#they get into groove after a few eps | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

randomvarious · 5 months

Text

Today's compilation:

Another Pyrrhic Victory 1989 Grunge / Hard Rock

Here's a neat, little artifact from the Seattle grunge scene that was released just before the genre went nuclear and proceeded to usurp hair metal as the new face of rock music for the early 90s. 1989 was a year that proved to be quite a decisive one for this new and much darker sound that was using elements from both punk and metal. Soundgarden and Alice in Chains had both managed to ink deals with major labels, and Nirvana released their debut album, Bleach, too.

Now, the first label that comes to mind for literally anyone when you mention the word 'grunge' to them is obviously Sub Pop, but Sub Pop was not actually the first label to put out a grunge record. That honor seems to belong to a Long Island sublabel of Dutch East India Trading called Homestead Records, who in 1985, released Seattle band Green River's debut EP, Come On Down.

Arguably, grunge's second record, though, was a various artist compilation that came out in 1986 called Deep Six, which also happened to be the debut release of another Seattle label that would go on to specialize in punk called C/Z Records. And a few years later, after that first ever grunge comp, C/Z then put out their second one, Another Pyrrhic Victory, which in addition to Green River also featured another pioneering grunge band called Malfunkshun, both of whom had also appeared on Deep Six as well. And alongside them on this comp were a few lesser known bands too.

Now, to my own ears, this release isn't really anything all *that* spectacular, but I think it's still pretty cool to get an authentic dose of ephemera from this scene that has been so heavily romanticized, like the 60s have been for a prior generation. And still, I think there are a couple very good tracks on it, both of which were exclusives at the time.

Malfunkshun kick off the album with something terrifically noisy called "My Only Fan," which also has some great groove to it too. These guys originally formed in 1980, but never actually released anything official while they were together, besides some songs for v/a comps. However, "My Only Fan" features the band's original vocalist, Andrew Wood. Sometime after the release of Deep Six, which had a pair of Malfunkshun songs on it, the band went on an extended hiatus and Wood then helped form a much more popular Seattle Grunge group by the name of Mother Love Bone. But after that, Malfunkshun also returned to work, and out of it came "My Only Fan," released the year before Wood would tragically pass from a drug overdose 😔.

And the other highlight on this album comes courtesy of a band named H-Hour, who, just like Malfunkshun, also formed in the early 80s, but barely released anything either. In fact, the only release this band ever made themselves when they were intact is a 1987 cassette simply titled 1987, which no one currently on Discogs claims to own and has also never once been sold on its marketplace either. But on Another Pyrrhic Victory, H-Hour contributed a song called "Medley," which is over ten minutes long, and is basically two songs in one. And while "both songs" are good, the shredding that takes place in the final two minutes of the second one really manages to kick the whole thing up a notch 🤘. Plus, up until just last year, this release was the only place that you could actually find this track.

So there's probably Seattle grunge showcase comps out there that are more consistent than this one, but Another Pyrrhic Victory still has a couple sweet cuts on it from a pair of bands who seem to have been pretty underappreciated nonetheless.

Highlights:

Malfunkshun - "My Only Fan" H-Hour - "Medley"

#grunge #hard rock #rock #music #80s #80s music #80's #80's music

11 notes · View notes

thesinglesjukebox · 1 month

Text

ILLIT - "MAGNETIC"

A K-pop debut that we're quite drawn to...

[7.15]

youtube

Iain Mew: It's 2024, of course the single picked from their EP picked is the song with the most candied music-box elements. The song isn't as fully committed to replicating that sound as the tentative spoken word intro suggests, which means its sweetness is diluted, but the other elements in the mixture work with it. The bass stomping forward and the 2010s stuttered "you you you"s are a great alternative, and the 16-bit swoops and pops tie it all together with a fizz. [8]

TA Inskeep: This smart K-pop groove has the feel of '80s first-wave electro without actually sounding like it. I don't love the sound effect-sounding stuff, but "Magnetic"'s airiness (especially ILLIT's vocals) counterbalances its rubbery bassline nicely. [7]

Alfred Soto: Its twitchy pulse and winking vocals are a tonic after the relationship psychobabble of their American contemporaries. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: Super eclectic. I'm very proud of Martin KOR. For a first credit, he made his mark; he should have more than one credit. [8]

Isabel Cole: A pleasantly summery little bit of froth; I like the video game twinkles that pop up every now and then. [6]

Taylor Alatorre: Nobody wants an entire genre, even the most vertically integrated of genres, to be flattened into an arms race pursuit of weaponized competence. But there's a bit of a collective action problem, in that it's very hard to object to any single display of that weaponized competence. The besotted bits of spoken word that bookend "Magnetic" are like the blurb on the back of a bag of potato chips, touting its recipe's lovingly handmade origins and capped off with the inkjet signature of the company's long-dead, possibly apocryphal founder. The chips taste good. [7]

Katherine St. Asaph: Synth and squelch and pneumatic charm, engineered to precise specs. [8]

Ian Mathers: None of the alerts from my phone or computer (personal or work) sound much at all like that notification-ass effect they use here, and yet I have found myself reflexively checking to see whether someone's trying to get a hold of me at least 3-4 times each time I've played "Magnetic." I can't decide if it's genius or maddening or both. [6]

Michael Hong: ILLIT make low-key proclamations: "you're! my! crush!" exclaimed, but only on paper; "we're magnetized, I admit it," confessed, but not meant to be heard. "Magnetic" is all glittery synths and the word "you" transformed into a dial-tone sound effect, toeing the line between fantasy and reality in regards to a crush, but perhaps that's what makes it so addictive. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Pretty easy to pin down everything here: a spoken intro reminscent of vintage Apink, a vocal melody that points to K-pop’s undying love for “My Boo,” the sort of half-time breakdown that TWICE has been doing since “Likey,” a diaphanous atmosphere that screams NewJeans, bed squeaks that are decidedly unsexy, and pretty synth flourishes and vocal manipulations that are classic “K-pop does J-pop” a la Red Velvet’s “Russian Roulette.” It’s a summation of girlish K-pop throughout the past 15 years made palatable for the genre’s 5th gen. [7]

Leah Isobel: The TWICE-ification of NewJeans -- more garishly obvious, with a thicker candy shell that messes with the textural balance. Still tasty, but less subtle. [6]

Kayla Beardslee: Everything is NewJeans -- except it’s also not, Min Hee Jin, stop making your delusions everyone else’s problem. Trend shifts happen when a force builds up in the background without people noticing, until someone influential who’s great at reading the room happens to give it a push that bursts the damn, and suddenly everyone is swimming together in the changed current. In the last few months, the dam has burst on the 5th generation of K-pop, and "Magnetic" may well have been the song that caused it.

I don’t think even ILLIT’s company expected their level of breakout success: it seems like K-pop listeners were waiting for a release like "Magnetic" without even knowing it, and when it finally came along, it was so perfectly primed for the current moment that we had no choice but to be pulled in. What set the stage for ILLIT wasn’t one group so genius and unique that their tactics simultaneously influence everything yet cannot be replicated, but a combination of releases from multiple big names over several years that gradually pushed K-pop in a new direction. First, in late 2021, IVE debuted to instant massive success with a concept that was essentially "What if we just made good pop music without any gimmicks?" Then NewJeans picked up that same idea and debuted in summer 2022 to even more unprecedented success, causing an instant aesthetic reset in K-pop from the boldness and busy-ness of most leading 4th gen groups back to mellowness, warmth, and simplicity. Between mid-2023 and early 2024, Zerobaseone, RIIZE, and TWS debuted, which was the first time in several years that multiple high-profile boy groups debuted in quick succession. All three hit it off with breezy debut singles about letting boys have fun and be earnest instead of acting cool. (Think about the dorky confessions and bright synths of TWS’s "Plot Twist" next to to the shouted chorus and crunchy hip-hop textures of NCT 127’s "Kick It.") Then, in the span of three days at the end of this March, five different K-pop related girl groups debuted with singles that ranged from mellow candy-colored pop to tight electropop to chill pop-R&B to, finally, the ILLIT track we’re actually reviewing.

Most 4th gen K-pop singles are distinguished by a density of ideas and hugeness of sound that match the expanding size of the global K-pop audience in the late 2010s to early 2020s -- the glut of Blackpink-inspired girl crush comebacks, the boy groups doing a million loud hip-hop and electronic songs, tons of rapping regardless of how good they are at it, deliberately disjointed song sections -- but the flood of girl group debuts in the last week of March focused first and foremost on constructing a solid pop beat, then layering relaxed, approachable vocals over it with a topline that does just enough to keep the listener interested. (If you’re asking, "Is this too slight, or is it actually good?" then it’s probably on trend.) Compare these to the energy and density of "Dalla Dalla," "Savage," "Tomboy," or "Panorama," and you’re in two completely different worlds.

