First and foremost, it’s very unlikely that you’ll have heard of Eric Solomon. The Canadian artist briefly surfaced sometime between the late 2000s and early 2010s, most notably with the release of electro-pop single “A.L.L.” in 2010; I remember hearing that on constant rotation, here in Vancouver. At one point it even reached top 20 in the Billboard chart, in no small part thanks to an MTV appearance by Eric on defunct docu-drama The Youth Electric. Perhaps it would be a disservice to Eric Solomon’s musical abilities to focus on the trajectory of his (no longer) public image, but when you have a copy of his EP that no longer seems to exist on the Internet, you can’t help but wonder how someone who achieved a decent amount of radio play and publicity has, quite simply, disappeared from the Internet.
(In fact, “A.L.L.” wasn’t even the only song of Eric to have received radio play; I recall that “I Found Love” and “Lottery”, which both fall into the same stylistic vein, were both on air at some point. Strangely enough, the latter can now only be found in remixed versions.)
Search results reveal no social media presence, as well as few download or streaming links to his material — YouTube comes up with autofill results for song titles that lead to no actual video, and anything that does pop up on video sites…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 10, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 10, 2020 –
Battle Dagorath: Abyss Horizons
Genre: Ambient/Black Metal
Label: Avantgarde Music
The Beths: Jump Rope Gazers
Genre: Indie/Alternative Rock
Label: Carpark Records
Dawn Of Ashes: The Antinomian
Genre: Industrial/Black Metal
Label: Artoffact Records
DMA’s: The Glow
Genre: Alt/Indie Rock
Label: Infectious Music
Ensiferum: Thalassic
Genre: Folk/Melodic Death Metal
Label: Metal Blade Records
Inter Arma: Garbers Days Revisited
Genre: Sludge/Black Metal
Label: Relapse Records
The Jayhawks: XOXO
Genre: Country/Americana/Alternative Rock
Label: SHAM
Julianna Barwick: Healing Is a Miracle
Genre: Ambient/Indie-Pop/Dream Pop
Label: Ninja Tune
July Talk: Pray For It
Genre: Rock/Blues
Label: BMG Rights Management
Kacy Hill: Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again
Genre: Dream Pop
Label: Kacy Hill
Margo Price: That’s How Rumors Get Started
Genre: Country/Americana
Label: Loma Vista
The Midnight: Monsters
Genre: Indie-Pop/Electronic
Label: Counter Records
Welcome to the second installment of our 2020 quarterly playlist/mixtape! Below you will find hand picked songs from April to June. 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.
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Tracklist:
Ad Infinitum – Marching on Versailles
Do a quick Google search for Melissa Bonny; she’s hot. Not just physically, but vocally. She seems to specialize in power metal, symphonic metal, and is also one of the more convincing female growlers out there. “Marching on Versailles” displays that ability with one of her many bands, Ad Infinitum. “Marching on Versailles” shares a lot in common with the proggy symphonic power metal of a modern Kamelot album execept heavier without nearly as much theatrics and cheese. — Willie
Andrew Judah – Hair of the Dog
If you’re into the theatrical, progressive rock of The Dear Hunter, then allow me to introduce you to
Haru Nemuri is a Japanese singer and rapper based in Tokyo. Her style is self-described as hip-hop with the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll, and her2018 debut Haru to Shura became a viral cult classic, leading to a successful Europe and UK tour in 2019.
She was scheduled to tour America for the first time in March, but all performances (including a SXSW appearance) were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. These have been rescheduled for a September tour. Her new minialbum LOVETHEISM released digitally March 20th and was followed up with a 12” vinyl on June 12th.
In between all these developments and rearrangements, Haru found the time to chat with Sputnikmusic about her release and her experience as a Japanese artist on the world stage.
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JohnnyoftheWell/Sputnikmusic: Hello!
Haru Nemuri: Hello!
How’s it going in Tokyo?
While almost all the music industries in Tokyo have not turned back to normal due to the Coronavirus situation, some people get on trains every morning as usual. I think what they think about this situation depends on their standpoints.
Your tour was cancelled, but you managed to reschedule – thank goodness! Can you tell us what it was like for you when things got chaotic and all your plans started changing?
It was so disappointing to postpone my first North American tour and I cursed this terrible situation. Like an insect waiting for the spring in the ground, I could do nothing but sleep and make music in my room.…
It’s easy to dismiss recent works by The Flaming Lips. 2017’s Oczy Mlody is insanely trippy, but not very memorable outside of small handful of sneaky hits. 2019’s King’s Mouth is overbearing in its ridiculous concept, which features a giant baby who grows up to become a king – who then swallows the universe in order to save its inhabitants from an avalanche. I mean, it’s The Flaming Lips – so these sort of out there stories are accepted as the norm – just as they were back in 2002 for their famed classic Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. They’ve always been easy to enjoy, but difficult to take seriously.
