Twenty-Fifth Post: 50 Favorite Albums of 2016

To celebrate this piece-of-shit year, here's 50 albums I like a lot, with a little blurb about why I like 'em. This'll probably be the last post of the year, so if you're still reading, thanks. Next year I'll post more bad music and try to convince you why it's good. Much love.

50) Gnaw Their Tongues - "Hymns for the Broken, Swollen, and Silent"
An absolutely disgusting black/death/industrial/noise album that will certainly raise eyebrows and freak out suburban families.

49) The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Dissociation"
This legendary mathcore outfit goes out with a bang, landing some of their best singles and most experimental passages in years.

48) Noname - "Telefone"
Simultaneously one of the most uplifting and depressing hip-hop albums of the year, with damn-near immaculate doo-wop and jazz beats under Noname's beautiful vocals.

47) Wreck and Reference - "Indifferent Rivers Romance End"
This duo continue their war on conventional metal, crafting dark and stripped-back instrumentals with fittingly gloomy performances.

46) The Body - "No One Deserves Happiness"
Another heavy duo here, this time melding pop and noise, making an uncompromising metal album with some of the most frightening vocals on a record this year.

45) Ian William Craig - "Centres"
A beautiful ambient album with a singular vision and delivery.

44) Wildernessking - "Mystical Future"
Beautiful post-black metal from the up-and-coming South African group.

43) Okkervil River - "Away"
Will Sheff and co. put out their best album in years.

42) Bookreader - "Dust Bowl Sallads"
One of the most unique noise albums in a while, combining old Americana tunes with disturbing start-and-stop blasts of harsh electronics.

41) Roly Porter - "Third Law"
A great electronic music album that sounds like a demented rave in deep space, with immaculate production and transfixing beats.

40) Mannequin Pussy - "Romantic"
A simultaneously furious and overjoyed album, throwing punk tradition out the window while writing some of the best punk tunes this year.

39) Lemon Demon - "Spirit Phone"
This is a joke album with a remarkably straight face, a gimmick with so many layers it becomes dizzying how great the songwriting is.

38) Genocide Organ - "Obituary of the Americas"
A fantastic power electronics album, probably the best to come out in a while, and also one of the best protest albums this year.

37) KA - "Honor Killed the Samurai"
A stone-faced hip-hop album from this soft-spoken rapper, but one with a remarkable attention to detail and storytelling.

36) Lori McKenna - "The Bird & the Rifle"
The best country album of the year.

35) Radian - "On Dark Silent Off"
An insane blending of rock, electronic, and jazz, with slow-building tracks that reveal themselves over repeated, focused listens.

34) Jambinai - "A Hermitage"
Post-rock done with tons of confidence and unique instrumentation from South Korea.

33) Deathspell Omega - "The Synarchy of Molten Bones"
A great, experimental black metal album from these French legends.

32) clipping. - "Splendor & Misery"
One of the most forward-thinking hip-hop albums this year, with rapid-fire flows colliding with folk music and a cappella wartime chants - it's nuts, but it works.

31) Sex Prisoner - "Tannhauser Gate"
The best powerviolence album this year; absolutely ferocious.

30) Big Ups - "Before a Million Universes"
Big Ups tackle Slint-flavored post-rock very well, crafting rollercoaster-like songs with huge dynamic shifts and great musicianship.

29) Emmanuel Fade - "Un-Flood"
Safari Al jumps into ambient and electronic music while blending hip-hop instrumentals and laid-back beats.

28) Tim Hecker - "Love Streams"
Hecker's happiest album combines chopped-up vocals with sharp, bright synth sweeps and amazing live instrumentation.

27) Diners - "Three"
This thing just fucking makes me smile.

26) Bent Knee - "Say So"
Bent Knee evolve into a huge, towering art-rock group with powerful vocals and intricate musical arrangements.

25) Matmos - "Ultimate Care II"
One of the best electronic albums this year comes from a fucking washing machine - who would've thought?

24) Vektor - "Terminal Redux"
Thrash titans Vektor craft a space-metal opera with some of the best riffs of the year.

23) Nails - "You Will Never Be One of Us"
Todd Jones and Nails continue to make their argument for the label of "heaviest band in the world".

22) Puce Mary - "The Spiral"
This album is where noise should be in 2016: imaginative, frightening, and totally unique.

21) DEAKIN - "SLEEP CYCLE"
Animal Collective member DEAKIN finally puts out his album, full of beautiful soundscapes and fantastic performances.

20) Ab-Soul - "Do What Thou Wilt."
The abstract asshole finally puts out the album we all knew he could put out: a razor-sharp dissection of race, religion, and class warfare from the best penman of TDE.

19) PUP - "The Dream Is Over"
These Canadian punks made an album that's as much fun as playing with four little puppies, and if you know anything about puppies, you know how good this album is.

18) Radiohead - "A Moon Shaped Pool"
Leave it to Radiohead to make one of the bleakest albums of the year, but the surprising thing here is just how pretty the depression is.

17) The Body & Full of Hell - "One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache"
Two of the most interesting groups in metal team up to stretch the limits of conventional genre-based music (metal, noise, industrial) and make one of the most exciting albums this year.

16) Chambre Froide - "Rouges Chappelle"
This elusive French black metal group flew heavily under the radar but ended making one of the best metal albums this year.

15) Eluvium - "False Readings On"
Eluvium puts out the warmest, most beautiful ambient album this year.

14) Swans - "The Glowing Man"
Michael Gira ends this iteration of Swans with a meditative, slow-burn of an album.

13) The Microphones - "Early Tapes, 1996-1998"
Phil Elverum ends his nightmare of a year with a fascinating and heartbreaking look at the past.

12) Xiu Xiu - "Plays the Music of Twin Peaks"
Xiu Xiu not only put out of my favorite cover albums ever but also one of the most interesting and obtuse art-rock records this year.

11) Mizmor - "Yodh"
One-man black metal master Mizmor releases a genuinely disturbing and atmospheric album.

10) Danny Brown - "Atrocity Exhibition"
A great, forward-thinking hip-hop album from one of the most interesting artists in the genre (featuring some of the best production of the year from master beat-maker Paul White).

9) Touché Amoré - "Stage Four"
When was the last time an album broke your heart?

8) Death Grips - "Bottomless Pit"
The punk-as-fuck hip-hop trio put out a rock-tinged record full of overwhelming beats and impeccable performances.

7) The Drones - "Feelin Kinda Free"
The best band in Australia right now release an album that, ironically, says more than any band in America about politics this year.

6) David Bowie - "Blackstar"
Bowie decides to turn his passing into one of the most heart-wrenching and perplexing albums about death of all time.

5) Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - "Skeleton Tree"
But Nick Cave's album about death was just that much more intense and fascinating.

4) A Tribe Called Quest - "We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service"
Another album linked inextricably with death, this one takes its mourning and morphs it into power, making the best album about the year 2016 in the year 2016.

3) Car Seat Headrest - "Teens of Denial"
Maybe it's too early to call, but Will Toledo's meteoric rise into the greats of alternative rock may be the clarion call for a new wave of great, guitar-driven music.

2) Aesop Rock - "The Impossible Kid"
Aesop sharpens his pen and crafts the best hip-hop album of the year with impeccable wordplay, flow, and insane storytelling.

1) Jeff Rosenstock - "WORRY."
Jeff. Fucking. Rosenstock.

Twenty-Fourth Post: Favorite EPs and Singles of 2016

With December approaching quickly (tomorrow, actually), I'm starting to compile a list of my favorite albums this year. This post is for other, non-album releases this year that I loved and wanted to give a little shout-out to. Why? God knows.

Alphabetically:

ANTWON - "DOUBLE ECSTASY" EP
Absolutely disgusting rapper ANTWON gets especially dark and personal on this EP, with standout tracks like "Luv" proving he's much more than a one-trick pony.

The Body - "To Know and to Hide" Single
Once again, this Portland-based duo released some absolutely soul-crushing music (as part of the fucking Adult Swim Singles Series!).

Botanist / Oskoreien - "Green Metal / Deterministic Chaos" EP
Both Botanist and Oskoreien continue stretching the limits of black metal on this split EP.

Ceschi / Pat the Bunny - "Ceschi / Pat the Bunny" EP
Pat the Bunny goes out the way he came in: effectively unnoticed and making choices that would make most people very concerned (in this case, teaming up with rapper Ceschi for a quasi-collaboration). Surprise! They both nail it.

Clarence Clarity - "SAME" EP(?) / "Vapid Feels are Vapid" Single / Hidden Tracks
We got teased this year: an EP of the same song over and over, an official single release and two hidden tracks on his SoundCloud make this enigmatic madman a must-listen.

Cloud Nothings - "Modern Act" Single
This song has no right being this good.

COLOR TV - "COLOR TV" EP
Embracing the fun side of 70s punk, COLOR TV craft four catchy and well-produced tunes.

Death Grips - "Interview 2016" EP/Mixtape
What can I say? Even at their most unabashedly ridiculous they still make great music.

The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Limerent Death" Single
I cheated a little bit here (since it landed on "Dissociation") but man, this single is everything to love about Dillinger in one song.

Full of Hell - "Amber Mote in the Black Vault" EP
Another slice of highly technical aggression from this quickly-rising grindcore/hardcore band.

Gorguts - "Pleiades' Dust" Single/EP
Technical death metal masters Gorguts prove why they're revered with killer songwriting and some of the heaviest riffs this year.

Iglooghost - "Little Grids" EP
UK-based producer Iglooghost compiles some older singles and some remixes for a fun dance/electronic music EP.

Injury Reserve - "Oh Shit!!!" Single
One of the most ridiculous hip-hop songs this year.

Jackal Onasis - "Big Deal Party" EP
A surprisingly pretty alt rock EP with a big heart and bigger distortion pedals.

Carly Rae Jepsen - "Emotion Side B" EP
I hate it as much as you do, but she's making some of the best pop music around right now. We all have to come to terms with it.

