Friday, December 21, 2018

Rialzu - U Rigiru (1978)


Epic, fusion-flavored, borderline symphonic Corsican prog. Proud and worthy disciples of the great Magma, who I've never posted here 'cause I figure they're kinda just a given, right?

Track listing:
1. U Rigiru
2. I Lagramanti
3. A Mubba

Earthly burdens

If you like this, try:
Le Orme -
Felona e Sorona (1973)
Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes -
Le Rat Débile et L'Homme des Champs (1974)

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Afterlife - Surreality (1992)


Killer old-school US death metal. Intricate but brutal guitar work, ultra-low gutturals, some atmospheric keyboards, and glimmers of psychedelia and doom.

Track listing:
1. Surreality
2. Eve of Eclipse
3. Divine Enlightenment
4. Dreading the Marrow
5. Embrace
6. Shell of a Being
7. Dead Lights Glare

Chants all complete
Noxious winds sweep
Expelled from her chest
To seal man's fate


You should also listen to:
Viogression -
Expound and Exhort (1991)
Lethal Prayer -
Spiritual Decay (1996)

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Roomrunner - Ideal Cities (2013)


Possibly because I'm headed back there on Sunday, I've been on a bit of a Baltimore trip for the past week or so. With that in mind, I give you the only full-length from the best grunge band of the decade. Ideal Cities hits hard and leaves a trail of noisy little earworms. You can play spot-the-influence -- I hear a bit of Helmet, Hot Snakes, and yes, much to the band's chagrin, Nirvana -- but really, they don't sound exactly like anyone but themselves.

Somewhat relevantly: the main dude from this band played bass in my high school screamo band, and the one time he left his CD wallet at my house after practice, it resulted in me finding out about My Bloody Valentine, Drive Like Jehu, and Unwound all at once. So you can thank him for helping to point me in the right direction, taste-wise.

Track listing:
1. Bait Car
2. Vaporize
3. Bowlth
4. Wojtek
5. Weird
6. Duno
7. May
8. Apse
9. Snac Error

Nobody gives a fuck what you go do with your life

You'd also like:
Magic Dirt -
Friends in Danger (1996)
Drunk Dad -
Ripper Killer (2014)

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Grafvitnir - Semen Serpentis (2014)


Ripping melodic Swedish black metal. Grafvitnir like to keep things fast and furious, and have an intricate, tremolo-picked lead for every riff.

Track listing:
1. Where Time Has Ceased to Be
2. Descendants of the Serpent
3. Av Ormens Blod
4. Sword of the Damned
5. Poisonous Streams of Hraunn
6. Seed of Apep
7. Vilddjurets Återkomst

A brotherhood of black fire sprung from the serpent's seed

You'd also enjoy:
Sorhin - I Det
Glimrande Mörkrets Djup
(1997)
Arckanum -
Helvítismyrkr (2011)

Low & Spring Heel Jack - Bombscare EP (2000)


Related:
Spring Heel Jack - There Are Strings (1995)
Low - The Curtain Hits the Cast (1996)
Low - Songs for a Dead Pilot (1997)
Low - Murderer EP (2003)
Alan Sparhawk - Solo Guitar (2006)

As many of you know, Low put out my favorite album of 2018. It's a thing of harsh, damaged beauty, and I really can't recommend it enough. And this 4-song EP, a collaboration with experimental electronic duo Spring Heel Jack, is the closest antecedent to it in their discography. While other Low releases have featured electronic-laced production -- Drums and Guns and Ones and Sixes come to mind -- here, as on Double Negative, the electronic elements sound like they were part of the writing process from the jump. It's also a really great and slept-on little EP, so jump up on it.

Track listing:
1. Bombscare
2. Hand So Small
3. So Easy (So Far)
4. Way Behind

This time
Your lips won't be afraid
This time
Your hand won't be betrayed


You should also hear:
Bowery Electric -
Beat (1996)
Jessica Bailiff -
Hour of the Trace (1999)

Monday, December 17, 2018

Raate - Demo I (2004)


Raw Finnish depressive black metal. Raate came out of the gates swinging, taking Burzum-worship to a new level in the process. You know how sometimes a company is unable -- due to budgetary constraints or the band refusing -- to secure the rights to a song that they want to use for a commercial, so instead of doing the ethical thing and finding another song, they just hire some hack to make a song that sounds exactly like it? (Take, for example, this Volkswagen commercial that directly, undeniably rips off this Beach House song, which Volkswagen had unsuccessfully tried to buy the rights to use.) Minus the commercial aspect, that's essentially what the beginning of Demo I does to the opening track of Hvis Lyset Tar Oss. I swear it's the same song, just with some notes jumbled around. The rest of the demo continues in similarly Burzum-y fashion, but way less on-the-nose.