This is how we ended up with "Magnetic," which is nowhere near the most musically ambitious or complex track of the year, and certainly not the most vocally interesting, but is a gently glowing sign that we’ve transitioned into a new generation of K-pop that values entirely different aesthetics. It’s also so supernaturally catchy that it sounds like it was created in a lab: not in a "Haha K-pop is a product" kind of way, but like I think they actually had test tubes with different samples of the hooks sitting around in the HYBE building, and they probably tested them on animals to find the most insidiously catchy ones. (Like, does Lauren Aquilina have a dog who listens as she writes?) "Magnetic" is the biggest K-pop bop of the year so far, and yet it feels so small and accessible due to the incredible economy of its tight, groovy production and its multitude of hooks, which are embedded not just in the lyrics but also the rhythm of the instrumental against the vocals and the careful negative space placed throughout. (Oh! beat My! beat Gosh!) ILLIT are balanced on the crest of the wave as K-pop moves into a new generation, from the larger-than-life ambitions of the 4th gen to the idol-next-door simplicity of the 5th. They didn’t set the wave in motion, but they caught it just early enough to have a pivotal role in its shaping. "Magnetic" is perfectly constructed and historically significant, but it’s also cute and so much fun: I can’t imagine hating a song as endearing as this. Wait... why do I hear boss battle music? [9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: pretty! [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#illit #music #k-pop #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

3 notes · View notes

dustedmagazine · 7 months

Text

Dust, Volume 9, Number 11, Part 2

Eli Winter

We only get ten audio clips per post now, so we've split the Dust in two. Check out the early alphabet entries here.

Colin Miller — Haw Creek (Ruination)

Colin Miller’s songs come from far away, from a physical, temporal, emotional remove, like bits of colored memory or the line from a book that meant something once, but you now can’t quote exactly. The North Carolina-based multi-instrumentalist and home taper is connected to the Wednesday orbit, having played on and produced MJ Lenderman albums and produced Wednesday’s I Was Trying to Describe You to Someone. His own music is softer and more indefinite, but very fine. It is less like listening and more like being enveloped by a cloud. “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” for instance, has all the elements of an indie rocker: strummy guitars, punched out drums, and a catchy, tuneful melodic line. And yet it drifts in through the window like a warm breeze, gently stirring your attention as it moves the air around you. “Paper Roof,” too, buzzes with feedback and blistered bass tones, but very softly. What you notice, first, is the high yearning singing, shaded by the fuzz of lo-fi production. You wonder what these songs would sound like with clearer, more commercially viable sonics, whether they’d land with more impact or less. But here they are, gently pushed forward for you to appreciate best after repeat plays, and they are really quite good.

Jennifer Kelly

Niecy Blues — Exit Simulation (Kranky)

The reason the ol’ “this band is like x meets y” trope is both kind of reviled and yet impossible to wipe out is that as a formulation it’s both weak (unless you’re the person the comparison occurred to, chances are good you won’t hear it) and strong (how else to try and describe something as elusive as music than with something so slippery and paradoxical?). It might be better to imagine a kind of topographical map. Then you could try and chart the impossible hinterlands out where the territories of (say) Grouper, trip hop, and Kelela might converge, and somewhere around there you might find Niecy Blues’ first record. Like all such comparisons though, the intent is not to suggest Exit Simulation is mere pastiche or reducible to parts found elsewhere, but to indicate the heady and diverse contemporaries it shares an atmosphere with. Whether it’s the extended reverie of “U Care,” the hazy float of “Violently Rooted,” or the droning shuffle of “The Architect” the result is a debut of striking assurance and depth. Comparisons fail at some point; you really just have to give it a listen yourself and figure out your own map, like Blues has.

Ian Mathers

Bänz Öster and the Rainmakers — Gratitude (self-released)

This quartet consisting of Europeans Bänz Öster on double bass and Javier Vercher on sax and South Africans Afrika Mkhize on piano and Ayanda Sikade on drums delivers spiritual jazz rooted in the gentler music of Coltrane and Ra. The six long (eight to 12 minute) originals, well-recorded before an appreciative but fairly restrained audience, are uplifting and replete with sophisticated soloing, especially by Mkhize. These guys don’t break any new ground, but the grooves are infectious, and what is described in the liner notes as the “high-voltage connection between North and South” contributes to the good vibes.

Jim Marks

Pile — Hot Air Balloon EP (Exploding in Sound)

In case February’s All Fiction didn’t make it clear, the handful of songs from the same sessions that comprise the Hot Air Balloon EP should drive the point home that Pile is a band at the height of its powers. Recent live shows incorporating a few of these songs into setlists only go to further serve that the distinction between what made the cut for their latest full-length and what got left behind is virtually indistinguishable; some of Hot Air Balloon’s fun is in finding where these songs would’ve best worked their way into All Fiction’s track list. The knotty time signature changes and unexpected rock moments still weave and burst forth, and Rick Maguire’s addictive, meandering pathos carries moments you’ll be left thinking about long after it’s over; me personally, I can’t unlodge the descending chorus of “Exits Blocked” or the very specific line on “The Birds Attacked My Hot Air Balloon” where he sings, “I could see your house from here if I’d bothered to look.” It’s these stories in miniature, like Fitzgerald in The Crack-Up or Felix Feneon, that leave their mark most potently — if, of course, you’re inclined to that sort of thing.

Patrick Masterson

Taiko Saito /Michael Griener /Jan Order — WALD (Trouble In The East)

Free improvisation may be a creative space where an instrument’s baggage can be dropped, but this is easier for some than others. Given its limited and highly distinct sound, the vibraphone’s particularly hard to untether from expectation, but Taiko Saito gives it her best shot on WALD. The Sapporo-born, Berlin-based mallet-wielder, who has worked at length with Silke Eberhard and Satoko Fujii, does not totally play against expectation, but she does keep her instrument’s stylistic mandates at bay by shifting between time and no time, swing and no swing, and steering a middle course between the big wall of sound you might expect from, say, Jason Adasiewicz, and the bebop-derived suppression of resonance pursued by an earlier resonance. This CD documents her first encounter with bassist Jan Roder and drummer Michael Griener, who constitute Die Enttäuschung’s rhythm section, and that association will tell you more about their commitment to the moment than what they actually play. Each of the album’s four spontaneously realized tracks is a world unto itself in which chaos is courted, swing cultivated, or slipstreams ridden. These are woods to get lost in.

Bill Meyer

Skyphone — Oscilla (Lost Tribe Sound)

Lost Tribe Sound has been on something of a jag this year with their Maps to Where the Poison Grows series. This new installment by Danish trio Skyphone is an absorbing and succinct 32 minutes in which attention to detail, texture and instrumental interplay account for a lot. Ideas are introduced then carried through to their natural culmination, with each of the three players sounding present and laser-focused in their creative process. Live drum kit, bass, synths, piano, acoustic guitar, and a whole host of other instruments blown and struck are used to bring vivid color. Think early Mum, Opsvik & Jennings, and Kiln. Six of the seven songs here feel just right (centrepiece “Arbonaught” is especially good). It’s only on final track “Will to Change” that the introduction of heavily effected vocals knock things out of balance and breaks the spell. Elsewhere this is masterful and hypnotic stuff.

Tim Clarke

Stella Siebert/Nat Baldwin — 1.30.22 (Notice Recordings)

This live improvisation set from Stella Siebert — mixer, turntable, objects — and Nat Baldwin playing double bass celebrates special techniques and advanced sampling with chaotic jubilation. Sections are taken out of order (we never get to hear the opener), sculpting the set from free play to intentionality. The recording opens with abrupt samples alongside repeated string pressure. “4” has a bit too much piercing sine tone for my taste, but especially diverting is “9” which features crackling vinyl and ostinatos right at the edge between pitch and noise. The concluding track, “2,” is a 23-minute-long session in which Baldwin plays extended techniques against ostinato samples and handmade percussion. The previous material coalesces into an edgy opus that remains varied and imaginative throughout.

Christian Carey

Tar Of — Confidence Freaks Me Out (sound as language)

Tar Of makes music in brief, bubbly spritzes. Heavy on the keyboards, with giddy abstracted vocal parts, these cuts dance across your field of vision and disappear from view. “Ey Vaay,” the single, adds a bobbling saxophone line to the mix, caroming in from the margins as a dizzy pulse of “ba-ba-ba-ba-bas” push the track forward. “Cardinal” clicks and rattles and swells with wordless counterparts. You’ll need to take a breath when it clatters to a halt. The title track is somewhat more song-shaped, with its stabbing snare beat and woozy woodwinds; it seems to be taking on conventional verse-chorus structure when it breaks apart into vibrating, shimmering atoms. The band is a duo from Brooklyn, made up of two oddball artists—Ariyan Basu and Ramin Rahni—but the tracks have the ecstatic density of large ensemble baroque pop. More is always going on than you can really absorb, and you don’t get a lot of time to get acclimated. Blink and these tracks are over. So, don’t.

Jennifer Kelly

Håvard Wiik / Tim Daisy — Slight Return (Relay)

When pandemic protections canceled all the gigs, Tim Daisy proved particularly resourceful. He turned to musicians like Ikue Mori and Vasco Trilla to respond remotely to his drumming, recorded either before or during lockdown, and realized some intriguing music that demonstrated how improvisation is not just an aesthetic stance, but a way to address life problems. But when the shots came out and the numbers went down, he returned to stages and studios, and his relish at being able to tune into an old friend is evident throughout Slight Return. The album’s name acknowledges that Daisy and Berlin-based pianist Håvard Wiik have been together before; ten years ago, to be precise. There’s a charge to this reconnection that affirms the drummer’s excitement at being able to make new music with old acquaintances once more. It sparks a restless vibe, as the two musicians shift fluidly from restrained exploration to unbridled, jointly generated fracas.

