In No Particular Order – April 24, 2020
April has flown by. It’s already the final New Music Friday of the month, and the ever-growing list of new releases this year keeps getting better and better.
If you’re a returning reader, then you know In No Particular Order is a collection of some of my favourite album releases and ranked in no particular order. Some are able to hold up to their expectations, others not so much. So join me as I file through and she which ones make the cut.
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If you enjoy any of the albums below, let us know! Reach out on social media to share your thoughts or pass along some new tunes to your friends and family! (From a safe distance).
AWOLNATION – Angel Miners & Lightning Riders
Alternative/Synth-rock
6.5/10
Since his 2011 debut Megalithic Symphony, Aaron Bruno, better known as AWOLNATION, has been a prolific name in the genre-warping modern rock landscape. His crushing guitar effects and his post-hardcore roots shine through on each of his albums, including his latest Angel Miners & The Lightning Riders – for the most part.
Bruno has certainly shaped his sound over the course of four albums, from the synth-core of Megalithic to the rounded rock sound of Here Comes the Runts. On AM&LR, it almost feels like a conglomeration of his entire discography, good and bad.
He’s still forcing his electrifying energy into tracks “Mayday!!! Fiesta Fever” and “California Halo Blue” (a heartbreaking song about the California fires that destroyed his studio), but leans a little too far into the pop spectrum with “Slam (Angel Miners)” and the forgettable Imagine-Dragons-meets-Weezer “Radical” – not to be confused with the Rivers Cuomo feature “Pacific Coast Highway in the Movies” which is just as unappetizing. Don’t get me wrong, “Radical” certainly punches harder than some of his previous work, but it has a conflicting pop progression that doesn’t sit well (maybe it’ll grow on me).
Nevertheless, Bruno certainly knows how to bring out his big guns when he needs to. “Battered, Black and Blue (Hole In My Heart)” is a fiery hard rock track where he releases his familiar screams and howls over an arena-sized ’80s metal track. The aforementioned “Mayday!!! Fiesta Fever” wields a double-barrel in each hand, surprising for a song that features Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe, and album closers “Half Italian” and “I’m A Wreck” throw a few extra punches, playing with the highs and lows of his production style. “I’m A Wreck” especially, as it collapses into a fury of heavy metal intensity.
Fortunately, Bruno has built a tower in the modern rock world where he has solidified himself a a pioneer of sorts. Everything he throws from the tower makes an impact on his discography. While some land flat, most build velocity and barrel down on those willing to stand below and listen. Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders
Notable tracks: “Mayday!!! Fiesta Fever” // “California Halo Blue” // “Battered, Black and Blue (Hole In My Heart)”
Rone – Room With a View
Electronica/Minimilist
7/10
It’s not everyday you hear about an electronic record that was produced in conjunction with a national ballet. Although, after hearing Room With A View, the latest from French producer Rone, it isn’t quite far-fetched as one would think.
Room With A View was made as part of a performance commissioned by the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. Rone worked with choreography group (LA) Horde and the Ballet National de Marseille for a piece inspired by climate change and “collapsologie“, the science and study of collapse, particularly through the lens of the end of the world.
Spanning just over an hour, Room With A View requires some patience, as the textures and soundscapes open up gradually, each bringing their own colour and intensity to the mix. Rone’s downtempo style helps to sweep each song into the next seamlessly, making the 13 track effort feel like one succinct piece.
It does drag along at some points, a common trait of the genre, but there are certainly moments that help move it forward. “Sophora Japonica” and “Ginkgo Bilbo” add some variance and chaos into the the mix, while “Nouveau Monde” captures a pseudo-EDM energy and “Le Crapaud Doré” has a Baroque feel. However, the most transforming track is “Human”, a soundtrack worthy piece layering together synthesizers, voices, and string arrangements to build into a compelling swell of density.
