Older is a dark album. Forget about all of those broody metalheads sporting warpaint and screaming about Satan over blast beats and tremolo-picked guitars, this album is genuinely dark, palpably agonising and it uses an array of styles in order to emit the nuances of Michael’s anguish and cognitive dissonance. At this point, for the uninitiated, you’re probably asking yourself how the hell George Michael, one of the biggest pop artists of the eighties and nineties, went from being a bubbly popstar sensation who sang about being on the dole and having steamy sex over archaic synthesiser, to crafting intensely emotive songs in an almost unrecognisable fashion? Welcome to post-mortem, the essay series that deep-dives into some of my most revered works. Whether you’re a fan of George Michael’s very modest volume of work or not, Older is nevertheless an intriguing monster bathed in sorrow, confusion and, surprisingly, optimism over what George was going through between the time of Listen Without Prejudice Vol.1 and his seminal masterpiece, Older. On a personal level, George Michael’s third album is one of my all-time favourite albums and as such, is easily Michael’s magnum opus (which isn’t to be trifled with when you consider every one of his works are, at the very least, excellent). However, what makes Older such an interesting case study is how it was birthed on, arguably, some of the darkest events of Michael’s entire life. These events would cement his direction in 1996; an album that would take…
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By staff
Thursday August 12, 2021
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 13th, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: August 13, 2021 –
Ænigmatum – Deconsecrate
Genre: Death Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin
Bendigo Fletcher – Fits of Laughter
Genre: Folk Rock / Psychedelic
Label: Elektra
Celer – In Light of Blues
Genre: Ambient / Warm Drone
Label: Room40
Devendra Banhart, Noah Georgeson – Refuge
Genre: Ambient
Label: Dead Oceans
Diskord – Degenerations
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Groza – The Redemptive End
Genre: Black Metal
Label: AOP
Iggy Azalea – The End of an Era
Genre: Pop Rap
Label: Bad Dreams / Empire
Jade Bird – Different Kinds of Light
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Glassnote
The Killers – Pressure Machine
Genre: Pop Rock
Label: Island Records
Lorna Shore – … And I Return to Nothingness (EP)
Genre: Deathcore
Label: Century Media
M.A.G.S. – Say Things That Matter
Genre: Garage Rock Revival
Label: Take This to Heart
Melly-Mel & Tone Spliff – New People
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: Icy Palms…
Musk Ox – Inheritance
Is anyone else surprised to see a classically-influenced instrumental album win this month’s AOTM? Granted, the month of July was no fall of ‘91 but this is Sputnik: ‘Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’ has less votes on this site than Asking Alexandria’s 2017 self-titled release (yes, they do still make music.)
I don’t know what neofolk is. Ulver’s early work sounds like shit to me. What the fuck is a wooden grouse? Why am I listening to this neofolk album with literally a grayed out picture of a deserted railroad track on its cover, in the middle of July when it’s 110 degrees out? Why? Because it sounds metal as fuck.
Nathanael Larochette, in addition to having the most pretentious sounding name in all of neofolk history, serves as the group’s classical guitarist and co-composer, next to Raphael Weinroth-Browne. Larochette is also a member of the instrumental progressive metal band, The Night Watch, and boasts credits on Agalloch’s final album, while both Larochette and Weinroth-Browne have appeared on Woods of Ypres records. Musk Ox has appeared on compilations next to big-time nature metallers Empyrium, October Falls, and has shared the stage multiple times with the aforementioned, Agalloch.
So, in much lesser words, Nathanael Larochette is a metal guy who likes to make the metal musacz. And while much of this album sounds like the backdrop to a serene cabin in the middle of bumfuck Oregon, its dense and occasionally frenetic-sounding climaxes…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 6th, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: August 6, 2021 –
Abstract Mindstate: Dreams Still Inspire
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: YZY SND
Andrea Von Kampen: That Spell
Genre: Indie Folk
Label: Fantasy Records
As December Falls: Happier
Genre: Pop Punk
Label: ADF Records
Blood Red Saints: Undisputed
Genre: Hard rock
Label: Frontiers
Borracho: Pound of Flesh
Genre: Stoner / Doom
Label: Bilocation Records
Canid: Saint Serpentine
Genre: Black metal / Doom
Label: Self released
Cesspool of Corruption: Requiems of the Ignominious
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Gore House Productions
Cruzh: Tropical Thunder
Genre: Hard rock
Label: Frontiers
The Cyberiam: Connected
Genre: Progressive metal
Label: Self released
Eluvium: Virga II
Genre: Ambient / Electronic
Label: Temporary Residence
Feuerschwanz: Die Letzte Schacht
Genre: Folk Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Fredo:…
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By Sowing
Wednesday July 28, 2021
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One of my favorite album restructurings has to be the one I did years ago for Viva La Vida and Prospekt’s March, which I’m going to re-publish as part of this new series I’m doing. The LP (VLV) and the bonus follow-up collection (PM) are each superb in their own right, but in blending the best of them, you get a truly special – dare I say perfect – pop/rock record. Chances are if you’re not a huge Coldplay nerd I’ve already lost your attention, so I’ll cut through all the fanfare and just get right down to my playlist and the reasoning as to why I structured it the way I did.
