Weekly Releases 8.6.2021

By Dewinged Tuesday August 3, 2021

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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:…

Reimagining Albums #2: Coldplay’s Viva La Vida

By Sowing Wednesday July 28, 2021

25 Comments

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…

Weekly Releases 7.30.2021

By Sowing Tuesday July 27, 2021

17 Comments

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 –

Metamorphosis

Agrypnie: Metamorphosis
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Aop Records

Common Ground

Big Big Train: Common Ground
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: English Electric Rec

Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night

Bleachers: Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
Genre: Indie-Pop/Rock
Label: RCA

Happier Than Ever

Billie Eilish: Happier Than Ever
Genre: Pop
Label: Darkroom/Interscope

American Noir

Creeper: American Noir
Genre: Pop-Punk/Gothic
Label: Roadrunner UK

Dantalion: Time To Pass Away
Genre: Black/Death/Doom Metal
Label: Darkwoods

Leave A Scar

Dee Snider: Leave A Scar
Genre: Rock/Electronic/Heavy Metal
Label: Napalm Records

Degenerations

Diskord: Degenerations
Genre: Death/Progressive Metal
Label: Transcending Obscurity

Galvanizer: Prying Sight Of Imperception
Genre: Death Metal/Grind
Label: Everlasting Spew Records

Omens From The Dead Realm

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]

Groza: The Redemptive End
Genre: Black Metal
Label: AOP Records

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KILL or KEEP: Deftones

By JohnnyoftheWell Sunday July 25, 2021

53 Comments

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,…

What Are Concerts Like in 2021?: Ars and Sona Investigate

By robertsona Saturday July 24, 2021

28 Comments

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

Reimagining Albums #1: Thrice’s Palms

By Sowing Thursday July 22, 2021

23 Comments

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.…

Weekly Releases 7.23.2021

By Dewinged Thursday July 22, 2021

28 Comments

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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:…

Weekly Releases 7.16.2021

By Nocte Wednesday July 14, 2021

24 Comments

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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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Staff’s Q2 Playlist 2021

By Sowing Tuesday July 6, 2021

21 Comments

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.

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

Bala – Hoy No

…

Sputnikmusic Album of the Month: June 2021

By DrGonzo1937 Tuesday July 6, 2021

12 Comments

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

Weekly Releases 7.9.2021

By Dewinged Monday July 5, 2021

24 Comments

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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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Weekly Releases 7.2.2021

By Nocte Tuesday June 29, 2021

38 Comments

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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…

Weekly Releases 6.25.2021

By Nocte Tuesday June 22, 2021

39 Comments

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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 25th, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: June 25, 2021 –

Amenra: De Doorn

Genre: Post Metal/Sludge
Label: Relapse Records

Beartooth: Below

Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Red Bull Records

Buckcherry: Hellbound

Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Earache

Celtian: Sendas De Leyenda

Genre: Folk Metal
Label: Maldito Records

Cerebral Rot: Excretion of Mortality

Genre: Death Metal
Label: 20 Buck Spin

Dark Vision: Ianos

Genre: Black Metal/Death Metal
Label: Cult of Parthenope

Darkthrone: Eternal Hails

Genre: Old School Black Metal/Death Metal/Satan Rock
Label: Peaceville Records

De Arma – Strayed In Shadows

Genre: Post Metal/Gothic
Label: TrollMusic

Doja Cat: Planet Her

Genre: Rap
Label: RCA Records

$fractal universe$
Fractal Universe: The Impassable Horizon

Genre: Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

Hiatus Kaiyote: Mood Valiant

Genre: RnB/Soul
Label: Brainfeeder Record

Hiss Golden Messenger: Quietly Blowing It

Genre: Americana/Folk
Label: Merge Records

Jack Savoretti: Europiano

Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Label: Popnable

Island: Yesterday Park

Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: Discrepancy Records

John Grant: Boy From Michigan

Genre: Alternative Rock
Label: Bella…

Sputnikmusic Album of the Month: May 2021

By DrGonzo1937 Wednesday June 16, 2021

9 Comments

iosonouncane – IRA

Up-and-coming Brits Black Midi and uber-revered Sweet Trip both release an album. The “Album of the Month” section was all set to celebrate either of these indie juggernauts. No chance that hundred minutes long Italian album snatches the trophy.

And yet it did. Despite deserving all jabs thrown at its overreliance on certain metal and/or folk genres, Sputnikmusic still allows itself to embrace some detours from its well-established flagship genres, the latest deviation coming from IOSONOUNCANE – Italian for “IAMADOGGO”, and stage name of Jacopo Incani. After eight minutes of relative calm split between the first two tracks, “ashes” allows tension to rise to never let it decrease: from then on, mad and reflective moments take turns to instigate a mood always content to frighten the shit out of you, whether your tripes are tightened because of an eerie tribalistic passage or because post-industrial razors cut through your guts (RIP Kentaro Miura). Fortunately, IRA never crosses the Rubycon of ugliness, even in its most unnerving moments; rather evoking how extreme beauty can be. This attitude to offer the most bizarre art possible also shows itself in the lyrics, a hotchpotch of Italian, English, Spanish, and French, without any sense of continuation; “rising el rajul oublié” being an authentic-and-absolutely-not-modified excerpt of the album.

IRA is the ultimate testimony of the richness of the current musical catalog. Sure, fodder albums will still be thrown at us, bands will continue…

Weekly Releases 6.18.2021

By Nocte Wednesday June 16, 2021

29 Comments

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Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 18th, 2021. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.