Kagoule - "Pharmacy" Single
90s revivalism continues in earnest (but it's good!).

Krallice - "Hyperion" EP
Colin Marston and company continue to blend the lines between mathcore, black and death metal in fascinating ways.

LUKA - "Pauses of the Night / Why Don't You Go to Her" Single
Canadian sweetheart LUKA put out two of the best love songs this year here.

Mommy - "Songs About Children" EP
This is a dark, fairly disturbing EP about psychiatric institutions all filtered through a grimy, lo-fi punk lens with violent performances abound.

Nail Polish - "Authentic Living" EP
Nail Polish embrace Wire's old hard-edged punk sound with fantastic results.

Open Mike Eagle - "How to Be Super Petty To Your Ex" Single
While fucking hilarious, this track is also moving and catchy as hell - in short, it's Open Mike Eagle.

Pile - "Cut From First Other Tape" Single
While I'm incredibly frustrated that the tape is damn near impossible to get my hands on, this single is pretty fantastic.

PURGIST - "Our Temple is On Fire" EP
Some of the most genuinely unnerving and depressing noise music I've heard this year.

Run the Jewels - "2100 (feat. BOOTS)" Single
RTJ comforts the hip-hop listening world in the face of Trump with one of their best songs yet.

Scallops Hotel - "Too Much of Life Is Mood" Single/EP
Milo, under the moniker of Scallops Hotel, makes some beautiful, hazy hip-hop.

Seattle's New Gods - "How's It Going to End?" Single
Grunge-tinged but soaked with punk aggression, these up-and-comers nail this new track.

Secret Circle - "Keep it Low" Single
Lil Ugly Mane, ANTWON, and Wiki team up for one of the best collaborations in hip-hop since, well, Run the Jewels.

Skeleton - "Skeleton" EP
The impossible-to-track-down Skeleton release a grimy, blackened punk EP with some serious balls.

Sporting Life - "Slam Dunk" EPs
Producer extraordinaire Sporting Life dropped three EPs this year of fantastic beats and remixes from the likes of Actress and Babyfather.

Tony Molina - "Confront the Truth" EP
Last but not least, Tony Molina put out a surprisingly beautiful EP of acoustic ballads this year. For some reason. I'm not complaining, but why?

Hope you find something you like here!

Twenty-Third Post: Why I Have Shitty Taste

This is an opinion post. If you don't really care (I don't blame you), skip this one: there'll be more music soon.

My favorite album this year is Jeff Rosenstock's "WORRY." It's not because it's the most well-played album this year, or even the best written. It's not the best recorded album this year by any means, and it's 90s revivalism will turn off listeners who aren't down with being unabashedly uncool. It's not a significantly better album than "We Cool?", his last album, and it's not too much of a stretch out of his comfort zone. In fact, "WORRY.", by most standards, is probably just a few notches up or down from "okay", depending on your view. But, it's my favorite album this year because it came about at the right time in my life. And I'll defend the shit out of the record if you come at me about it.

Nick Cave made a truly haunting record with "Skeleton Tree". A Tribe Called Quest made some of the most potent, important points on an album this year after having been out of the game for two decades. Aesop Rock proved he's still a master of word smithery on "The Impossible Kid". Lori McKenna wrote the best country tunes of the year on "The Bird & the Rifle". The Body and Full of Hell pushed music to its limits on their new collaborative release. And, lest we forget, David Bowie took us into the gaping mouth of death itself. So why fucking Rosenstock?

It comes down to this: in the past month and a half, "WORRY." became my most-played album on iTunes. When I turn my iPod on in the morning, the last thing I was listening to was probably "WORRY." I know 95% of the lyrics. But it still gives me the kind of chills you get when someone says something way, way too true. It was a classic right-place, right-time scenario. That does not mean there were no releases this year as groundbreaking as "WORRY.", it simply means it is the one I latched onto strongest and can truly not explain every reason why.

Maybe this means I have bad taste. Maybe "WORRY." is objectively less important in the long run than, say, "You Want It Darker". But I can tell you with certainty that I trust myself to know what I like and to know, to some extent, why. And I like "WORRY."

Albums that happen at specific points in your life affect you, that's just common sense. I don't think I would be as bowled over by AJJ's "Knife Man" if I discovered it right now as when I did four years ago. Bad Brains' self-titled would be merely kind of off-putting if I found it when I wasn't a blindly angry high schooler. I can safely say I only give a shit about a band like the Drones because I found them when I began to truly be interested in politics.

And now I'm a college freshman, slightly worried by things I see and terrified of things I don't. I struggle with some interaction (I run a music blog, for Chrissake) and like to watch bad art house films in my free time. Yesterday I saw two seasons of the Eric Andre show and fell asleep at 4:30 AM. I feel deeply sentimental for things I don't really understand. And I fucking love Jeff Rosenstock's "WORRY."

Thanks for reading.

Twenty-Second Post: Ratking, "So It Goes" (2014)

Hey, all. Been a while. Working on year-end lists and the like, so there'll definitely be more posts in the next month. Putting up a piece tonight on subjectivity, so I figured I'd put up some music while I was being pretentious.

Ratking's "So It Goes" is a genuinely unique hip-hop record, one with a distinct style that's been aped in the years after its release but never to the same effect. The trio (now duo) is composed of MCs Patrick "Wiki" Morales, Hakeem "Hak" Lewis, and producer Eric "Sporting Life" Adiele. They come from Harlem, NY, their main source of inspiration and pain. Ratking seemingly came out of nowhere in 2014 (although they were signed to XL Recordings since 2011) with "So It Goes", an album that mimics their neighborhood and experiences through a filter of multiple styles and in doing so, made one all their own.

"So It Goes" is a fascinating album in how it straddles accessibility and experimentalism. This comes mostly from Sporting Life's amazingly intricate beats that are often swallowed in layers upon layers of samples that weave through heavy sub-bass and brittle hi-hats. From the vocal sample calling out of the fog on lead single "Canal" to the recurring sound clip taken from a police interaction on "Remove Ya", Sporting Life really uses samples to make an atmosphere. We truly get the feeling that Ratking are leading us into a place only they understand. This is not to say there are no helpful touchstones: while 90s boom-bap is a recurring theme, everything from Suicide to Animal Collective are clear influences. From an instrumental standpoint, there's really nothing like it.

When it comes to what is said on the album, it's just as good, if not better. Admittedly, this comes mainly from Wiki's absolutely amazing flow and personality. His energy practically carries every single track here, with Hak adding supplemental verses to anchor Wiki in a realm of reality. His delivery is an acquired taste, definitely, but once you get on his almost off-the-dome style his storytelling is impeccable. This is especially true on the title track: the beat, constructed with controlled chaos by Sporting Life, compliments Wiki's stop/start machine-gun flow. When the hook (something Ratking usually eschews in favor of pure bludgeoning) arrives, it's a much-needed breath in the verbal onslaught.

In terms of highlights, the album is chock-full of them: the first track, "*", features a piercingly high sample screeching along with almost juke-style kick drum runs. "Canal" has one of the most ferocious verses on the whole LP, while the second single "So Sick Stories" is much more laid-back (due to King Krule's pitch-perfect, deep-voiced hook). "Eat" is oddly beautiful, led by Hak's singing and a fuzzy kick-snare pattern.

But "Snow Beach", to me, really elevates the album to a realm no other artist would be comfortable in, let alone make an almost seven-minute cut in. The opening is downright psychedelic: plinking bells compete with crashing waves, voices fade in and out, Wiki's voice loops in the background and a trap-style beat rattles against the entire thing. When Wiki and Hak emerge form the mess, they appear with such charisma (in Wiki's shout-along ad-libs and Hak's smooth singing) that its hard not to love. But the track suddenly shifts gears, throwing in a 90s NY sound replete with jazz horns and fuzzy piano samples lying on top of a busy bass line. Wiki adapts to the sound with his rhyme scheme and style, and Hak forms a truly memorable hook with gorgeous lyrics. It's pretty fucking cool.

Also, when they perform live, Wiki hits the mic against his head. What's not to love? Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAWzCmkJqpc ("Canal" video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzdb4gEaF6E ("So It Goes" video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihextXXsLew ("Snow Beach" video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdn3__jAH64 (Boiler Room show)

http://tinyurl.com/hrju7x3 (MEGA)

Twenty-First Post: Okkervil River, "Away" (2016)

Most days right now have been shitty. From the deaths of Leonard Cohen and Leon Russell to the unprecedented and, frankly, disturbing election, these past few weeks have been difficult. For a while I considered posting something about these topics specifically, but in the end, I felt that it was overstepping my place. This is a music blog, and while music reflects reality, I should not force my own reality on art like that. Today's post is something that should be comforting, at least to a degree.

Will Sheff knows something about shitty days. After years of putting out great folk-rock records under the name Okkervil River (lifted from an old Russian short story by Tatyana Tolstaya), he's gained a fairly small, but passionate, following. After being signed to Jagjaguwar and releasing a few critically successful albums in "The Stage Names" and "Black Sheep Boy" in the early 2000s, he fell out of public eye for a bit. 

Sheff and Co.'s latest release, "Away", finds the group returning to a smoother, folk-ier sound. While dabbling in rock ideas, the album is notably softer. Songs are meandering, cushioned by reverb and floating along on softly plucked guitar lines. Synth organs are quiet and comforting. What makes the album remarkable is what makes most Okkervil River releases remarkable: Sheff's unabashedly wordy and literary approach to songwriting and lyricism coupled with his distinctive singing voice. 

The first track is one of the best songs of the year and a perfect start to the album: "Okkervil River RIP" is gently affecting, beautifully written and played delicately. As layers and layers build on the song, Sheff never lets go of the reins fully: as acoustic turns to electric and drums cradle the entire orchestra, there is still a feeling of control. In his delivery, Sheff speaks on fame, death, music, and the public eye with a removed grace. As someone never fully recognized by the public, Sheff's musings on the demise of loved musicians is all the more heartbreaking.

