Best of 2016 Compendium

After struggling to flesh out various lists, I decided it's more fitting of the ethos of this blog (highlighting and recommending cool stuff, rather than actual criticism) to just throw it all into one big post. Since it's the last day of 2016, I figured I should really get around to posting it, so here we are. It was a weird as hell year, both for me personally and the country and world as a whole, but there sure was a lot of great music released, so let's keep holding on to that.

Songs:

Astronoid- "Up and Atom"
Awful pun for a title, but a top 3 chorus on the year. I dig the blackgaze-with-clean-vocals thing they have going on, and they show how well it works on the monster hook here. I'm all the way out on calling their style"dream thrash," I'm just as all in on how it actually sounds. For everyone who's ever longed for the crunchiness of the heavier metal styles but didn't want to sacrifice the soaring harmonies and upbeat attitude of the cleaner styles, Astronoid is here for you.
Youtube

Pelander- "Umbrella"

Gloomy English folk, which was all the tagline I needed to grab this one. The album as a whole didn't quite live up to , but this lead track showed the high potential this side project (Magnus Pelander's main band is Witchcraft) has. 
Youtube

Hexvessel- "Mirror Boy"

More gloomy folk, but Finnish this time. The band got even more psychedelic on this album When We Were Death, and though I don't dig it as much as some of their other sounds, it still came together as one of the best albums I heard this year. If you have any interest in prog rock, psychedelic music, or full-band folk, I couldn't recommend them more highly.
Youtube

Oathbreaker- "Second Son of R."

Is calling these guys Deafheaven but with female vocals kind of lazy? Maybe. Am I above that? Not really. They are signed to Deathwish Inc. though, (that’s Jake Bannon from Converge’s label) which also released Sunbather, so I’m not making connections out of thin air. Anyways. Caro Tanghe’s vocals are extraordinary, splitting between haunting cleans and a vicious snarl, and the metal behind it is every bit her equal. This is really good stuff.
Youtube

Singles: Two songs from bands that didn't release full-lengths this year:

Ragana- "You Take Nothing"
Raw, angry sludge. It's difficult to separate this track from its release date, the day after the election here in the US. The singer infuses a awe-inspiring mix of rage and defiance into the three words of the title, as the guitars crash around her.

No Hope/No Harm- "This Living Wage"
Slow, melancholic emo from my new home in Boston. The play a style more akin to the earlier heyday of emo than the more atmospheric sound of the current emo "revival" of bands like The World is a Beautiful Place, et al. I kind of get an American Music Club vibe from them. Very excited to see where they head in 2017.



Lines:

“Was kinda banking on a future that’d be involving you/but I couldn’t ask this of you”
(The Hotelier, "Two Deliverances")

I'll write more about The Hotelier a little further down in the post, but Goodness was an album filled with brilliant lines. "Piano Player" is the star of the show, but "Two Deliverances" packs even more of a punch. I don't think I've ever heard a song more accurately capture the sense of empty, unfilled time after a breakup than when singer Christian Holden asks "in the quiet empty hours of my afternoon, what am I supposed to do?"
Bandcamp

“You can’t just forget/ all those other lives you lived” 

(American Football, "Home is Where the Haunt Is")

I mostly avoided writing about American Football's LP2 because I felt it was a very personal album- both in content and context. Decade-plus haituses are always a dangerous thing, and it's often not worth it to only end up with a merely decent imitation of a band's former heights (see Weezer, Blink-182 and Metallica this year, and many others). Others may be invested in knowing that a band still has it (or at least isn't tarnishing their legacy), but I'm usually content to stick with the classics. But I had to hear this one, and I wanted to do so without the burden of what others wanted and expected from the record. So in that spirit I'll limit my own discussion- this album is so, so, good. 

Youtube

“Saw your boyfriend at the Port Authority/ sort of a fucked up place” (Pinegrove, "Old Friends")

Evan Stephens Hall has the talent that truly great songwriters possess to fit a world of feelings, meanings and context in a single line (see the “saw Leah on the bus” in the same song for the best example), and does so again here. This album is showing up on top-10's all over the place, and for good reason. Probably example number 1 of why all your "[Indie] Rock is dead" thinkpieces aren't worth the bandwidth it takes to load them.

