ALC #4: Leap Second

[KitchenSink]

hello friends and lovers today's scheduled ALC is

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Leap Second by M. Caye Castagnetto

a playfully surreal little gem (with a well deserved Black Dice endorsement) that I've been enjoying quite a bit and yet still seem to have trouble fully parsing or describing. on some level I'm tempted to describe it as "hypnogogic", although it bears only passing similarity to the likes of John Maus or Ariel Pink. Maybe an Yves Tumor comparison would be slightly more apt? But still very markedly different from all of them... I feel like this album does a good job of establishing a very distinct artistic voice pretty early on, giving us a pretty good idea of what makes the M. Caye Castagnetto "sound" and then continually and engagingly expanding upon and playing with it as the album plays out, so while it messes with any number of sometimes wildly varying sounds, rather than feeling ramshackle or just purposelessly all over the place it all feels nicely bound together in its own kind of internal logical consistency (whatever all that means ... ... huh maybe I just mean it flows nice...) Regardless I uh think it's quite good and there's plenty more I'd normally like say here but as my mental health has been just a tad bit in the gutter lately and thus putting words in front of other words has become more difficult than I'd like I'll leave you with a quick I Think This Is A Cool Record And I Hope You Enjoy It. Oh and also do note that the artist uses they/them pronouns so please keep that in mind when discussing

alright peace have fun u crazy kids
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A Variety of Artists

[LedZep]

This is literally the second album in my queue, after Deftones one which I'm currently in the middle of. Nice timing.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[kokkinos]

What I like the most about this is that despite being a complex work of art, it doesn't feel like one, it makes for a very easy and comfortable listening experience. It could be its folk/almost pop overall sound that's responsible for it, but I think it has to do more with the lack of form/structure. You get the impression that nothing is calculated and this "randomness" so to speak makes you jump right into it and enjoy the ride without making seconds thoughts. But even after the excitement of the first couple of listens wears off, you start analysing and you discover more and more stuff to keep you engaged. So, it is both instantly accessible and at the same time has high replay value. All in all, a promising debut and I can't help but wonder what's coming up next by them.

[Hayden]

AH

Need to catch up on last week's.

That went by way too fast.

This one is very good though.

Easy rec.

[EyeKanFly]

Honestly I wasn't super impressed by this. I saw a few other members here recommend it when it came out a few weeks back, but this just wasn't something I could get into.

I've seen some phenomenal blends of folk/psychedelia/ambient, but to me this seems a little disjointed, like it doesn't know what it wants to be. Maybe I'm missing something here, but it seems like even the artist alludes to this on "I Invented Disco".

Oddly enough, I found "Street Trees, Evening Green" to be a standout, it outshines a lot of the rest of the album and feels a little more glued to the folk vibe rather than ambient.

I gave a bit of criticism but overall I think this was actually a solid release. Probably my second favorite ALC so far (1-4-3-2).
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51 Washington, D.C. albums!

[RoundTheBend]

I haven't had a taste yet, but I guess I'm thinking to myself why not jump first... hehe.

[LedZep]

After giving it 3 spins, I'm confident that this is one of the best albums of the year so far. It reminds me of so many things all at once, while never actually sounding derivative or predictable. It's the exact opposite, you can never tell when a Nico-like vocals will take over or when a folky part will pop off and a psychedelic Velvets-inspired passage begin. It also sounds crisp and immediate, it's not one of those difficult to get into experimental releases. I found it rather likeable, easy to listen to all the way through and consistent. The best ALC so far, I'm really glad this was chosen since, like I mentioned, it was already in my queue.
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Finally updated the overall chart

2020s
90s

[Applerill]

Mystical bops in the misty forest

[musicoed]

.

[RoundTheBend]

This felt like listening to other bands, but high.