To be honest, there's something to like in every song here. While some lose focus in their overwhelming atmosphere, they still have memorable lines and catchy hooks ("Comes Indiana Through the Smoke" being the biggest example). Even the longer songs are entertaining, with "Judey on a Street" featuring incessant, tapping percussion and an impassioned performance from Sheff. "Mary on a Wave" is a fantastic love song, featuring honest-to-god "sha-la-la"s. The chorus is ethereal and beautiful, while the verses are driven by twin guitar lines that compliment each other beautifully.

Sheff delivers the one-two punch with the ending, however. "Frontman in Heaven" is one part hilarious and one part depressing: Sheff's character here is overwhelmingly nervous, focusing way too hard on everything and examining everything as a message from the "Sky Man". His quest for meaning is subtly highlighted with absolutely ridiculous lines: "It's going to be funky fresh Christmas and I don't think I can handle it" being my favorite. But then again, there are amazing lyrics like "I watch the dying sun sink on those jerk-offs in their convertibles". To close out the record, Sheff seemingly goes off the rails. When I saw them live, he prefaced this song by stating every day he would write himself an email with a line that didn't make much sense and then put them all together into this song. I have no idea if that is true. "Days Spent Floating" is gorgeous and experimental, driven by gently plucked guitar lines and a wishy-washy synth line floating in and out. As percussion digs in and grounds the track in something like reality, Sheff lets the track run out. This speaks to his skill as a songwriter: he knows exactly when to stop. Let's just hope that's not too soon.

I hope this record finds you well. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BpA_MqGBtk ("Okkervil River RIP " video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuDQpN2Pa5M ("Mary on a Wave")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kBWufLX0vU ("For Real")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGxIwOriQAM (Live on KEXP)

http://tinyurl.com/h5byxru (MEGA)

Twentieth Post: LIL UGLY MANE, "UNEVEN COMPROMISE" (2012)

Happy Halloween. In honor of today, I wanted to make a post on one of the spookiest artists I know: the Ugly Mane himself.

Lil Ugly Mane (stylized LIL UGLY MANE, referred to as LUM from now on) is a noise artist. During any conversation about the Richmond, Virginia-based musician, I make sure to include that first. He makes noise, punk, metal, avant-garde, and most notably, hip-hop. He's a scrawny white guy named Travis Miller who produces under the name Shawn Kemp (or variations on it) and blew up in the post-first-wave-internet-rapper ooze that birthed Odd Future and, to a degree, Death Grips. He makes (well, made) gangsta rap with gimmicky pitch-shifted vocals with a fixation on death and drugs. But when you dig a little beneath the surface, things get unsettling really quickly.

After his mixtape "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" took the internet by storm (following a few demos and a preview mixtape titled "PLAYAZ CIRCLE" that got minimal attention), LUM began to play with the Bandcamp platform to create a persona that would become somewhat legendary. The jump in quality from the demos to "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" was notable: the vocals were produced very well in their low pitch, the beats were fantastic, and the lyrical content was disturbing and (while not subtle) intelligent in their delivery. It left people hungry for more. But LUM went dark, posting cryptic semi-albums and singles, then a triptych of instrumental mixtapes (the last one landing around two and a half hours long) that included everything from unused, dusty and gorgeous hip-hop beats to searing noise and black metal. Finally, he satisfied curiosity with his elegy to hip-hop and the LUM persona ("ON DOING AN EVIL DEED BLUES", a fantastic track) and then his dying gasp ("THE WEEPING WORM" followed by the swan song "Oblivion Access"), nailing the coffin shut.

"UNEVEN COMPROMISE" is a single/EP in the curious period following "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" and before his "Three Sided Tape" series. Its two parts (one intro cut, better heard than described, and a proper song made of multiple discernible sections) are the best thing LUM has ever put out. From the fantastic beats to meticulous songwriting to the jaw-dropping lyrics, LUM pushes horrorcore and other jokey genres into a place of uncomfortable reality. I'll be talking about the second part of "UNEVEN COMPROMISE" below, going into each section in length.

")))____◎◎◎◎█████", or as it's more commonly referred to, "Uneven Compromise", starts as a black metal song disguised as a grimy hip-hop track. Horror-movie bells chime as clicks and moans fade in from the background, and with a few artificial snare cracks, LUM's voice intones "Corrupted by the darkness / Now you fall into an endless sleep". And, fuck, it gets so much more fun. "Satanic prophecies / Christian hypocrisy"? "Flesh is the fabric that covers my robes / Blood is the matter that built up my throne"? "Same wolf from that folklore / Drinking blood right out of that goat horn"?! It's fucking Burzum! It's Bathory! It's Darkthrone! This shit is disturbing! As the beat fades out, pianos lightly plink to bring us out of the hellhole we've been thrust into.

A sampled quote discusses the implications of rap on our behavior, possibly alleviating some of the darkness heaped upon the first section. As the sample, layered in reverb, fades away, a boom-bap beat with flutes and jingling chimes recall 90s hip-hop while another sample discusses existentialist ideas in music and art. These two quotes and samples are thought-provoking in their placement in and over the song. This section ends by slowing down to a stop.

What follows is a well put-together sound collage, repeated over a growing, noisy drone. The four lines are all samples from other songs, describing the music industry as the reason we are disenfranchised with music itself. As everything grows to a crescendo, the collage cuts out.

The 90s aesthetic returns suddenly with beautiful piano chords and live drum beats cradling record scratches and a simple bass line. The lyrics fly in suddenly, telling a very personal story describing an encounter someone (maybe LUM, maybe an everyman) has with a friend dealing with addiction. From the writing to delivery, this section is heartbreaking. As we come to learn more about these characters, their plight becomes much more relatable until we feel connected to them. When the story comes to its shocking conclusion, LUM cuts us away to another, slightly more off-putting and worryingly anxious beat. With cut up vocal samples and tape hiss, this section drags along until it dies away. But there's still 26 seconds left.

Here, LUM lets us have it. All the bottled rage and intensity that can't come through with something as orchestrated as hip-hop is unleashed as a raging harsh noise wall. The song floors it until it cuts away, dropping us right back where we started. It's fucking genius: in a multi-tiered song, LUM forces us past our comfort zone and doesn't even let it end! We're mid-beatdown, and like the sadist he is, he won't finish us off.

"UNEVEN COMPROMISE" is great. No way around it. Jumping into LUM's entire mythos is tiring and more disappointing than not, but it is pretty fucking interesting. This is the apex, though, where he shakes the praise and familiarity of "MISTA THUG ISOLATION" (an album I admittedly don't like) and steps into something truly special.

Fucked up shit. Happy Halloween. Links below.

https://liluglymane.bandcamp.com/album/uneven-compromise ("UNEVEN COMPROMISE")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7-p1Wy3oLs ("Uneven Compromise - Live")

http://tinyurl.com/zkmprsf (MEGA)

Nineteenth Post: Danny Brown, "Atrocity Exhibition" (2016)

When Danny Brown created a visceral portrait of drug addiction and party culture on "XXX" and "Old", the world responded with what amounted to a shrug. While some recognized him as the insanely talented, idiosyncratic and unique voice he was, many others lumped him in with "shock" rappers - using his intense subject matter as a crutch, or gimmick. Danny knew that he would have to go completely nuts to shake these opinions, and on his latest record, his first for Warp, he does.

From the opening seconds of "Downward Spiral", Danny and Paul White (his primary producer for the record) inform us that this thing will pull no punches. Using a heavy, thick, psych-rock inspired instrumental with reverbed guitar stabs and seemingly random drum hits, the pair throw us headfirst into the sweaty, claustrophobic drug haven Danny describes. His singular, strangled, squeaking voice is like a bleat from the underworld - when he shouts, "gotta figure it out", it's almost a challenge. In a way, this track is the mission statement: from the pit of darkness and self-loathing driving the lyrics to the downright challenging instrumental, the entire album follows its lead.

"Tell Me What I Don't Know" is an excellent follow-up to this track by playing it a bit straighter - Danny even raps this song in a "normal" voice. It may be the song that most reflects Danny's roots in more ways than one: it's deeply sad, following a dead friend's life in Detroit, and uses a beat including heavy synth lines with breakbeats. There are a few odd, intentional omissions and additions in the beat and lyrics here, making a seemingly straightforward track that much more strange and intriguing. "Rolling Stone" follows suit in that way, with production and a feature by Petite Noir grounding this track in reality. There are wonderful little additions like cowbell or a heavy, organic bass line. It's significantly darker than most songs on the album, making the opening sequence up until this point pretty soul-crushing.

Much has been written or talked about in terms of the next track and well-loved single, "Really Doe". From the absolutely incredible verses from every artist here (Ab-Soul, Kendrick Lamar, and Earl Sweatshirt) to the minimal, fantastic production (Black Milk), even to the placement of the verses and the progression of the beat, this song is excellent. It's definitely in contention for single of the year, and it's easily the best posse cut I've heard for a while. And Earl is definitely getting deserved recognition - his verse absolutely brims with bottled violence.

The run following "Really Doe" may be my favorite on the album: "Lost" has a totally wonky, dirty, disgusting sample-based beat and some of Danny's best-written verses. It's funny, intimidating, and his flow is insane: Myke C-Town, a pretty great critic, asserted that no one else can do what Danny does in terms of how he puts his words together over these instrumentals. I agree. His threats are for real, and they all come from his impeccable musical ability. "Ain't It Funny" is fucking fantastic, no way around it. From the blaring horns that just peel your eyes back, to Danny's breathless and bloodthirsty delivery, to the insane effects layered over the entire thing... this track is amazing, taking hip-hop to a place not many people would dare to touch, while Danny dives right in. "Golddust" and "White Lines" take even more liberties - it gets downright overwhelming in the layers of horns and Eastern elements splattered all over the entire thing. "White Lines" features a mind-blowingly weird moment when Danny raps rapid-fire over flute bursts of a sample in almost Busdriver, "Imaginary Places" style. The ad-libs just add to the entire feeling. It's very Warp Records, both these tracks. It's mentioned that this album feels like being on drugs, and these songs are perfect examples of this.

