folkever/morelore

By Sowing Monday December 14, 2020

folklore (deluxe version) [Explicit] evermore

Overwhelmed by all the stuff on your news feed about Taylor Swift? Does the task of listening to 32 tracks (49 counting the Long Pond Sessions, 51 counting the yet-to-be released Evermore bonus tracks) appear daunting? Well, there’s no longer any need to fear ostracizing from your social circles due to a humiliating lack of familiarity with T-Swizzle’s most recent masterpieces – folklore and evermore – which quite frankly make Abbey Road sound like dogshit. Lest you be caught in such an awkward situation as not knowing that ‘marjorie’ is a tribute to Swift’s late grandmother, give this brilliant mashup between her two 2020 LPs a listen. folkever (or morelore) delivers only the highest quality cuts from each album, and in a little under an hour. For best results, give this a spin while sipping Starbucks™ lattes in your very own privately owned ski lodge overlooking lush gardens and majestic mountain ranges.

Post-Metalcore: The Little Genre That Could (Part IV)

By staff Wednesday December 9, 2020

103 Comments

Post-Metalcore:
The Little Engine That Could

A four-part series by MarsKid

[Part I] || [Part II] || [Part III] || [Part IV]

Part IV: Changing the Game

On paper, detractors that remained in the metalcore scene had plenty of ammunition in 2016. After years of providing the most chaotic brand of the genre to hit a mainstream audience, The Dillinger Escape Plan announced that they were terminating the band, concluding an enviable career with their swan song Dissociation. Their counterparts in Converge, though not absent from the scene, had not released new material since 2012, creating a subtle sense of doubt over whether or not there would be more to come. In the prog-core circle, proceedings apparently reached a grinding halt once key groups began to falter late in their career, in part due to personnel alterations. Erra presented Drift, which was caught in the shadow of Augment — a tall task to defeat such an influential record, in fairness — while Northlane began a steady decline in quality. Younger acts that took up the mantle were similarly faltering; Invent, Animate disappeared following Stillworld and lost a critical component when vocalist Ben English decided to depart from the band. For those that desired another surge in the creativity of the underground or the progress metal crossover realm, the classification seemed to have launched headfirst into a brick wall and shattered, with little…

Weekly Releases: December 2020

By Sowing Wednesday December 2, 2020

21 Comments

Here’s a list of major new releases for the entire month of December 2020. These releases have been condensed into one post as, historically at least, December is a slower time for new musical releases. In the meanwhile, our staff will be working on compiling their highly anticipated “Top Albums of 2020” feature, so stay tuned to see what we anoint as the album of the year. With regards to the below releases, please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums. From our staff and userbase to you, we wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season. We’ll see you in January!

– List of Releases: December 4, 2020 –

Live at the Royal Albert Hall

Arctic Monkeys: Live At The Royal Albert Ha
Genre: Alternative/Indie Rock
Label: Domino

For the Music

Blackfield: For the Music
Genre: Alt/Progressive Rock
Label: WM Germany

Seasonal Shift

Calexico: Seasonal Shift
Genre: Country/Americana/Folk
Label: Anti/Epitaph

In Decay, Too

Com Truise: In Decay, Too
Genre: Electronic/IDM
Label: Ghostly Int’l

10 Years Gone (Live)

Deafheaven: 10 Years Gone (Live)
Genre: Black Metal/Shoegaze
Label: Sargent House

Rotting Dreams of Carrion

The Deviant: Rotting Dreams of Carrion
Genre: Death/Black Metal
Label: Soulseller

Sea Savage [Explicit]

Gama Bomb: Sea Savage
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: Prosthetic

Death of an Optimist [Explicit]

grandson: Death Of An Optimist
Genre:…

Post-Metalcore: The Little Genre That Could (Part III)

By staff Wednesday December 2, 2020

19 Comments

Post-Metalcore:
The Little Engine That Could

A four-part series by MarsKid

[Part I] || [Part II] || [Part III] || [Part IV]

Part III: Death of a Genre?

What exactly causes a genre of music to ‘die’? The concept is used commonly, yet the specific definition shifts depending on who utters it. For some observers, a category experiencing a demise means that it has lost any and all creativity. Others contend it occurs when, as far as mainstream coverage is concerned, the genre appears to lose whatever relevance it had. In an extreme case, there may be so few named players in a scene that it might as well be declared obsolete. If anything, I find that the latter explanation seems most appropriate. First, the concept often supplied of ‘lacking imagination’ is less of a “genre is dead” scenario and more of a case of stagnation. Groups still exist in the classification — perhaps even in high amounts — but none of them are diverging from the classics that led to their emergence. Secondly, the mainstream is a poor judge of measuring viability, since the underground will never receive the same press coverage. Thus, a scene where the big-league bands are struggling can give a false illustration, because what happens under their domineering popularity might be compelling. The nadirs of metalcore may not have been at the productivity witnessed years prior, but it was…

Transforming Music

By staff Monday November 30, 2020

12 Comments

Do you ever listen to music and feel like it was made for you, when it clearly wasn’t? Sometimes even when you know an artist absolutely has not had the same experiences, something about their music feels personalized, as if they were watching your life and wrote it with you in mind. I can’t speak for the entire transgender population, obviously, but I have a theory that trans people face this more than other people. We don’t have the privilege of being surrounded by art that was created by people like us, for people like us. As much as trans music has achieved more mainstream acceptance in the past decade (looking at you, Arca, SOPHIE, and 100 Gecs), there’s still very little out there, especially for people who like music that isn’t pop-adjacent experimental electronic. I think there is a lot of discussion to be had about what makes some music so relatable to certain trans people (read: me, a trans woman). So that’s what this is about – music that isn’t specifically for or by trans people that feels like it is.

First on my list is “Morning Train (Nine to Five)” by Sheena Easton. This song is very traditional in its portrayal of gender roles, glorifying a man who works hard to find his (narrating) wife waiting for him when he gets back home, fucks her that night, and then continues the cycle the next day. It’s understandable that from an outside perspective, this…

Sowing’s Top 25 Albums of 2020

By Sowing Wednesday November 25, 2020

80 Comments

Category I: Welcome

It’s the conclusion of yet another interesting year in this, um, “unique” corner of the internet. Our site’s aesthetics may be firmly entrenched in 2010, but this “best of” feature ushers 2020 out of our collective memories. For many of us that brings immense relief, even if most of the same issues that plagued this year will follow us right into January. Still, there are reasons for optimism as we delve further into this still young decade. One of them is how music stepped up to the plate in a time of crisis. It’s during humanity’s most trying times that art seems to give us the most hope, and from invigorating protest music to pensive quarantine albums, musicians acted like first responders to our emotional needs in 2020.

Everyone’s way of navigating this crazy, chaotic year was different – a fingerprint consisting of our own unique challenges. Personally, I found myself relating to mellow folk (and even country!) as an escape from the psychological stresses caused by the pandemic and its consequences, but it’s just as understandable for others to have taken solace in elated pop, metal, or woke hip-hop (and there’s a little of each here!). It was all we could do not to sink into despair, basically. That’s part of the reason I decided to, at least temporarily, retire my Sowing’s Music Awards shtick (2014-2019, RIP) – replete with its “worst album” and “biggest disappointment” categories…

Post-Metalcore: The Little Genre That Could (Part II)

By staff Wednesday November 25, 2020

31 Comments

Post-Metalcore:
The Little Engine That Could

A four-part series by MarsKid

[Part I] || [Part II] || [Part III] || [Part IV]

Part II: Underground Alone

The blueprints for post-metalcore had been amassed over the course of the 1990s. Once the genre began near the early 2000s and stepped into a new century, the efforts of groups past started to coalesce into products that combined their influences into the primary works of the post-metalcore catalogue. The overarching category as a whole was readying to embark upon a renaissance period that would result in an explosion of new acts. A changing of the guard was occurring as the hardcore acts of yesteryear passed the torch on to nascent crews. Those that survived the shifting of years, like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge, and Zao continued to accrue relevance, with the former two bands hitting their stride in the initial half of the new decade — Miss Machine would arrive in 2004, while the iconic Jane Doe would storm the metal world in 2001, forever changing the category it was attached to. It was in this period that an affinity for melody was championed, which found a home in the spacey soundscapes of Hopesfall and the addicting passages of Misery Signals. Norma Jean was starting to wreak havoc. Underoath was slowly starting…

Weekly Releases 11.27.2020

By Sowing Monday November 23, 2020

21 Comments

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 27, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 27, 2020 –

How Beauty Holds The Hand Of Sorrow

Ane Brun: How Beauty Holds The Hand of Sorrow
Genre: Folk/Indie-Rock
Label: Balloon Ranger

No Fun Mondays

Billie Joe Armstrong: No Fun Mondays
Genre: Punk/Rock
Label: Warner Bros.