Bill Meyer

Eli Winter — A Day Behind the Deadline (Three Lobed)

Guitarist Eli Winter's latest release continues a changing path in his musical career. His early work (meaning “from four years ago”) worked through a blend of Pauline Oliveros theory and Jack Rose solo playing. He's been steadily expanding his sound since then, working with other like-minded artists to produce music that applies the same sensibility to a bigger palette. A Day Behind the Deadline gives listeners a run-down on this movement, collecting five live tracks from fall 2019 through this spring. Winter's typical intricacy in composition now brings in drummer Tyler Damon and pedal steel guitarist Sam Wagster. The collection mostly moves away from Winter's roots aside from the closing solo acoustic “The Time to Come.” The trio tend to stretch out into odd takes on rock or even Americana (though that has more to do with the pedal steel sound that with the actual song structures). A Day Behind doesn't settle as a proper album (and isn't intended to), even if it does cohere. Instead, it plays like a photo album: here's Winter in transition from his acoustic roots to something else. He comes across as restless, looking for something new, and this release fills the gap while he finds that next thing he's looking for.

Justin Cober-Lake

99Letters — Zigoku (Phantom Limb)

Osaka producer Takahiro Kinoshita AKA 99Letters returns with a new collection of industrial techno built from unrecognizable samples of traditional Japanese music. The word Zigoku evokes “Jigoku” the Japanese Buddhist hell and whilst this album is not as dark sounding as its predecessor Makafushigi, Kinoshita says its main theme is death and the afterlife. At times you recognize the tropes of the early 1980s when elements of industrial music crossed over into early electronic dance music often with global world influences, think 23 Skidoo and Clock DVA. Occasionally the cadences of Japanese music appear, a ghostly presence of traditional, folkloric myths. But in the main, Zigoku exists in its own hermeneutic world interrogating both its sources and its environment. The contrast between modernity and tradition gives Kinoshita’s music a particular tension that is constantly building as he probes cultural and philosophic cracks, seeking to capture those small wavering shafts of hope.

Andrew Forell

3 notes · View notes

felesrubrum · 1 year

Text

im gonna roughly liveblog my thoughts on The Owl House i think because i don't want to watch the whole show and forget it!!!

ep1 - A Lying Witch and a Warden I liked it! Intriguing sense of world building and scale. I like Eda. I had a few moments of "why the FUCK does she sound so familiar" and it's bc she's Chichi from The Emperor's New Groove. I loved the 180 on King's crown, that was very cute. I also like Luz' attitude, even if she feels very Main Character. I really like the dynamic between all the characters.

ep2 - Witches before Wizards Cute! I love how Eda stuck up for Luz even though she technically doesn't like her (or acts like it). If I was in Luz' shoes I absolutely would not have fallen for that. ... ..... ....... unless I was between the ages of 5-17. Then I absolutely would have.

ep 3 - I Was A Teenage Abomination I really liked this one. I love Luz's dynamics with willow. I really understand Willow's attempts to force herself into a school of magic she doesn't jive with. (speaking as someone who went to uni for robotics... when i was always an artist :P) I like Amity as well. I already know about .. Amiluz? Lamity? But it's great to see how they started. Also lol at Luz getting banned from school.

ep 4 - The Intruder Ooo, classic stay-at-home episode. This one was fun and surprisingly thrilling. The animation of the intruder lurching around the corner after King was so good, the whole chase scene was very animated. I definitely called that it was Eda. I wonder how she got that way. I wonder who the person in her dream is. It was also so cute to see how Luz deals with magic and how she found her own way. I wonder how she's going to learn more spells if she needs to know the symbol that witches seem to instinctively know.

ep 5 - Covention This one was interesting. Why would you want to join a coven only to seal away all other forms of your magic? Given that, I totally understand the appeal of the Emperor's Coven. I also loved the reveal of Lilith. I think she may be the one who cursed Eda. I also wonder why the Emperor's Coven wants Eda specifically. It must be separate from her curse. Current theory is Lilith cursed Eda bc Eda was more powerful than her. I also really liked the interactions with Luz and Amity. Boy howdy, as an immigrant do I ever understand how hard fitting in is in a new community when you don't know the social structures or even any of the social norms.

ep 6 - Hooty's Moving Hassle Very cute. Standard rebel plot. I love that they accidentally animated the whole house. Makes me wonder if Willow is actually much, MUCH stronger than most other witches or whether Luz has some innate incredibly powerful magic. I don't think it's Gus but specifically I don't think he's the type of character who has a slumbering power type of deal. Also, love the episode title. I like Eda's side-plot as well. I respect forgetting to refill your meds till the absolute last second.

ep 7 - Lost in Language Okay i REALLY liked this one. My favorite so far. I love the dynamic between Amity's siblings and Luz. I also really like that Luz has this strong sense of justice (even if she's easily won over, like in ep 6). I love the little laugh Amity had toward the end. And I also really like the fact that Amity feels like a rounded character. I bet she very much plays up this snobby brat when she's at school bc she's the Emp Coven's protege.

ep 8 - Once Upon A Swap This one was also fun. Felt like a bit of a filler episode but seeing Luz deal with having basically unlimited magical power was fun.

ep 9 - Something Ventured Someone Framed I liked this one as well. Further cements my idea that Gus isn't some sleeper agent type character. I did like the 'human appreciation' thing, and the rivalry between Gus and the new kid. Didn't really like the faux apology but it does very much track. I'm also so proud of Eda for getting over her anger at the school and The Man so that she worked really hard to get Luz accepted into the school. Can't wait to see what Luz can learn there.

#feles rambles #the feles house #<-- gonna use that tag for this. thought train i guess #the owl house #liveblog

9 notes · View notes

changterhune · 9 months

Text

FRONTIERS CHAT

On Monday Sept. 4 I did a livechat on Bandcamp during the FRONTIERS listening party. I’ve edited it for coherence. I hope it sheds some light on the music and me the music maker.

I will talk a little bit about what FRONTIERS is about. I'll split it into the meaning, then the music, then the recording unless it's still just me. Okay, so about the music itself. What I wanted to do was gather newer music I've been working on. My last 2 releases were of older - but still balls out awesome! - tracks. Since Jan '23 I've been working on both my recording and composing skills. Both have improved I believe.

I guess FRONTIERS is about 2 things: expanding your horizons and letting yourself groove. By that I mean allow yourself to explore and learn, educate and illuminate yourself. FRONTIERS for me encapsulates one of the few resolutions I've made at New Year's Eve and kept. And that was to get out of my own way. So that I could explore the frontiers.

With SUBTLE DISTINCTIONS I created something a bit lighter and peppier than my usual stuff. I hope. I think that's what the EP is about to be honest. HOPE. It's something I've not had a lot of lately. But over the course of this year things improved immensely and it seems like maybe there's some sunlight up ahead. What the songs on FRONTIERS have in common is they're all pretty upbeat, brighter in sound. I've been working on more space in my recordings and FRONTIERS is the newest and best example of that.

My tracks have always had a lot going on tho I came to realize they were sometimes muddy and unclear. I actually discovered that driving back from my sister-in-law's funeral in February. I was playing tracks for my wife on the drive back and half of them sounded muddy with a lot of the highs lost.

Of course a 2018 Subaru Forester isn't a great listening environment but it still sounded blech. When I got home I listened on my studio monitors and read up online and came to realize that I needed to up my recording game. So I did and I'm happy to say that not only I think they sound better but my beta listeners all agree they do. "Modal Auxiliary" is a great example of a lot of soundscaping and sound bed taking up space while the actual melodic/harmonic/ percussive stuff is up front. It was fun to craft it to mix the more ambient soundscape parts with the melodic ones. I reeeeeaaaaallly love how the last half of the song is pretty much just audio sludge.

SOMETIMES I do wonder if my outros are too long but that's what my beta listeners are for. They'll tell me if it is too long. And you can blame Autechre for that. After decades of their long, deconstructed endings it's one of my favorite things to do. Oh man that ambience at the end always gets me. "So CRT what's up with your titles?" Great question! OUTPATIENT is sort of about my time in an outpatient program. hence the name. Now that was a fun one, too, because the main synth parts are almost all Arturia plugins. The Buchla Music Easel is especially wild.

This and INSECURITY can best be summed up as inspired by Meat Beat Manifesto. I got sick of A/B comparing my songs to MBM songs. I thought I was doing everything right but they still sounded weak. So I went to the woodshed so to speak (the real one is full of spiders), studied and I think this track and INSECURITY both slap about 60% as much as an MBM track. Okay 50% but still I just want to make big bangers sometimes ya know? Boom bapp beats, dub delays, noisey shit! What's funny to me is how all it takes is a little extra time and a little tweaking and then BOOM the track just opens up! Long ago a friend said it's all about panning & EQing which I came to find is 2 out of 3. I'd say the 3rd part of that is gain staging. It's more technical than I want to get into now but it's made all teh difference in my mind. About 1/2 way through OUTPATIENT there's a big long ambient part that I sometimes wondered was too long. Now I think it works as a break between the two parts. A… frontier if you will. After 6 minutes in the track is basically a long slow fadeout lol I love how it all combines into this weird, glitchy thing where all the loops go in and out then come together. The noise gets big and brash then slowly washes out. The last 2 minutes are a nice bit of ambience themselves. I even thought about breaking it into 2 tracks but they don't work either alone or as a shorter track. You need to hear the whole damn thing to get the entire idea. Imagine being only shown one square foot of the Sistine Chapel at a time? Okay my work isn't on the par of Michelangelo but you get what I mean.