"Pneumonia" is almost a simple song - from the opening, with ominous clanking and bell hits, we're expecting Danny to take his foot off the pedal for a second. Then the verse hits, and his flow returns to something completely unpredictable, but he makes it sound effortless. While the song plays wildly with expectations, it does seem to break the concept for a second, something Danny's addressed. It's a party song for the paranoid and high.

He jumps right back in on "Dance in the Water", a sample-based track that feels like a layer of grime layered on top of you that Danny eventually sets on fire. It's weird. It's really fucking weird. Paul White and Danny turn a dance instruction into a song, painting Danny as the ruler of some disturbing land where he is the dance god. I can't explain this song, but that's nowhere near a bad thing. The chorus is just completely undeniable.

"From the Ground" is something of a breath of air - Kelela's feature is excellent, and the song really does a good job of making you look around at the atmosphere Danny's made so far. "When It Rain", the first single, features Danny's impeccable flow and a singular Detroit drum style but its four-on-the-floor drums really pound at your head, almost to the point where you want to tap out. "Today" follows these tracks up with a relatively easy-to-understand song. It's paranoid and scary, sure, but in terms of listenability its not that oppressive. It's a great track, especially when taking the lyrics into consideration, speaking about Danny's lifestyle and the decisions people make in environments where they seem to have no other choice.

Then there's "Get Hi". Which sounds like being high. I can't listen to it, usually, or I get sort of stuck and have to listen to it over and over. It's amazingly well done, beautiful and thought-provoking, especially when he lists off jazz greats who had horrible drug addictions. It's a strange setup when you listen to the last song, following it. "Hell for It" is restrained but may be Danny's angriest song. He speaks to those who didn't recognize him for the talent he is, vowing to give them hell for it. And unlike most songs of this nature, he deserves the chance to say this. 

This album is amazing. There's nothing quite like it, even in the large pool of experimental hip-hop around, Danny has crafted something spectacularly unique. I think it's one for the history books: the time when mainstream hip-hop got a huge slap in the face in the form of the most experimental album to be widely accepted in fucking years. 

"Atrocity Exhibition" takes its name from Joy Division and JG Ballard, two uncompromising figures. Add Danny Brown. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNogzmuULLM ("Ain't It Funny")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csxSwkl4Gd0 ("Pneumonia")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spfsdpuvUyQ ("Really Doe")

http://tinyurl.com/h5hu9kp (MEGA)

Eighteenth Post: Five Singles (Plus an EP) (10/19)

Been a while since one of these posts. There's been a lot of great music announced and coming out, so I wanted to squeeze in one of these before getting back to albums. Lots more modern music coming soon as well as older shit. Stay tuned.

Clarence Clarity - SAME EP/Telenovela
The reigning king of post-ironic, legitimately exciting internet-fueled pop and electronic music returns with an "EP" - five songs, with each song being exactly the same. Hence the title. While there are tiny little differences in each track, what we're getting here is essentially a single, but luckily it's fantastic. From the first second, disorienting arpeggiated chords and children shouting clue the listener in that Clarity has returned with his traditional maximalist sound with possibly even more layers to peel back. What makes his music so amazing is the replay value: every single time you listen you hear something new. Maybe the raga-inspired guitar line, subtle in the pre-chorus, or the chanted background vocals, pitch-shifted both high and low, maybe the buzzsaw synths over pounding drum machines with an almost dubstep-like feel. While "SAME" 1-5 are fantastic, there's a hidden track on Clarity's SoundCloud called "Telenovela" that is as good or better. It focuses more on a tight groove, but with sudden and odd shifts into Spanish music and themes, with synth horns in a prominent role. That is, until the song becomes incredibly dubstep-inspired with a prominent drop and synth wobbles following it, then jumping back to its original style. Both songs are excellent and compliment each other nicely, showing Clarity adding more method and madness. No news of a longer release has been accounced as of now.
https://soundcloud.com/clarence-clarity/sets/same-ep
https://soundcloud.com/clarence-clarity/telenovela-hidden-track/s-1gzT0

Wormrot - Hollow Roots
Wormrot is a grindcore band from Singapore that plays as much in a traditional style (early Napalm Death as a main soundalike) and in a moodier, slightly more straightforward angle all their own. This cut from their new album, "Voices", is fantastically heavy and dark. From the opening D-beat rhythms suddenly jumping into a wonderfully orchestrated grind section, this track is unique and powerful, with well-recorded guitar lines coming out beautifully. It's a strangely pretty track in its own way, especially from the guitar melodies - the album is out now, and its a doozy. Might be a post on it at some point. "Voices" is out on Earache Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IPSTb84JoI
https://wormrot.bandcamp.com/album/voices

Landlady - Electric Abdomen
I caught Landlady open for Okkervil River at the Metro, and I was really surprised and happy with their lighthearted, beautiful approach to indie pop and rock music. They announced their latest album, "The World is a Loud Place", just today. They've shared two tracks here, and I remember the track I chose from their live performance, with their outspoken frontman delving into the song's history before jumping in. It's slower than some of their other tracks, but it features some Landlady traits: odd rhythm (5/4 for most of it, I believe), funny lyrics, group harmonies (subtle, here), and a focus on a lighthearted mood, something kind of comforting in today's world. It's a very pretty song but has a nice evolution to it, something you can dance or just happily nod to. Fun live show, too. "The World is a Loud Place" is out January 16th on Hometapes.
https://landlady.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-a-loud-place

Luke Roberts - Silver Chain
Luke Roberts' newest album is just a great record, though it's hard to pin down. It's not strict country, it's not blues enough to be blues, and though I guess it could be simplified to singer-songwriter that strips away some of its charm. This lead single was a fantastic jumping off point: I had never heard of Roberts before this track, which was, and is, absolutely stunning. It's beautifully simple, pairing very well with Roberts' say-it-like-it-is poetry. Its simplicity is deceptive, though: there's a lot here to listen to. Fantastic harmonies and banjo additions come from Kurt Vile, and excellent piano and synth lines just barely brush up against delicate piano melodies. It's a gorgeous song, one steeped in older traditions but very recognizable as a modern take. "Sunlit Cross" is out now on Thrill Jockey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDG2l4J3N3c
http://www.thrilljockey.com/products/sunlit-cross

Cloud Nothings - Modern Act
Indie rock band Cloud Nothings return from a few years of silence with a new(ish) sound and album announcement. Their last album saw them stripping away some of the grit and harder-rock elements on their breakout album, "Attack on Memory". This seems to be even more in that direction, but in my opinion, it's not a bad move. They've proved that they can write some catchy, interesting material while keeping it lighter (at least sonically) through singles on "Here and Nowhere Else" or their collaborative album with Wavves. Though both projects had weak moments, there were songs here that proved Cloud Nothings could move away from their past with maintaining solid songwriting. They prove it here, making a single that's easy on the ears but heavy on the heart. Dylan Baldi, their lead singer, acknowledges this melancholy: it's just a "lil bit emo". This song is catchy, first and foremost, but after repeated listens it becomes wonderfully sad. It's a very good sounding song, as well - it doesn't seem that losing some of the original lineup has impacted the full-sounding band here. While I love their Albini-produced material, this song is a solid reason to anticipate the new record. "Life Without Sound" is out January 27th on Carpark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNaMY8ssUfA
http://store.carparkrecords.com/products/571782-cak115-cloud-nothings-life-without-sound

Smidley - No One Likes You
As someone who has always been neutral or less on all of Foxing's music, this came out of nowhere. Conor Murphy, lead singer of emo, post-rock and indie rock band Foxing makes a solo debut as Smidley and writes a strict indie pop and rock song, the kicker is it's fucking excellent. From the plinky, twangy guitar lines to the fuzzy bass and cute drum line, this song has character just from the instrumental. Murphy plays it straight here, dipping into a strangled shout in some heavier moments but the entire thing is so beautifully light and airy, perfectly contrasting the hilariously dark lyrics. This song is not exactly the antithesis of Foxing, but it's very unexpected in a good way. What's a shame is that this is probably a one-off.
https://smidley.bandcamp.com/track/no-one-likes-you

Seventeenth Post: Jeff Rosenstock, "WORRY." (2016)

This post will be a bit longer, as I'm writing on one of my personal heroes. You can't have a conversation about the DIY scene without talking about Quote Unquote records, you can't forget to bring up Bomb the Music Industry!, and you sure as hell can't leave out Jeff fucking Rosenstock. This guy almost singlehandedly burgeoned an entire DIY pop-punk scene in New York in the early 2000s through his fierce ideology and vision. I think what Jeff wants is that everyone, truly everyone, has a good time, usually involving screaming self-deprecating lyrics about clinical depression and inebriation.

Jeff's main projects have been the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry!, and work under his own name. He's also worked with Andrew Jackson Jihad (now AJJ), the Bruce Lee Band and Kudrow. In his earliest projects, he leaned heavily into ska-punk and almost painfully bright pop-punk, replete with horns and shout-along choruses. What made them so likable was not only Jeff's singular bleat but the unabashed sloppiness with which projects were rolled out. He's a prolific guy, you have to say that about him. And considering the depth to which Jeff dives in the lyrics, you'd be hard-pressed to find a songwriter with more passion in attacking his shortcomings.

A main aspect of these early project was the DIY ethos: no merch, concert tickets at ten dollars or under, all ages. You can bring a sweat-stained white shirt and Jeff will spray paint BTMI! in a heart on it, but they made the music to make the music. Jeff's presence in the music industry is an amazing anomaly: he runs his own pay-what-you-want label called Quote Unquote Records, and a new one called Really Records, and makes music with his friends. As his name grew, aspects of this have faded away: he sells merch through Side One Dummy Records, and for the first time he had a budget on a record. That led to "WORRY."