Track listing:
1. Enne
2. Rauniotorni
3. Halki Kuolleen Maan
4. Kaskeajan Laulu
5. Aamu Koittaa
6. Hävitys
7. Tuhkaa

Goddamn orc won't stop crying

More like this:
Wigrid -
Hoffnungstod (2002)
Korium -
Strážcovia Hradu (2015)

Charm City Suicides - Charm City Suicides (2000)


Related:
Human Host - The Halloween Tree (2007)

Though their run was relatively short and very few people outside of Baltimore ever heard them, in certain circles within The Greatest City in America, the Charm City Suicides are the stuff of legends. Raw, fun, noisy garage-punk with an electric, infectious energy. And it might sound silly, but for those who have lost too many loved ones to heroin, shouting along to the chorus of should-be classic "Heroin Sucks" can feel extremely cathartic. Low bit-rate rip, but it's a lo-fi recording anyway so don't be an anus about it.

Track listing:
1. The Worst
2. 9/6/99
3. Still Can't Get Paid
4. I Wanna Get with You
5. Vicious Circle
6. Pit of Sorrow
7. Rise and Shine
8. Out at the Reservoir
9. Now Is the Time
10. Pesticides Rock
11. Heroin Sucks

But now you're gone

Also listen to:
The Crucifucks -
L.D. Eye (1996)
Cheater Slicks -
Refried Dreams (1999)

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Astrud Gilberto - I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do (1969)


Beautiful bossa nova/vocal jazz from Brazilian singer Astrud Gilberto. The perfect balance of melancholy, string-swept ballads and breezy, uptempo numbers. File the title track alongside "I Get Along Without You Very Well", "Most of the Time", and "She Thinks I Still Care" -- breakup songs in which the narrator goes to great lengths to explain how little they care about their former lover, thereby revealing the true depths of their heartbreak. Bought this LP today for (drumroll please) 10 cents. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, you've been great.

Track listing:
1. I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do
2. Didn't We
3. Wailing of the Willow
4. Where's the Love?
5. The Sea Is My Soul (I Remember When)
6. Trains and Boats and Planes
7. World Stop Turning
8. Without Him
9. Wee Small Hours
10. If (The Biggest Little Word)

He's got a problem if he thinks I need him
I couldn't care less now that we're through
I only sit home and I wait for his phone call
When I haven't got anything better to do


Also check out:
Brigitte Fontaine -
Brigitte Fontaine Est... Folle (1969)
Joan Manuel Serrat -
Mediterráneo (1971)

KMFDM - Virus (1989)


A 4-song EP of groundbreaking electro-industrial-pop. Martial industrial rhythms, butt-rock guitars, pulsing synths, and a varied, male-and-female vocal approach that touches on punk, R&B, and quasi-hip-hop. I realize that KMFDM has fallen waaaay out of fashion (not sure if they were ever that 'fashionable' in the first place) but I will always back their early stuff, which, outside of kicking ass, includes some of the strongest, most instantly-iconic album art in the history of pop music. On a personal note, this is the first slab of vinyl I ever owned, having been gifted it by a record-nerd homie before I even owned a record player.

Track listing:
1. Virus
2. More & Faster
3. Don't Blow Your Top
4. High & Geil

Bury the future

More along these lines:
Hilt - Call the Ambulance
(Before I Hurt Myself)
(1989)
Lard -
The Last Temptation of Reid (1990)

Saturday, December 15, 2018

Ava Cherry & The Astronettes - People from Bad Homes (1995)


Related:
David Bowie - Liveandwell.com (2000)

Raw, unfinished, early 70s studio sessions for a David Bowie-produced project, featuring then-girlfriend and backing singer Ava Cherry, that never got off the ground. In retrospect, it comes off as a dry run of Young Americans. And though there are some scratch vocal tracks strewn about, there's really a lot to love here, including a majestic version of "God Only Knows" that absolutely buries Bowie's version, as well as songs that he ended up rewriting and putting on his own albums, including "I Am a Laser" (which became "Scream Like a Baby") and "I Am Divine" ("Somebody Up There Likes Me".)