Now INSECURITY was actually never supposed to be on an album. It's a track I started then used as my guineau pig for teaching myself about recording. And in the end it ended up sounding pretty dope. When I sequenced this ep I was surprised how well it worked with the other tracks. And that beat is straight up MBM. Boom boom bapp! Well kinda. I have become obsessed with one section of this song at about 4:15. This break came out so smooth. Last for almost a minute. Almost as funky as Funky Drummer! And the buildup after works nice too I think. I will say I'm considering 2 followups to FRONTIERS. One will be a remix and the other will be an ep exploring what separates frontiers... Well I hope I've enjoyed learning a bit more about FRONTIERS and my methods. Or madness.

- CRT

#musicianlife #music #musician #cathode ray tube eps #cathode ray tube

3 notes · View notes

staytruetonorthch · 10 months

Text

Hear me out... I'm not a Twice girlie.

👀

I know, I know, y'all love the girls, but I've just never been into it. That's all to say, I kept getting pushed Jihyo's debut on socials and this morning I took the bait. And I've got to put my hands up, she wins. (Full thoughts under the cut)

Obviously, I started with 'Killin' Me Good' and it was so much fun. I think JYP will always add groove to whatever he's producing and this was no exception. Jihyo's vocals are so strong and the performance, while not excessive, is complimentary and lets her be flirty and give a charismatic performance.

However, liking the title track is not what's gagging me. Given the purpose of title tracks, it's hard to find one that's bad. It's the fact that the entire 7 song EP ZONE is an absolute VIBE. Jihyo's vocals are dynamic. She explores different sounds, but she keeps the essence of pop/r&b at the core of every song making it a complete work. It's so rare to find a release where all of the songs feel like they belong to the same album without being repetitive. It's a mini album, so it's a tight 22 minutes, but there are still so few instances where it's done well, in my opinion. There's usually one song that just takes the tone and kicks it in the teeth for the sake of 'adding color' where it isn't needed. I get artist wanting to flex their muscles and show us multiple sides, but there's something so easy and satisfying about finding the pocket and staying there. To me, it makes it so easy to listen from beginning to end, and then letting the cycle repeat all over again. Definitely one of the most solid debuts I've stumbled upon.

Standouts: This is tough because there isn't a song that I don't like. 'Nightmare' is fits her voice so well. I will not stop talking about the dynamics she flexes in this album and ending on this ballad is just *chefs kiss* I would love to see her perform this one live. No dancers, just her and a band. My favorite song after a day of listening has got to be 'Wishing On You'. It's so sweet and 2000s coded. There are no words for it, so just do yourself a favor and go listen. 15/10. Jihyo has definitely made a fan out of me💖

#jihyo #killin me good #kpop #zone #Kea Blog #new music friday

3 notes · View notes

solasan · 1 year

Note

band name + album + songwriting + change + tattoo + voice + seven for Marnie? 👀

infamous MC questions

TYSM amber

Band name: How did they and the others come up with the band name? Has the name changed since it was founded?

they definitely went through a few iterations. rowan fought hard for rowan & the hartettes but was quickly vetoed. they threw around the idea of making some seven-based number joke but couldnt come up w anything they liked LOL. jazzy and iris played around with a few flower-based names, but that didn't Fit The Vibe (bc the vibe is a lil less flowers, a lil more everything on fire).

i think hornet's nest itself was a seven-marnie joint effort? they were playing around with the idea of it for a song n then figured it actually worked better as a name. marnie Very Seriously Considered changing the name after he left, but they'd been established as hornet's nest for two EPs already and had a growing fanbase, so she didnt think the disruption was worth it.

Albums: What are some of the albums the band has released? Are they a consistent style? What themes did they explore?

so gasping was their first EP (the one maya has on vinyl that marnie's super embarrassed about) and that was when they were kind of figuring out their style. probably more punk than grunge rock? kind of them just trying to find their groove. there's a few ethel cain southern gothic style references lyrically and a lot of angsty horrific references to bodies in the marshes outside their hometown (It's Symbolic For Seven & Marnie's Buried Trauma) LOL

i think possibly they released another EP after that but i dont have clear Thoughts on that yet?

then was take cover, which is their final release with seven LOL. leaning more into grunge rock now (heavy guitar & bass sounds, more refined but still intense vocals). this one's pure anarchy bc marnie's fully rejected (and been rejected by) her parents and seven has fewer songs where he's centre-stage so there's a kind of? tension? in some of his songs. lots of rage against the machine type shit. also some more gothic americana, since that's just Their Thing Now

under the bus is next and it's a hate-letter to seven lol no it isn't. there's a couple angry songs abt nebulous betrayal/getting thrown under the bus by circumstance that r juuust vague enough that marnie can feasibly get away with saying theyre not about him, tho 🤥. it's kind of more an album abt growing up than anything, n they definitely have a more mature sound. probably there's smth abt liminal spaces as a metaphor for the Ephemeral Nature Of Youth (And Love) or smth

and then finally there's their most recent album glass houses :) so named bc a few of the songs are rewritten versions of stuff she wrote when she was still living w her parents, n the whole album kind of... deals w the isolation she felt during that time? but from her pov as an adult now? we got references to breaking windows, we got references to being cut off from the world by glass, we got it all. (also forecast fires is on there bc it's a heavily reworked once-sweet love song she wrote abt seven when she was pining years ago, but this time it's abt the inevitability of catastrophe and how knowing what's coming can be like... soul destroying)

Songwriting: What’s their process? Is it different than it was when they used to write songs with Seven?

i'm not sure that she has a specific Process tbh. i think she probably comes up with lines in the shower/bath quite a bit, if only bc she's a shower singer and she likes to experiment. she's gotten into the habit of keeping her phone nearby when she showers so she can peek out of the curtains and write stuff down in the notes app lol. uhh i think tunes come to her before words do; she finds patterns she likes chord-wise and then goes from there?

writing songs w seven was a lot more collaborative obv so yeah it's different!! but also i think she was a lot less critical abt her songs n ideas when they worked on stuff together bc she kind of... always trusted seven to tell her if something didnt work or could be improved??? n now she has to do that herself LOL. it takes her longer to come up w songs without him than it did with him, but i think they're a bit more streamlined and perfected than they were before??

Change: How has their personality changed since Seven left the band? Are those changes related to Seven leaving?

she's still got her humour, which is good, but she's a lot more serious abt the band/their music/their future. she tries to take more responsibility for them now, bc seven's not around to kind of split that with her, and she's stepped into the role of leader bc no one else will? so there's a lot of pressure there, both from herself, orion, and (less intentionally) the band, who have kind of gotten into the habit of turning to marnie for help n advice.

she's also a lot more spiteful LOL. she's generally angrier, if only bc (since she voted to keep seven as a lead singer n not a backup) she rly feels like she didnt do anything wrong to him and it's fucked up that he left. uhhh more trust and abandonment issues than ever <3 which means more self-destructive behaviours!!! party drugs r a big one (she didnt used to rly touch much beyond weed before he left) but also hypersexuality since as someone else who deals w my issues thru vacillating wildly between hypo and hypersexuality i like 2 drop my trauma in there she finds it's a good way to get out of her head (shes always found sex was good for that, even when it was happy n healthy w seven), but then she has some issues around feeling dirty/regretting it, so. :shrug:

Tattoo: Did they keep the tattoo with Seven’s initials? Why/why not? What was that decision/execution process like? (Bonus: What do they think of Seven keeping their tattoo?)

amber look at me look me in the eyes. thank u so much for askin this one, this one is the one i've been MOST excited for. wuv u.

anyway LOL NO SHE DOESNT. the day she got the news that he'd joined a new band, she went to the nearest studio that took walk-ins and asked them to cover it up. it was very much an unplanned thing; she was angry and hurt and sad and she just... couldnt keep it. having his initials on her — like a brand, like ownership, and she hadnt minded that when he was hers too, but now he's gone and she's still his and she feels pathetic about that — was too difficult. when she walked into the studio she said "i need this covered up" and they said "ok, with what?" and she said

um eventually she settled on getting a big spider tattoo that kind of curls around her wrist and onto the back of her hand??? its butt is what covers the S.D. specifically. funny thing is that marnie hates spiders and always fucking has, but it was one of the first things she saw the studio offering, and she would literally rather have that on her body than seven. liar. seven also knows she hates spiders lol so he's probably definitely hurt abt that :)

seven keeping his tattoo feels like a mockery to her LOL. there's no part of her that's like oh he kept it bc he loves me, there's hope~ it is ALLLL "he's trying to freak me out". that doesnt mean that a possessive part of her doesnt like seeing it on him, tho, even if she'll deny that to the day she dies.

