Hail and well met! If you're reading this message, it's because I've removed this page from the site's main navigation until I can decide what I'm doing with it - it's just not working for me in its current state.
I hesitate to give this music any qualifiers because that's kind of missing the point, but if I can describe it in any way, it's 'meditative'. The opening track Mongol in particular feels like having a waking dream while alarm bells go off around you. In fact, all of the tracks in this album comprise a metallic soundscape that fills you with the vague sense that the music itself wants you dead. A truly beautiful work!
An artist that I'm mainly familiar with from 6AM, a single with an accompying music video by director Tajana Bunton-Williams, Just Can't Get Enough is a scintalling track that blends the sampling with the spoken word into a seamless co-mingling of old and new. A really enticing track that I'm embarassed I haven't gotten in my rotation before now.
The most recent drop by PUP, How To Live With Yourself/Smoke Screen has a rhythm that really gets my blood pumping, hearkening back to the days when I was jamming out to promotional CDs that used to come with issues of Rock Sound. Smoke Screen in particular makes me feel how I felt the first time I heard Post Party Depression. Beautiful stuff!
Now, here's one that's really close to my heart. The game this OST is connected to came out in August of 2009, just as I was getting really invested in the chiptune scene at that time. This particular album is a lovely set of variations on the leitmotif in the first song, which carries the emotional throughline of the original game. Farewell, Traveller in particular always manages to choke me up.
From Fool's Gold Records, Smalltown DJs offers a pleasant musical adventure that sounds like it's mere seconds away from turning into an a-capella solo. Very groovy stuff!
Monstercat is a label that's been in my wheelhouse for a long time thanks both to their long-standing presense on Youtube and the fact that they upload new music on Bandcamp basically every single day. This one is vibrant, fast-paced, and is just a really nice time to listen to.
This one I've been familiar with for a while now thanks to the immaculate music video by writer and director AG Rojas (also features a guest appearance by Gootecks but I try to not hold that against it), but i'm finally getting around to having it in my regular rotation. I've always been a sucker for a horn section, but the way the trumpet co-mingles with the piano and synthesizers - it's absolutely scrumptious ear candy.
This EP opens with the thumping 86 and never lets up from there; a truly blistering handful of tracks, with the titular Primitive Desires being arguably the hardest of the lot, but Steel and Illusion of Choice are no slouches either, and Ditz proves a powerful song to close out on. A lot of strong songs, all around!
I'll say right now that I'm a huge mark for Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, so a Mark Blair edit is of course going to be in my frequent rotation for a while! If you're familiar with the song, you'll notice a plethora of differences, like a lot of periods where the beat will drop into total silence to lead into the next part of the song. It's good!
Tune in next month for other stuff i'm listening to - you might find a new favorite!