Youtube

“I always thought I’d be/ the picture saved on your screen” (Hannah Diamond, "Fade Away")

No artist other than Hannah Diamond could get away with a line like that. She continues to walk the infinitesimal line between irony and earnest sincerity. The lyric video even spells out the word “meeeeee”! It’s been 2+ years and we’ve still only got 5 individual singles, but two of them (this and “Every Night”) are certified classics. I get why people don’t love PC Music- on their weaker stuff they sound just like the run of the mill David Guetta/Calvin Harris knockoffs they kind of are—but Hannah’s songs aren’t their weaker stuff.
Youtube

“I’ll always think of your lips/ When I’m moving mine against his” (Pity Sex, "Burden You")

Goddammit why are all my favorite lines this year about heartbreak…oh, right. Anyways, unfortunately this was the swansong for Pity Sex, as Britty Drake announced she’d be leaving after the album. It’s a shame because I was late to the party on them, but I'm really enjoying the simple, fuzzed out guitar rock they have going on. 

Youtube

Albums:

The Hotelier- Goodness

It’s something special to witness a songwriter so utterly sure of themselves that there’s really nothing that they can’t do. It’s a testament to Christian Holden’s force of narrative that he can pull off something as cliché as watching a wild animal in the woods and imbue the moment with existential significance without teetering over the edge into melodrama. I found Goodness to be a dense record I think as a result of its general lack of choruses, and admit that it takes some close listening to really unlock its intricacies. But what a payoff this album is if you take the time.

Goodness is a breakup record, yes, but of a kind I don’t think I’ve ever encountered before. There’s no anger here, no righteous fervor . But there’s everything else- the hurt and the pain, the quiet shock of “what do I do now?” and “what could I have done differently?”, but also the acceptance, the appreciation for everything you did have, and the recognition that nothing is really permanent anyways. It was certainly the album I needed this year, but I think its emotional significance will resonate with anyone who gives it a chance.

The Hotelier has never hesitated to take huge swings in their songs, and it’s stunning to see how frequently they connect. Goodness was an undeniably ambitious record, and now as the year winds down, I can say an undeniable success.

Joyce Manor- Cody

Where the Hotelier made me feel many different things Cody only made me feel one- happy- and that’s enough to give it my top spot for 2016. This is an endlessly replayable record, hitting the sweet spot between keeping songs from overstaying their welcome (the longest is “Stairs” at an eternity-by-Joyce-Manor-standards 4:01) without getting bogged down by a long tracklist. Cody is carefully crafted and endlessly enjoyable pop-punk. This was a fun record that never feels like it's trying too hard to be so- the lyrics get serious at times, but nonstop hooks keep everything jamming. This was the easiest and most enjoyable listen of the year, and if you missed it the first time around I recommend you hop on posthaste.

[That wraps up our regularly-scheduled programming for 2016. See you all in the new year!]

Best of 2016 (Non-2016 Edition)

Best of 2016 (Non 2016 Edition)

Before we disappear completely into year-end retrospectives and top-ten season, I’ll take a chance to highlight my favorite stuff that I found for the first time this year. In the interest of saving space I didn't bother embedding Youtube clips, but there's links to check everything out.

The Wonder Years- No Closer to Heaven

Reasonably big name in the modern pop-punk scene, I started listening when I bought a ticket to see them (Moose Blood was opening). They were solid live, and this album has a few of my most played tracks this year. Check "A Song for Patsy Cline" to start out.

[Youtube]

The Deep Dark Woods- The Place I Left Behind (2014)

Enjoyable folk/alt-country from Canada. Mix of softly-strummed acoustic guitar + tambourine and some electric guitar flourishes, like on heartwrenching set-piece “The Banks of the Leopold Canal”. Inoffensive enough to throw on at any low-key gathering, but with surprising depths that makes for a rewarding close listen.

[Youtube]

Blut Aus Nord- Memoria Vetusta I: Fathers of the Icy Age (1996)

Huge name in the black metal game, just took me a while to work my way through. I’ve heard the What Once Was series but they didn’t really take. This album is a little cleaner and more melodic (hard to believe this is the same band that made The Work Which Transforms God) with wicked guitar work and some nice chanty vocals. Highly recommended.

