METAL
Teeth – The Curse of Entropy This is one of those weird situations where I know how good a band would be live, and I would love watching them, but the record will only get a few full plays. I could easily go on Bandcamp and find at least a dozen bands that list Gorguts as an influence, or even put them in the search tags. They are all excellent musicians and know how to harness the crushing power of “dissonant death metal.” But on record, the riffs and songs often blend together, and it’s all really great stuff, but I kind of don’t really remember what happened. I just know that it was cool. In the end, it doesn’t have staying power. Another band just like them will release a new album in a few weeks or a few months, or I’ll discover something older that, with a couple listens, will provide a sufficient dose of the sub-genre. (Most humans would probably not find this to be “any time any day” music if ya get my drift!)
Aaaaaanyway, at this point in death metal’s development, you really have to bring something fresh, surprising or clever to make a big enough impression. Bottom line, this band kicks ass and if you’re looking for more dissonant death metal, listen to the album. With bands this good at what they do there’s potential for a future album to really take it to the next level and stand out from the crowd. — 7.5/10
Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas Could Cattle Decapitation be the only death metal band whose vocals are the best part? I have never really paid much attention to the band, and had no idea how dynamic and versatile the vocalist has been for the past few albums. From screeching highs, to guttural lows, and…what’s this? He’s been doing these very sinister, multi-tracked, high-ish melodic singing parts that actually give the music some emotional depth. (However, I saw them last night–because Atheist played right before them–and unsurprisingly, the diverse vocals don’t come off quite as well live). The rest of the band, unfortunately, sounds like average death metal at tech death speed. The drumming stands out slightly, but not enough to make up for the basic slam riffs that litter the songs. *CHUNK CHUNK CHUNK * flurry of double bass and blast beats * “Yaaaawn.” Certainly there are some moments where I think “ok, this part is pretty cool.” But again, not enough to keep me interested. I will say that I appreciate the “real talk” aspect of the lyrics. Our world is so fucked right now if immense changes don’t happen, like, 10 years ago. But I write music myself about this very topic to get the frustration and anger out of my system, and I kind of don’t want to hear samples of news reports about climate change in the music I listen to. — 5.5/10
Bölzer – Lese Majesty (EP) This band has a great sound, and absolutely destroys live. “A two piece!?” Sure doesn’t sound like it, with the guitarist playing through at least one kind of octave effect, and multiple amps. His sound is immense and really lends itself to some unique guitar ideas. The music and the vocals can be both passionately crushing and hauntingly melodic, giving the band’s records an ominous atmosphere. Live, the vibe translates well, too. A good portion of it has a powerful, primitive and tribal energy. And I won’t tell you where you can hear likely the best (only?) use of whistling in metal. Recommended for fans of Neurosis, and death and black metal that doesn’t have that modern sheen; but it’s also not REALLY like any of those. — 9/10
POP
Prince – 1999 (Super Deluxe Edition) Ever since Prince died, his estate has been slowly releasing more recordings from the legendary vaults of Paisley Park. This super deluxe edition of 1999 is particularly heavy on exciting, never-before-heard songs. Though I have listened to possibly all of his albums at least once, and really love a lot of them, I’m not a mega fan that knows all the B-sides and whatever other tracks that have leaked in the past. So I don’t know exactly how many previously unheard songs there are, but one of the discs seems to have mostly that kind of stuff. Not surprisingly, there is a ton of very strong material that Prince decided not to release. The original album is also remastered and still sounds great, just now a little bit clearer. There’s also tons a stuff for the hardcore collectors like various edits and remixes, and a full concert recording from ‘82. — 10/10
SOUL / RnB
Arlo Parks – Sophie EP Add this to the list of young, female RnB/Soul artists releasing really good EP’s in the past couple years, whose eventual full length follow-ups I am eagerly awaiting. The production is reminiscent of Danger Mouse’s style, giving the slightly smoky, sultry, cool vocals, and well-orchestrated arrangements a perfectly pleasing sonic presentation. — 8.5/10
Dominique Fils-Aimé – The Red EP I have not been familiar with this artist, and she appears to have released a full length earlier this year, but I have only heard these 4 seemingly new studio tracks, plus one live track and two instrumental versions. She’s a very expressive, strong singer, and the music sounds more in the style of older Soul and RnB. Track 1 is in 6/8 and track 2 is in 12/8, so that “classic” aspect is very upfront. Track 3 is a shuffle, with organ, stomps and claps. Track 4 is back to 6/8, with an acoustic guitar, upright bass and doo woo style vocals. It all feels great and I’m going to check out her album from earlier this year. — 8/10
ELECTRONIC / JAZZ
Arp – Ensemble – Live! Arp is a chill electronic artist that I discovered last year with the release of his excellent album ZEBRA. When I saw the title of this release I was immediately excited to hear what a live band would sound like re-creating this largely synthetic music. The drumming is jazzy and groovy, the keyboards are chill and spacey, and the band as a whole sounds fantastic. My one issue is the (in my opinion) excessive use of soprano saxophone. I’m not sure if there is any musician besides John Coltrane that I can listen to play the soprano saxophone and not at least partially be waiting for it to just be over. I find the timbre of the instrument to often be pretty annoying, like a seagull, and the saxophonist on this recording uses lots of delay, which is naturally in line with the spaced out music, but now it just sounds like a whole flock of seagulls! Luckily the instrument is not used in every song, so some songs I may get part of the way through and then skip to the next track, which is soprano-free and quite wonderful and relaxing to listen to. — 7.5/10