‘Flowers of Neptune 6’ strikes a slightly different tone. While the song still retains the band’s classic penchant for psychedelia and casual drug references (“doing acid and watching the lightbugs glow like tiny spaceships in a row“), the music itself feels much more accessible – rooted in acoustic guitars and soaring verses rather than impenetrable synths or exotic instrumentation. In the video, frontman Wayne Coyne can be seen adorned in an American flag, and also walking through a burning field in a bubble. The imagery isn’t lost on listeners in 2020, where COVID-19 has forced us to live in metaphorical bubbles while the world around us is seemingly in flames. While we do not yet know if there’s a central motif or theme surrounding the band’s upcoming September 11th release American Head, ‘Neptune…
It’s back! By popular demand, some of us contributors (current, former, and new) sat down to introduce ourselves to genres that people in general and we in particular tend to avoid, as recommended by you, the users. Here’s what we thought…
HARDCORE PUNK
Recommended by cvlts
Assigned to neekafat
Before listening to your two songs, what’s your opinion of hardcore punk?
I mean, all that I really know about the genre is from the classic days of the Misfits and Minor Threat. I’m admittedly not super into those bands (I know, heresy), which is probably why I haven’t looked too deep into the modern equivalents. There’s something so simple about the musicianship to those bands that never quite got me interested (if I want aggression I’d probably just listen to thrash or something), but I’ve always respected the genre and try to keep an open mind.
Nails — “Endless Resistance”
Okay so I won’t lie, I know this band from my decade cram list last year (I jammed Unsilent Death), and I thought these guys were technically grind? This song is definitely not dissuading me from the fact that this is more metal than anything, but I’m kinda into this. The vocals have a weird nu-metal vibe to them and the pace is a bit more sluggish than I’m used to from hardcore. The guitars…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of July 3, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: July 3, 2020 –
Boris: NO
Genre: Drone/Doom Metal
Label: Inoxia
Convocation: Ashes Coalesce
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Label: Everlasting Spew Records
Dream Wife: So When You Gonna…
Genre: Punk/Electronic
Label: Lucky Number
Holy Wave: Interloper
Genre: Psychedelic/Rock
Label: The Reverberation Appreciation Society
Paul Weller: On Sunset
Genre: Pop/Alt-Rock
Label: Verve Forecast
The Rentals: Q36
Genre: Indie-Rock
Label: The Rentals
Willie Nelson: First Rose Of Spring
Genre: Country/Folk
Label: Legacy Recordings
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve had a strange fascination with the end of the world. I know, I know – it’s practically a worn out cliche in 2020, when everything from SARS-CoV-2 to militarized police brutality casts an apocalyptic shadow over our lives…but I just can’t help myself. Part of it is a product of my religious upbringing – even if I’ve become a skeptic over time, certain things still temporarily give me pause. For example, I watched with fascination as mysterious trumpet-like sounds blasted out of the sky from every corner of the globe – knowing that there’s a scientific explanation (stealth aircrafts, the hum of a meteor, HAARP experiments), but also allowing myself to tumble down the rabbit hole enough to imagine that we’re actually hearing some sort of ominous preamble to Revelation‘s famed seven trumpets. Toss in the blood moon tetrad from 2014-2015 (“The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord”), rampant locust outbreaks, COVID-19, riots, and now a historic continent-spanning dust storm that is blotting out the sun in certain regions – and it’s enough for even a cynic to begin wondering.
From a musical perspective, mewithoutYou’s 2015 LP Pale Horses rekindled my obsession with “the end” via terrifying accounts of a nuclear holocaust which fused Biblical and secular imagery. Trump’s shocking election the very next year and…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of June 26, 2020. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors.
– List of Releases: June 26, 2020 –
Ahab: Live Prey
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Label: Napalm Records
Arca: KiCk i
Genre: Electronic/Experimental/IDM
Label: XL Recordings
Art Feynman: Half Price at 3:30
Genre: Psychedelic/Electronic
Label: Western Vinyl
Bad Moves: Untenable
Genre: Alt/Indie Rock
Label: Don Giovanni Records
Bell Witch And Aerial Ruin: Stygian Bough Volume I
Genre: Doom Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Carach Angren: Franckensteina Strataemontanus
Genre: Black Metal/Classical
Label: Season of Mist
Catafalque: We Will Always Suffer
Genre: Black Metal/Experimental
Label: Mom+Pop
Corb Lund: Agricultural Tragic
Genre: Country/Folk
Label: New West Records
Dirty Projectors: Flight Tower
Genre: Indie-Pop/Folk/Experimental
Label: Domino Recording Co
Evening Hymns: Heavy Nights
Genre: Alt-Rock
Label: Outside Music
Gordi: Our Two Skins
Genre: Indie-Pop/Folk/Electronic
Label: Jagjaguwar
Grey Daze: Amends
Genre: Grunge/Rock
Label: Loma Vista Recordings
HAIM: Women in Music Pt. III
Genre: Indie-Pop
Label:…
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…
![Pray For It [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81paYw4sBML._SS500_.jpg)
…
![So When You Gonna... [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71iEU5qVcqL._SS500_.jpg)
![Q36 [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/811Zwy1IcRL._SS500_.jpg)
![KiCk i [Explicit]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81fOuS8eSTL._SS500_.jpg)
![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)