The album begins with “Life in Technicolor II” – I chose this version because it is more fully fleshed out than its instrumental counterpart. The band stripped away the vocals from the original version “Life in Technicolor” in 2008 because it sounded too much like “an obvious single”, but I much prefer the full bodied track with Chris Martin’s stunningly beautiful melodic arc. “Viva La Vida” fits in nicely early as a symphonically-charged highlight – on the original LP, the breathtaking title track was hidden too far back in the listing. When it comes to Coldplay, I’m all about instant gratification, and that song hooks you in immediately. I had to be careful about maintaining the flow and delicate balance of Viva La Vida while blending these songs together, because there’s nothing wrong…
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By Sowing
Tuesday July 27, 2021
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 30, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 30, 2021 –
Agrypnie: Metamorphosis
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Aop Records
Big Big Train: Common Ground
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: English Electric Rec
Bleachers: Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
Genre: Indie-Pop/Rock
Label: RCA
Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever
Genre: Pop
Label: Darkroom/Interscope
Creeper: American Noir
Genre: Pop-Punk/Gothic
Label: Roadrunner UK
Dantalion: Time To Pass Away
Genre: Black/Death/Doom Metal
Label: Darkwoods
Dee Snider: Leave A Scar
Genre: Rock/Electronic/Heavy Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Diskord: Degenerations
Genre: Death/Progressive Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Galvanizer: Prying Sight Of Imperception
Genre: Death Metal/Grind
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Gnosis: Omens From The Dead Realm
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: 2773878 Records DK
Grisly: Salting The Earth
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Xtreem Music
![The Redemptive End [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91Vy-KK0RiS._SS500_.jpg)
Groza: The Redemptive End
Genre: Black Metal
Label: AOP Records
KILL or KEEP Vol.4
Deftones – White Pony
Welcome back once again to KILL or KEEP, where we take a classic album that everyone knows but not everyone loves, and run it through a set of users with conflicting takes. They will consume the album for public entertainment and post their slander for all to see.
This time is a little different because our most ambitious plans got postponed for boring reasons andwe didn’t want to leave things hanging for too long. The solution? Do what the rest of the Sputnikmusic userbase does when it runs out of ideas and needs a ten-a-penny Masterpiece to chew over:
We are listening to Deftones. Specifically White Pony, but if there’s one thing we can tell you about White Pony right off the bat, it’s that it certainly is a Deftones record.
Deftones are a band that needs no introduction. What a relief. Today’s KILL or KEEP is brought to you by Pheromone and JohnnyoftheWell, but we felt a little self-conscious about trawling through one of the most lowest-common-denominator Sputnik classics as two of the most washed up Sputnik personalities, so we decided to add some spice by fishing out a new friend from our Discord web of horror. Please welcome Windowpain11 to Sputnikmusic!
Rules
Each participant must KILL and KEEP a minimum of three songs. Because White Pony is a pretty tiny album by KILL or KEEP standards,…
Concerts have been a go in New York City for a little while now. Their return on an appreciable scale was first and quietly signaled by rough-and-tumble DIY venues (some of them really people’s backyards) throwing small shows in early June or so, often sheepishly asking for proof of vaccination at the door. Then, perhaps less than a month later, more sizable spaces like Brooklyn’s Our Wicked Lady and Elsewhere (both notably brandishing rooftops) and Manhattan’s The Bowery Electric started to let people into their 200+-capacity spaces, to let those people not wear masks, let them kiss and dance and whatever, usually but not always with proof of vaccination required as well. Fellow Sputnikmusic compatriot ArsMoriendi and I, neither of us from NYC but both sorta equidistant to it, had to check this new (but really actually old) phenomenon out.