Voice: What does their singing voice sound like? Do you have voiceclaims(s) for them?

answered here xx

Seven: Do you have headcanons about their friendship and/or romantic relationship (past or future)? What do you imagine some of their best memories are? What do you think some of Seven’s favourite things about your MC were/are?

answered here

#this is actually embarrassing ive gone into so much detail #i have so many thoughts abt their albums n no way to articulate them coherently #like Thoughts. but at the same time all i can give u is Vibes. im sorry <3 #ty amber <3333 sry this took so long LOL my energy levels are Not It n i keep going nonverbal #answered #ch: marnie ross

4 notes · View notes

thisaintascenereviews · 2 years

Photo

Royal Coda - To Only A Few At First “Swancore” is one of the weirdest “styles” of music I’ve ever heard, but I understand its appeal to an extent. What am I referring to? Well, Swancore steams from guitarist Will Swan, whom you may know as the guitarist of post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance, but Swan has branched out his “cinematic universe” with other bands, including the band I’m going to be talking about today (as he joined the band a few years ago), as well as starting a record label for a lot of these bands (Blue Swan Records to be exact). The issue I have with this kind of music is that it all sounds the same, hence the name “Swancore.” A lot of bands under this label sound exactly a lot, including wonky guitar riffs, a post-hardcore meets progressive-rock, dual screaming and clean vocals (especially vocals with a pop / R&B inflection, similar to Tilian Pearson, Kurt Travis, and the like), and nonsensical lyrics that don’t have any rhyme or reason. There are tons of bands that follow this formula, and while a lot of them are talented, it’s just that they all sound alike. People really seem to love these bands, though, especially Dance Gavin Dance. I just reviewed their new album, Jackpot Juicer, and I have mixed feelings on it, but it’s a decent album overall. I enjoyed parts of it, but it was way too long for its own good, and showed the band running out of ideas (although they’ve been doing that for the last few years, honestly). Coincidentally, another band on the Swancore roster, Royal Coda, was slated to release their third album the same week that I ended up reviewing Jackpot Juicer, so I was rather intrigued by it. I’m a fan of Royal Coda, first and foremost, and out of the “Swancore” bands, they’re one of the better ones. Fronted by former Dance Gavin Dance and A Lot Like Birds vocalist, Kurt Travis is at the helm of these guys, including Sergio Medina, and Will Swan himself, but they made their debut in 2018 with a self-titled record that I thought was pretty good, but not great. It was a very generic post-hardcore record, and it was cool, but nothing I couldn’t get from these other bands. I went back and listened to their second album, 2019′s Compassion, and liked that one a lot more, because I hadn’t heard it yet. It was a very good album, and it had more of a funk / R&B-inspired sound, which would make sense, considering that Kurt Travis was in the band Eternity Forever with the guitarist of Strawberry Girls, and they had a funky sound that I really liked. They broke up after a single EP, unfortunately, but this is almost the spiritual successor to that band. Their third album, To Only A Few At First, seems to continue this idea of having a post-hardcore meets funk sound. To put it simply, this is a really good album, but I haven’t been going back to it that much. I did mention in my review of Jackpot Juicer that this album is better than that one, and I agree with that still. This record is a lot shorter, only 38 minutes, and it’s a lot more cohesive in its tone and sound. That’s kind of the problem, though; this album is kind of one note, and it’s extremely catchy or memorable in terms of individual songs. Everything about this album is pretty good, though; Travis’ vocals are great, definitely some of the best that I’ve heard from him ever, and the guitarwork is great, too, including some really solid grooves. I love how the album is pretty short, like I said, but it does blend together a little bit. If anything, it shows Swancore’s issues that a lot of these bands tend to have, but it’s also one of the better albums I’ve heard recently. It’s a solid little post-hardcore with funk and progressive tones, so it’s a lot of fun to listen to. I just haven’t gone back to it as much as I’ve wanted to, unfortunately, but it’s worth hearing if you’re a fan of Kurt Travis, Will Swan, or any of that stuff. People tend to go nuts over anything Will Swan does, and like I said in the beginning, I kind of understand it, but when everything sounds the same, I don’t really get it, so I don’t know, folks. If you’re a diehard fan of any of these guys, or these bands, you’re going to enjoy this. Hell, you probably already do, and I’m sure you’ve been listening to it for the last week since it’s been out, but I wouldn’t say this is one of my top ten favorites of the year. I really enjoyed it, but it’s nothing necessarily special, either. I like the funkier tones that it has throughout it, but the album’s never catchy enough to keep me engaged throughout its shorter runtime. It’s groovy, but there’s not enough catchy melodies or hooks to really hit a home run for me. All in all, though, there’s enough to enjoy, especially if you’re not familiar with Royal Coda or the Swancore sound. This is a great introduction to this band, and it’s easily their best, so hopefully they keep going and they throw some catchier and more accessible hooks in their sound next time around.

#royal coda #compassion #will swan #sergio medina #kurt travis #dance gavin dance #jackpot juicer #post-hardcore #swancore #to only a few at first #blue swan records #rise records

17 notes · View notes

k-reviews · 1 year

Text

QUICK THOUGHTS: AP ALCHEMY, J-HOPE, FIFTY FIFTY & MORE

2023 has kicked off to a roaring start thus far with a ton of releases, a lot of which I have been really enjoying! Just wanted to share some quick thoughts/reviews on some recent projects just to get them out there. Hope everyone has been having a good 2023 so far!

[ALBUM] AP Alchemy - Side A

8.5 out of 10

A restructuring of sorts, industry veteran Swings launches the AP Alchemy collective with a phenomenal showing on the crew’s first compilation album. With fresh faces that bring new-school energy, matched by the renewed hunger on staple names like Kid Milli, Blacknut and of course head honcho Swings. The production is incredibly detailed and highly curated, with a handful of standouts from Nochang and Saewoo. AP Alchemy make an enormous amount of noise on ‘Side A’, all of which is immaculately produced and performed. Front runner for rap album of 2023.

[ALBUM] Code Kunst - Remember Archive

5.0 out of 10

Code Kunst feels like he’s in two minds with his latest LP, on one hand trying to push a more chart-orientated sound while also building on his signature moody sound; in doing so he ends up doing neither with much finesse. ‘Remember Archive’ is largely bland, the softer production is missing the tailor-like touches of ‘Muggle Mansion’ and the rap features are often lackluster. The vocal guests do come through with a fair few memorable performances, but more often than not, the production feels like an imitation of Code Kunst’s own seminal works.

[ALBUM] Crucial Star & QM - Gold

7.0 out of 10

Teaming up on ‘Gold’ Crucial Star and QM concoct a lot of chemistry over the tightly produced EP. Crucial Star, after what feels like an eternity of dormancy as an artist feels fully rejuvenated spitting alongside the highly skilled QM. The production is modest, but rich in its subtlety as the two MCs continually drop highly polished verses.

[SINGLE] Bobby - Cherry Blossom

6.0 out of 10

Touting his most impressive and nuanced vocal performance yet, Bobby surprises with the delightful ‘Cherry Blossom’. The pretty lyrical motifs are driven by Bobby’s bittersweet performance and the warmly tinted pop/rock production. Though the verses are fantastic and the hook is catchy, the songwriting is a little repetitive and the empty lull that is the bridge slightly handicap an otherwise competent single.

[SINGLE] FIFTY FIFTY - Cupid

9.0 out of 10

Following up their excellent debut EP, Fifty Fifty’s latest single is every bit as exciting as their debut. The slick synth-pop production is immaculately mixed, with an arrangement that exudes luxury. ‘Cupid’ prides itself on the spectacular, personality-rich vocal performance from the members and its ridiculously infectious hook. ‘Cupid’ is about as good as pop gets - the fluid songwriting, vibrant performances and glittery production is all you could ever want.

[SINGLE] J-Hope - On The Street (feat. J. Cole)

6.5 out of 10

BTS bags yet another landmark crossover collaboration, this time J-Hope teaming up with one of his inspirations. The production is a touch too sanitized, but the groove is still hard to resist with the whistle lead. J-Hope’s contribution is brief, and while the hook does have a strong core, more could’ve been done to flesh it out. Cole’s verses is astute and technical, and he comes in towards the tail end with some nice harmonies closing out the track.

#ap alchemy #fifty fifty #code kunst #aomg #bobby #ikon #khiphop #kpop #j-hope #bts

3 notes · View notes

lunapaper · 2 years

Text

Album Review - 'Beatopia' - Beabadoobee

Matty Healy just can’t help himself.

After getting his greasy fingerprints all over her 2021 EP, Our Extended Play, The 1975 frontman manages to creep beneath the surface of Beabadoobee’s latest album, Beatopia.

Sure, Healy only co-wrote two of the album’s tracks, but the production has that 1975 DNA running through it.

You can hear it in the scratchy synthesisers and punchy beats of ‘10:36,’ and in the twilit shoegaze of ‘See You Soon.’ The sprawling Midwest emo of ‘Pictures of You’ features such Healyesque lines as ‘She reminded me that God starts with a capital/But I don't think I could do it all’ and even contributes backing vocals, while on the twee, jazz-inflected final track, ‘You’re Here, That’s the Thing,’ he sings with the British-Filipino singer: ‘When the lights go down, don't say I didn't warn ya/I don't think that's legal in the state of California.’

‘I wrote the verses, and he showed me his chorus idea,’ Bea Kristi explains (via Genius). ‘I was like, ‘What do you mean by it?’ He said, ‘You know what? I don’t know, but it’s really fun.’ It was like, ‘Okay, go with it. It doesn’t really matter what’s illegal in California. It could be anything.’

If there’s a word to describe this record, it’s twee. Charmingly so at times, but painfully so at others. The longer it goes on, the more it begins to drag.

