Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 26th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Julia Holter: Aviary
Genre: Ambient/Pop/Experimental
Label: Domino Recording Co.
Julia Holter has emerged over the past decade – and especially in the last five years – as one of the premier experimental artists in pop. 2013’s Loud City Song and 2015’s Have You In My Wilderness were both different strands of beautiful, offering breathtaking melodies atop mesmerizing soundscapes. Aviary figures to keep the trend going, as we witness Holter in her prime and at the top of her collective game. Dip your feet into “I Shall Love 2”, the album’s lead single, below:
– List of Releases: October 26th, 2018 –
Bloodbath: The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Label: Peaceville
Boy George And Culture Club: Life
Genre: Pop/New Wave
Label: BMG
Daughters: You Won’t Get What You Want
Genre: Noise Rock/Grind/Post-Hardcore
Label: Ipecac
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 19th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Greta Van Fleet: Anthem Of The Peaceful Army
Genre: Rock/Blues
Label: Republic
The other day I played a Greta Van Fleet song for my wife, who barely listens to music that was made before the 2000’s. “Is this Led Zeppelin?”, she innocently inquired. I corrected her – “No.” “Oh”, she said, “They sound just like them except not as good.” “Yes, yes they do”, I replied. We rode the rest of the way to the grocery in awkward silence.
– List of Releases: October 19th, 2018 –
Ace Frehley: Spaceman
Genre: Hard Rock
Label: Entertainment One
Amaranthe: Helix
Genre: Power Metal/Melodic Death Metal
Label: Universal Music Oy
Cloud Nothings: Last Building Burning
Genre: Indie-Rock/Lo-Fi/Punk
Label: Carpark
Disturbed: Evolution
Genre: Nu-Metal/Hard Rock
Label: Reprise
Elle King: Shake The Spirit
Genre: Pop/Blues/Country
Label: RCA
Is there an artist from the 2000’s who is bigger than Kanye West? If not, he’s at least somewhere in the top 5…and regardless of whether or not you love him or hate him – whether you find his antics annoying or endearing – the man can sure as hell write music. Kanye’s rise to stardom coincided with the growth of internet culture, and as such, his footprint is all over Sputnik. Our staff grew up listening to his music, so we’ve decided to take his his entire body of work into consideration for the construction of a Top 10 Songs list. There are sure to be predictable entries as well as some surprises. Check out our carefully curated list, and be sure to comment with your own!
(10) Father Stretch My Hands
from the album The Life of Pablo
Both parts of “Father Stretch My Hands” are a ridiculous fucking mess. I mean they’re like a quickfire montage of unfinished songs dating anywhere from 808s through to Yeezus, featuring not one but two of West’s greatest choruses that could easily grace chart-topping stadium hits, but in very Life of Pablo fashion instead wrap around the famous bleached asshole, a…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 12th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Allelic: The Smoke of Atavistic Fires
Genre: Black Metal/Folk
Label: The Green Man
Created by one of this site’s very own users, lalchimiste, The Smoke of Atavistic Fires is a metal/folk album worthy of high acclaim. With full, rich sounding textures and a seamless blend of harrowing black metal and lush folk, this debut record ensures that Allelic will become a name you should know. This isn’t your typical low-budget indie metal project — brace yourself for something more on par with Agalloch or Opeth. Yeah, it’s really that good. You can stream the LP in its entirety here.
– List of Releases: October 12th, 2018 –
Allelic: The Smoke of Atavistic Fires
Genre: Black Metal/Folk
Label: The Green Man
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of October 5th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
mewithoutYou: [Untitled]
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Indie-Rock
Label: Run For Cover
mewithoutYou’s 7th full-length LP feels destined for big things. The band has never shied away from experimenting with styles, and [Untitled] is one of their rawest, sludgiest endeavors to date. There are moments where Weiss sounds like he’s the last man on Earth, screaming questions that have no answers. It’s the best of Pale Horses met with a little A->B Life and Catch For Us The Foxes. Any true fan of the band will salivate. For an appetizer, check out the pre-released singles below. Alternatively, you can stream the entire release here.:
– List of Releases: October 5th, 2018 –
Adrianne Lenker: abysskiss
Genre: Folk
Label: Saddle Creek
A Place To Bury Strangers: Re-Pinned
Genre: Noise Rock/Shoegaze
Label: Dead Oceans
A Storm Of Light: Anthroscene
Genre: Post-Metal/Sludge
Label: Translation Loss
My attention first turned towards Basalte, a black metal band based in Montréal, when I heard their 2018 sophomore release, Vertige [lit. “vertigo”]. It’s at once desolate, bleak, towering, and yet intensely heartfelt at its most elegant moments; listen closely and the nuances will surely envelop you. I spoke to the band’s drummer, L, to learn more about the band and their compositions; we also discussed band optics, songwriting processes, and the state of black metal. In regards to Vertige, L was particularly proud of how its technical aspects came together: the album did not involve digital delay or reverb, and a conscious choice was made to avoid studios in lieu of specific, unconventional places that would provide the exact acoustics desired.