Or, well, that’s kinda how it happened. Above all and in the first place, we were stoked to see a Facebook event advertising the first “post”-COVID show of a band whose hyperactive, glammy and psychedelic debut LP we together hawked on this very site, with some minor notable successes. The album is called Long Haired Locusts (2020); the band is called Godcaster. We had heard they were awesome live, and proof of their dominance in the arena of live performance was everywhere on the Internet (check out this clip, awesomely shot by one Santo Donia, of a 2019 show in New Jersey), and even felt like it inhered in the math-y, frenetic hooks that make…
Tags: godcaster, patti, sunk heaven, tv eye
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By Sowing
Thursday July 22, 2021
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Call it a wildly unnecessary hobby, but one thing I’ve always enjoyed about music is re-ordering album tracklists. I do it with albums I enjoy just as much as albums I dislike, always in an attempt to arrange the music even better somehow. I find I get the most out of it on albums that have potential, but are either overinflated, fall short in a few key areas, or are accompanied by an EP/b-sides release with a handful of stronger moments than the actual LP.
It’s with great anticipation of Thrice’s 11th upcoming album, Horizons/East (due out September 17th), that I kick things off with a way to re-imagine their previous effort Palms – which fits the latter two of the above descriptions. Songs like ‘Hold Up a Light’ and ‘My Soul’ were obvious weak spots and were easily discarded from the original tracklist in this mock-up, while I also – but more begrudgingly – parted ways with ‘Only Us’ and ‘Everything Belongs’ on the grounds that they’re both relatively average versions of songs that Thrice did better on the very same LP. I then imported the entirety of the Deeper Wells EP, which I feel is a much stronger effort in general compared to the Palms tunes that I just discarded. Finally, I arranged them in a way meant to flow, dazzle, and rock your socks off.
One thing Palms lacked was a kickass starter, but ‘Deeper Wells’ lights a fire with its political lyrics (referencing Trump’s wall) and vitriolic delivery.…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 23rd, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 23, 2021 –
Against The Current: Fever
Genre: Pop rock
Label: Fueled By Ramen
Alexis Marshall: House of Lull, House of When
Genre: Experimental
Label: Sargent House
Anika: Change
Genre: Singer Songwriter
Label: Sacred Bones
Bluestaeb: Giseke
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: Jakarta Records
Capstan: Separate
Genre: Pop Punk / Post Hardcore
Label: Fearless
Craven Idol: Forked Tongues
Genre: Blackened Thrash / Death Metal
Label: Dark Descent
Crescent: Carving The Fires Of Akhet
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Listenable Records
David Crosby: For Free
Genre: Folk
Label: BMG
Darkside: Spiral
Genre: Electronic
Label: Matador
Descendents: 9th & Walnut
Genre: Pop Punk
Label: Epitaph
Drinking Boys and Girls Choir: Marriage License
Genre: Skate Punk / Pop Punk
Label: Damnably Records
Dusted:…
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By Nocte
Wednesday July 14, 2021
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 16th, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
A Place To Bury Strangers: Hologram
Genre: Post Punk
Label: DedStrange
Bacao Rythm and Steel Band: Expansions
Genre: Funk / Hip Hop
Label: Big Crown Records
Barenaked Ladies: Detour de Force
Genre: Rock
Label: Raisin’ Records
Chet Faker: Hotel Surrender
Genre: Alternative
Label: Warner
Clairo: Sling
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Fader / Republic Records
CZARFACE: Czar Noir
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: Silverage
Hollie Kenniff: The Quiet Drift
Genre: Dream pop / Ambient / Shoegaze
Label: Western Vinyl
Ida Mae: Click Click Domino
Genre: Americana
Label: Vow Road
Illenium: Fallen Embers
Genre: Dance
Label: 12Tone
James Vincent McMorrow: Grapefruit Season
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Sony Music
John Mayer: Sob Rock
Genre: Blues Rock
Label: Sony Music
KSI: All Over The Place
Genre: Rap
Label: BMG Music
Lucid Express: Lucid Express
Genre: Dream pop
Label: Middle Class Cigars
Midwife: Luminol
Genre: ambient/ experimental pop/ heaven metal/ shoegaze
Label: The Flenser
Ophidian I – Desolate
Genre: Technical Death Metal
Label: Season Of Mist
Powerwolf: Call Of The Wild
Genre: Power Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Pizzagirl: Softcore Mourn
Genre: Dream pop
Label: Heist or Hit Records
Squid: Near the Westway
Genre: Indie
Label: Warp Records
Stephen Fretwell: Busy Guy
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Speedy Wunderground
Times Of Grace: Songs Of Loss and Separation
Genre: Metalcore
Label: Wicked Good Records
Vouna: Atropos
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Wavves: Hideaway
Genre: Pop Punk/Garage Rock
Label: Fat Possum Records
Wizardthrone: Hypercube Necrodimensions
Genre: Melodic Black Metal
Label: Napalm Records
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By Sowing
Tuesday July 6, 2021
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Sputnikmusic Staff’s Q2 Playlist 2021
Welcome to the second installment of our 2021 quarterly playlist/mixtape! 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.