Aside from the partnership with the ballet, Room With A View is a very independent project. Rone wrote, recorded, and produced the entire record himself, giving himself full range on the expansiveness of his sound. The album becomes more and more complex as it progresses, illustrating Rone’s ability to shape sounds and waves into compelling electronic music.
Notable tracks: “Sophora Japonica” // “Ginkgo Biloba” // “Human”
Bad History Month – Old Blues
(Avant-garde singer-songwriter)
7/10
When an album opens with a 13-minute ballad, that can often be a turnoff for a listener, especially if you’re unfamiliar with an artist, regardless of the genre. DIY indie rock artist Bad History Month, the brainchild of Sean Sprecher (a.k.a Sean Bean a.k.a Sean John Silver) doesn’t really care if you listen or not. He just hopes, if you do, you can find a relation or laugh at his strange satire littered within the lyrics. His new album Old Blues is a playful, yet dampened look into Sprecher’s psyche across seven tracks of depressing guitar strumming and monotone delivery.
Yet somehow, there is plenty of hope to go around. His lyricism is dry and overt, and at times hard to distinguish, but the droning-ness of it all gives the album a weirdly soothing sense of comfort. “Low Hanging Fruit” is a sharp example, as he sings “Baby there’s hope in low-hanging fruit….I just want to fuck someone that wants me”. Self-depreciation and knowing there is growth within that is at the core of Old Blues. “Suddenly hate a man I’ve loved for many years / An uncanny valley of beer yawns between us” Sprecher sings on “A Survey of Cosmic Repulsion”.
And if opening with the 13-minute “Waste Not” wasn’t enough, Sprecher also brings Old Blues to a close with the 15-minute “Want Not”. With more dynamics and improvised instrumentation, the closer feels like an acoustic progressive rock interlude of sorts, where he connects the opener about dealing with your fault to the closer of a similar theme. The two together feels like an epic poem read over thirty minutes of music.
If you can look past the eccentricity of the album, since his song structure is obscure and unorthodox, there is a strange intensity and heartfelt sincerity thrown like confetti across the album.
I’m not sure how I feel about it, but I like it.
Notable tracks: “Waste Not” // “Childlike Sense of Hatred” // “Want Not”
Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes – What Kinda Music
Soul/Jazz
8/10
Tom Misch is best known for his chill, soulful singer-songwriter status, while Yussef Dayes is one of London’s top emerging jazz percussionist/producer. Separately, they are reshaping their respective genres, bringing them into the 21st century with style and flare. Together, they are colliding their two worlds into a masterclass of chilled out, genre-blending “kinda music”.
Not to say Tom Misch isn’t a talented lyricist, but unsurprisingly so, the pair’s musical virtuosity takes precedence on the record. Even with “Nightrider”, featuring rapper Freddie Gibbs, the words on What Kinda Music get lost in the compelling percussion from Dayes and the glossy, electronia-inspired guitar parts of Misch. And honestly, it’s almost preferred. The two musicians flaunt their strengths, especially Dayes, rather than force any sort of neo-R&B and pop tropes into their music.
Some may call it disjointed and staggered, but the juxtaposition between Misch and Dayes’ style is captivating. The sharp production on the record allows you to feel each bass kick, each strike on the snare, each roll across the hi-hat. Most of the record is “slow” but the foundation that Dayes lays out from behind the kit is bold and captivating. Meanwhile, the fluidity of Misch’s neo-R&B and soulful guitar melodies and vocal lines throw the record through a tie-dye of retro-soul but with the layering and complexity of modern music.
The tempo and flow of the record feels somewhat stagnant throughout, but every so often, the two swap the spotlight for solos, providing pulses of virtuosity. What Kinda Music is digestible and exciting experimental jazz by two young superstars. It’s not overcomplicated or pretentious, instead it is a finely tuned and omnipresent jam session. There isn’t much to offer other than a “sit and listen” experience, but that still gives the album a certain charm and musicianship.
Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes are on the rise and I’m excited to hear what comes next.
Notable tracks: “Nightrider” // “Lift Off” // “Julie Mangos”
