This album will obliterate you. This is heavy, despairing death metal that suffers through every single beat. It's not an easy album to listen to, but it's one worth listening to. The heavy, pounding, fast drums and the big, powerful riffs make for an album that sonically attacks you and beats you into submission. But it's not all doom and gloom and horror, there are moments of triumph and joy (or, at least, not bleak despair), little breaks of light through the storm that give you a breath, before you're sent spiraling back down into the pits. It's powerful, and it's difficult, but it's ultimately very rewarding.
1. David Bowie Blackstar - a lot has already been said, it will surely be this year's highlight, thankfully for musical reasons too.
2. Howes 3.5 Degrees - Skinny has already recommended that, so I gave it a couple of listens and I do find it compelling. Interesting electronic stuff, though definitely too reflexive or "ambient", if you like, for dancefloors.
3. Baaba Maal The Traveller - if you like world music, you are surely familiar with the guy, Senegal's biggest musical treasure. His new album is really great, and seems to be a lot more varied than 2009's Television. Lots of genres combined here, from traditional African folk, desert blues, to more "western influences", also electronic. Winston Marshall of Mumford & Sons took a significant part on this record.
Here's the latest article about Baaba from The Quietus http://thequietus.com/articles/19559-baaba-maal-interview
4. Hinds Leave Me Alone - an unpretentious take on indie rock from this all-female Spanish band. Sounds like a lot of fun. Cheered me up.
5. Willamette Diminished Composition - a nice ambient/neo-classical record. Headphones recommended. _________________ Always shouts out something obscene
I've really been enjoying an album by a guy called Howes, called 3.5 Degrees. He uses modular synths to make these really calm, quasi-ambient tracks that kind of flirt with house and techno but aren't necessarily targeted towards dancefloors. His stuff has a really homely, close vibe, which may come from the fact that he records from his synths straight onto cassette, and something about it feels really personal. It's melodic without putting too much emphasis on being easy to cling to, kind of stuck in purgatory between the sort of thing Caribou deals in (i.e. warm, fuzzy electronica that appeals to indie fans) and the more experimental, warped side of the house music spectrum (i.e. the resignedly dirty beats that Kassem Mosse and the rest of the Workshop crew peddle), but it has a certain homespun charm that certainly appeals, and a tinny, relatable tone that makes it extremely accessible. It's probably my favourite album of 2016 so far (although I have a lot of love for the latest efforts from Bowie and Boosie, respectively), and it's definitely worth a listen. Samples below.
Yo thank you for reminding me what this was called, stumbled upon it on another site before and liked the album cover but couldn't remember anything else about it and just kind of gave up. Really cool stuff.
If I could plug an album for a second, y'all ought to check out
Another electronic album with a few danceable moments that doesn't quite fit in on a dancefloor but for totally different reasons. Pitchfork wrote a really positive review with a score that wasn't great, but they said of him "Coldair's previous efforts were more like warm gusts: gentle Nick Drakean serenades guided by winsome, wandering melodies and buttressed by brass fanfares. But 2013's Whose Blood suggested a creeping unease, with digital jolts and foreboding, Swans-like percussion that poked black holes in the scenery. On The Provider, Biliลski reaches into those fissures and tears them wide open, allowing that darkness to become all-consuming." There isn't quite as much darkness as I think they suggest here, but there's definitely something foreboding underneath a bright front, and there is still a definite soft feel to his voice that is more akin to a folk singer than someone you'd expect on EDM/IDM. The live horns are really something special here, mixed in with the synths and the vocals, it's just a really cool experience as a whole.
Confessions Of A Romance Novelist is quite a fantastic debut from The Anchoress. Complex and witty, but poppy at the same time. Well worth checking out. _________________ sptfy.com/benlester
I don't understand. Surely Blackstar is not as good as The Next Day? What do you find in it that I don't?
It's all a matter of personal preference, so I can't quite explain. I found The Next Day cold in relation to the very personal, tragic content of Blackstar. I also find the playing to be more interesting, manic. I do like The Next Day, but not nearly as much as Blackstar. _________________ http://jonnyleather.com
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