Note: "I Am Divine" was actually one of those super-secret songs that you had to rewind from the beginning of the first track to hear.

Track listing:
1. I Am Divine
2. I Am a Laser
3. Seven Days
4. God Only Knows
5. Having a Good Time
6. People from Bad Homes
7. Highway Blues
8. Only Me
9. Things to Do
10. How Could I Be Such a Fool
11. I'm in the Mood for Love
12. Spirit in the Night

And she looks like a magnet
And she comes like a warm rain


You should also hear:
The Diddys Featuring Paige Douglas -
Agony and Extasy (1975)
Daryl Hall -
Sacred Songs (1980)

Friday, December 14, 2018

Raven Black Night - Choose the Dark (2004)


Australian Sabbath-ian doom with traditional/epic elements. The vocalist generally stays in a passionate, Messiah-esque register, but once in a while he'll go up higher into King Diamond territory. He even whips out a death growl at one point. A bit rough around the edges, but all the better for it.

Track listing:
1. Morbid Gladiator
2. My Love Is Holy
3. Gothic Black
4. Nocturnal Birth
5. Swamped
6. If You Choose the Dark
7. Blood on My Wings
8. Morbid Soul
9. Guitar Solo
10. Princess Morticia
11. Ancient Mist

We talk with the stars
We know we belong


If you like this, check out:
Dark Quarterer -
War Tears (1994)
Goat Horn -
Voyage to Nowhere (2001)

Jimi Tenor - Sähkömies (1994)


Minimal, downtempo electro-jazz from Finnish multi-instrumentalist Jimi Tenor. Synth pads, simple drum loops, chilled-out basslines, bleeps and bloops, lounge-y organ, smooth sax, and budget-cosmic vibes. Then there's "Take Me Baby", which sounds like a sexed-up, lo-fi New Order. The kind of explorative, idiosyncratic record that really can only be made by a solo artist.

Track listing:
1. Theme Sax
2. Crazy Hammond
3. Union Ave
4. Take Me Baby
5. Matti B
6. Teräsmies
7. Voimamies
8. Travelin Dem Spaceways
9. Union Ave III

Love me on the way to the dark star

You might also like:
A Small Good Thing -
Cool Cool Water (1996)
Richard Thomas -
Shoes and Radios Attract Paint (1998)

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Holy Moses - Finished with the Dogs (1987)


Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Holy Moses - Walpurgisnight (1986)

Classic German thrash. Tight, ripping, and weird. The German thrash scene in the 80s was unmatched, and Finished with the Dogs is one of the best albums it produced. And thanks everyone for your thoughts re: modern thrash. Looks like I'm finally gonna have to check out Vektor.

Track listing:
1. Finished with the Dogs
2. Current of Death
3. Criminal Assault
4. In the Slaughterhouse
5. Fortress of Desperation
6. Six Fat Women
7. Corroded Dreams
8. Life's Destroyer
9. Rest in Pain
10. Military Service

On that prickly cactus there
Two mosquitos makin' love
In the heat, a man in sight
His teeth are shining - they kiss his heinie


You should also listen to:
Assassin -
Interstellar Experience (1988)
Grinder -
Dawn for the Living (1988)

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Renegade - Total Armageddon (1987)


Old-school Australian thrash. A sloppy, mosh-y, Satanic good time. A commenter on one of my year-end lists asked about the lack of thrash (and grind), and I said that I don't really stay current on those subgenres. It got me thinking, though, and I think I'm generally less interested in 'modern' thrash because it seems hopelessly lost in the past. Sure, there's plenty of throwback stuff in the BM and DM scenes -- and I dig a lot of it -- but it's counterbalanced by a whole lotta innovation.

Is there groundbreaking thrash being made that I just don't know about? Or is everyone just content to make watered-down versions of Kill 'Em All and Pleasure to Kill 'til the end of time? Genuinely looking for input.

Track listing:
1. Necromancer
2. Decapitation
3. Black Ritual
4. Lucifer's Reign
5. Total Armageddon
6. Riot Squat Gladiator
7. Maneater
8. Threshold of Death

Black coats, black masses
White blood, drink it down
Black Prince, black magic
To your knees, get down


If you like this, try:
Kat -
Metal and Hell (1986)
Original Sin -
Sin Will Find You Out (1987)

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

My 40 Favorite Albums of 2018: Not Black Metal or Doom Metal Edition


You read, reread, and memorized my year-end doom metal top 10. You sat, spellbound, as I listed off my 40 favorite black metal records of the year. And now, I give you the best of the rest. Electronic, death metal, neoclassical, punk, experimental, basic-bish indie rock — all that shit. As always with these lists of mine, no download links 'cause it'd get this place shut down faster than you can say "You can probably find every single one of these on Spotify."




