Ketchup 2: Electronic Debut Boogaloo
Still plowing through the past…long time of albums that are very good, I just can’t think of a lot to say about them. Randomly, this installment includes a bunch of great debut albums (half of them, to be exact). You know the deal, like the last time.
Requiem for Jazz
Angel Bat Dawid
Third Stream / Spirituals
I get it, it’s like a Requiem for (as in, mourning the loss of) Jazz, and a Requiem for (as in, a dirge-like piece of music written to be performed by) Jazz. It’s like Jazz’s swan song, and while I often don’t care very much for the genre, this live recording is an amazing listen, including full choirs and a quartet of Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass like any classical piece, but instead of an orchestra, it’s jazz instruments, including a brilliantly performed saxophone. The addition of the political and cultural importance of Jazz definitely makes it worth checking out, even if only for the experience of having heard nothing like it before.
Love in Exile
Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily
Ghazal
Jazz (-ish) again, but with a twist. This 75-minute epic is jazz as dreamlike soundscape, mixed with Arabic and Sufi influences, soundtracking raw, emotional heartbreak. If you were looking for proof that feeling can be translated across cultures and languages through music, this is the one for you.
the record
boygenius
Indie Folk
Not sure why I put off on listening to this dream team of indie rock/folk women (boygenius is Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus), but I was doing myself an extreme disservice. The trio create the perfect mix of rock and folk songs so the album never gets slow or monotonous. The songwriting is brilliant, and the production/mixing of voices and styles is absolutely gorgeous. Highly recommended.
With a Hammer
Yaeji
Glitch Pop
Yes, yes, absolutely yes. On her first (!!!) full-length album, Yaeji synchronizes a massively wide pallet of influences, from ambient, techno, trip-hop, and traditional Korean folk music to create an utterly unique experience. Heavily inspired by Grimes and Arca, With a Hammer is required listening to anyone who’s looking for the next phase of pop evolution.
Pila’e Teteo
Kiko el Crazy
Dembow
In a world that has become almost oversaturated with reggaetón as its only exposure to Latin pop music, these incredibly hyper-energetic, dark beats and high-speed raps create a really intense experience that I’m sure is not for everybody. The production is almost experimental, spacing the various instruments out so far they sound like they’re in different ends of an empty airport. But there’s something addicting to its almost overly-fast pace that doesn’t give you any room to breathe between songs. The sheer weight of this many dancehall beats will crush most passive listeners, but sometimes too much is never enough.
*1
Rắn Cạp Đuôi
Epic Collage
This one is hard to describe, apart from it sounding like the score to Akira if it was composed by Panda Bear. This entry from the Vietnamese group is as enchanting as it is chaotic, creating dense atmospheres of plundering glitch pop instrumentation. Noise walls made of stacked, interlaced synthesizers and vocal drones with a seemingly-random guitar popping in and out make for one of the most totally engrossing listens of the year so far.
& The Charm
Avalon Emerson
Indietronica
This brilliant, fantastic, wonderful debut album combines the pop songwriting structures of late 80’s/early 90’s indie artists like Cranberries and Enya with the misty alt-dance beats of modern tech house from Kelly Lee Owens or Jon Hopkins. It’s lush, it’s existential, it’s gentle, and it’s explosive. It’s full of personality and it’s the best first attempt I’ve heard since Magdalena Bay’s Mercurial World.
Erotic Probiotic 2
Nourished by Time
Alternative R&B
For such a…disturbingly-named album, Nourished by Time’s first LP is the exact, perfect balance between comfortable familiarity and novel idiosyncrasy. The songs are smooth, incredibly catchy, and totally soulful. The beats are out of this world and Marcus Brown’s unique, Blood Orange-esque vocal performances get better and better with every repeat listen.
i’ve seen a way
Mandy, Indiana
Post-Industrial
(points accusingly) FRENCH!!! But seriously, this is some of the most inventive industrial-adjacent music that’s come around in a very long time. The use of dark electronics, live drums, and overdriven cowbells (yes, overdriven cowbells) combine with the standard harsh production and staticky aesthetic of the genre to create something really captivating. “Pinking Shears” is a 2023 highlight.
Everyone’s Crushed
Water From Your Eyes
Experimental Rock
This is a weird one. What happens when the instruments and the vocalist are making two different albums, then you mix them together? That’s how you get Everyone’s Crushed, at least, I think that’s how we got it. The best description I can muster is if Talking Heads tried to make a Jesus Lizard album: new wave meets post-hardcore? As confusing and abrasive as that may sound, it gives us brilliant moments like “Out There” (not a more appropriate title exists, I assure you), and sick-bass-led closer “Buy My Product.”
Also shout out to an EP (hence why it’s not in the larger list up there): the deconstructed club sampler Dismantled Into Juice by Blawan. It’s an interesting—if pretty harsh—mix of SOPHIE-esque production and minimalist UK dubstep beats.
Still a lot more catching up to do, so stay tuned…