*This interview has been edited and condensed.
Claire: First, I wanted to know about how your band chooses to present itself, especially in the age of social media and constant exposure. Do you find anonymity to be more useful than ever, in a social media-saturated environment?
L: There are many answers to this question. The first one is that I personally don’t really like associating faces too much with the music I listen to, and the fact that metal is one of the genres where bands tend to not put their image too much upfront… well, that’s not true of all metal, but for example, Deathspell Omega — or…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 28th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
– List of Releases: September 28, 2018 –
Against The Current: Past Lives
Genre: Pop Rock/Alternative
Label: WEA
All Them Witches: ATW
Genre: Stoner Rock/Psychedelic
Label: New West
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 21st, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
– List of Releases: September 21, 2018 –
Aborted: TerrorVision
Genre: Death Metal/Grind
Label: Century Media
Amy Helm: This Too Shall Light
Genre: Folk
Label: Yep Roc
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 14th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Thrice: Palms
Genre: Alternative Rock/Post-Hardcore
Label: Epitaph
Still going strong after nine LP’s, Thrice are embarking upon a benchmark with the release of their 10th full length album, Palms. The album comes on the heels of 2016’s To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere, arguably their most politically charged record that followed a five year hiatus. After a winding career that saw them dominate post-hardcore and atmospheric indie-rock, they’ve lately settled into more of an alternative rock groove – but it would not be surprising at all if Palms had some tricks up its sleeve. As one of the biggest and most anticipated albums of this week (and of 2018), our staff ranked their top 10 songs to date. Be sure to check that out along with the single below.
Thrice is one of the most versatile bands of our generation, evolving from a post-hardcore outfit to atmospheric rockers and even political statesmen. Their rise in the early 2000’s peaked with The Artist In The Ambulance and Vheissu, but they’ve aged even better – with The Alchemy Index proving their experimental worth and Beggars offering some of their most important lyrical content to date. With Palms a mere week away from release, our staff felt that there would be no better time to reflect upon the top ten songs of this influential, generational band. With so much superb content to choose from, it just might have been our toughest ranking so far.
(10) Open Water
from the album The Alchemy Index Vol. II: Water
Thrice’s Water EP once provided me with one of the most transportative listening experiences of my life, which is strange because to this day I’ll reach for Fire or Air in a pinch every time. But in my childhood home, surrounded by mist like it frequently was and weirdly elevated from ground level at the back window like it always was, I sat listening to “Open Water” and staring out into a back garden I couldn’t see past a couple of metres. Some combination of Kensrue’s bone-weary mariner’s narration, the muffled dirge of the music and the weather outside made my teenage self feel in another place and time entirely, the first instance I can remember…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 7th, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Clutch – Book of Bad Decisions Genre: Hard Rock / Stoner Rock / Blues Label: Weathermaker
The ever-enduring groove/funk/blues/stoner/boogie masterminds might be 25 years removed from their debut, but there are no signs of slowing down for the Maryland-based quartet. Instead, the band have settled into a sweet spot with their genre-bending formula, tweaking elements and ingredients album-by-album so that each record is a sonic shape-shifter (bringing in producer Vance Powell once again) while adhering to the Clutch blueprint. Book of Bad Decisions keeps this train running, bringing in additional brass instrumentation to complement the ‘weaponized funk’ on lead single “In Walks Barbarella”, while the slide guitar-laden “Hot Bottom Feeder” – complete with Maryland crab cakes recipe in the video – and rollicking “Gimme the Keys” further illustrate the record’s diversity in sound. There’s plenty of snarky social commentary as well – see “How to Shake Hands” for instance – and the album’s fervent energy parallels the band’s… 25 years and counting!