40.
Lawrence
Illusion

Lawrence (aka Dial label-head Peter Kersten) continues to make ambient tech-house in more-or-less the same fashion as he did in the early aughts — minimal, slightly warped, and heavenly.

Previously:




39.
E L U C I D
Shit Don't Rhyme No More

NYC rapper with a laid-back but off-kilter flow and experimental, noise-addled, but soulful production. I generally prefer rap that just goes super-hard over the artsy stuff — I’ll take DMX over Antipop Consortium every time — but with so many artists coming off as painfully forgettable imitations of Future and Migos, I’ve found my interest drifting back towards the fringes.




38.
Donny McCaslin
Blow.

Jazz-heavy art rock from saxophonist and bandleader of the group of musicians who helped to make David Bowie’s Blackstar such a brilliant swansong. It’s definitely not his first solo album, but it has the feel of a debut, as its song-based, vocal-heavy approach — surely an after-effect of his work with Bowie — stands in sharp contrast to the comparatively traditional jazz records that he's put out over the years.




37.
Ripped to Shreds
埋葬

Ass-annihilating solo US death metal. OSDM-worship with doom undertones and gnarly production.




36.
Wata Igarashi
Niskala

A cosmic trip through arpeggiating synths, pulsing beats, and colorful, hypnotic atmospheres. Only an EP, but I love it too much not to include it.




35.
Less Bells
Solifuge

Ethereal neoclassical from what sounds like a small chamber orchestra led by American violinist Julie Carpenter. Though the instrumentation is largely the same from song-to-song — stately violins, gauzy synths, and wordless choirs — there’s an impressive amount of emotional ground covered, from angelic ambience that would sound appropriate emanating from the gates of heaven, to dramatic, mournful peaks that you might hear playing as a camera pans over a massive battlefield covered in corpses.




34.
Vessel
Queen of Golden Dogs

A mind-melting collision of harsh electronics and chamber/classical music. Red-lining beats and various forms of digital trash intermingled with ethereal choirs, harpsichord, and dissonant string arrangements. The effect is jarring but immensely satisfying.




33.
City Hunter
Deep Blood

Blown-out, ripping, murder-happy hardcore with spooky synth interludes. Don’t gimme that “I’m sick of raw punk” line, 'cause City Hunter musically and aesthetically massacres 99% of their peers.




32.
Dead Can Dance
Dionysus

Dipping deeper and deeper into their seemingly boundless set of influences, Dead Can Dance have more-or-less completely abandoned the idea of being a rock band, and created an awe-inspiring synthesis of countless musical traditions from around the globe.




31.
Arp
Zebra

A shimmering, playful combination of electronic and organic elements. At first resembles something like modern-day krautrock, but gets looser and looser until it’s full-on space-age jazz.




30.
Ilyas Ahmed
Closer to Stranger

Cloudy, psychedelic folk rock. His sound’s a bit less abstract than it once was, but the stoned haze and phenomenal songwriting remains.

Previously:




29.
Undersave
Sadistic Iterations... Tales of Mental Rearrangement

Combines the angular guitar work of Morbid Angel with the lysergic aesthetic of Incantation. Honestly, after a number of listens, I still haven’t quite wrapped my head around this one. It’s not like they’re doing anything particularly groundbreaking — they’re essentially moving around the parts of classic OSDM to create something more modern — but it doesn't sound quite like anything else I've heard.




28.
GosT
Possessor

The best album yet from the best synthwave project currently in operation. Harsh and terrifying, with moments that are much more akin to metal than to anything John Carpenter ever recorded.




27.
Conway
Everybody Is F.O.O.D.

Creepy, borderline horrorcore NY hip-hop. Falls into the same nihilistic lineage as Mobb Deep, but feels more like an evolution of the sound than a throwback.

Previously:




26.
Lisa Gerrard & David Kuckhermann
Hiraeth

Another phenomenal solo record from the otherworldly Lisa Gerrard. Essentially sounds like a stripped-down version of the Dead Can Dance record above — here, though, her chill-inducing voice is front-and-center.

