ELECTRONIC
Colossal Squid – Swungert The first two times I listened to this album, I wasn’t sure how many people I was hearing. There’s an impressive mixture of a variety of largely electronic sub-genres going on simultaneously, within individual songs, and from one to the next. At first we have big, bright techno sounding synth leads, but with live drums grooving out with more of a lo fi hip hop vibe. Some weird-ish sounds, and a healthy dose of syncopation to give it a more advanced rhythmic feel keep me interested for more. Then on track two, we have some badass female vocals and much heavier, darker grooves. Imagine an angrier, louder Beth Gibbons (Portishead) fronting an industrial metal band. Yea, sounds pretty rad, ok now I’m really intrigued.
The album continues in a more left-field direction before getting into some hip hop dance grooves with dark synths and a double shot of sultry vocals courtesy of Saint Saviour (going to have to check out her music now). “I Lost Detroit,” the second of those two (which has a live in the studio video on YouTube), gets particularly intense and powerful. 5 out of 9 tracks feature guest vocals, helping to widen the stylistic reach of the album as a whole. The instrumental tracks lean towards the experimental, showing a clear influence of Aphex Twin, and the vocal tracks, naturally, are more accessible. There’s even one song with Dubstep and slight Trap elements that doesn’t bother me. Even all the way to the end, there are still new surprises. Howling, burly man vocals like Big Business/Mastodon/etc, and distorted synth riffs that call to ming Lightning Bolt, The Locust, and even some doom/sludge. Damn, that was a killer album.
Because there’s a lot of electronic manipulation and synths, I could not tell if there were two or three people in the band, (plus occasional guest singers). The drums sounded like they were probably live, but with the production, I would not have been completely surprised if at least some of them were sampled or programmed. I still have questions… This could be varying degrees of impressive, depending on how much of what I’m hearing is actually being played live. I liked the music enough to investigate and was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s just ONE guy! He’s got tons of electronic pads and triggers all over his kit and, from the looks of the video I watched, everything (or at least almost everything; impossible to tell) is done live. This quickly went from sounding cool and interesting to being quite innovative and brilliant! Check this album out. — 10/10
Werkha – The Rigour EP Groovy, fun, danceable, jazzy, RnB/electronic jams. Easy to enjoy, and I liked it enough to check out this artist’s lone full length release from 2015, which is also very good. — 8/10
INDIE ROCK
Field Music – Making a New World Field Music was a discovery I made upon the release of their 2018 album Open Here. I loved that album and it made my year end list, but I never ventured further back into their catalog. The band appears to be on their 12th release in 15 years, and I’m going to try to dig a little deeper now, because this is so good. My favorite thing about indie rock is the greater presence of intertwining melodies and rhythms that can be intricate and nuanced without being complicated. Field Music absolutely nails that concept, and their sonic approach to instrumental arrangement is warm, rich, and wise. They sound like seasoned pros, making emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating music seem practically effortless. Instead of trying to dissect style crossovers, I’m just going to quote from their bio and describe their overall sound as “tricky Beach Boys melodies filtered through a post-rock-meets-prog-rock-meets-soft-rock aesthetic…” If you think that sounds like it could be good, I will tell you that it’s great. — 9.5/10
METAL
Odious Mortem – Synesthesia I was not familiar with this band, but this is their first album since 2007 (and a debut in ‘05), and damn, that was 13 years ago. I immediately appreciate that the production stays true to an earlier standard that is not crystal clear, overly triggered, or overproduced. First of all, the riffs are great. It’s technical death metal, but they haven’t decided to try and compete with younger bands who are pushing tempos to absurdity, so it’s a little easier to nod your head to than the average tech-death release. The more melodic moments echo Death’s influence, and the vocals stay consistently in a pretty standard low growl. It’s fun to listen to, but to demand many returns past the initial release week or two, I need a little more innovation in a death metal album. — 8/10
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Mettal EP I respect and appreciate Rodrigo y Gabriela for the innovation and energy they’ve brought their whole career, though I have not personally been very interested in what they’ve done for a while now. This EP of 3 classic metal covers is, in my view, a novelty that is enjoyable, but not really in need of repeat listens. Their covers of Metallica’s “Battery”, Slayer’s “Seasons in the Abyss”, and Megadeth’s “Holy Wars” are as faithful and enjoyable as you can get with two acoustic guitars. So for anyone who that sounds moderately appealing to, give it a listen. But one play is enough for me. — 6.5/10
JAZZ
Bill Laurance & WDR Big Band – Live at the Philharmonie, Cologne Bill Laurance is a founding member of jazz/etc collective Snarky Puppy, and releases his own solo albums of modern jazz/electronic music. On this live album with WDR Big Band, his tunes are, naturally, given more traditional-sounding arrangements. It all sounds good and the playing is top notch. I just prefer the modern electronic jazz sounds of his albums. I appreciate the idea of this album, and would enjoy it live, but I prefer his studio albums. — 7.5/10