[Youtube]

Sleater Kinney- Dig Me Out (1997)

Likely don’t need much introduction on this band. They’re classic for a reason, I was just too young at the time. Listen up. "One More Hour" was my top-played track from about August through October. The sound on the link below is pretty good for live from a record store in '98.

[Youtube]

Wuthering Heights- Far From the Madding Crowd (2004)

A very solid power metal album, named for two books, though as far as I can tell, lyrically it deals with neither. The album features some folk elements in the form of occasional flutes and bagpipes, but not overwhelmingly so. Too much to really call it “stripped down,” but the album definitely doesn’t suffer from the overproduction that plagues so many power metal releases (more Helloween than Rhapsody of Fire, if you get me). Yes, there is a song called “Bad Hobbits Die Hard,” and it’s basically three minutes of guitar solos.

[Youtube]

Gods Reflex- Scenes from a Motel Seduction (2000)

 Unknown emo band from the original heyday. You probably gotta really like emo to bother with this one, but if you do and are looking for a fresh sound (that of course sounds like everything else), take a look. Worth it for the album title alone.

[Bandcamp] 

Diocletian- Gesundrian (2014)

Monster of a death metal album from 2014. As the prevailing trend is for death metal to get more atmospheric, Diocletian go straight for the jugular. Derek Engemann from Cattle Decapitation grabs this one in their “What’s in My Bag” video at Amoeba Records, so that’s a pretty solid co-sign. Peep the dope album cover too.

[Bandcamp]

Playlist: Winter Metal

Threw together a winter-themed playlist as the temps start dropping.

I’ve never been big on Spotify before, but as my library continues to exceed my laptop’s hard drive space, it has its uses. There were some unfortunate omissions, but what can you do.

We start off with “The Northern Cold,” lead track from Woods’ 3^rd album. Woods 5 is the crowning achievement, but the run of 3/4/5 is as good as any metal band has had in a long time.

Segue into “At the Heat of Winter” which shows off Immortal at their peak. Immortal I think is a great place to get started with black metal before getting into the rawer stuff (like later on in this playlist!).

Borknagar helps segue us into the power metal phase, and I’ll mention that Borknagar has been consistently solid over their last few releases, and don’t receive as much praise as their quality deserves. Pharaoh put out probably my favorite power metal release of the last few years in 2014 in Year of No Light, it captures the fun and energy of the genre but with a little less fluff than some bigger names. Yes, this song is about a father sacrificing himself to feed his son as they're trapped by a blizzard. It can't all be poetry, man.

Later on we see one of the glaring omissions, as Spotify doesn’t have Stratovarius’ classic Visions, preventing me from including “Before the Winter.” This track will do in a pinch.

We segue back out with Sculptured, a strange band that featured Jason Walton and Don Anderson from Agalloch (RIP). They’ve formed a new band, Khorada, from the ashes of Agalloch so hopefully we’ll hear new stuff soon. This song, “Snow Covers All” is a little strange (like all Sculptured) but I only get so many chances to rec songs with creamy sax solos so I take them when I get them.

That brings us to a triple header of black metal to close out. Two legends of the Norwegian 2^nd wave in Darkthrone and Mayhem, and then unsurprisingly Agalloch to close out. I’ll take a moment to strongly recommend every metal fan to check out Darkthrone’s commentary tracks, in which they (usually Fenriz) talk over and explain their songs. Fenriz is probably the coolest and truest guy in the metal community, and his comments are very interesting and often very funny. I know they’ve done A Blaze in the Northern Sky, Hate Them (my favorite Darkthrone album) and even Fenriz’ old solo project Isengard.

Back to the playlist, we finish with absolute classic “Freezing Moon”, from the Live in Leipzig album because we do not fuck around here, and then “Falling Snow” from Ashes Against the Grain, which hardly needs me to spill more digital ink on it.

Transition Radio: Music for Fall (Part 1)

A little late on this one so we're a few weeks into the season, but man this is the best time all year for listening. Here's a few to pick up as the temp drops.

Unsilence- Under a Torn Sky

A lost epic doom classic. The Warning comparisons are inevitable given the singer’s powerful voice and extreme Englishness. Unsilence picks up the pace a little bit more than Warning however, and the closest touchstone I can think of is Vast Oceans Lachrymose era While Heaven Wept (another excellent record, by the way).  This album could be a good way to dip into the waters of doom, as the clean vocals and medium tempo offer a more accessible entry point than the more extreme styles.