Now, let's get to this new record. I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of most of the Arrogant Sons of Bitches, and even some of Bomb the Music Industry! wears at me. Jeff's history with ska-punk and pop-punk seems to rear its head occasionally, and with a 17-song tracklist that caused some worries going in to this album. But what Jeff puts out here might be his best material ever. He takes all the self-loathing of his last record and fuses it with different genres, creating a patched-together portrait of a person overcome with, well, worry.

Jeff states in the documentary on Bomb the Music Industry! that he has trouble seeing himself making the music he was making past 30. At 34, Jeff has proved himself right and wrong: the music here is different, by all means, but he spits on "maturity" as seen traditionally by music media. This is pop-punk, indie rock, power balladry, ska-punk, hardcore punk and synth flute-led interludes all clattering around in a runtime of under 40 minutes. Jeff's incorporation of all these disparaging genres into something as beautifully cohesive and entertaining as "WORRY." is nothing short of amazing.

This record starts with a power ballad, "We Begged 2 Explode", in the style of "Beers Again Alone" from "We Cool?", beginning with a simple piano line and becoming a blown-out scream-along celebrating the horrifying and totally unstoppable passage of time. At what I assume is a new year's party, Jeff imagines his friends leaving, falling in love, then out of love. They jump around wildly to a song and Jeff states what may be the mission statement of the album: stop sneering at our joy. This song is beautiful in its own way, and may be my favorite on the project. It's a release of bottled anger that provides a catharsis that only sweaty shows with your favorite bands can provide.

He moves into what appears to be another slow track following this, but it suddenly bursts into Jeff's traditional Weezer-after-a-few-beers pop-punk with undeniable melodies and fuzzed out bass and guitars complimenting the subtle horns and Jeff's yells. It's one of many tracks under the two-minute mark here, and shows that Jeff's no-bullshit approach to songwriting keeps these songs memorable and lean. Following this is the first single from the album, "Festival Song". It describes an existential crisis at a music festival, and Jesus, if you read the lyrics, its fucking depressing. It's an expertly-written song, and the pop-punk stylings provide a wonderful contrast with the content.

"Staring Out the Window at Your Old Apartment" is a fun, synth-piano led track about getting evicted. Here, Jeff lets himself wallow in a surprisingly engaging way, as we're led through the simple melodies with his traditionally wordy lyrics. The next track, "Wave Goodnight to Me", is similar to "Festival Song" in that it uses an older pop-punk style to send its message of age and changing into our ears with sweet guitar solos and shout-along choruses. "To Be a Ghost..." begins with an acoustic guitar and simple synth lines, and may be the most uplifting song on the album. It asks the listener to not become a ghost, avoid the hate of those who want to stop you. While it's a simple message, Jeff sings it with such purpose and anger that you can't help but smile. The track takes a left turn into a jam session in the second half, complete with hand-claps and harmonized guitar solos. When Jeff comes back to the chorus, the song is a triumphant celebration of all accomplishments we've made.

The next two tracks, "Pietro, 60 Years Old" and "I Did Something Weird Last Night" begin to incorporate elements of bright, blisteringly fun indie rock. The first song acts an introduction at only thirty-eight seconds, a weird little interlude that hypes up the second song, one about long-distance relationships in college. While depressing and totally unsure of itself, the lyrics are fantastic. The melodies and rhythms on this song are equally impressive. The quickly spit out triplets leading up the chorus are performed so fucking well. It's another incredibly high point on an album filled with them.

After this song, Jeff embarks on what may be the most ambitious musical feat he's put to record. A nine-song medley, burning through over half the tracklist and tackling disparate styles and winding down on the final track. And, though same may be put off, I believe it works beautifully. It's an amazing, breathless run that proves Jeff's abilities as a songwriter.

The beginning of the medley is relatively slow, though harmonized guitar solos, xylophones, horns and voice-shredding yells on the second half make for an amazingly crafted indie rock song that ends with a beautiful buildup to the rollicking, more-punk-than-pop track "Bang on the Door". The song describes dreading the landlord, and the infectious melody and rhythm harken back to absolute best BTMI! tracks. This track lands at around a minute, and my only complaint is that there isn't more.

"Bang on the Door" transitions, seamlessly, to a track I'm sure some people are dreading: "Rainbow", an honest to God ska-punk song. The placement of this song is funny as hell, and its a surprisingly well put-together track with bitingly funny lyrics and some excellent drum and guitar work. It's tightly wound and angry, but puts a fun spin on it. The next track loses the fun spin. Jeff totally lets that anger and anxiety out on "Planet Luxury". Jeff yells at the top of his lungs at an impeccably fast pace - it's the closest Jeff has every gotten to hardcore punk, complete with a bone-rattling howl at the end.

The transition out of "Planet Luxury" is jarring, intentionally, and here Jeff crafts what is essentially "We Cool?" 2.0, which is by no means a bad thing. "Hellllhoooole" is funny, played very well, and is only one of the weakest songs on the album due to placement in the tracklist. The transition out of this track into "June 21st" is fantastic, like many others, and uses the melodies presented in the prior track to make a new, equally great track. Group harmonies and ascending musical lines paint Jeff's picture of coming out of seasonal depression very well. He jumps from this into "The Fuzz", a close-to-pop song at first with bright sequenced synths and drum machines that suddenly bursts into a painfully sad pop-punk meets indie rock tune.

The next track acts not only as a continuation of "The Fuzz" but also to "To Be a Ghost...", a move that is not only clever for linking the two "halves" of the album but also for continuing the themes of life, death, and impermanence. The song begins to rise up and up and finally explodes into the last song, "Perfect Sound Whatever". It's a simple song with repeated lines, based on shouting along to bright, celebratory chords referencing the lack of a perfect sound, anywhere. Nothing is perfect, and Jeff, as a perfectionist, struggles deeply with this. The song is not bogged down by this though, instead claiming one day we won't have to constantly apologize. It's atypically happy and a fantastic note to leave the album on as the track fades away.

This record is excellent, one of Jeff's best and sure to be one of my favorites this year. It's the sound of an excellent songwriter crafting song after song that add up to an excellent picture of not only himself, but of a group of people too scared of growing to fully commit themselves. I loved having the opportunity to see songs come from their infancy by getting to contribute gang vocals to the album, as well.

Fucking great album. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7MPzv78cWs ("Wave Goodnight to Me")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ9kYqOlkq8 ("Planet Luxury")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfoCf5cQBzc ("The Making of WORRY.")

http://www.quoteunquoterecords.com/qur088.htm - "WORRY.", from Quote Unquote Records! Free download! Do it! Why not? Do it!

Sixteenth Post: Shellac, "1000 Hurts" (2000)

"Shellac of North America. Catalog number TG211CD. Audio compact disc. 44.1 kHz sample rate. 16 bit word length. Samples represented in twos complement binary. 8-14 expansion. Set reproducer for reference level. 1,000 hertz."

And with that, Steve Albini, Bob Weston, and Todd Trainer proceed to play some of the most dark, fantastic noise rock ever put to record. "1000 Hurts" is the third album by Shellac, a Chicago-based group featuring, most notably, the guitarist/vocalist/producer Steve Albini (formerly of Big Black). This album is, in my opinion, Shellac's best work: they abandon their longer songs, focusing their energy into tightly contained tracks, practically bursting with tension.

This album likes to straddle noise rock and more traditional styles of rock very uncomfortably. It's primal, but intellectual. It's catchy, but noisy and harsh. It's signature style comes from this dichotomy. When the skeletal beat of "Mama Gina" kicks off, most listeners would be bored, but there's a great sense of anticipation; mostly because the band spent the last two tracks beating the shit out of you. It's a style that has been copied a lot since the release of this album, but its roots are firmly in this group.

If you like Albini's recording style (no bullshit, no frills, very little overdubbing), this album has it in prime form. From the heavy thud of the bass to the scraping guitar tone, this album is intent on showing you just how fucking angry these guys can be with the minimal amount of interference.

I should mention that this is Shellac's darkest album to date. Occasionally they'll bust out their sense of humor, but the humor here is pitch black. It focuses on disenchantment in relationships and in life, leaving brief respite from the assault. 

This album also has one of the best songs of all time on it. "Prayer to God", which opens this record, is an absolutely amazing track. The crunching guitars scream out sharp, odd chords with a simple, violent drum beat. The bass only amplifies the violence. I'm not going to spoil the lyrical content, but Jesus Christ, Albini holds nothing back. By the time the last repetition comes around, the simple statement sung is not a request but an order, and from the way he sounds, you'd be insane to not follow his directions. 

If you're not convinced yet, the title of this album is a pun. 1,000 hertz, "1000 Hurts".

This thing is fucking brutal. It's fantastic, weird, violent, and important. Link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6qNb3m-SOI - ("Canaveral")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0jw5qBgUuo - ("Prayer to God")

http://tinyurl.com/jmknxnx (MEGA)

Fifteenth Post: Destroyer, "Destroyer's Rubies" (2006)

Destroyer is the main musical project of Dan Bejar, singer-songwriter extraordinaire. "Destroyer's Rubies" is one of the best albums to come out of this project, if not the best. It marries Bejar's fascination with music of the 60s and 70s with his own unique and poetic voice.

Destroyer has always been about fusing easy-to-digest pop sensibilities with something unmistakably more - by that, I mean there's a kind of temptation to read Bejar's lyrics as straight poetry. It's heady, self-referential, and very easy to get lost in. But, for all their wonder and glamour, it's pop music: it's about love, places seen and unseen, relationships. But Bejar's delivery, always dramatic, elevates it to a theatrical place, giving all these human situations beautifully framed qualities.

"Destroyer's Rubies", and every Destroyer release, has an unmistakeable brand on it from Bejar's voice. There are whispered lines, howled ad-libs and almost drunken slurs. His voice is idiosyncratic and unforgettable. However, the instrumentals are especially gorgeous on this album. They eschew traditional song format to pare with the winding stories Bejar tells.