To view the historical content of these playlists, visit the bottom of this page.
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Tracklist:
AFI – Dulcería
AFI continue to delve deeper into a more sophisticated sound three decades into their career and ‘Dulcería’ is the most suave moment on Bodies. I dare to say the groovy bass lines and silky guitars echo Roxy Music and Davey’s smooth croons are impressive and very catchy. The result is such a beautiful and elegant tune. — insomniac15
Altarage – Magno Evento
Succumb sees the dissonant Basque collective broaden its spectrum by reconciling experimentalism and orthodoxy. Besides being one of its discordant highlights, the charismatic ‘Magno Evento’ stands as one of the best tracks the band has ever recorded. — TheNotrap
…
Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend
Given that the album offers little in the way of questions — by serving up the same indie-lite standards: trite lyrics, helium vocals and nothing new whatsoever — Blue Weekend still packs a punch where it counts, because the songs themselves still ‘mean’ something to this listener. The rhythm on “Delicious Things”, the throwaway pop of “Play the Greatest Hits”, and the build up and soaring crescendos on “The Last Man on Earth”; they all converge to create an album that offers up more than it ever intended to, and in doing so, means so much more in the process. – zakalwe
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 9th, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 9, 2021 –
DZ Deathrays: Positive Rising, Pt. 2
Genre: Alt rock
Label: I OH YOU
The Flatlanders: Treasure of Love
Genre: Country
Label: Rack’Em Records
Futility: Anhedonic
Genre: Death metal / Doom
Label: Metalworkx
The Goon Sax: Mirror II
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Matador Records
Graduating Life: II
Genre: Emo
Label: Pure Noise Records
Half Waif: Mythopoetics
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Anti-Records
Hardline: Heart, Mind and Soul
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Frontiers Records
Iceberg Theory & August Fanon: Horned Monk
Genre: Hip Hop / Left field
Label: Self-Released
IDK: USEE4YOURSELF
Genre: Hip Hop
Label: Warner
Inhaler: It Won’t Always Be Like This
Genre: Indie rock
Label: Polydor
Kambrium: Synthetic Era
Genre: Death metal
Label: Reaper
L.A. Guns: Cocked & Loaded Live
Genre: Hard rock
Label: Frontiers Records
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By Nocte
Tuesday June 29, 2021
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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 2nd, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 2nd, 2021 –
Agrypnie: Metamorphosis
Genre: Post Black Metal
Label: AOP Records
Anthropophagus Depravity: Apocalypto
Genre: Brutal Death Metal
Label: Comatose Music
At The Gates: The Nightmare Of Being
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Century Media
Bobby Gillespie and Jehnny Beth: Utopian Ashes
Genre: Alt Rock
Label: Third Man Records
Born Of Osiris: Angel Or Alien
Genre: Melodic Death Metal/Metalcore
Label: Sumerian Records
Bizarrekult: Vi Overlevde
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Independent
Burning Darkness: Dödens Makt
Genre: Blackened Thrash
Label: Non Serviam Records
Cub Scout Bowling Pins: Clang Clang Ho!
Genre: Alt Rock/Experimental
Label: Guided By Voices
Desperate Journalist: Maximum Sorrow!
Genre: Indie Pop/Goth
Label: Fierce Panda
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter: The Divine Horsemen
Genre: Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Drawn And Quartered: Congregation Pestilence
Genre: Death Metal
Label: Krucyator Productions
Enshine: Transcending Fire [EP]
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Naturmacht Productions
Felled: The Intimate Earth
Genre: Black Metal/Folk
Label: Transcending Obscurity
Godhead…
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