Tigers Jaw- s/t

I’ll admit this may only be a fall album to me, but that’s just where it feels right. A great album for evening walks as the temperature drops, trying to figure out where it all went wrong, and is it even all that bad? There isn’t much groundbreaking poetry in the lyrics, but it’s standard emo fare that hits you in the feels a few times. Combined with pleasantly intricate guitar work and a nice rumbling bass and you’ve got one of the best albums of the contemporary emo revival scene.

Hexvessel- No Holier Temple

I may have already repped this one, but it doesn’t matter this album is good enough for double treatment. Psychedelic folk from Finland (that sounds like it's from England) made for getting lost in the cold wet woods. The first half carries the album, but man what a first half it is."Woods to Conjure" (below) sets the stage well, but the 10 minute "His Portal Tomb" brings the house down.

In the Silence- A Fair Dream Gone Mad

“Can you show me what’s it’s liiike, to dream in black and whiiiiite”

Ok Breaking Benjamin references aside, that’s a pretty good description of the feel of this album. This often gets tagged as progressive metal, but that’s really for lack of a better term. Even without invoking the dreaded DT comparisons, this just doesn’t really have a lot in common with what we usually call prog. “Atmospheric” is an especially overused term at the moment, but it does a decent job conveying the feel of this album. This is a tightly written and well executed album with minimal waste. The track below, “Serenity”, has retained a place in my top 100 since its release and doesn’t figure to fall out any time soon.

Three for the Women

Some great 2016 stuff here. A couple of these songs will probably end up on my year-end lists.

case/lang/veirs- “Atomic Number”

The lead track from the self-titled collaborative effort from three talented singer-songwriters. While the album doesn’t hit enough high points to be truly “great,” it’s an enjoyable listen and features some stellar vocal performances.

Marissa Nadler- “Dissolve”

Delicate and beautiful, Marissa Nadler’s latest collection of songs closes with the stunning “Dissolve.” The Mazzy Star influence is heard more clearly on opener “Divers of the Dust,” but the same sense of fragile, melancholic beauty pervades throughout.

Mitski- “Your Best American Girl”

Now that’s how you use distortion. The chorus to the song is one of the top musical moments of 2016. There’s important themes at work here as well, but man that is how you kick a song into overdrive.

Bringing Summer to a Close

To get back in the swing of things, let’s run through a little of the stuff I’ve kept on rotation this summer.  As the weather gets colder I’ll be back in front of my computer more and should have more stuff to highlight.

Rilo Kiley- “Portions for Foxes”

Just a really excellent example of how to do indie rock right.  I’ll take Under the Blacklight as the most consistent Rilo Kiley album, this is for me by far their best track.  Jenny Lewis has excellent control over her voice, and injects the song with emotion without taking it to an extreme. Clever and incisive lyrics (“And the talking leads to touching/and the touching leads to sex/and then there is no mystery left”) complete the package.

Bruce Springsteen- “Lost in the Flood”

The monumental centerpiece to Springsteen’s underrated debut, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. The two slow strummed ballads drag down the energy level of the album, and “Spirit in the Night”, despite it’s swinging riff, meanders off course lyrically.  But the cover of “Blinded By the Light” proved that Springsteen had the chops to write a hit, and “Lost in the Flood” showed the potential in his songwriting.  In some ways the precursor to “Jungleland,” on this track Springsteen displays his unparalleled ability to illustrate life on the rough underside of the city.

Jimmy Eat World- Bleed American

The zenith of pop-punk tinged emo.  Jimmy Eat World walk a fine line, remaining catchy enough for radio play without devolving into Sum 41-esque faux-angst. One of the pre-eminent summer road trip albums, this moves at whatever speed you’re driving. And the hooks- anthemic. Throw this on, remember how good “The Middle” actually is, and remember never to take Pitchfork without a grain of salt (a 3.5 in August 2001!).