Take "Rubies" - the track goes through many forms, eventually landing on Bejar and his acoustic guitar. "Painter in Your Pocket" takes the opposite approach, starting with a simple guitar line and building a beautiful tapestry around a simple multi-tiered chorus repeating until the end.

This album stands out in Destroyer's catalog as one where traditional rock tropes are toyed with and molded into a distinct new shape. In prior releases, baroque and chamber pop took the lead, but the distorted crunch of guitars in the opening of this album lets you know you're in for something different. And something just as worthwhile.

If you're looking for an excellent singer-songwriter album with fantastic vocals and lyrics and beautiful instrumentals, give this thing a shot. Link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nzc-VDqxBU - ("Your Blood")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KDtJjzJWS0 - ("Rubies")

http://tinyurl.com/znewdqd (MEGA)

Fourteenth Post: Animal Collective, "Feels" (2005)

Okay, I don't usually start posts like this, but if you haven't heard this album you're missing out. Seriously, this thing is so fucking good, it's like if the Beach Boys took a ton of acid and decided to make kick-ass experimental pop songs while using a shitty de-tuned piano. If that doesn't convince you, I don't know what will.

Animal Collective is the musical quartet (sometimes trio) of Avey Tare, Panda Bear, Geologist and Deakin. This album, "Feels", features all of the band's members, and involves outside artists coming on for collaboration, such as Eyvind Kang and Doctess. This album followed their most stripped-down album so far, "Sung Tongs", and comes before one of their pop-iest albums, "Strawberry Jam". This album is the blending of those two worlds while incorporating even more jaw-droppingly beautiful psychedelic sounds than ever before.

That's the first thing many people notice about this album: the textures conjured up here are incredible. In the opening track "Did You See the Words", bubbly giggles rise from the swirling, reverbed background while guitar and synth ascending lines fill in the gaps, and finally a simple drum and piano line bring the entire song together with a quietly propulsive energy. That's only the first forty-five seconds. Every song incorporates its own flavor, from the giddy, breathless "The Purple Bottle" to "Loch Raven" and its restrained melancholy.

But that's not all, not by a long shot: this may be Animal Collective's best written album. There are fantastic lyrics abound, abandoning the nonsensical lines of some of "Sung Tongs", favoring beautiful imagery ("words cut open", "my cherry dream boat") and the occasional painfully blunt and hard-hitting lyric ("this mess is mine", "there will be time to just cry", "I'd like to spread your perfume around the old apartment", "I will not give up on you").

The vocal performances here are also worth noting: Avey Tare is giving some of his most impassioned deliveries, shouting on "Grass", just about whispering on "Loch Raven" and crafting beautiful Beach Boys-esque harmonies on just about every track here. One standout moment for me is Panda Bear's contribution on "Loch Raven" - his background vocals are fucking haunting.

The melodies here are gorgeous and insanely memorable. Every song is crafted so well, nothing feels accidental or malformed. This is in part to how distinctive this album is in not only Animal Collective's vast catalog, but the music sphere in general. It's a mature album from this band, one with a lot to say and a lot for the listener to uncover.

Before I close out my little spiel, I'd like to talk about "Banshee Beat", a song that just recently totally clicked with me and may be the best Animal Collective song (other contenders being "Fireworks", "For Reverend Green", and "Bluish"). The song features a slow, morose opening set against swelling layers of guitars and crackling noises, Avey singing quietly and uncharacteristically bluntly. As the rhythm begins to swell in the background, the song picks up ever so slightly. Avey seems to be picking himself up little by little. As the vocals begin to rise in pitch, the background harmonies skitter around like voices in his head. The low drum line in the background propels the song forward. And the last few minutes contain of the most beautiful moments I think the band has ever made. I get the stupidest grin whenever the "swimming pool" line comes on. It's a fantastic song.

Anyway. Great, great fucking album. Link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvBoFpgXQA ("Grass")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXfwc0RDHBQ ("Did You See the Words")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP2OdUgWCbY (Live in Oakland feat. "Loch Raven")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj-0vMrZJbo ("Banshee Beat")

http://tinyurl.com/hr6464b (MEGA)

Thirteenth Post: Touché Amoré, "Stage Four" (2016)

Touché Amoré is one of the big success stories of modern post-hardcore. They blew up in 2011 with their album "Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me", and then followed that up with the excellent "Is Survived By" in 2013. Their mix of screamo/emo lyrical and vocal performance paired with a more melodic version of late Dischord Records post-hardcore instrumentals proved to be a winning formula. Much of this success can be attributed to Jeremy Bolm, the lead singer, whose tear-stained journal lyrics and pained howls are pretty captivating.

This new album of theirs doesn't exactly push things in a more extreme direction, instead focusing on melody and atmosphere. At first, this seems like an odd choice, as the album focuses almost exclusively on the death of Bolm's mother to cancer (hence, "Stage Four"). After repeated listens, though, the takeaway of the album, and the reason behind the sound shift becomes clear: this is an album about letting go, however painful it may be.

Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of moments of raw, vintage TA sound. For example, the track "Benediction" - the verses are sung with clean vocals in Bolm's middle range, an odd choice as the song describes the lead up and days after the funeral. But as Bolm jumps into the chorus, which is a word-for-word transcription of the song sung at the funeral itself, he switches into an explosive, heart-wrenching scream. It's a beautiful moment and a really interesting juxtaposition, one of my favorites on the album.

This album is great for many reasons, but one of the best being how uncensored the entire thing feels. There are moments here where the lyrics paint Bolm as a coward, a fool who took things for granted, and he runs with these moments to make his grieving process feel universal. Take "Rapture", the last single to come out from this album. As Bolm yells, "I was comfortable", he forces the listener to examine the smaller things that hold them up in their life. In "Eight Seconds", the last lyrics of the song describe the phone call he received when he learned his mother passed: she died while he was onstage, running from responsibility. This song is followed by "Palm Dreams", which was the first single announced from the record, in what I'm assuming is a deliberate and dark choice.

Of course, the entire thing would be painfully unlistenable and disappointing if the instrumentals didn't back all of this up. And for the most part, they do. While I enjoy the more raw feeling of "Is Survived By", this album definitely has highlights. The main riff of "Rapture", for instance, is beautiful and perfectly fitting. The recurring theme on the album, heard mostly in "Skyscraper", is also pretty gorgeous. The entire thing does have a somewhat similar feel to it: tracks don't have that distinction that "Is Survived By" had, instead focusing on major-chord progressions and a more "safe" feeling.

I have to admit, though, this is a tough album. Sitting down and listening to it is fucking depressing. It explores many of the facets of losing a loved one, and exceptionally well. It's also an album worth replaying: I've heard it more than a few times since I picked it up last night and I hear new things each time. Without spoiling it, listen to the entire album: the last thirty seconds of "Skyscraper" are new, not heard on the single version, and really elevate the album into something pretty special. This is an interesting and worthwhile progression for Touché Amoré, one I think many people will respond to. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxqw2k8BbMU ("Rapture")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9dVDKYsmu0 ("Displacement")

Twelfth Post: Lori McKenna, "The Bird & the Rifle" (2016)

I've noticed that a lot of people will say they'll listen to anything except one genre: it's usually hip-hop or country, depending on who you're talking to. I've always thought it's a bit unfair to pigeonhole an entire genre based on a preconceived notion of it, so I wanted to make a post on one of my favorite country albums this year.

Lori McKenna is something of an unknown modern songwriting legend: she's been co-writing and helping more well-known country artists for years.  This year, she even won a Grammy for her work in co-writing. Her music has always had less bombast than the people she wrote for: it features restrained, comforting, and occasionally bitingly sad portrayals of people living quiet lives. What makes her songwriting remarkable is how well she conjures a time and place. It harkens back to older country icons while incorporating modern ideas beautifully.

This is all present in her latest album, though it has a sadder streak to it. The album is highly personal but very universal, as good country music usually is. Each track portrays McKenna's wounds from the relationships of her past, her life now, and the future she envisions for herself and for her children. In "Humble & Kind", she tries to pass on lessons of humility to her audience, possibly her family. "Wreck You" and "Halfway Home" are heartbreaking songs detailing relationships past and present. A personal favorite, "All These Things", is a bit more cheerful, talking about helping one another by being the thing they need, whether they know it or not.

The record sounds beautiful as well, mainly due to the production from Dave Cobb. Cobb is easily one of the best producers of modern country music, ranging from this album to Sturgill Simpson to his own compilation (which is excellent), "Southern Family". The work on "The Bird & the Rifle" is standout: it incorporates rock elements under the beautifully laid out guitar and strings, the drum lines are understated and McKenna's voice is fluid and natural. It's a very warm-feeling album, reminiscent of the days in the sun referenced in the lyrics.

"The Bird & the Rifle" is one of the best albums this year, and even those who don't think they like country should definitely check it out. There's something here for just about everybody, and I highly recommend it. Sorry for the lack of posts, by the way. I've been moving into college and doing a whole bunch of shit besides updating this thing.

One of the best country releases of 2016. Link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYTeAEi4Re4 ("Wreck You")

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yefqMWaipck ("All These Things")

http://tinyurl.com/zwkdc75 (MEGA)

Eleventh Post: clipping., "Splendor & Misery" (2016)

DISCLAIMER: This is all written after first listen. This post will be a bit different, and probably longer than other posts on the blog. Links at the end.

clipping. is the experimental hip-hop trio of Daveed Diggs, best known for his Tony-winning role in "Hamilton", Jonathan Snipes of Captain Ahab, and William Hutson of Rale. They've been creating experimental, noisy hip-hop since around 2010, combining the rapid-fire flow of Diggs with sharp feedback bursts and blown-out, distorted instrumentals. They incorporate excellent samples in their music as well, from crushing glass to a truck backing up. Since their inception, they've worked to create an incredible sense of atmosphere; dark, grimy, and foreboding, their songs reek of the locations brought up.