While her 2020 debut, Fake It Flowers, threw itself headlong into scuzzy 90s nostalgia, the world of Beatopia is soundtracked by the light and breezy acoustic pop of the late 90s/early 00s.

‘Sunny Day’ has a slick, warm groove, taking its inspiration from the mellow stylings of Nelly Furtado and Corinne Bailey Rae. ‘The Perfect Pair’ is what would probably happen if Michelle Branch did a soulful, teasing Bossa Nova track, which is exactly as enticing as it sounds. ‘Broken CD’ also adds a dash of Branch, along with a little M2M. Y’know, from the Pokemon movie soundtrack? ‘Mirror Mirror’ is still a fuckin’ jam, btw. With its soft, willowy dance between guitar and strings, ‘Ripples’ is practically a Disney ballad.

‘Lovesong’ is equally saccharine, all twinkling pirouettes and orchestral swells, while ‘Fairy Song,’ of course, lives up to its title, its dreamy, sun-kissed twang caught adrift in a hazy sea of reverb. ‘Tinkerbell is Overrated,’ (featuring PinkPantheress) is magical for the first minute or so before the drum n’ bass kicks in, turning the track into some TikTok-ready soundbite. Only ‘Don’t Get the Deal’ (featuring Bea’s guitarist, Jacob Bogden) and first single ‘Talk’ seem to call back to the sludgy grunge of Fake It Flowers.

Beatopia finds Bea still trying to make sense of who she is as an artist, which is to be expected from a 22 year old woman who was catapulted to fame just a few years ago off the back of a viral TikTok hit. It has a sweet childlike innocence and wonder, its rootsy, more orchestral touches sublime and the youthful angst a little more introspective this time around.

But in the process, the singer ends up stripping away the scrappy, anxious charm that made Fake It Flowers such a joy to listen to in the first place. The songs are pretty enough (‘The Perfect Pair,’ ‘Sunny Day’ and ‘Talk’ especially), but also rather forgettable, lacking the immediacy and grit of earlier singles like ‘Worth It’ or ‘Care.’ It’s also kind of ironic that Beatopia is meant to describe Bea’s world, yet longtime collaborators like Matty Healy manage to infiltrate it and turn it into yet about 1975 side project (Well, parts of it, at least).

Beabadoobee might get lost in her own world on Beatopia, but there’s still time yet to find her way…

- Bianca B.

#music #beabadoobee #beatopia #new #reviews #albums #Bianca B

9 notes · View notes

houseofloveconcerts · 7 months

Text

The Faux Paws

The Faux Paws have a problem. They’re a triangle band in a land of circles. Musically impossible to describe, they don’t even fit into todays often hyphenated-genre world. No fan, industry expert, nor member of the band can seem to sum up this band’s sound in any kind of marketable way. They continue to remain a singularly unique outfit in the acoustic music community, always on the fringes, always memorable and with an increasing number of die-hard fans who feel like they’ve uncovered a secret.

Is it bluegrass? Not usually. Old-time? Occasionally. Is it Celtic? Can’t quite say that. Is it Folk? Americana? Jazz? Singer-songwriter? None of the above, but members of the Paws have deep ties to all of these traditions and blend their elements effortlessly to serve whatever musical idea is being presented.

So what can we say? This band takes risks. They’re dynamic, exciting, sincere, irreverent, infectious, and surprising. They move deftly between moods, influences and instruments but always maintaining a “groove” that pulses through the music like a heartbeat (you may not always be aware it’s there but it gives the thing life).

A Faux Paws live show is an explosive roller coaster ride that brings the audience along. Virtuosity on the fiddle, mandolin, guitar and saxophone, sure, but also vulnerability, personal lyrics, tight 3-part brother harmonies, playful interplay, intricately arranged details and soaring improvisations.

According to FolkAlley.com its Trad. Their self-titled 2021 release was named one of the 10 Best Trad albums of the year from around the world. With the considerable success and praise the band has seen since coming out of the pandemic the Paws decided to add long-time friend and collaborator Zoe Guigueno (Fish & Bird, Della Mae) to their touring outfit on upright bass. Zoe only deepens the group’s already massive sound while freeing each member up for more creative expression on their various instruments.

Need more? Well a few points people usually notice: the saxophone that behaves in ways they’ve never heard. An oft-heard ‘compliment’ to Grammy nominated multi-instrumentalist Chris Miller is “I thought I was going to hate the saxophone!” Fiddle-phenom Noah gets most of the attention on his feet – due to his unique approach to his Quebecois-style foot-percussion he’s developed. Combined with his jaw-dropping array of percussive chopping elements on the fiddle he contains the sound of a full band on his own. Except its his brother Andrew carefully executing complimentary chords and riffs on the guitar that makes Noah’s sound what it is.

But spending too many words talking about this stuff detracts from the fact that it’s the original songs – and heart – that keep folks coming back for more year after year. In the band’s 12th year they returned to the studio and emerged with an EP showcasing a huge amount of music in a 5-track sampler. The live-energy of the newly minted quartet is on full display, with very little added. The Backburner EP was released in April 2023 and reached Billboard’s Top 10 Bluegrass Albums. It will be fun to watch writers take another stab at describing it.

1 note · View note

doomedandstoned · 10 months

Text

Denmark Psychedelic Doom Titans SONIC MOON Reveal Striking Debut LP

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Artwork by Mirkow Gastow

I knew from the moment I heard the opening track from 'Return Without Any Memory' (2023) that I wanted SONIC MOON to be featured in these pages, for the Aarhus 5-piece are a special band.

The colors are all right for their album cover, as opening track "The Waters" really does conjure those unearthly yellows, blues, and reds. It's a song that meets somewhere at the junction of Soundgarden, Greenleaf, and Mars Red Sky. The drums mark a desert rock pace and the song rolls steady, with jaded roadhouse vocals and dark Pentagramesque riffing.

There's something lonely, but comforting about the songs on the album. These are dark, otherworldly tracks with downtuned grunge tone and warmly bittersweet vocals, gliding calmly along in a vessel of fuzz down the shuddering waters of Styx. I took it all in while the moon was shining bright in my backyard and it was an ultra-cool experience, particularly during "Head Under The River."

Reached for comment, the band had this to say about the new LP:

It took us some years and a few EPs to reach a point where we were satisfied enough with our material to put it on a full-length album. It’s something we looked towards from the very beginning, it just took a while to get there!

Almost every song starts with one of us bringing a riff or a loosely based idea to rehearsal, and from there we work the rest out as a group. So it's a very collaborative process.

The new album was self-recorded at our rehearsal space in February 2022. We recorded everything live, except the vocals. We had very limited time to record, so we actually ended up recording the instrumental parts in a single day.

Sonic Moon's debut album Return Without Any Memory is one of the clear standouts of 2023, a record I'll be revisiting often. Get it Friday, August 4th, through the band and Olde Magick Records (pre-order vinyl here). Stick it on a playlist with Witchcraft, King Buffalo, Dunbarrow, and Magmakammer.

Give ear...

Return Without Any Memory by Sonic Moon

SOME BUZZ

Sonic Moon is the sound of Kevin Starrs meeting Josh Homme on an acid trip in the dark Scandinavian winter. It is heavy guitar-riffs, drowned in fuzz and delay, carried through by a swaying drum- and bass-section, complimented by a raw and melodic vocal. The lyrics consume the remaining light, and touches subjects like nihilism, sorrow and anger.

After spending the better part of two years unfolding their contrasting and riff-based take on psychedelic stoner rock, Sonic Moon release their 7-track self-recorded debut album Return Without Any Memory on August 4th, 2023 on Olde Magick Records.

The first single Give It Time was released on May 12 and premiered by the stoner rock blog the Sleeping Shaman. Additionally, the music video was released on the 666MrDoom’s Youtube channel focusing on doom, stoner and psychedelic rock and metal.

Return Without Any Memory’s dark and heavy groove introduces the band's shared feeling of encapsulated loneliness, anger and frustration, all contained within the refined sound produced by the intensive care, effort and soul that the band fueled the album with.

Return Without Any Memory will be available on vinyl in two editions: ‘Blue Moon’ and ‘Cloudy Splatter’ on Bandcamp. The album is recorded by Sonic Moon, mixed and mastered by Haldor Grunberg at Satanic Audio, and the artwork is designed by Mirkow Gastow.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

#D&S Debuts #Sonic Moon #Aarhus #Denmark #Olde Magick Records #desert rock #fuzz #heavy rocck #doom metal #HeavyBest2023 #D&S Reviews #Doomed and Stoned

1 note · View note

mywifeleftme · 11 months

Text

89: Boyhood // When I'm Hungry

When I'm Hungry Boyhood 2014, Bruised Tongue (Bandcamp)

One of the longest surviving projects from Ottawa’s bustling 2010s garage rock scene, Boyhood (AKA Caylie Runciman) has been at it for more than a decade, and I’m always pleased to see the name cross my radar when she plays a show up here. When I’m Hungry was her first album, originally released on Bandcamp and cassette way back in 2012 and then reissued by Bruised Tongue as a 12-track LP in 2014, with a few songs dropped in favour of new recordings (?) and selections from the 2011 Boyhood EP.

youtube

This is some very lo-fi shoegaze with hints of dream pop and the witchy noise rock practiced by Ottawa peers Roberta Bondar and The Yips. You’d be forgiven for tapping out after tuneless opening psych hairball “Fresh Meat” (the kind of song that makes you check your speaker wiring), and there are a few frequencies throughout that challenge the eardrums. But there are also gems for those who stick around. Despite being a true solo concern, with Runciman writing, playing, and producing everything, Boyhood present a passable facsimile of a full band on low slung groovers like “Tarzan” and the baggy/Sleigh Bells-ish “Thailand.” I don’t know if there’s any trick to it, but when she harmonizes with herself it often sounds like more than one voice (rather than one voice multiple times), and the groove between the instruments feels live.