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 31st, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff and/or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Alkaline Trio: Is This Thing Cursed? Genre: Pop-Punk / Punk / Alternative Label: Epitaph
Is This Thing Cursed?, the band’s ninth LP, is their first in five years. From the underwhelming run of Agony & Irony, This Addiction, and My Shame is True to Matt Skiba joining up with blink-182 in 2015, it seemed as though Alkaline Trio might have been on life support. In the spirit of NCAA football starting up, though, we turn to the inimitable Lee Corso, who might say: “Not so fast, my friend!” Long known for their darkness and acerbic bite in comparison to the Sum 41s or aforementioned blinks of the pop-punk sphere, songs like “Demon and Division” are reminiscent of what you might hear on Maybe I’ll CatchFire, “I Can’t Believe” spins a caustic view of current American politics, and “Goodbye Fire Island” intersects Lord of the Flies imagery with the unmitigated disaster that was the Fyre Festival. Coupled with pre-release singles “Blackbird” and the title track (the latter of which kicks off the record and is the first…
A Conversation With:
Jordan C. Weinstock of
american poetry club
There are few bands I can claim to have discovered at the moment of their inception — or, at least, upon their first release. Jordan C. Weinstock’s american poetry club (apc) is one of them, however, and glad to be here, etcetera is a project that enamoured me on first listen. I’ve user Conmaniac to thank for that, as well as for this chance to interview Jordan. The fact that We Are Beautiful, Even When We Are Broken! is apc’s second full-length within the span of a year is no detriment to my interest either. With We Are Beautiful…, apc have crafted a seamless opus, and an immaculate piece of emo music. I sat down with Jordan to speak with him about it. —BlushfulHippocrene
Blush: So, to start: care to explain for our readers, who – or what – is american poetry club?
Jordan: [a]merican poetry club (apc) started out as just me, with a little help here-and-there from a few pals. It was mostly a side project to my old band The Chair Enthusiasts. I was having a tough time as my mom went through chemotherapy, and writing songs was an active coping method of mine, so those first songs were just stabs at helping myself feel better. I felt they didn’t quite fit the Chair Enthusiasts vibe, and I really like coming up with band names [laughs] so I decided to make them into…
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 24, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Alice In Chains: Rainier Fog
Genre: Grunge/Metal/Alt-Rock
Label: BMG Rights Management
90’s grunge titans Alice In Chains have had quite the 2000’s resurgence, releasing both Black Gives Way to Blue and The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here to critical acclaim. Their success post-Layne Staley has been surprising to say the least – but even if the band will never ascend to the heights of Dirt again, fans can revel in what has been a remarkable ability to stay afloat amid circumstances that ultimately should have sunk the band a long, long time ago. Listen to “The One You Know” below to hear Alice in Chains still chugging along, as consistent a rock band as there ever was.
Listen to “The One You Know”:
– List of Releases: August 24, 2018 –
Alice in Chains: Rainier Fog
Genre: Grunge/Metal/Alt-Rock
Label: BMG Rights Management
The Amity Affliction: Misery
Genre: Metalcore/Post-Hardcore
Label:
Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of August 17, 2018. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the artwork (if we remember…) so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Featured Release
Ariana Grande: Sweetener
Genre: Pop
Label: Republic Records
The queen of pop has returned. It’s her first album since 2016’s breakthrough Dangerous Woman, as well as the horrid Manchester Arena suicide bombing that killed 22 at a concert on May 22, 2017. The singles released in advance of Sweetener have fared quite well, with “No Tears Left to Cry” and “God Is A Woman” in particular garnering positive feedback. Regardless of whether or not Sweetener lives up to the milestone that was its predecessor, it’s great to see Ariana back in the game after events that may have paralyzed other artists with fear. Listen to the embedded track below to find out if “God Is A Woman”:
Listen to “God Is A Woman”:
– List of Releases: August 17,
Animal Collective: Tangerine Reef
Genre: Psychedelic/Experimental/Indie-Pop
Label: Domino Recording Co
Ariana Grande: Sweetener
Genre: Pop
Label: Republic
![Helix [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61iekfQ4djL._SS500.jpg)
![Us [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41X0Ra0UHYL._SS500.jpg)
![[Untitled] Album](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81Yig76akQL._SX522_.jpg)
![Reduxer [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41TYUiiEglL._SS500.jpg)
![A New Kind of Horror [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pu-d0uIBL._SS500.jpg)
![Elephants on Acid [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61D9hTInLUL._SS500.jpg)
![TerrorVision [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61z3Uz40veL._SS500.jpg)
![Chris [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61NkyAmO5ML._SS500.jpg)
![Misery [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41Z47fUF6HL._SS500.jpg)
![Sweetener [Explicit]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51o6UVDxM8L._SS500.jpg)
