Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Exitmusic - Passage (2012)


Glistening, ethereal post/indie rock for sad lovers. Sigur Rós by way of Brooklyn. Everything I'm listening to right now sounds like it was made to be played in stadiums. I believe that a lot of the hype around this band revolved around the fact that its two members were/are married, and one of them (Aleska Palladino) was Angela on Boardwalk Empire, but none of that has anything to do with Passage's ability to make you feel like you're levitating.

Track listing:
1. Passage
2. The Night
3. The City
4. White Noise
5. Storms
6. The Wanting
7. Stars
8. The Modern Age
9. The Cold
10. Sparks of Light


If you like this, try:

Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Crawl - Earth (1995)


The 90s saw no shortage of bands worshipping at the altar of Godflesh, and I'd be lying if I said Crawl wasn't in that number. But crucially, Crawl injected plenty of death metal energy into the dystopian industrial wasteland, which sets them apart and fucking rules. As found in an albums folder in my Music app labeled "SHUPS", which is short for "pushups", obviously.

Track listing:
1. Skinned
2. Servant
3. Womb
4. I Believe
5. Machines Way
6. Emotional Cage
7. Soundless
8. Gray
9. Release


Also listen to:

Saturday, May 20, 2023

Cable - Down-Lift the Up-Trodden (1996)


First album by these British indie rockers. Chaotic, grunge-y post-hardcore with a sense of playfulness and melody that keeps things fun even as they descend into full-on noise rock on a song called "Murdering Spree". Had a real hard time picking which of this band's albums to post, as they only have three and they're all great, so why not start from the beginning?

Track listing:
1. New Set of Bruises
2. Choice
3. Blindman
4. Hydra
5. Seventy
6. Murdering Spree
7. Sale of the Century
8. Oubliette
9. Give 'Em What They Want [bonus]
10. Dead Wood for Green [bonus]


If you like this, listen to:

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

DEAR_SPIRIT Tells You About 5 More New Records That He Likes


As some of you surely know, I don't post download links to brand new albums, with the obvious exception of albums that the artists themselves have made available for free download. As none of you know -- unless you've been spying on me, you weird pervert -- practically all I've been listening to is new stuff. And Steve Tibbetts while I do school work. So instead of yet another Steve Tibbetts record, these are 5 more recent favorites, and if you like one of them, please consider buckling down and actually buying it.




Scowl - Psychic Dance Routine


The first track on Psychic Dance Routine is a flaming, head-on collision of 'traditional,' circle-pitting hardcore and hooky pop-grunge à la Veruca Salt. The rest of the EP fleshes out that dichotomy in spectacular form. It's a blatant swing towards accessibility and a wider reach, but it's also easily my favorite thing this band has done.



Nicole Dollanganger - Married in Mount Airy



Vignettes of doomed romance, addiction, abuse, suicide, and murder via dark, surreal, undeniably Lynch-ian Americana. Dollanganger's dreamy, almost child-like voice and guitar are at the core of every song, but they're encased in layered, pitch-shifted sonics that have an unsettling, almost alien-sounding sheen. Fans of Ethel Cain should find a lot to love here.



Tujiko Noriko - Crépuscule I & II


Tujiko Noriko has been making excellent IDM/experimental pop/other electronic sounds since the turn of the millennium, and it's truly criminal that I have never posted about her on here. Her latest, Crépuscule I & II is an expansive double album of immersive, cavernous ambience: drifting, reverb-drenched synths, the odd scattered, slo-mo rhythm, and Noriko's whispery intonations.



Derhead - The Grey Zone Phobia


Dense, eerie black metal with a massive, all-consuming sound that suggests both the yawning cosmos and the crushing cacophony of urban sprawl -- quite appropriate for an album that purportedly encourages the listener to "contemplate the contrast between reality and the inner self." Labyrinthine but not overwrought, frightening singular but not self-consciously so. Undoubtedly some of the best black metal in recent memory.



Baaba Maal - Being


A seamless fusion of Senegalese desert rock and half-time electro-pop groove. Maal's vocals would be mesmerizing in virtually any context, but over distorted rhythms and subwoofer-knocking bass-lines, there are moments of true transcendence. Practically impossible to listen to at anything less than max volume.


Sunday, May 7, 2023

Keren Ann - La Disparition (2002)


Downtempo, melancholic French folk pop/chanson from the eternally pensive Keren Ann. Fingerpicked acoustic guitars, wavering strings, barely-there percussion, jazzy pianos, and muted horns provide a lush, autumnal backdrop for Ann's warm, whispery voice. It's all extremely easy on the ears. As much as I love this record, I actually thought of it as a result of my previous post due to its inclusion of one of the earliest instances of intentional AutoTune abuse of which I'm aware: the trip-hop flavored outlier "La corde et les chaussons".

Track listing:
1. Au coin du monde
2. Le sable mouvant
3. Les rivières de janvier
4. La corde et les chaussons
5. Surannée
6. Ailleurs
7. L'illusioniste
8. La tentation
9. Mes pans dans la neige
10. Le chien d'avant garde
11. La disparition

Restons ici, le soleil est moins pâle, le vent moins sidéral

Also listen to:

Friday, May 5, 2023

Khalil - The Water We Drink (2017)


The sound of Auto-Tuned pop/R&B stuttering, faltering, collapsing, and being fed through a digital wood chipper. Never heard anything else quite like it. A Posh Isolation joint. I remember thinking this record was gonna be a big deal with us nerds but as far as I can tell I was wrong, as I don't remember hearing/seeing anyone talking about it and it was surprisingly hard to track down a good rip for the purposes of this post. 

Track listing:
1. Trapper
2. Rest My Head Against a Wall of Water
3. Gigds
4. Submit So Deep
5. Estate Straight Line
6. Herat
7. Always Wanted to Ride in a Place Like This
8. Natures Envy
9. Sculpture No Solid
10. The White Hoodie I Wear Because I Love You


You should also hear: