March Review Roundup
Next month, next Roundup. This time with even more albums and even shorter snippet reviews. None of that means they aren’t worth your attention, just that there’s so much to get to that this is all we have time for. Let’s go!
End of the Middle
Richard Dawson
Progressive Folk
Richard Dawson is one of my favorites, his weird folk here expanded sonically to take in a more sophisticated production, closer to the lushness of a Sufjan Stevens album. But don’t be fooled, the man still pulls some of the wildest, strangest stuff to be made into digestible music.
Highlights: “The Question,” “Knot,” “More Than Real”
Phonetics On and On
Horsegirl
Indie Rock
Can you make grunge twee? Horsegirl found a way, and it’s endlessly delightful.
Highlights: “Rock City,” “Well I Know You’re Shy,” “Switch Over”
People Watching
Sam Fender
Heartland Rock
Some may say this is just overindulgent Springsteen worship, but there’s something about Fender’s take on a long-gone Tom Petty style of rock and roll that’s just so classic you can’t not love it.
Highlights: “Nostalgia’s Lie,” “Crumbling Empire,” “Rein Me In”
Like a Ribbon
John Glacier
Experimental Hip Hop
Glacier is a good name, because this shit is icy. It’s also incredibly subtle and requires your full attention. There’s a lot of layers juxtaposing the energy of daily life with the tranquility of nature. It’s quite nice.
Highlights: “Don’t Cover Me,” “Home,” “Ocean Steppin’”
Luminescent Creatures
Ichiko Aoba
Chamber Folk
Listening to this made me the most calm and serene I’ve been since Mango Mussolini took over. It’s lush, it’s intricate, it’s resplendent, there’s so many tiny details and wonderful little surprises you’ll forget the whole thing is in Japanese.
Highlights: “COLORATURA,” “Tower,” “惑星の泪”
Sinister Grift
Panda Bear
Neo-Psychedelia
This is the most polished, the most cohesive, and least experimental I’ve ever heard Panda Bear. That all combines to make it his best release since his highly experimental solo debut, Person Pitch.
Highlights: “Praise,” “Ends Meet,” “Ferry Lady”
Tears of Injustice
Mdou Moctar
Tishoumaren
This is an acoustic re-recording of last year’s phenomenal Funeral for Justice. Redone in the wake of Niger’s recent coup that left Moctar essentially locked out of his home country, the stripped down sound is even more emotional—and prescient—than ever.
Highlights: “Funeral for Justice,” “Takoba,” “Tchinta”
Foxes in the Snow
Jason Isbell
Americana
Jason Isbell is one of the few shining diamonds in the sea of fecal waste that is modern country. I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of his releases, and this is no exception. Now with an Americana twist, he’s more stripped back and raw, and his delivery and performance is heartbreaking in all the best ways.
Highlights: “Eileen,” “Gravelweed,” “Good While It Lasted”
A Paradise in the Hold
Yazz Ahmed
Arabic Jazz
Do you like the Dune score? Do you like the smoky, sultry sounds of a 40’s film noir score? Well, why not both at once?
Highlights: “Her Light,” “Al Naddaha,” “Waiting for the Dawn”
SALVATION
Rebecca Black
Electropop
To quote my favorite Youtuber: wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Black’s last album, her comeback after spending ten years hiding from internet mobs, was really good. This? This is great. If Alice Glass produced Sleigh Bells, this is what you would get, and I absolutely love it.
Highlights: “TRUST!,” “Sugar Water Cyanide,” “Do You Even Think About Me?”
Service Station at the End of the Universe
Anthony Szmierek
Spoken Word Electronic Dance Music
The spoken word here makes the album a kind of novelty that I (and probably a lot of you out there) could take or leave. But the music behind it is a fantastic collection of throwback 90’s drum-and-bass tracks that even the Chemical Brothers would be jealous of.
Highlights: “Service Station at the End of the Universe,” “The Great Pyramid of Stockport,” “Big Light”
City of Clowns
Marie Davidson
EBM
GODDAMN!!! This is my jam here. It’s dark, it’s cold, it’s beat-driven, it’s hardcore. This is club music for leather-clad people with studded dog collars. Marie Davidson is Peaches covering Depeche Mode. Her deadpan delivery perfectly fits the ennui of her story, and plays so snarkily with the jump jam ragers that she produces. Get to your nearest goth club and demand they play this on full blast right now!
And bitch, don’t forget to recycle
Highlights: “Demolition,” “Sexy Clown,” “Push Me Fuckhead,” “Fun Times,” “Y.A.A.M.,” “Contrarian”
MAYHEM
Lady Gaga
Dance-Pop
By switching up her sound to a darker, edgier Gaga, she’s actually made a classic Gaga album. One where she pushes the boundaries of radio pop music and reclaims the Mother of Monsters title she held all those years ago. If The Fame Monster was produced by Trent Reznor, you would get MAYHEM, and I am here for it.
Highlights: “Disease,” “Garden of Eden,” “Perfect Celebrity”
ADONAI
Big Black Delta
Electronic New Wave
It’s been a looooong time since Big Black Delta made headbanging electronic music like he did on his debut self-titled album, but ADONAI is a return to that form. Big, loud, walls of sound surround you at every turn, like a warm, welcome hug…that requires earplugs.
Happy listening!