With the huge success of "Hamilton", more and more fans have been drawn to clipping.'s output. Following their trajectory has shown a refining of their sound to a fantastic climax with "CLPPNG", an album of noisy, brainy tracks with a unique sound. The rough edges of "Midcity" were smoothed out somewhat with incorporation of less outwardly noise-driven elements. The question after this was: where to now?

The answer was "Wriggle", an EP released in June. It seemed to be a continuation of "CLPPNG", but a bit more disjointed: modern hip-hop was almost parodied on "Shooter", disgustingly grimy cut "Back Up" harkened back to their earlier sound, and "Hot Fuck No Love" is one of the dirtiest songs of the year. It seemed like clipping. had stayed true to their formula, making slight variations as opposed to large jumps forward.

With the release of "Splendor & Misery", however, the EP turns into something different: a farewell to a sound clipping. has seem to grown past. This new album is radically different: gone are recognizable samples, replaced by cold, metallic soundscapes and blaring sirens. Diggs' impressive flow and great lyricism are present, but entire songs have been turned into instrumentals or, stranger still, choral pieces reminiscent of old American folk songs or sometimes African American spirituals.

This album toes a strange line between out-and-out concept album and avant-garde art piece, telling the story of a cargo-ship in the future after an uprising of the people (slaves, human cargo) leaves all but one. This person, referred to as Cargo 2331, uses music within the ship's hull to explore human history and begins to chart his future. It's a topic that, at first glance, seems ridiculous, but in the midst of the album, 2331 is an easy character to project oneself onto: he is terrified and liberated by the darkness of the universe, he raps Kendrick Lamar's "Control" verse to himself just because he can, and even strikes up a relationship with the ship's computer.

The project casts a strange spell from the first track, the first mention of a repeated theme ("Long Way Away"), foregoing the usual lightning-speed flow of Diggs over tense silence and feedback stabs in favor of a, forgive the wording, spacey soundscape with melodies hanging in the background like a ghost. The following track sounds like a typical clipping. intro: it's impressive how readable the lyrics are, which describe the captain of the ship detailing the occurrences aboard. The song ends with the "uprising" - a swift, violent smattering of noise, over as soon as it starts. The next song, "All Black", introduces us to 2331 with a subtle, metallic instrumental that feels like a storm not quite breaking: after the violence of "The Breach", the tension created through "All Black" is palpable. Lyrically, this may be my favorite on the entire album. It has a spoken-word quality to it that contrasts the repeated mantra of "all black everything" - it's a fantastic dynamic. The following track is labelled a a freestyle, with a fast flow that fades into the distance as well. It's worth noting here that all the songs lead into each other beautifully, making the album, with its genre-hopping tendencies, feel cohesive.

"Wake Up" has a driving bass pattern that mimics modern rap music (maybe some juke influence?), with a strange sing-song-y rap style married with the rising and falling sirens of the ship. It leads directly into the strange, new style of the album - a style that is reminiscent of folk music, chanting voices under a beautiful feature soloist. From what I gather, this seems to be 2331's examination of human history through the music found on the ship - it doesn't stray from the concept, though, leading into a metallic interlude led by a female AI. The next track, "True Believer", is really fucking strange. It tells the story of a civil war type of battle, with odd chanting coming through in the chorus. It's a gorgeous song, shoving the two main types of songs on the album together in a way that feels very theatrical.

The instrumental that follows leads beautifully into "Air 'Em Out", a fantastic single from the album that somewhat confounds me in the context of the album. To be honest, I lose track of the concept in the last third of this record, but the atmosphere is so undeniable that I really don't mind. This track is dark, ambient and spacey, with massive bass hits contrasting the star-like synth stabs. It's the introduction to the  "hardest" moments of the album, and the most outwardly rap-focused. The next two tracks, a crackly, textured freestyle and a harsh, quick rap cut, are difficult. They leave accessibility behind in favor of making an impressively harsh noise-hop tune.

This is followed by the strangest, most out-of-left-field moment on the entire album: "Story 5", a beautiful choral piece following a revolutionary named Grace. The "Story" series has always followed characters at a pivotal moment in their lives, while this one takes on an entire life in a haunting and somewhat disturbing manner.

The last two tracks, "Baby Don't Sleep" and "A Better Place", are totally crushing and oddly uplifting, respectively. The former is the noisiest track on the album, recalling moments on "Midcity" while furthering 2331's journey. The last track is another pairing of the two main styles, featuring synth piano chords hammering under Diggs' melody, repeated the last time here. It's also very theatrical, feeling about as much like a finale as a modern hip-hop record can.

As a note, this album is slated to come out September 16th. I'm on the fence with how I feel about leaks: if I can support the artist in some way aside from purchasing a digital copy of the music, it seems fine to me. I highly recommend supporting art and artists, and it's your decision if you want to download this or other "leak" posts.

This is an experience of an album, a weird and groundbreaking work that will turn off some and totally click with others. It requires deep listening, and I honestly can't wait to jump back into its odd, horrifying, and weirdly beautiful world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUR_ChqUJbc ("Air 'Em Out")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVIRXPG7oY ("Baby Don't Sleep")

http://tinyurl.com/zfmjl57 (MEGA)
http://tinyurl.com/hr3r6wr (FileFactory)

Tenth Post: Lightning Bolt, "Wonderful Rainbow" (2003)

Lightning Bolt is the collaborative duo of Brian Chippendale and Brain Gibson. They've created some of the most distinct noise rock music ever, with the band still releasing music and touring after 22 years. What makes Lightning Bolt so captivating is the pure energy in their music, and the sheer uniqueness of their sound. No one else makes music like Lightning Bolt.

Chippendale and Gibson met at Rhode Island School of Design and found commonality in the improvisational style of their playing. This has maintained one of the highlights of the group; through simple, repetitious song structures, the two members play off of each other freely. The band's origins lie in Japanoise scene and Japanese noise rock, such as Boredoms or Incapacitants. The group, with only two members, has obvious restrictions but they have made it their mission to do as much as they can in the limitations.

Both members of Lightning Bolt push their instruments to strange extremes. Gibson plays a very un-traditional bass guitar, tuning it to a cello's pitch and even adding banjo strings to create a more dynamic palette. Chippendale plays drums with such speed and ferocity, it's easy to get swept up in the sonic assault. The vocals are ear-grabbing as well, strung through a mask on Chippendale's face and distorted beyond recognition.

This album, "Wonderful Rainbow", may be the band's most well-received and iconic of their sound. From the distorted peals of noise on "Hello Morning" to the virtuosic bass solo in "2 Towers", this album is incredibly noisy. It's not near the levels of straight noise, but the face-melting assault was and is a breath of fresh air from the stagnant scene they came from. The album carved them a permanent niche in the noise-rock community, which was only heightened by their insane live shows. This album finds Gibson and Chippendale not looking for inspiration outside themselves, but really allowing themselves room to forge their own way.

Fantastic, seminal noise rock album. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJleaLhyB8s ("Longstockings")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bbNmXMLImg ("Assassins")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5BJ_s9EtM ("Dracula Mountain" Live)

http://tinyurl.com/jonwhea (MEGA)
http://tinyurl.com/z3w8ok2 (FileFactory)

Ninth Post: Five Singles (8/18)

Second installment of the singles posts. More actual posts coming soon.

The Wytches - C-Side
This is a piece of scuzzy, throwback lo-fi rock music from the UK. This song comes from the upcoming album "All Your Happy Life", the follow-up to the excellent 2014 album "Annabel Dream Reader". That album featured a lot of genre crossover, with modern alternative music trends bleeding into "harder" genres, making a garage-rock album that had some serious teeth to it. This new song is a bit calmer, but still features the noisy, slightly demented angle that The Wytches have been working on over the past few years. It's a great single, painting a picture of where the band will go on the album. This is the lead single to "All Your Happy Life", out September 30th via Heavenly Recordings.
https://soundcloud.com/heavenlyrecordings/sets/the-wytches-c-side

The Dillinger Escape Plan - Limerent Death
TDEP is a legendary math-rock and technical metal band that have decided to break up after over 20 years. They have a signature, disorienting style, focused heavily on  technical grooves and angular, piercing guitar riffs. Lead singer from 2001 onwards Greg Puciato is an excellent vocalist for the band as well, flipping in tone and style on the fly, shouting in his mid-range and incredibly high screams to articulate the band's style. This song finds them doing what they've been known for extremely well - the first half of the song suddenly switches from slow and plodding to an almost indiscernible tempo set by shredding guitars. The last 45 seconds of the song are fantastic, building gradually to a repetition of the main theme. It's a shame TDEP is calling it quits, but it looks like they'll go out with a bang. "Dissociation" is out October 14th (my birthday!!) on Party Smasher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p4tQUBtsBw
https://tdep.lnk.to/Dissociation

Injury Reserve - Oh Shit!!!
This is shaping up to be one of the most fun hip-hop singles of the year. Following up the relatively good album "Live From the Dentist's Office" last year, Arizona-based rap group Injury Reserve return with a well-produced, funny, hype song featuring some of their best efforts yet. In their words, it's "spazz rap" - not something all that intellectual, but entertaining with a fun and hard edge to it. Also, it's called "Oh Shit!!!". I mean, how can you not?
https://soundcloud.com/injuryreserve/oh-shit

Darkthrone - Tundra Leech
One of the most influential Norwegian metal bands are back! Darkthrone, composed of Nocturno Culto and Fenriz, has been regarded as one of the best black metal bands of all time, although they have incorporated elements of death metal and speed metal into their sound. Just today they unveiled their new, heavy-as-hell lead single, "Tundra Leech". The song dips into death, speed and doom metal as well as their established black metal roots, creating an absolute monster of a song. The track is excellent, incorporating all the elements of a Darkthrone song that one would want. The changeup at the back end of the song is fantastic. Darkthrone have really put all fears aside with this track. "Arctic Thunder" also comes out on October 14th via Peaceville.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwz7gucE7x0
https://www.burningshed.com/store/peaceville/product/233/7884/

Touché Amoré - Skyscraper (feat. Julien Baker)
TA is a post-hardcore band from Burbank that's been at it for a while, right now gearing up to release "Stage Four", their fourth album. Their last record, "Is Survived By", featured the band heading in a more accessible direction, incorporating alternative rock into their sound. Bolm's traditionally intense and versatile vocal delivery was matched with equally expressive instrumentation. This album seems to be heading down that road even further, adding fantastic indie singer/songwriter Julien Baker into the mix for this second single, and the last track of the album. The vocals are subdued, the track all heading to the conclusion, where Baker and Bolm's vocals mix beautifully in a flurry of guitar and drum passages. The album seems to be a step away and forward for TA, and one I'm pretty excited about. "Stage Four" is out September 16th on Epitaph Records.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkm_U9HD1wY
https://lnk.to/toucheamore

Eighth Post: Sonny Sharrock, "Black Woman" (1969)

Sonny Sharrock was a fantastic experimental and jazz guitarist, well-known for his free jazz, experimental music and punk work from the late 60's to his sudden death in 1994. He worked with greats like Pharaoh Sanders, Herbie Mann and even Miles Davis. He was inspired by Davis to play saxophone after hearing John Coltrane on "Kind of Blue", but his asthma prevented him from accomplishing this, leading him to guitar.