Previously:




25.
Marissa Nadler
For My Crimes

Dark, haunting, ethereal folk from an artist who’s spent the past decade-and-a-half perfecting and expanding the style. For My Crimes is a breakup album at heart, but it sounds and feels more like a collection of murder ballads.




24.
Nahja Mora
As Death

An imposing, meticulously constructed electro-industrial behemoth that finds Nahja Mora somehow entering even denser, more cacophonous sonic territory. Since this is the second time I'm posting about them, in the interest of full disclosure, I should maybe mention that I’ve known one of the dudes in this band since way back when, but 1) we were never that close and 2) I have hella friends in bands, and do you see their albums on here? Nope. Thank u, next.

Previously:




23.
Kamaal Williams
The Return

Explorative, smooth-as-butter, boogie-flavored jazz-funk straight out of the golden age thereof.




22.
Emma Ruth Rundle
On Dark Horses

Powerful — at times wrenchingly so — song-driven, atmospheric rock. Crystalline guitars give way to overdriven windstorms, with Rundle's haunted voice and cryptic, fantastical musings at their cores.




21.
Rival Consoles
Persona

Colorful, dreamy, synth-driven sounds rooted in techno and deep house, but with ethereal touches and an enveloping atmosphere that takes it far away from the dance floor and into a pair of headphones in a smoke-filled living room.




20.
Conner Youngblood
Cheyenne

Wistful, ornate, R&B-infused indie folk rock. Occupies a similar sonic landscape as the immensely popular self-titled Bon Iver record, but it's smoother, brighter, and has more of a groove. And "Lemonade" might be my favorite song of the year.




19.
Andrew W.K.
You're Not Alone

An expansive musical journey through all of Andrew W.K.’s favorite sonic touchstones — from Genesis to the Ramones to Meatloaf to the Beach Boys — and topped with his most starry-eyed, life-affirming lyrics and ambitious arrangements yet. I personally have never needed Andrew W.K. on the level that I did this year, so the fact that You’re Not Alone just so happened to be truly great was really just a bonus.

Previously:




18.
Scorched
Ecliptic Butchery

Hands-down, my favorite death metal record of the year. Old-school brutality, doom-y breakdowns, and tinges of horror and the paranormal. Apparently, I'm not looking for a whole lot of innovation from my death metal.




17.
Anenon
Tongue

Breathtaking ambient composed of synth, piano, sax, and field recordings. Remarkable sonic cohesion throughout makes the whole thing play like a patient, extended suite.




16.
Heads.
Collider

Droning, queasily melodic noise rock. Heavy-yet-barely-distorted guitars, understated vocals that at times take on a murmuring, shoegaze-like quality, and a hypnotic, plodding rhythmic consistency that brings to mind the great Lungfish.




15.
The Caretaker
Everywhere at the End of Time - Stage 4

Leyland Kirby has an extensive discography based around exploring how the past — both forgotten and remembered — intrudes on the present. While it often comes across as a series of memories-as-musical-vignettes, here it sounds like a panic-ridden onslaught of half-formed memories, coming too fast and too blurry to be interpreted as anything but an overwhelming whole.

Previously:




14.
Arctic Monkeys
Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino

Never got into this band until they brought this weird-ass thing to life. An indie-lounge-glam concept album about life on a luxury resort on the moon. And what’s remarkable isn’t the concept, but that they manage to make an album that's built on such an inscrutable conceit feel so relevant to life here on earth in 2018.




13.
R+R=NOW
Collagically Speaking

Laid-back, R&B and hip-hop-flavored jazz from a ridiculously talented six-piece band assembled by keyboardist Robert Glasper. Synth and vocoder play major roles, which pretty much means that I’m automatically sold.




12.
Brigid Mae Power
The Two Worlds

A breakup album of the highest order. Clever, heartbreaking folk rock with touches of slowcore and jazz-folk á la Van Morrison. I must have listened to this record 25 times this year.




11.
Pusha T
Daytona

Seven tracks, seven absolute bangers. Push T has slid quite smoothly into the role of hard-as-fuck elder statesman, and Kanye “I Can Still Make Good Beats” West crushes it on production. Would have made the top 10 but for the inclusion of an ill-advised guest verse about wearing a MAGA hat from Kanye “I’ve Completely Lost My Mind” West.




