’s oppressive, dismal industrial atmosphere builds titanic walls around you that slowly but surely close in, crushing all in their path. Opener The One explores decaying brutalist synth tones punctuated by distorted kicks; the totalitarian mood further probed for I: The…
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.
Outside of the incredible musical content, the fleeting existence of No Note as a band was captivating to me; their work seemingly arrived and departed without any explanation. Here was a collection of tracks with titles taken from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a despairingly brief band biography, little to no information on contributing members, and so on. Questions heavily outweighed any answers. Perhaps leaving the book closed as-is would have kept the album in a sort of open ending where the conclusion was left to the listener However, on a whim, drummer Robert Murray reached out after having read my review for if this is the future then I’m in the dark. One impromptu, casual conversation-turned-interview later, and the story surrounding the mysterious record began to crystallize. Here’s the result of my time with Rob, who graciously gave his time to discuss how No Note came to be, what made it work, what made it come apart, and how to cope when negativity surrounds you.
Mars/Mitch: I know this is rather an open question, but this it’s probably one of the more burning ones I’ve got: what exactly was No Note? The bio was like an obituary and there seems to be so little information on you guys. Was it a band or was it more of a one-off?
Rob: It was a normal band. wasn’t just a project intended to be a one off. Dave, Nate and myself all played…
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
When we consider the amount of big releases being pushed back because of the coronavirus, you can scarcely tell there’s a shortage of quality music when you look at the number of albums being put forward for April’s Album of the Month. In spite of this eclectic sprawl of candidates though, in my heart I knew Ulcerate’s uncompromising return was going to resonate the most with Sputnikmusic’s userbase. Jacquibim’s hype-fuelled review was a telling indicator that we were in for something special, but to fully understand what was on offer here you had to listen to the unrelenting behemoth yourself. Stare Into Death and Be Still is a career-defining marvel, and it’s clear Sputnikmusic recognises and embraces their efforts.
April 2020 Album of the Month: Ulcerate – Stare Into Death and Be Still
“What Ulcerate have done here, very successfully, is create a tech-death record with huge crossover appeal. The melodies are layered in such a way that picking them out is no chore, much in the same way that a lot of post metal would approach the task, and yet, the familiar trappings of unbound technicality are ever-present. It’s almost uncanny. A beautiful, sludgy, catchy behemoth that punches hard and cuts deep but applies an ample amount of anaesthetic first. A great deal of its success can be attributed to the production, which has been handled exceptionally well. It reveals the music in layers, each element distinct, but unquestionably integral to the whole.…
![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)
