Speaking of lurching, post rock informed sludge metal…
Ohio’s Mouth of the Architect has long held my ear as one of the must crushing yet beautiful post metal bands around. Quietly is one of the most gorgeous and visceral records I’ve ever heard. So when a friend gave me this split, also featuring the instrumental, fellow Daytonians Kenoma, my hopes were high.
And that hope did not disappoint.
For the last six years, post metal heroes ISIS have been one of my favorite bands. From the first time I heard the crushing, glacial riffs of Panopticon, I was smitten. As I became more familiar with their other works, I regarded that album as a watershed moment: a turning point that would set the direction for the rest of their career, as well as direction for an entire direction of metallurigists.
A few weeks ago, I found that album’s predecessor, Oceanic, for the lowest price I’d ever seen it, so I ordered it without being totally familiar with it. And now, I must recant the narrative I’ve drawn around their discography. While Panopticon may have perfected the post-rock tinged sludge metal that they are celebrated for, Oceanic pioneered it. Continue reading
At some point in the mid to late 2000s, Gorillaz founder Damon Albarn decided that leading the world’s best cartoon band wasn’t enough, and started to aim a bit higher.
After three massive statements filled with star-studded collaborations, Gorillaz became icons in the music world. Each release was a zeitgeist, heralded by a massive web presence.
But then in 2018 they quietly released The Now Now, an album as subdued as its marketing. That doesn’t stop it from being just as rewarding.
If you’ve followed this blog at all, you’re already well aware that I have a very soft spot for a particular kind of heavy, glacial, melodic sludge metal (see: Isis, Cult of Luna, Mouth of the Architect, Spotlights, etc).
My friend Alex knows this, and so when he heard Bloodletting, the latest full length from California post metal outfit Mountaineer, his first reaction was to send me the link.
A few songs in, my first reaction was to buy the record. Said record has a label on it that says, “For Fans Of: Cult of Luna, Alcest, Torche, and Baroness.” That’s a pretty bold FFO if you can’t back it up. Luckily, Bloodletting proves it in spades.
For years, I’ve had a fascination with trip hop. I became a huge fan of Portishead when Third was released, and later got into acts like Emiliana Torrini, Telepopmusik, and Air when my wife and I started dating. I’ve been a fan of Gorillaz since the beginning of their career.
But somehow, I’ve ignored the rulers of genre, Massive Attack, and their most celebrated album Mezzanine. Of course, I’ve known how great this album is, but much in the same way that I know that I’m breathing: it’s happening all the time, but I don’t usually give it very much attention.
Recently, I decided to change that. And boy, am I glad I did.
After mentioning that only one person has ever taken me up on my offer to donate records that they want me to review, my friend Bill handed me a stack for the Cause.
Included was this disk from Swedish guitar virtuoso Ywngwie Malmsteen, who has long occupied space in my mind as the type of highly technical soloist who was more concerned with showing off his own chops than creating enjoyable compositions (see also: Joe Satriani).
Luckily, though there may be no shortage of sweeps and taps and blistering solos, Malmsteen is too much of a Classical music fanboy to let composition sit at the wayside.
Read more at ayearofvinyl.com #yngwiemalmsteen #heavymetal #metal #vinyl
In the record buying community, every once in a while you might get a surprise. In this case, I had ordered a copy of post-hardcore legends Quicksand 2017 album Interiors, and was surprised to find that the seller had also included this ten inch.
Knowing nothing about the group, I popped it on the platter and gave it a spin.
What ensued was 23 minutes of as brutal and chaotic mathcore as I’ve ever heard.
Every so often, someone will suggest a record for me to review. I always tell them the same thing: on this blog, I only review albums that I own on vinyl, so if they want me to review something, the would need to give it to me.
To date, only my friend Jay has taken me up on that offer, with this Beatles-adjacent release.
Mike McGear, born Peter Michael McCartney, is the brother of the one and only Paul McCartney. If he was trying to get out of his older brother’s shadow, this album is a strange way to go about it, as Paul produced the album, wrote (or cowrote) most of the songs, and offered up Wings as a backing band.
It’s no RAM, but save for the fact that his brother is singing lead vocals, this feels all the world like a forgotten Paul McCartney solo record.
Like many a white suburban kid, I’ve had a passing fascination with hip hop. I was a pretty big fan of Kanye West until he went off the rails. I know every word of “Rapper’s Delight.” I have a huge appreciation for old school acts like Public Enemy and Naughty By Nature. I’ve even got my own unfinished Jay-Z mashup album.
But when Kendrick Lamar came on the scene, I completely lost track of what was going on in the world of hip hop.
A lot of that disorientation came from this record, an eighty-minute monster filled with the densest verses around. But a few weeks ago, I decided to dive into it, and I can’t escape its grasp.
Before turning U2 into the biggest rock band in the world, before pulling true greatness out of the Talking Heads, before going with Bowie to Berlin, before collaborating with David Byrne, Roger Fripp, Daniel Lanois, Slowdive, and more, before inventing ambient music, Brian Eno played synthesizer for the art rock/glam rock outfit Roxy Music.
After rising tensions with Roxy bandleader Bryan Ferry proved too much to handle, he struck out to make a solo career for himself.
The resulting debut is a revelation, combining glam theatrics, Beatles-like popcraft, and forward-thinking sonic exploration that would inspire legions of future musicians.