10.
Father John Misty
God's Favorite Customer

Father John Misty may be a ham, and seemingly a bit of a prick, but he's also one of the most gifted songwriters currently alive. And with God's Favorite Customer, he's arrived at a rarely-found cross-section of ELO-level tunefulness and Randy Newman-level wit. The two most upbeat tracks ("Mr. Tillman" and "Date Night") both actually made me laugh out loud, while a number of the other songs got me a little verklempt.




9.
Autechre
NTS Sessions 1-4

Eight. Mother. Fucking. Hours. Of. Autechre. Came out back in April and I'm still excited that it even exists.




8.
Steve Tibbetts
Life Of

On his first record in almost a decade, Tibbetts continues with the beautiful, subtle abstractions that we heard on 2010's Natural Causes. Fragmented, texturally rich vignettes for acoustic and electric guitar, piano, and, of course, the tastefully sparse accompaniment of his inseparable percussionist/collaborator/right-hand-man, Marc Anderson.

Previously:
Steve Tibbetts - Steve Tibbets (1977) + Yr (1980)
Steve Tibbetts - The Fall of Us All (1994)
Steve Tibbetts & Knut Hamre - Å (1999)




7.
Beach House
7

Another dream pop tour-de-force from Beach House. Surprise, surprise. They're such a shockingly consistent band that it's almost to their detriment — it's so expected that 7 would be amazing, a lot of you didn't seem to notice that it might actually be their best album. (Note: I swear that I didn't intentionally put this at #7 to be cute, but I like that it happened. It stays.)




6.
Kelly Moran
Ultraviolet

Awe-inspiring experimental abstractions made entirely of prepared piano and synthesizer. Chiming, bell-like notes ring out in flurries against waves of rich, sumptuous chords. One of those hard-to-come-by records that actually feel mentally and physically rejuvenating to listen to.




5.
Nine Inch Nails
Bad Witch

Not sure if y’all have noticed or cared, but Trent Reznor has been in fine form these past few years. Bad Witch is the final installment of an artistically reinvigorating trilogy that he kicked off in 2016, and contains some of the best work Reznor’s done since The Fragile. Catchy, chaotic anthems, paranoid instrumentals, and a pair of songs ("God Break Down the Door" and "Over and Out") that sound like nothing else in the NIN discography, and find Reznor adopting a wavering, intentionally Bowie-esque croon.




4.
Tor Lundvall
A Dark Place

Listening to A Dark Place truly feels like entering another world. It’s a simple enough formula — gentle, pulsing beats, lush, nocturnal synths and drones, and whispery, reverberating vocals — but the effect is so dream-like and completely immersive, you'd be forgiven if you didn't notice that the songs themselves are utterly beautiful and heartbreaking.




3.
Mount Eerie
Now Only

Now Only is a continuation of the work that Phil Elverum began with A Crow Looked at Me: a brutally direct chronicle of his life in the aftermath of his wife Geneviève's death from cancer. His songs find despair and hope in the most minute of details, in a way that's simultaneously plainspoken and poetic. All in all, these two albums amount to arguably the most profound and true-to-life exploration of grief that's ever been committed to tape. If the criteria for this list was 'which album made me cry the most,' this would be at #1 by a wide margin.

Previously:
Mount Eerie - Pts. 6 & 7 (2007)




2.
Oneohtrix Point Never
Age Of

A mind-melting fusion of numerous musical styles and ideas, including cosmic new age, chamber music, glitchy electronics, and auto-tuned pop. Along with its theatrical companion piece MYRIAD, Age Of explores a dystopian vision of humanity's absurd history and an AI-fueled, terminally overpopulated future. I should note, though, that I didn't need to know about any of these weighty concepts to have my goddamn head blown off the first time I heard it.




1.
Low
Double Negative

"It's not the end, it's just the end of hope."

In which Low, with the help of producer B.J. Burton, completely reimagine their sound and land in fascinating, uncharted territory. Could be likened to their Kid A, but that doesn’t really tell the story. There are certainly Low songs in there somewhere — elegant, elegiac, and deeply sorrowful — but they’ve been torn apart, obfuscated, buried, exhumed, and shot through with shards of harsh noise, static, and all other types of glitchy sonics. As anxious and angry as they’ve ever sounded, and one of the best records they've ever made.

Previously:
Low - The Curtain Hits the Cast (1996)
Low - Songs for a Dead Pilot (1997)
Low - Murderer EP (2003)