“Where I’m Going” is the highlight of the LP, a woozy number that twinkles like Japanese lounge music (I think I hear vibraphone? toy piano?) as it shimmies around and through worlds of echo. It feels perfectly like dancing in a normal human fashion for a while, getting distracted as you realize the mushrooms have hit, dancing some more, getting distracted again, and so on and on.

89/365

#music review #vinyl record #indie rock #bruised tongue #ottawa #ottawa music #'10s music #female musicians #caylie runciman #boyhood

1 note · View note

xmystophalesx · 1 year

Text

Best New Heavy Metal Releases Week of April 7th, 2023

Got a little of a break this week, which to be honest felt pretty good after being flooded with incredible albums the last few weeks. I’m not saying this week was bad, far from it actually, but simply fewer releases overall. Quality was still very high and still had plenty of albums that made the list. More than ANY sane and rational person would listen to in any given week. Trust me, I realize the amount of music I consume weekly is pretty crazy….lol

I don’t think I have ever mentioned this here but just a FYI all the albums that make my ��Best of the Week” section get added to a playlist on Spotify entitled “Best Heavy Metal Releases for 2023”. If you only want the overall pick of the week, that is on a playlist titled “Picks of the Week at bestmetalweekly.com for 2023”. There are also playlists for previous years if you want to look back, as well as my top 30 albums of the previous years. Not everything I mention here will be on those playlists as not everything is on Spotify but I would say 98% of albums I talk about here can be found there. Easiest way to find them is to search for my username, Mystophales. So let’s get to some albums that were added this week. Yet another seamless segue…:)

Dystersol-Anaemic (Melodic Death/Groove)**

My god is this album ever overloaded with immense amounts of groove. Easily the heaviest mixture I have ever heard in a Melodic Death Metal album. If you ever wondered what a mixture of what Dark Tranquility would sound like if they were HEAVILY influenced by Pantera, this would be it.

Imperial Demonic-Beneath The Crimson Eclipse (Black)**

This is an EP which I was not aware of until after I had listened to it. Normally I don’t bother with EPs as I just don’t have the time and there are plenty of full length albums released every week. Only reason I really noticed this was because the album was over a lot sooner than I expected and I was hoping for more. Fantastic old school black metal reminiscent of the late 90s and early 2000s.

City Kings-Steel Rock N’ Roll (Heavy)**

Last week I came across a band that could be the second coming of the band Rush. Well, this week we have the second coming of Motorhead. While listening to this album, it really gives you the feeling that this is simply a missing Motorhead album. it really is that close in sound, songwriting and even attitude. Some people will be annoyed by this as they feel like it has already been done but with Lemmy’s passing we will not get anymore new Motorhead and if another band picks up that flag and carries it forward for future generations, I for one am completely cool with it. Especially when it is this well done.

Raider-Trial by Chaos (Thrash/Death)**

Within a song or two, I knew this album would make a push for my overall pick of the week. As I have mentioned before, I am a pretty easy mark when it comes to Thrash Metal. Especially when that Thrash Metal has a solid bit of aggression running through the songs. That is exactly what we have here. Aggressive razor sharp riffs are the order of the day throughout this album. The aggression never wavers and that is a VERY good thing. If you are even remotely a fan of the band Skeletonwitch, you will find a LOT to like here.

Wolf Spider-VI (Thrash/Technical/Progressive)**

Continuing on with Thrash Metal, we have this band out of Poland but with that style of Thrash Metal that has a bit of a technical or progressive quality to it. This is a style I haven’t really heard much to be honest, and I was thinking it had fallen by the wayside. I know I’m doing a terrible job describing this, so just think of bands like Coroner, Toxik, or even Vektor. If any of these bands interest you, give this one a shot.

That will do it for another week highlighting the best genre of music on the planet (I may be a bit partial…lol). Until next week, and as always,

BANG THY HEAD!!!

All worthy of a listen if you like the genre

*= standout in that genre

**=best of the week regardless of genre

Best of the Week

Cursebinder-Drifting (Atmospheric Black)**

Dystersol-Anaemic (Melodic Death/Groove)**

Imperial Demonic-Beneath The Crimson Eclipse (Black)**

Raider-Trial by Chaos (Thrash/Death)**

City Kings-Steel Rock N’ Roll (Heavy)**

Heathen Foray-Oathbreaker (Melodic Death/Folk)**

Wolf Spider-VI (Thrash/Technical/Progressive)**

Standouts in their Genre

Medevil-Mirror in the Dark (Thrash/Death)*

Shredhead-I Saw You Burn (Thrash/Groove)*

Dark Flood-Illusion of Light (Melodic Death/Progressive)*

Stillbirth-Homo Deus (Death)*

Yskelgroth-Bleeding of the Hideous (Black)*

Nocturnal Wolf-Cold and Dark (Black)*January 23rd

Darkhold-Tales From Hell (Heavy/Groove)*

SaintBreaker-Unrelenting Violence (Thrash/Crossover)*

Anthropophagous-Abuse of a Corpse (Death)*

Arched Fire-Trust Betrayal (Thrash)*

When Plages Collide-An Unbiblical Paradigm (Symphonic/Death)*

Alcyone-Cult of Kukulkan (Black/Progressive)*

Healthyliving-Songs of Abundance, Psalms of Grief (Post/Shoegaze)*

Penumbra-Eden (Gothic/Symphonic)*

Golden Grass-Life is Much Stranger (Rock/Psychedelic)*

The Grifted-Doomsaday & Salvation (Death)*

Yotuma-Otherworldy Incarnate (Death/Groove)*

Paraphilia-The Memory of Death Given Form (Death)*

Convergence-Extinction Level Event (Death)*

Worth a Listen

Maniaco-Maniaco (Brutal Death)

Over The Sacrifice-First Seal Broken (Death)

Neobabel-Survival Strategy (Power)

Sunrot-The Unfailing Rope (Sludge/Doom)

Valensorrow-Shorestank (Folk)

Pick of the week goes to Raider-Trial by Chaos and the Metal Bulldog picture is courtesy of the look you get when she is not included. I feel the same every time I see good tours pass by the city I live in..:)

0 notes

newmusickarl · 2 years

Text

Top 50 Albums of 2022: #50-41

If 2021 was a year of recovery, then 2022 was the big reunion party.

For the first time in two years we had a full 12 months of live music and festivals, with rooms and fields full of people singing their heart out without the weight of COVID restrictions bringing palpable delight. The whole year has felt like a communal cathartic release, as the full joy of being able to experience music in all its various forms properly returned. The artists felt it, the venues felt it, the touring crews felt it and most certainly us fans felt it.

As a result, I think I listened to more new music in 2022 than any other year I can remember. My Apple Music Replay tells me I've listened to 785 albums, 860 different artists, 4,901 different songs and 38,680 minutes of music – crikey that’s a lot of music, even for me! However, my own tally that I keep every year has broken this down into just over 210 albums from 2022 and around 1,100 songs from the last 12 months as well. This has given me the impossible task this month then of choosing just 50 albums and 100 songs to call my favourites of the year.

Pound-for-pound, I think 2022 has proven to be my favourite year for new music at least since 2019. Not only did we get the final big wave of lockdown albums come through, but the return of live music meant a lot of these records could actually be experienced as they were intended – amongst big festival crowds or simply in front of eager audiences hanging on every single word and chord. Whittling this mass of great music down hasn’t been easy but after much internal debate, I have landed on a Top 50 Albums and Top 100 songs list for 2022. The songs will come in playlist form later in the countdown along with a roundup of my favourite EPs and live shows of the year, but for now let’s get into the best LPs that the year had to offer.

As ever, these 50 albums come from a multitude of genres (pop, rock, indie, hip-hop, R&B, electronica, shoegaze, punk and post-punk - it’s all here!) so although there is a good chance you won’t enjoy everything on this list, hopefully there is at least something for everyone to enjoy. Of course, the variety also makes it very difficult to rank one above the other, so don’t get too hung up on the placements. Generally, I’ve favoured the albums that:

Had the biggest impact on me and the wider music world in the last 12 months

Had ambition or something unique to offer

I played the most during the year

Ultimately produced the best front-to-back listening experience

Got it? Good.

Here’s the first 10 albums that made the cut:

50. Ghosts on Tape by Blood Red Shoes

Kicking things off then at #50, we are going right back to the start of the year as Brighton-based indie-rock duo Blood Red Shoes released, for me, a career-best effort.

Ghosts On Tape is a cohesive and imaginative record, packed wall-to-wall with fun, atmospheric bangers, with the pair pushing their sound into fascinating new territory whilst still managing to bring it altogether into a tightly sewn, coherent package. It all makes for a mightily entertaining experience, like hopping on a Ghost Train you’ll just want to ride on again and again.