Cryptopsy- None So Vile

An absolute behemoth of a death metal album, this record is more a textbook example of the form than anything else.  Flo Mounier’s drumming is well worth all the praise it gets, and the rest of the band is completely in sync.  The album breathes in a way that many death metal records do no’t.  Each instrument clearly contributes to band’s sound and there isn’t an off-note on the album.  This is a great place to start when looking to move from melodic death metal to a more pure death sound.

Against Me- “Thrash Unreal”

A pretty big hit for the band that I had missed as I started with White Crosses. Their most recent album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues is as good and important as anything released in the past few years. I may write more about it at some point, but that album is both a phenomenal punk rock record and extremely eye-opening for those of us who don't have a great understanding of the experiences of trangender people.  After seeing them at Governor’s Ball this summer I can also highly recommend catching their live show. “Thrash Unreal” is from earlier in their career but the reasons why it remains a live staple are hard to miss.

3 Heavy Ones

Tau Cross- Tau Cross

Debut album from a supergroup last year.  Found on a number of year-end top lists, but perhaps still a bit more under the radar than it deserves.  Their sound finds a lot of common ground with Primordial, featuring that same epic, sweeping, black-tinged metal.  The track below is my favorite because it showcases The Baron’s powerful clean vocals, but the majority of the album features his raggedy growls atop some heavy riffage.

Hail of Bullets- …Of Frost and War

Another supergroup! Vocals are from Martin Van Durunen, whom most death metal fans will instantly recognize.  That strained howl of his can be an acquired taste, but here it matches the music and subject matter well.  The album revolves around the Eastern front during World War II, and van Durunen’s frantic vocals conjure the wild, unhinged nature of combat. 

The song below features guest vocals from no less than Dan Swano, and the track is an all-timer.  This was one of the first death metal albums I really liked (which might just speak to my youth, but regardless), and you may find it to be a good starting place if most of the current well-regarded death metal bands like Sulphur Aeon are too dense to get into. 

Atlantean Kodex- The White Goddess

Well-blended heavy metal from Germany, drawing influence from both power metal and traditional doom.  Combining the best of both genres, the album hits considerably harder than most power metal, but keeps the pace up and courses with an energy not often found in trad doom.

This seems to be a concept album, but if there is a distinct narrative, I can’t make it out.  Although not necessarily cohesive, the lyrics are stirring, covering well-worn themes of the rise and fall of empires, and the clash of ideologies and religions, but with a deft touch and a dog-eared thesaurus at hand.   

With pure heavy metal feeling pretty stale over the past few years, there’s no reason this album should be so underappreciated.

Entries from the Top 100: Les Discrets- "Song for Mountains"

Les Discrets- “Song for Mountains”

From the album Septembre et ses dernières pensées

Location: 40ish

An excellent track from Les Discrets' also-excellent 2010 debut.  Operating in the same scene that produced Alcest, Amesouers and Lantlôs, this band fit rather nicely to that same gazey, semi-metal sound that has been the biggest development in modern black metal, for good or ill.  Les Discrets is headed by the multi-talented Fursy Tessier, who also provided the fantastic cover art for the album. 

Less “metal” than many other bands in this loose collective (for the other end of the spectrum, Glaciation and Old Silver Key may appeal as well), Les Discrets make more frequent use of acoustic guitar, and keep the shrieked vocals to an absolute minimum.  The result is a calmer, more contemplative feel to the album.

Despite its English title, “Song for Mountains,” like the rest of the album, is sung entirely in French.  I find that it is a great example of the benefits of allowing a singer to perform is his or her native language, as the comfort and ease with the language and its sounds allows to words to seamlessly complement the music.  My French was never particularly great and has only rusted in the years since college, but with a little outside help the translation proves to be as beautiful as expected.

A great track for walking on a cool spring night, but be sure there are enough trees around.

The Traditional- "My Brother is the Sea"

Local band here in Buffalo that I caught over the weekend.  A little off from my usual stuff, but I dug their live sound (very loud and very heavy). Grabbed their disc for 5 bucks; this is my favorite track from the show and the CD.  Ton of early Fall Out Boy influence, though with a little less knack for writing hooks. Worth a quick listen now if you're into it, and definitely one to keep an eye on.

