New Music Friday: Nerdy Punk, Surrealist Hip-Hop
Aug. 14 releases include Sweeping Promises, Regulator Watts, Duffy x Uhlmann, Ishmael Reed, Power Snatch, Korey Reeder, Fatboi Sharif & ELUCID
Of the nine albums and EPs here, three of them include the room as a character in the recording. Ishmael Reed, Kory Reeder and Sweeping Promises all take an in situ approach from different angles: right next to the piano, in a corner, an open-air wall-of-sound. I've always been drawn to that experience.
Elsewhere…
What cover songs are better than the originals? That's the question posed by a recent episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. Had a blast making my case for Low's stark take on The Smiths' "Last Night I Dreamt Somebody Loved Me" and Shonen Knife's twee "Top of the World." The key word in that prompt: better. Which is tough because there are tons of covers that I love, but have a hard time slotting above the original.
Stream the Viking's Choice Guide to New Music Friday mixtape (tracks 1-9 are from the albums reviewed, the rest are singles released within the last week). Follow me on Bandcamp and check out previous mixes via Buy Music Club.
Sweeping Promises, You Say I Romanticize
Earnestly nerdy punk anthems by deeply uncool weirdos. These are my people, twisting the esoteric into something sticky with a euphoric energy. I freaking love this band.
Regulator Watts, kWh
The D.C. power trio refines and revs up the atmospheric and melodic strain of post-hardcore they developed in the '90s … and goes harder than most reunions have any business of doing.
Duffy x Uhlmann, Hot Creek
Unconventionally beautiful guitar duos that seem to send Satie's Gymnopédies through squigglevision or arrange The Books' cut-and-paste wonders in real time. Playful, cozy and pastoral.
Ishmael Reed, Every Time I Feel the Spirit
These home-taped solo piano recordings of the innovative writer are much like his texts: Less interested in what we know and instead coloring around the pathways that take us there.
Power Snatch, EP2
Hayley Williams just casually fires off jokey lyrics on Amy Poehler's podcast and then writes a downtrodden banger. Ain't that the way. Half cinematic indie-rock, half hypnagogic trip-hop by way of Return of the Frog Queen.
Kory Reeder, Texas: Vol XIV - Great Plains Songbook
Old hymns, parlor songs and ballads sparsely arranged that map and critique memory. The DIY recording lets the bird chirps, chair creaks and room noise fill the space with a haunted curiosity.
Fatboi Sharif & ELUCID, Invasion Body Camera
Two hip-hop surrealists walk into a red room and WHAT THE %$#@ IS THAT CRAWLING OUT OF THE CORNER. ELUCID's bad-trip beats and Sharif's nightmarish bellows drip an ominous ooze.
Evil Island, Terraform the Afterlife
Screeching and sassy punk chaos returns just as indie sleaze slithers back into consciousness. This can't help but be Blood Brothers 2.0, but the sneer is meaner and the riffs are leaner.
Open Mike Eagle & Kenny Segal, DOOMED!
This one-rapper-one-producer album is long overdue. These two share a broken-but-healed sensibility, which serve these self-aware break-up missives well.
Add a comment: