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.…
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…
A monthly curated bite of word salad on the hottest new tracks to come out across the globe, targeting artists of all genres and popularities. Brought to you by myself and a few other friendly writers, this blog series intends to inspire something new yet familiar to this wonderful music review site. This first post is purposefully short; I know for a fact there’s many others out there like me who do the daily Spotify / new music release check’n’scroll, people that are just dying to get their opinions out about their favorite (or least favorite) singles of the week! If you see something that’s missing, don’t just tell me how derivative and basic my music taste is, go and prove it by writing the hell out of a 1-paragraph review for whatever recent single you think will win you those imaginary obscurity points. Best part? You can act like your favorite staffer by giving out a nifty .1 incriminate rating! Just track me down and give me a Gmail friendly email address whenever you have the review, streaming link, and single information typed up. Without further ado, here’s the very first edition of the Spotlight Singles Series, featuring special guests ArtBox and AsleepintheBack!
We all know how sophomore efforts go; slumps, successful refinements/reinventions/re-etc., sometimes a healthy mix of both. And sometimes they just sound like…
Welcome to the first installment of our 2020 quarterly playlist/mixtape! Below you will find hand picked songs from January to March. 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 comment, as well as any new artists you may have discovered here – or, alternatively, tell us what we missed! Thanks for reading/listening.
.
Tracklist:
(#1) Algiers – We Can’t Be Found
On their new album Algiers show that they are not afraid of taking risks. We Can’t Be Found is a haunting dub-inflected track that’s all about the ghosts of the past. Yet, the verses build up to a soaring chorus that feels like a much needed release from all the doom and gloom. –Greg.
(#2) Yuri Gagarin – QSO
This is one of Yuri Gagarin’s most raging tunes, pushing forward soaring, noisy guitars over punishing drum beats. Solos abound and windy synthesizers roam along, growing steadily until a gentle coda puts things to rest. For
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of May 1, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: May 1, 2020 –
An Autumn For Crippled Children: All Fell Silent, Everything Went Quiet
Genre: Black Metal/Post-Rock/Shoegaze
Label: Prosthetic
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 24, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 24, 2020 –
Anubis Gate: Covered in Colours
Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal
Label: Nightmare
AWOLNATION: Angel Miners & The Lightning Riders
Genre: Electronic/Indie-Pop
Label: Better Noise Music
Birds of Tokyo: Human Design
Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: Birds of Tokyo Pty Ltd
Brendan Benson: Dear Life
Genre: Indie-Pop
Label: Third Man
Cirith Ungol: Forever Black
Genre: Doom/Heavy/Power Metal
Label: Metal Blade
Dance Gavin Dance: Afterburner
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Progressive Rock/Math Rock
Label: Rise
Danzig: Danzig Sings Elvis
Genre: Doom Metal/Gothic
Label: Cleopatra
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of April 17, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: April 17, 2020 –
Abysmal Dawn: Phylogenesis
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Season of Mist
The Black Dahlia Murder: Verminous
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade
dvsn: A Muse In Her Feelings
Genre: R&B
Label: OVO Sound
Enter Shikari: Nothing is True & Everything
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Electronic
Label: So Recordings
March was jam-packed with great releases, but one album in particular really captivated music lovers on Sputnikmusic. For even those who aren’t privy to country music, there’s no denying that something feels invigorating about Starmaker and the way it presents its music. Despite a broad range of albums being selected for March’s AOTM, Honey Harper’s Starmaker won by a comfortable margin – which certainly speaks volumes about the quality found within this brilliantly executed LP.
March 2020 Album of the Month: Honey Harper – Starmaker
“A challenge for country fans: Take a shot every time you hear, “I listen to pretty much everything. Well, except country. I can’t stand country.” The objective? Survive.
~
Country isn’t the only victim of misconceptions fueled by a disliked mainstream personality. Yet, it seems to be the most popular genre to voice a displeasure of, and it seemingly emerges not from a thorough exploration, but rather a few choice singles that garner airplay. Saying that Honey Harper’s Starmaker is the exception to the rule implies a rule was in place to begin with, and such is not the case; this is the product of evolution in a category that features plenty of hits behind its radio-biased appearance. There are no trucks on this album, nor blue jeans, dime-a-dozen break-up stanzas, beer cans, and so on and so on. Instead, it is something much more genuine and closer to the heart.
As the days and weeks merge together in what feels like a seemingly eternal self-isolation – caused by a pandemic that has literally put the entire world on an indefinite time-out – I decided to reach out to HEALTH’s bassist, John Famiglietti, for an interview. For those who aren’t well versed in HEALTH’s inimitable sound, the L.A. trio have been cutting out a big name for themselves in recent years. Starting out as a modest, underground noise-rock band with a DIY work ethic in the mid-noughties, they have slowly embraced a mature progression in a way few bands manage to accomplish. HEALTH’s habits transcend making an album every couple of years and touring it: they’ve been using idiosyncratic methods in just about every corner of their work, thus deconstructing a lot of music’s clichés in the process. Without even talking about the body of their work, which constantly changes up their sound with every album, HEALTH oozes creativity that feels both effortlessly organic and fresh. From making soundtracks for big-name video game licences like Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne, to having a phone number that you can actually call or text, where you can have a chat with John himself. There isn’t a stone that goes unturned with these guys, and in this interview, you should get a better understanding of why they’re one of rock’s most important contemporary bands doing the rounds today.
Can desire best be described as a train running into a tunnel? In popular culture, desire is rarely written with the nuance (or maybe, the trepidation) it deserves, reduced as it is to the slickest surface of its skin and hardly deeper. Sex is a commodity that enforces possession and hierarchy, something to receive or give depending on a narrative. In music production, we can find erotic platitudes that extend the length of an appendage environed by the digital squalor of diamond-studded algorithms. Pop music, great trains, running into tunnels: sex as a deliberate force acted upon us by the external forces we internalize and, by god, in turn, externalize. Art as submissive constructs to societal norms. If not trains, what then?
The answer Jenny Hval offers is immediate, though you’d be forgiven for thinking it the iconic opening gambit: “I arrived in town / with an electric toothbrush / pressed against my clitoris.” Rather, we are drawn inward by the quiet intensity of her arrangements, in the discordant ambiance that slowly envelops the stark percussive elements. There is a timeless quality to the mixture of industrial and folk music, in the glacial way the tracks erode and subside only to build into discomfiting calamity. The songs unspool with seeming spontaneity…
![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)
![GLUE [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Yr5vNA1nL._SS500_.jpg)
![Making a Door Less Open [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Rlaa1t22L._SS500_.jpg)
![Do You Wonder About Me? [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71gOyyxs0DL._SS500_.jpg)
![V [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Q5Klt-NHL._SS500_.jpg)
![good to know [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8115AOC-ICL._SS500_.jpg)
![Solitude in Madness [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81kxauoaogL._SS500_.jpg)
![Afterburner [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91iIVNvqndL._SS500_.jpg)
![City Burials [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71uXKHKwrlL._SS500_.jpg)
![Good Souls Better Angels [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81LT9WBgWlL._SS500_.jpg)
![Heartwork [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81we3hbbkML._SS500_.jpg)
![Verminous [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81MLw275zPL._SS500_.jpg)
![A Muse In Her Feelings [Clean]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81OMfHzXjyL._SS500_.jpg)
![Nothing is True & Everything is Possible [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81Wf-x3pvLL._SS500_.jpg)
![Earth [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Ry91BHjgL._SS500_.jpg)
![SAWAYAMA [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81GgTF2yPyL._SS500_.jpg)
![The Fun Ones [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71yS-+XIW-L._SS500_.jpg)
![The Don Of Diamond Dreams [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91U8qs29cGL._SS500_.jpg)
![Hurry up and Wait [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/911f5LwoMqL._SS500_.jpg)