Dunbarrow- Dunbarrow

Early Pentagram worship, and with better guitar work to boot.  Stoner metal feels like a super oversaturated genre right now, but a few stand outs like High on Fire, and a ton of mid-tier, untimately forgettable stuff in the middle.  Thick bluesy riffs, a great sense for pacing, and a solid occult-ish vocal performance sets this album apart. Norway strikes again.

Mineral- The Power of Failing

One of the acknowledged classics of golden era Emo for a reason. Old hat for the big emo fans I'm sure, but for the more causal fan, this can fly under the radar of bigger acts like Brand New and the like.  A one album wonder, featuring impossible dated album art too. Perhaps the most infamous use of Comic Sans until Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert went off like a jilted date on prom night. Aesthetics notwithstanding, this is grade A late-90's angst at its finest.

Snow Warning

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming due to the SNOWSTORM we are getting in the middle of April. In light of this, here's three picks, one black, one doom and one non-metal, for when the frost sets in.

Immortal- At the Heart of Winter
No way I wasn't looking to Norway for this one. Immortal is one of the top names for a reason, and that reputation was built on the back of albums like this one.

Colosseum- Chapter III: Parasomnia

This is how extreme doom should be done. Slow, purposeful, and with an acceptance of the underlying futility of it all.

Failure- The Heart Is a Monster

This album is the full-length version of the song that plays over the opening shot of the film as it pans over the body lying in the snow.

Oy, it's been far too long, real life gets in the way again.  Here's two quick hits to tide us over until I can get a couple fuller posts out.  Seeing as there's snow falling out my window, it looks like we'll get a last chance at some winter music before the temperatures rise. Onto the two for today:

Daytrader- Silver Graves

Hard to dig up too much information on this band, though it appears they are broken up now.  This full-length came out in 2012 on Rise Records, and from what I can tell nothing followed it.  It's a fantastic emo-tinged rock record though, and deserved a chance at a follow-up.  But I guess there's a pretty good history of one off emo classics (seriously, go listen to Texas is the Reason if you haven't).  There isn't much that stands out as particularly noteworthy or unusual on the album, but its a sharply written and consistent album that finds its way onto repeat more times than you'd expect.

Pinegrove- Cardinal

I'm pretty far removed from the Twitter/blog hypemachine, so I can't always tell how much buzz current bands have. This is a 2016 release, and though I don't really keep up much with new stuff anymore, I'm glad I tracked this one down.  You'd be forgiven if you said "Hey, I've had enough of these nasally emo singers going on about life as a pointless 20something over standard emo-math rock." I get it, there's a number of them these days and I can't even make it all the way through a Modern Baseball album.  Pinegrove feature a particularly compelling singer, even if I'm not sold on him actually having a good voice.  I also appreciate the variety of tempos employed by the band, and not just in the obligatory single acoustic track sense.  The faint tinge of heartland folk give it a warm, comfortable feeling that makes it sound familiar on the first listen.

Entries from the Top 100: Woods of Ypres- "Keeper of the Ledger"

Location: 50’s

One of the top tracks off my favorite Woods album, Woods V: Grey Skies and Electric Light (“Travelling Alone” also features somewhere in the middle of the 100). Top to bottom the strongest of Woods’ albums, 5 contains little filler. Toning down the black metal gives room for David Gold to showcase his strong clean vocals, and on this track he employs his own version of the “beauty and the beast” vocal approach common to gothic metal. Gold’s lyrics are as sharp as ever, continuing his Camus-like philosophy of being pessimistic but never defeatist. Throw in a terrific solo halfway through and a barnstorming end and you’ve got one of the best midpaced metal songs of the decade.

4 EPs

It’s probably just a weird coincidence, but for the last few months a lot of the stuff I’ve been reaching for again and again have been EPs, so let’s take a look at these 4, two metal(ish) releases and two reasonably popular up and coming emo bands.  The two emo bands have since released full lengths, and they are both pretty good, but nothing beats that first stuff you heard, right?

Moose Blood- Moving Home

With as little hyperbole as I can muster, this is the best emo release since, like, The Devil and God. It's got that simple emo-tinged rock and roll sound (nothing twinkly here), with some fun guitar work. The full-length doubled down on the dad issues lyrically, but the EP focuses more on the experience of being a directionless 20something, which I definitely cannot relate to at all in the slightest, no sir. Drinking coffee, listening to American Football, and wondering “where our lives went wrong,” delivered with a charming accent and absolute sincerity.  This is a gem.