Lightning To The Nations 2020

Diamond Head: Lightning To The Nations 2020
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock
Label: Silver Lining Music

Distant Memories - Live in London

Dream Theater: Distant Memories: Live In London
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Century Media

Weight Of The False Self

Hatebreed: Weight Of The False Self
Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore
Label: Nuclear Blast

Plastic Hearts

Miley Cyrus: Plastic Hearts
Genre: Pop/Psychedelic
Label: RCA

While Time Disappears

Our Oceans: While Time Disappears
Genre: Progressive/Post Rock
Label: Long Branch

Plini: Impulse Voices
Genre: Progressive Rock/Metal/Jazz Fusion
Label: N/A

Beyond The Shores (On Death And Dying)

Shores of Null: Beyond The Shores (On Death And Dying)
Genre: Progressive/Melodic Death Metal
Label: Spikerot

CYR

Smashing Pumpkins: CYR
Genre: Alt-Rock/Shoegaze/Grunge
Label: Sumerian

Lost Machine - Live

Voivod: Lost Machine – Live
Genre: Thrash/Progressive Metal
Label: Century Media

Black Heart

Within The Ruins: Black Heart
Genre: Death/Progressive Metal/Metalcore
Label: eOne Music

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Post-Metalcore: The Little Genre That Could (Part I)

By staff Wednesday November 18, 2020

36 Comments

Post-Metalcore:
The Little Engine That Could

A four-part series by MarsKid

[Part I] || [Part II] || [Part III] || [Part IV]

Part I: Roots

What Rolo Tomassi managed to accomplish in 2018 deserves to be remembered for decades to come. The year 2018 as a whole was a landmark for the metalcore genre in the modern era of its existence, but Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It attained mainstream attention that wasn’t matched by peers who performed a similar style. Across metal music platforms, the British collective dominated front pages and earned acclaim for a sound that wasn’t often brought to the forefront of the scene. Perhaps most surprisingly was the crossover appeal that the group cultivated; individuals that had not a care for metalcore or even metal overall discovered that the band scratched a very particular itch few other acts could offer. However, I’d argue that this phenomenon was inevitable, not shocking. It’s imperative to note that Rolo Tomassi were not an unknown entity, as their impressive body of work in the underground demonstrated a gradual progression to a magnum opus — Grievances was enough of a hint that a masterwork was imminent. Other than that fact, the precise presentation the group engaged in was a methodology that had been quietly developed in the background for years. It took a tremendous year for metalcore to expose…

Staff’s Q4 Playlist

By Sowing Tuesday November 17, 2020

8 Comments

2020: Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4

Sputnikmusic Staff’s 2020 Q4 Playlist

Welcome to the fourth installment of our 2020 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.

Tracklist:

zombie girl

Adrianne Lenker – zombie girl

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a song that will make you feel warmer inside than ‘zombie girl’. It portrays sad romance and hopeful longing: “I sworn I could’ve felt you there, and I almost could’ve kissed your hair” / “Then the next night, dreaming I could feel your skin, but the dream escaped so easily”. songs follows suit as one of the most moving folk albums of 2020; a piece that consistently portrays total intimacy and crushing vulnerability. — Sowing

Collapse Under the Empire – Red Rain

Many of the genre’s stalwarts have released a new record this year, but I haven’t heard something that whets the third-wave whistle in Q4 quite yet, so I’m banking on the German

…

Weekly Releases 11.20.2020

By Sowing Monday November 16, 2020

23 Comments

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 20, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 20, 2020 –

Super Deluxe [Explicit]

Bearings: Hello, It’s You
Genre: Pop-Punk/Post-Hardcore
Label: Pure Noise

Real Me [Explicit]

Brit Taylor: Real Me
Genre: Country
Label: Cut a Shine

Vasto

Cabaret Voltaire: Shadow of Fear
Genre: Industrial/Post-Punk
Label: Mute

Hiding from the World

Communic: Hiding From The World
Genre: Progressive Rock/Thrash Metal/Power Metal
Label: AFM

Only Time Will Tell

Contrarian: Only Time Will Tell
Genre: Death/Progressive Metal
Label: Willowtip Inc

Moment

Dark Tranquillity: Moment
Genre: Progressive/Melodic Death Metal
Label: Century Media

A Philosopher At The End Of The Universe

Darzamat: A Philosopher at the End of the Universe
Genre: Black Metal/Gothic
Label: Sleaszy Rider

Ring Road

Dirty Projectors: Ring Road
Genre: Indie Folk/Pop
Label: Domino

Alive in Melbourne (Live) [Explicit]

Jinjer: Alive In Melbourne
Genre: Progressive Metal/Metalcore/Death Metal
Label: Napalm

Reluctant Hero [Explicit]

Killer Be Killed: Reluctant Hero
Genre: Thrash Metal/Metalcore/Hardcore
Label: Nuclear Blast

K.G. [Explicit]

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: K.G.
Genre: Psychedelic/Progressive Rock
Label: KGLW