Best tracks: Morbid Fascination, Sucker, Comply

Listen here

49. Alpha Games by Bloc Party

2022 was the year Bloc Party got their mojo back. Whilst the band’s 2016 album Hymns still had its moments, it very much reflected a band going through a transition. With Alpha Games though, it was thankfully a different story, with this one marking their first record with Louise who is now a permanent fixture on the sticks.

Although it is far from a perfect record as it still contains a few niggles, if you’ve ever been a fan of Bloc Party’s work there is plenty to enjoy here. The songs are great and the band sound rejuvenated, with the new line-up finally finding their groove with one another. So, whilst it may not hit the heady heights of Silent Alarm, it certainly beats Hymns and as one of my all-time favourite bands, this one was always likely to make the final cut.

Best tracks: If We Get Caught, By Any Means Necessary, Of Things Yet To Come,

Listen here

48. Better With You by KAWALA

An album that grew on me massively throughout 2022, KAWALA really do have a sound like no other. This one came alive during festival season and has pretty much remained in regular rotation since that point. Here’s what I said about the album back in March:

“Centred on a consistent aesthetic of catchy Afrobeat-influenced grooves, led by the dual lead vocal harmonies of frontmen Jim Higson and Dan McCarthy, Better With You is the sound of a band getting ready to hit their stride…

This is a solid debut for KAWALA with both flashes of promise and plenty of fun tunes to be found. You do get the sense the band have another level they can hit, and although they don’t quite get there on Better With You, that is something they can explore in the future. Right now though, this is the ideal launch pad and a summer-ready debut for fans to enjoy.”

Best tracks: Sailor, Never Really Here For Long, Searching

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Listen here

47. Islands by Josef Salvat

Aussie singer-songwriter Josef Salvat has always been one of the most underrated voices in pop and he proved it again in 2022 on his shimmering third album, Islands. Darkly personal but with vibrant synths and killer hooks, there were few better pure pop records this year. Here’s what I said all the way back in February:

“Salvat is now creating as an independent, having left Sony after the release of his sophomore album Modern Anxiety. The result is a record that, despite it largely being crafted during lockdown, sounds unfettered and more liberated than any of his previous work. The moody ballads have been mostly sidelined this time around, with Salvat instead crafting an upbeat pop record that boasts vibrant production, catchy melodies and emotionally-charged songwriting.

Islands is a triumph and easily Josef Salvat’s strongest album so far. Free of major label pressure, he has finally delivered the captivating pop album you feel he’s always wanted to make. Calling back to his own words on the title track, Josef is now exactly where he needs to be—and he’s never sounded better.”

Best tracks: The Drum, Islands, Sunbeams

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Listen here

46. The Present Is A Foreign Land by Deaf Havana

Back from the brink of extinction, Deaf Havana delivered their excellent sixth album in 2022 that was as heartbreakingly personal as it was anthemic. Here’s what I had to say back in July:

“In its simplest terms, The Present Is A Foreign Land is the soaring stadium rock of Bruce Springsteen colliding with the moody, self-reflective pop of The 1975, but it is also much more than that.

Narratively the album tells the story of the band’s last three years, taking the listener through their whole challenging ordeal, unfiltered. At various stages, the brothers confess to their existential crises, relationship breakdowns, alcoholism, mental health issues and other intensely personal struggles. It can be a dark listen at times, but thankfully the uplifting nature of the music and splashes of hopefulness stop it from ever being too overwhelming.

Overall, The Present Is A Foreign Land is a magnificent rebirth – a deeply personal record from beginning to end, simply brimming with all the heart and resilience the brothers could muster.”

Best tracks: Nevermind, Kids, Someone/Somewhere

Read my full review for Gigwise here

Read my interview with Deaf Havana on the making of the album here

Listen here

45. Now or Whenever by Spector

An album that I proclaimed as “the first great record of 2022” back in January, it may have taken Spector seven years to finally release the follow-up to their glorious sophomore album Moth Boys (the record I named as my Album of the Year back in 2015), but Now or Whenever was well worth the wait. Steered by Fred Macpherson’s wildly unique, astute lyricism and Jed Cullen’s masterful guitar work, Now or Whenever is Spector delivering another soaring collection of poetic and wonderfully crafted indie anthems.

Due to the gap between their last two records and the narrative of the band changes, many publications at the time described this album as a “rebirth” for Spector, but for me this album was never that at all. This is simply one of the best indie bands of the last decade creating the great songs they always have done.

Best tracks: Funny Way of Showing It, This Time Next Year, Catch You on the Way Back In

Listen here

44. The Dream by Alt-J

I’m pleased to say that Alt-J finally emerged from the shadow of their incredible, Mercury Prize-winning debut An Awesome Wave in 2022. Now whilst fourth album The Dream may not quite stand shoulder-to-shoulder with that record, it was certainly a big step up from its two predecessors and easily their second-best outing to date.

From cinematic overture Bane, to groovy singles U&ME and Hard Drive Gold, through to the wonderfully quirky moments like Philadelphia, some of the band’s most interesting work is littered across this one. However, the record really shines for me in some of the quieter moments, with the beautifully understated Get Better and Cormac McCarthy inspired Happier When You’re Gone arguably the best of the bunch.

A big bounce back after Relaxer, The Dream is an engaging front-to-back listen with plenty flashes of both beauty and intrigue.

Best tracks: Get Better, Philadelphia, Bane

Listen here

43. Reeling by The Mysterines

Arriving earlier this year in a quieter week for new music releases, I’m so glad I found this debut from Liverpool rock quartet The Mysterines, as it proved to be one of the finest first outings all year. Packed throughout with seismic grunge riffs, big festival-ready anthems and powerful lead vocals from frontwoman Lia Metcalfe, this is a moody and assured debut that will have you moshing out in no time.

Basically, if you were to create a venn diagram with classic bands like Nirvana, Hole and Sonic Youth, and more modern ones like Arctic Monkeys and Nothing But Thieves, you’d probably find The Mysterines floating around in the middle sweet spot. Opening on the full throttle roar of Life’s A Bitch (But I Like It So Much), the four-piece spend the next 40 minutes ripping things up and packing a punch with their intoxicating bluesy rock sound. It makes for a thrilling listen, with plenty of sonic nods to classic rock bands of years gone by, but also a freshness brought about by their own palpable youthful energy.

Best tracks: Still Call You Home, Hung Up, All These Things

Listen here

42. CRASH by Charli XCX

In 2022, the career of experimental pop genius Charli XCX really did come full circle. Having made the original (and still arguably the best) lockdown record in the form of the Mercury Prize-nominated How I’m Feeling Now, CRASH sees Charli turn everything up to 11 and go all out with an album that is just pure wall-to-wall pop bangers. I did originally consider not including this, but there really is no denying just how joyously infectious this album is and, as a result, it has easily been one of my most played records of the year.

CRASH is an album that sees Charli strike the balance between hit-making machine and visionary pop artist. Although at times it can feel like it is built to sell, critics and fans of her later work will still find plenty of her own stylistic signature painted across CRASH, with splatters of modern flair and experimental production techniques amongst the big, polished 80s throwback numbers.

Also, what CRASH lacks in How I’m Feeling Now’s instant and lasting impact, Charli makes up for with fun, playful pop and very few duff moments. Singles Good Ones and You Used To Know Me are mightily catchy, the collaborations with Christine & The Queens, Caroline Polachek and Rina Sawayama all continue to pop off, and there’s plenty of quite intriguing new cuts too such as the late-night quiet rave of Move Me and the dream-pop melancholy of Every Rule.

So whilst I wouldn’t say this is her best project, it is still one of the finest pop records of the year and a solid culmination of - and testament to - Charli’s career to this point.

Best tracks: Good Ones, You Used To Know Me, Every Rule

Listen here

41. Ribbon Around The Bomb by Blossoms

Is it just me or has this album massively flown under the radar this year?

Whilst I appreciate the Stockport indie rockers have set the standard pretty high with their discography so far and the tracks here may not marry up to their catalogue’s biggest singles, Ribbon Around The Bomb sees Blossoms achieve greater artistic maturity with some of their most finely constructed songs to date.

I’m also fully convinced they simply don’t know how to make a bad record at this point, as this is another thrilling 35-minute listen that boasts catchy, instantly timeless songs from start to finish. Ode To NYC will hook you in straight away, a romantic love letter to The Big Apple driven by sweet harmonies and galloping acoustic guitars. Born Wild is another highlight, a hugely cinematic number that draws comparisons to some of The War On Drugs’ recent material. Single Care For still sounds great too, with its 70s flair and swooning, string-tinged melody.

However, it is in the back end of the track list where the best songs really start to appear. Cinerama Holy Days is a wonderful Northern Soul-inspired number, with its upbeat piano melody and cooing backing vocals. Edith Machinist will then have you checking you haven’t accidentally put The Coral on instead (in a good way), before closer Visions delivers an epic seven minutes of bluesy guitars, soaring strings and exquisitely crafted laidback grooves.

With nostalgic sounds, cinematic production and superb songwriting, in another year this one could’ve easily ended up a little bit higher.

Best tracks: Visions, Cinerama Holy Days, Ode to NYC

Listen here

The countdown continues on Sunday with #40-31!

#album of the year #new music #best new music #album recommendation #best of 2022 #blossoms #charli xcx #deaf havana #spector #the mysterines #alt j #josef salvat #bloc party #kawala #blood red shoes #albums of the year #aoty #best albums of 2022

0 notes