The new Cloud Nothings album, Here And Nowhere Else, is a little hard for me to get into thus far.
I really dug their early collection of rough bedroom tracks and then their self-titled debut which had this incredibly youthful, snarky energy to it like a lost anarcho punk band filtered through Dr. Seuss. Their follow up, Attack On Memory, was more experimental and moody but still had enough incredible moments ("Stay Useless" and "Cut You") to be enjoyable. This newest album brings back a lot of the energy from their earlier works, but with a lot of the charm replaced by their more noisier and abrasive tendencies. They're almost unrecognizable at times. Still, it's proving to be a slow burner, and some tracks have already found their way into my heart ("Psychic Trauma") or are compelling enough for me to explore ("No Thoughts" and "Pattern Walk").
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Casket Girls' True Love Kills The Fairy Tale
I am seriously digging this thing from start to finish, with every track turning out to be a jewel of dream journal pop. A nice mix of nostalgia chants and free spirited disregard for them, with minor goth tendencies that surface for time to time amidst the veneer of bubbly anthems.
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Neneh Cherry's Plank Project
Really nifty electronica infused, soulful singing that has gotten under my skin. This sort of stuff is fairly common now, but Neneh was one of the early practitioners. Here she's really showing off her knack for composition and pacing, crafting a quietly seductive and worldly wise, sincere collection of club tracks. The album seems to be minor key playful---like a knowing smile---but never at the expense of authenticity. She maintains just enough distance to get a fuller perspective.
Perhaps the weakest area of Neneh's album lies in her ability to harness the much sought after pop hook. Overall the album is perhaps a bit too "minor key" and in need of some genuine hooks. It would make it more memorable on a finer level, whereas in its current form it kind of blends together and ends up being a sum total kind of experience for me.
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Liars' Mess
My fondness for Liars comes and goes, and I'd say it's about as varied as their musical catalog. This time around, their harsh distorted electobuzz and Eurotrash aesthetic seems pretty hit or miss. Overall I'd say this album is quite aptly named. Wixiw and Sisterworld by comparison were much more interesting and well executed albums for me. Still, there are things to like about this one.
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Also this came out at the very end of December of last year, so I'm counting it among this year's releases...
Dead Reptile Shrine's Praise Cemetary [sic].
Lo-fi ritualistic black metal cultishness. Not for the faint of heart or people who take music genres too seriously. Overall, these guys have always had a comical mystique about them, in part due to their extremely limit
ed cassette tape releases that often ended up more ritual-on-tape than album. Like discovering an artifact hidden away in a dank crevice that wasn't meant to ever see the light of day again. Part solemn procession, part exorcism, part insane asylum confessional. Like Xasthur having a nervous breakdown at the dentist's. Weird, twisted and atrociously recorded outsider black metal.
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Also worth a mention / impressions forthcoming:
White Suns - Totem
Noisy apocalyptic punk and metal abomination, and I meant that in a good way.
Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Pinata
Really great mashup combining both talents effectively into an addicting hip hop experience.
Mac Demarco - Salad Days
Fantastic mellow guitar jams, like a stripped-down-one-man-Kinks on sedatives.
EMA - The Future's Void
Coming soon. I have a crush on this lady, oh yeah.
Avey Tare's Slasher Ficks - Enter The Slasher House
Coming soon. Dude from Animal Collective possibly doing something interesting.
Teebs - Estara
Coming soon. Electronic odyssey of goodness hopefully.
