I’m getting really behind with this blog and the albums that I want to review are piling up. So I’m going to have shorter reviews for this set of releases from March 27, April 3rd and 10th, and I’m going to split it up in two parts. This part will be Indie, Electronic, Hip Hop, and Jazz, and the second part will be Metal and RnB/Soul.
Though I’m not reviewing the albums, it’s worth noting the curious fact that Nine Inch Nails, Converge, and Sufjan Stevens all released ambient music on March 27th. Not full-on Brian Eno-style, minimal, meditative ambient music, but compared to their typical output, it’s accurate enough to call it their versions of ambient. And I’m pretty sure both the NIN and Converge releases were unannounced before they showed up on streaming services. Weird…amirite!?
Anyway, the high-quality new releases continue to flow, and, as always, there’s some great stuff here.
Picks of the “Week”
Somni – Home — 9.5
Lyra Pramuk – Fountain — 9.5
ELECTRONIC
Somni – Home Somni’s debut album, Bloom, was my favorite non-metal album of 2018, and probably my favorite electronic album of the 2010’s, so the anticipation was high for this follow-up. Home continues with pretty much the same sound as Bloom, and that is fine by me. My favorite aspect of the music is the slightly off-kilter, J Dilla-inspired grooves that, instead of the typical hip-hop execution of kick, snare and hi-hat, contain layers upon layers of flickering clicks, pops and crackles. Throbbing, low-frequency pulses, as well as some percussive sounds that do actually resemble real drums, fill in the space left by the more glitchy sounds. On top of this incredible, engrossing approach to rhythm and percussion, elements of jazz, soul, and RnB are added with soft keyboards, delicate acoustic guitar, deep bass lines, and gentle vocals, which usually have a fair amount of electronic manipulation. It’s amazing how the music manages to be so alien in sound, but also very organic and human in feeling. While the layers of sound don’t go quite as deep as they do on Bloom, Home is still a fantastic album to sink into with headphones on and eyes closed. Somni is one of the most innovative, soulful electronic artists making music today. — 9.5/10
Lyra Pramuk – Fountain Aside for some soft synth textures, this album is 42 minutes of Lyra Pramuk’s voice, often wordless, looped, manipulated, and layered seemingly endlessly. It’s like a wildly psychedelic version of Bobby McFerrin’s acapella masterpiece Circlesongs, with the spirit and soul-bearing emotion of Bjork’s Medulla, and a tone similar to Anohni (formerly known as Antony Hegarty). Haunting, stunning, and exotic, this album is not quite like anything I’ve ever heard before. — 9.5/10
INDIE
Bon Iver – Blood Bank EP (10th Anniversary Edition) The bonus tracks on this reissue are live versions of the EP’s main 4 tracks. For most artists, that wouldn’t be of any interest to me, but Bon Iver songs are often very different live–especially older songs, now played with a much larger ensemble than the original recordings. I have loved this EP since its release, and it’s really cool to hear these altered versions. The highlight is “Woods” (both versions), which is some of the most soulful, beautiful use of auto-tune ever recorded. — 9/10
Active Child – In Another Life I first heard of Pat Grossi’s one-man project, Active Child, when I stumbled across a radio interview with him. My interest was piqued when I learned that he sang in the Philadelphia Boys Choir as a kid, and brought that background to the world of electronic-based indie/alternative. With big, echoing beats, and layers of cool synths, harp, and strings, the sound is lush and vast. Grossi’s skillfully controlled falsetto floats atop the dramatically dark, beautiful arrangements. — 8.5/10
Laura Marling – Song For Our Daughter I was initially drawn to Laura Marling 5 or 6 years ago because of how much she sounded like Joni Mitchell. She has explored sounds further away from that comparison on some albums, but on this new one, she really sounds like Joni. This is perfectly fine with me, because I love Joni, and there are not many indie/folk artists today going for that sound. Uplifting energy, beautiful vocal harmonies, strong songwriting, and dynamic arrangements make this album sure to please any fan of the classic 60s-70s Laurel Canyon, CA folk rock sound. — 8.5/10
Dirty Projectors – Windows Open – EP This brief 4 song EP leans heavily to the folky acoustic side of Dirty Projectors’ musical spectrum. It also features only the band’s female vocalists, and no singing from bandleader David Longstreth, so the overall vibe is just a little different from any other Dirty Projectors release, even those with similar writing and arrangements. I’m a long-time fan of the band, and the songs do not disappoint. Deftly finger-picked acoustic guitar and expressive violins provide gentle waves of sound for the beautiful lead and harmony vocals to glide across. — 8/10
Sun Araw – Rock Sutra Sun Araw’s music is playful, bizarre, psychedelic, and funny. Some of the quirky guitar/bass/keyboard lead melodies are reminiscent of Frank Zappa’s writing, and the overall instrumentation is very synthetic. The muffled vocals echo like a megaphone in an empty pool, and the electronic percussion programming is all over the place, with hand drums, cow bell, various clinks and clanks, and retro kick and snare drum samples bouncing around, often with no clear repeating pattern. It’s not an album that I’d go to for repeated, deep listening sessions, but it’s definitely fun and unique. — 8/10
JAZZ
Terrace Martin – Soul Juice – EP Terrace Martin is on a serious hot streak. Soul Juice is already his second release of the year, and similar in style to Sinthesize (reviewed here), but more chilled out than funky. Laid back hip-hop beats, pensive alto sax soloing, and jazz/RnB-flavored keyboards provide feel-good, relaxing vibes. — 8.8/10
Gilfema – Three Gilfema is a really interesting jazz trio, featuring Italian bassist, Massimo Biolcati, Hungarian drummer, Ferenc Nemeth, and West African guitarist, Lionel Loueke (who I saw in Herbie Hancock’s band last year). The musicians bring a wide range of styles and influences to the trio format, but what makes the group’s sound so unique is Loueke’s guitar (and occasional vocals). He plays in a percussive, African finger-style on what sounds like an acoustic-electric nylon string, and I’ve never heard guitar playing like this in a jazz setting. The group’s beautiful rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” is a highlight. There’s a good amount of energy across the album, but it also stays pretty chill. — 8/10
HIP-HOP
Knxwledge – 1988 Lo-fi hip hop producer Knxwledge is one half of NxWorries (alongside Anderson .Paak) who had a pretty big hit with their song “Suede.” He also contributed a track to Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly. Funky basslines and soulful vocal samples enhance chilled out grooves. The cut and paste, mixtape nature of the record is not unusual, but the frequent use of random clips of conversations gets distracting and I find myself hitting the skip button to get back to the music too often to make it a record I’ll return to often. He has a large catalog, so I could probably find another Knxwledge album that flows better, but it’s still pretty decent. — 7.5/10