Beach Slang- Who Would Ever Want Anything So Broken?

Pour one out again for Grantland, RIP. Definitely the best find I got from their music guy, Steven Hyden, back when this EP came out a couple years ago. A full feature on the band would later be his final column for the site.

Beach Slang play even simpler and rawer style rock than Moose Blood. Every song sounds like it came straight from that dingy bar right on the edge of the cool part of downtown that always puts on the coolest shows for 12 bucks. 4 simple but impossibly earnest songs about being young, being in a band, and life on the edge of nowhere. Singer James Alex has that “whisper-sing” style vocal down to a T, and delivers the lyrics with all the sincerity they need and then some. The drums are given a lot of room to breathe, and the hazy guitars carry everything along.

The full-length LP is definitely worth a listen, but start here (their other EP Cheap Thrills on a Dead End Street is more of the same as well). It’s four songs, 11 minutes to make you believe that rock ain’t dead and never will be.

Grey Waters- Below the Ever Setting Sun

A depressive rock/ blackgaze collaboration between D. of Woods of Desolation and Tim “Sorrow” Yatras of many bands, but most notably Germ (you might also recognize the name from his feature on the 2013 Thy Light album No Morrow Shall Dawn). Based on what I’ve read this one is almost certain to be just a one-off. It’s a shame, but let’s not lament what could have been and instead enjoy what we have right? This is mid-paced depressive rock drenched in distortion, with clean vocals throughout. This is what propels the EP to the top of my favorites list, as the vocals really set it apart from a lot of other current blackgaze bands like Cold Body Radiation or An Autumn for Crippled Children, who I like but still aren't doing anything any better than Austere already did. I find this has a lot in common with Jesu, both stylistically and thematically. In the past I’ve burned this and Opiate Sun to one CD for playing in the car at night. This is a great entry point for anyone interested in the “gazey” sound but turned off by the shrieking vocals of DSBM bands, or interested in depressive music in general.

Gallowbraid- Ashen Eidolon

A one man black metal band with a triumphant, symphonic sound that dials down the cheesiness and turns up the intensity. The EP only has two proper songs, with two interludes alongside, but the two main tracks combine for 26 minutes and stretch through multiple movements. Jake Rogers has an excellent singing voice, and sticks mostly to black metal rasps for much of the EP, and he is remarkably decipherable. This is great news, but the lyrics are excellent. They tread some well-worn black metal paths (death, sorrow, the end of mankind, and so on), but are a stellar example of the form. 

There is a clear downside to the EP in the iffy production job that often comes with the territory of a one man demo EP. The acoustic guitar tends to be too high in the mix, and the cymbals sound terrible. But it’s a nitpick, and the overall quality on display here far outweighs the downsides.

It’s been more than a few years since this EP was releases, and there’s been little news of anything else in the works. Rogers has recently found success with Visigoth (who released a very good classic heavy metal album last year), so hopefully Gallowbraid is just on hiatus and will return at some point in the future.

Daft Punk- Random Access Memories

For the last few days I’ve been absorbed in a deep dive into the realm of disco while preparing a playlist for an upcoming party. Disco is a very misunderstood genre- nowadays mostly associated with the “worst” of 70’s music, polyester clothing and John Travolta. But it was an incredibly subversive style- a haven for African-Americans, gays, and other marginalized groups to take center stage. It also has a lot more to offer musically and technically than is frequently thought of. Probably the last great horn-dominant music style (ok, ska, but…), and a treasure trove of underappreciated guitar work.

But enough about the 70’s. Disco hasn’t fared particularly well in the ensuing decades. It’s influence is undeniable (hello, house music), and the four on the floor endures because it’s ability to make the human body move is one of the strongest forces on earth. But there are few contemporary artists working in the true disco sound. The Norwegian pair of Todd Terje and Lindstrøm have made both made interesting stuff in their slowed-down “space disco” sound, but the kings are the French duo Daft Punk. And in Random Access Memories they decided to double down on their influences and make a true disco album. And they hit it out of the park. The guitar lines are funky, the guest spots are super strange and super on point, and, most importantly, this record makes you move. Both Pharrell tracks