Sharrock's style of playing guitar was a shock when it first appeared in 1969 on the album "Black Woman". Going against the careful, more easy-to-digest styles of highly regarded guitarists such as Django Reinhardt and Wes Montgomery, Sharrock favored a heavier, more hectic approach. What's especially notable is the chemistry between Sharrock and the band members of this record - the freeform compositions flow very well, with each move feeling organic but still shocking and in the moment. Sharrock also pioneered incorporation of tremolo picking into his style, complimenting fast, loose drum playing throughout the album.

Track for track, this album is expertly conceived and executed. The first two tracks are amazing, experimental free jazz songs with standout, passionate vocal performances from Linda Sharrock. The first track is dreamlike and languid, favoring the group moving through various chord changes as one, letting a simple idea manifest itself slowly and beautifully. The second track, "Peanut", has one of the most memorable and gorgeous melodic lines on the album, but after the first minute and a half, quickly becomes a challenging and intense exercise in clashing chords and rhythms. The guitar and piano lines intertwine in odd, hard to predict ways, while the vocals shout and moan in a startling and haunting style.

The next two tracks are less hard to get into. "Bialero" features a semblance of rhythm and easy-to-follow song structure, which is welcome after the breakdown of the previous track. The vocals are graceful and beautiful, complimenting the piano and bass runs while the guitar and drums rumble in the background, occasionally springing to the surface and fading again. The harmonized tremolo picking is impressive in this song as well. The next track, the guitar solo "Blind Willy", reminds me of an old man sitting on his front porch in a rocking chair with a banjo. The song is, as one would expect, expertly played, and is even harmonious to listen to.

The last song is fantastic as well, featuring not only vocal performances from Sharrock himself, but horns complimenting Linda's voice, and a heavy rhythm between drums and guitar driving the song towards its dark final moments. It's a great closer, incorporating the best elements of the album while introducing new ideas and leaving the listener wanting more.

Though some say "Ask the Ages", the album recorded before his death, is his best, I think this, his debut, is. It's unabashedly odd and experimental, but brings a sense of beauty to it all with fantastic melodies and song ideas.

One of the best free jazz albums ever. Links below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYDg_G65oj4 ("Peanut")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSIyKaUcJSQ ("Blind Willy")

http://tinyurl.com/zcvosv3 (MEGA)
http://tinyurl.com/j4etnwq (FileFactory)

Seventh Post: Five Singles (7/27)

This is a new segment I'm thinking about doing every once and a while, especially if there's a shit ton of new releases coming up like there are right now. Below I'll list five singles I've been really enjoying recently, and if it's a teaser track, where to pre-order the project it's from.

AJJ - "Goodbye, Oh Goodbye"
Folk-punk legends AJJ (formerly known as Andrew Jackson Jihad) return after their name change with a poppier sound, continuing in the direction started on "Christmas Island". This new track (produced by John Congleton, I believe) features Sean Bonnette's typically droll, unique lyrics and delivery while distorted bass and cello saw away. AJJ have altered their sound to match their new style very well, making a unique and exciting new sound. The band has seen success with this song mainly due to their music video accompaniment, parodying OK Go's intricate videos. This is the lead single to "The Bible 2", out August 19th on Side One Dummy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDVCpm10SQI
www.thebible2.buzz

Clipping. - "Baby Don't Sleep"
This alternative hip-hop trio, fronted by Grammy-winner and star of "Hamilton" Daveed Diggs (who went to my middle school!), released this song around three hours ago. This song takes a step back from the style of their last album, "CLPPNG", stripping away most of the layers of samples and melodic moments to make a dark, sparse, noisy track more reminiscent of their first release, "Midcity". The lyrics are typically dark and heady, referencing time passing and the nature of human existence. The production is very basic but still textured, featuring long stretches of a rumbling low end and sudden bursts of shrill feedback. This song is the teaser track for their new release, "Splendor and Misery", an apparent concept album about a post-apocalyptic Earth and a spaceship containing the last human piecing together what happened. The computer aboard the ship falls in love with the main character, and he discovers music to understand how humans view each other. Hopefully the concept comes across throughout the album, as this lead single is fantastic in its dark simplicity. "Splendor and Misery" comes out September 9th on Sub Pop and Deathbomb Arc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkVIRXPG7oY
http://deathbombarc.bigcartel.com/product/clipping-splendor-and-misery-cd-vinyl-cassette
https://megamart.subpop.com/releases/clipping/splendor_and_misery

Jeff Rosenstock - "Festival Song"
Former frontman of Bomb the Music Industry! Jeff Rosenstock has had a fairly successful solo career with the albums "I Look Like Shit" and "We Cool?". He brings a bright, fun, pop-punk style together with depressing, often hilariously wry lyrics about growing old, the world around him, friendship, drug and alcohol abuse, and music itself. He turns his eye on societal shifts and feeling useless in the face of endless change, forcing himself to believe that he is worth something. It's uplifting and depressing all at the same time. As a side note, I got to sing gang vocals on this track! It's currently pay-what-you-want on Bandcamp.
https://jeffrosenstock.bandcamp.com/track/festival-song

Death Grips - "More Than the Fairy (feat. Les Claypool)"
Following their excellent album "Bottomless Pit" comes this track from the experimental hip-hop group consisting of Stefan Burnett, Zach Hill and Andy Morin. This song features none other than Primus bassist extraordinaire Les Claypool as well! His contributions are fairly subtle, but the skittering, noisy bass line really make this song unique in Death Grips' catalog. It's fast-paced, propelled by Hill's trademark hit-everything-as-hard-and-as-fast-as-you-can approach to drums and Morin's freight train synth lines. The song is practically nonsensical lyrically, but the song sounds so great that its easy to let that fall by the wayside. There's no formal release for the track yet aside from a YouTube link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWkJghqMSpo

Russian Circles - "Mota"
Russian Circles tread a careful line between genres, landing somewhere between post-rock and hard rock, occasionally incorporating metal elements but all the while keeping their instrumental approach epic-sounding and expansive. Their latest single is a fantastic exercise in tension building and release - it's a great post-rock song, and one of the best songs the band has put out. It's easy to forget you're listening to three people. The multiple parts of this song all work together to create a simultaneously brooding and uplifting mood. "Mota" is the lead single off of "Guidance", coming out August 5th on Sargent House.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWoJs4QkvwE
https://www.hellomerch.com/collections/russian-circles

Sixth Post: Nails, "You Will Never Be One of Us" (2016)

Nails is the latest band to be branded "one of the heaviest in the world", but there's some basis to it with this group. Fronted by guitarist Todd Jones (formerly of Carry On and Betrayed), the band devotes itself to channeling one emotion: anger. One of my favorite sayings about the band is that they cut the "boring" parts of beloved hardcore genres, leaving short, violent and crazy intense combinations of metal and punk.

Their newest album finds Nails at their most focused and mature. Following the fantastic albums "Unsilent Death" (2010) and "Abandon All Life" (2013), Nails returned to record the album with producer extraordinaire Kurt Ballou, best known as the guitarist for Converge. The production on this album is reason enough to listen to it: it's one of the most intense recordings of the year. Everything seems turned up to its limit. The band focused on the mid-range this time around, ditching some of the higher end of "Abandon All Life" to favor a pummeling, feel-it-in-your-gut approach. Guitars sound violent in an almost Entombed sort of sense, the bass and drums are destructive and varied throughout the album. It's so expertly played and seamlessly linked together that its easy to fall into the rhythm of the album.

But the songs are so catchy and memorable that they'll stick with you after the fairly short runtime is up. "Life Is a Death Sentence" features a blistering opening section, replete with blast beats and quickly strummed guitar passages until the song slows down to incorporate a really memorable, noisy guitar riff. The dichotomy of speeds on "Parasite" is excellent, and it features one of Jones' most impassioned performances. The speedy guitar solos of "Violence Is Forever" are a personal highlight as well. The eight-minute closing track is fantastic, incorporating more metal subgenres to create a caustic, double-bass driven extended breakdown. The title track is one of the best songs Nails has ever written.

I was lucky enough to catch Nails live on their tour up the West Coast in support of this album, and their live show is pretty fucking nuts. If you get the chance, go see them. If you're a fan of, or simply interested in "heavier" music, this is a great album.

Excellent, badass, and pummeling metal record. Link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGGGh03jN4w ("You Will Never Be One of Us" video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJIT8mX2w-U ("Life Is a Death Sentence")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gkN8aH1G1I ("God's Cold Hands" live)

http://tinyurl.com/hjqfbah (MEGA)
http://tinyurl.com/jbusscj (FileFactory)