III

Lindstrøm and Prins Thomas: III
Genre: Electronic/R&B
Label: Smalltown Supersound

Origin of the Alimonies

Liturgy: Origin Of…

Black Stallion

By Sowing Friday November 13, 2020

23 Comments

White Pony (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) [Explicit]

I’m not normally one who appreciates remixes. Usually they just feel like bad covers designed to take advantage of club goers and helpless mainstream addicts who want the same three beat variations for the rest of their lives. However, I’ve been proven wrong a lot lately when it comes to music, and I think that’s something that’s important to admit when you’ve been analyzing and critiquing music for well over a decade. Sam Amidon’s self-titled album of mostly early-1900s folk/Americana covers was released last month and completely altered my view on what a “covers album” is capable of, and now Deftones might be on the cusp of changing my mind about remixes. These two similar but separate avenues of re-imagining art have always been throwaways, but the tide is changing.

The myth of Black Stallion has been a topic of discussion for years in diehard Deftones circles, and now we’re finally getting it on December 11th via the White Pony 20th Anniversary Edition. I have to say, the two remixes released so far (‘Knife Prty’ and ‘Passenger’) have done more than merely avoid disappointment – they’ve caused real excitement from a fan of the band who just spent the last 2 months relentlessly jamming Ohms and who should be tired of the band’s sound by now. Purity Ring’s ‘Knife Prty’ remix is something to behold – a gorgeous, dazzling blend of keyboards, synths, and drums that has a smooth glazed finish and a downright haunting air. It…

Weekly Releases 11.13.2020

By Sowing Tuesday November 10, 2020

20 Comments

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 13, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 13, 2020 –

POWER UP

AC/DC: POWER UP
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Columbia

Spirit World Field Guide

Aesop Rock: Spirit World Field Guide
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: Rhymesayers

DEMIDEVIL [Explicit]

Ashnikko: Demidevil
Genre: Hip-Hop/Pop
Label: Parlophone

Szabodelico

Causa Sui: Szabodelico
Genre: Psychedelic/Stoner Rock
Label: El Paraiso

Starting Over

Chris Stapleton: Starting Over
Genre: Country
Label: Mercury

Night Network

The Cribs: Night Network
Genre: Indie-Rock/Post-Punk
Label: Sonic Blew

Off the Deep

The Darcys: Fear & Loneliness
Genre: Indie-Rock/Shoegaze
Label: The Darcys Inc. Records

Buddies II: Still Buddies [Explicit]

Frank Turner & Jon Snodgrass: Buddies II: Still Buddies
Genre: Folk/Rock/Punk
Label: Xtra Mile Recordings

Survival Kit [Explicit]

Goodie Mob: Survival Kit
Genre: Hip-Hop
Label: Organized Noize/Goodie Mob Worldwide

Terminus

Jesu: Terminus
Genre: Shoegaze/Drone/Post Metal
Label: Avalanch Recordings

Renegades

L.A. Guns: Renegades
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Golden Robot

Trip

Lambchop: Trip
Genre: Country/Americana
Label: Merge

Through Shaded Woods

Lunatic Soul: Through Shaded Woods
Genre: Progressive Rock/Ambient/Psychedelic
Label: KSCOPE

Carnival Of Killers

Macabre:…

Weekly Releases 11.06.2020

By Willie Friday November 6, 2020

17 Comments

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of November 6, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.

– List of Releases: November 6, 2020 –

Alter Bridge: Walk The Sky 2.0
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Napalm Records

Déluge: Ægo Templo
Genre: Post Black Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

Fates Warning: Long Day Good Night
Genre: Progressive Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

Kylie Minogue: Disco
Genre: Pop
Label: BMG

Lal: Meteors Could Come Down
Genre: Electronic
Label: Coax Records

Little Mix: Confetti
Genre: Pop
Label: Sony UK

Madison Cunningham: Wednesday
Genre: Americana
Label: Verve Forecast

Novo Amor: Cannot Be, Whatsoever
Genre: Indie Folk
Label: All Points

Ólafur Arnalds: some kind of peace
Genre: Ambient
Label: Mercury

Sangre de Muerdago: Xuntas
Genre: Folk
Label: Independent Release

Sólstafir: Endless Twilight of Codependent Love
Genre: Post Black Metal
Label: Season of Mist

Surma: The Light Within
Genre: Symphonic Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records

Teen Daze: Reality Refresh 4
Genre: Electronic/Dream Pop
Label: Flora

Tunning: DEAD CLUB
Genre: Indie Pop
Label: Full Time Hobby

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Weekly Releases 10.30.2020

By Sowing Monday October 26, 2020

23 Comments

Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 30, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.