If there’s any downside to the album, it’s that the abundance of out of flow interludes limit its ability to be played straight through at a party. Giorgio Moroder’s interview, the opening credits flourish on “Beyond,” whatever is going on in “Touch”- all are great little parts and I wouldn’t want them taken away, but they require a little editing to prep the tracks for the dancefloor. Beyond this most minor of quibbles however, the album is note-perfect, so I’ll breathlessly mention a few more highlights: that intro to “Contact,” Julian Casablancas’ incredible feature on “Instant Crush” (“kinda counted on you being a friend…”), that stomping beat on “Lose Yourself to Dance.” This album owns. 10/10

Song Roundup of 2015

Here’s a few great songs from the past year whose albums won’t make it to the year-end list.

Pentimento- “Sink or Swim”

Local band from Buffalo, NY (716 forever). Solid if unspectacular emo album, highlighted by this track.

Ryan Adams- “Style”                                     

-mostly forgettable cover album, but this one eschews the boring coffeeshop sound that dominates the rest of the album for a 70’s Bowie-disco romp.

Beyond the Black- “Songs of Love and Death”

Female-fronted Gothic rock/metal. I know, I know. But goddamn if this isn’t so catchy that I don’t care.

Nightwish- “Edema Ruh”

The new album (first featuring Floor Jansen) is fine, nothing special, though they killed it live. This one wasn’t played, but for me probably a top-5 career track.

Black Tongue- “L’appel du vide”

Monstrously heavy. There’s a lot of bad deathcore in the world, but this just works.

Gorgio Moroder- “74 Is the New 24”

Though the album was uneven, this song is fire.

Avatarium- “Girl With the Raven Mask”

This album drew big headlines for most of the year, and though I didn’t dig the whole thing, the title track absolutely rocks.

Entries from the Top 100: Coconut Records, "West Coast"

Location: 20ish

Seeing Jason Schwartzman on Bill Murray’s (largely forgettable) Netflix Christmas special brought to mind this little gem from Schwartzman’s solo project Coconut Records. For years I thought it was a side project of the singer from Phoenix (who are also featured in the special), but that’s not the case at all. Anyways. This is a finely crafted little indie pop song. The lyrics are simple and poignant, and “tonight I think I’ll be staying here” gets me every time. For me it brings me back to a trip from a few years ago, combining the fond nostalgia from an enjoyable week tempered with regret for an opportunity not taken. Without that context I can see this ending up just another cute indie pop song, but there's nothing wrong with that. Throw in on some playlists (especially given the relative lack of polish on the rest of the album) and enjoy.

La Dispute- Wildlife

It’s almost not fair to make this album the first entry, as it’s one of my 2 or 3 favorites ever, and easily my most listened to in the years since its release. But the CD just came in so it hasn’t left my car player (No Sleep Records is having a sale like every week right now, go pick something up) and here we are.

Consistency has been one of the hallmarks of La Dispute’s young career. All three albums have not only been strong as a whole, but each have few holes in their tracklists. Wildlife’s interludes (“a Poem”, “a Letter”, etc) make the album a more uneven listening experience than the straightforward Somewhere at the Bottom of the River, but the album flows well, using the interludes to underscore the themes of the album while providing a respite from the maxed out emotional stakes. The main tracks are where the action is though, and for my money showcase a band at the peak of an already brilliant run. These are songs that are hard to imagine being made by any other band. Jordan Dreyer is in a class of his own as a lyricist as it is, and on Wildlife he does best work to date as a vocalist.

I’ve seen criticism that Wildlife represents a step back for the band instrumentally from Somewhere at the Bottom of the River. And maybe that’s true. Guitarists Kevin Whittmore and Chad Sterenberg have less room to flex on Wildlife, and the music doesn’t have quite the same ferociousness as Somewhere. But the music still complements the vocals and story very well- see the excellent bridge in “King Park”, or the guitar line through “Safer in the Forest”). You’re coming for the lyrics on this one- they’re too good to not be the prominent feature of the album. But after awhile you’ll find yourself staying for the music too.

I could go on for far too long about this album, so let’s cut it short. This is melodic post-hardcore (or flamenco) of the first-rate, with absolutely unrivaled lyrics and storytelling. One of the must-listen rock records of the last 5 years. 10/10.