New Music Friday: Shruti-Box Pop, Syrian Synth Shred, Smart Slam
Nov. 6 releases include Elizabeth Vogler, Don Cherry, Rizan Said, Straw Man Army, David Lord, Extol, Karl Mattar, Orbital Gate, Carmen Quill, Lou Turner, Sarah Davachi, Esther's Mood Ring
Do you have a favorite tree in your neighborhood? Mine is untamed and untrimmed. From the alley where it lives, this unruly giant engulfs its backyard with a domineering, yet kindly presence — like that 6'5" uncle with the warm belly and scraggly beard. Flocks of birds spend their seasons in its limbs. Its shade in the summer cools the asphalt. But mostly, I look forward to fall, when its reds, yellows and oranges reach toward the blue sky like little kids asking for uppies. Every year, the colors come at different times, as if the other branches lost their invitation to change in the mail … or whatever delivery system the roots determine. Perfectly imperfect, but homey. Everyone should have a favorite tree in their neighborhood.
I only recently realized I love this tree because it reminds me of the one found on the cover of Velour 100's Fall Sounds, a perennial favorite around this season. Dreamy, cozy indie-rock that splits the difference between coffeehouse intimacy and starry shoegaze. Amon Krist's unadorned, but deeply felt voice grounds Trey Many's bleary-eyed textures and blissed-out noise. Classic 4AD vibes. The album turns 30 this year, which, by law, demands a vinyl reissue — Burnt Toast Vinyl and Lost in Ohio handled the honors.
Stream the Viking's Choice Guide to New Music Friday mixtape (tracks 1-11 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.
Elizabeth Vogler, La Carnaval Perdu
Ever hear someone sing and just involuntarily cry? Shruti-box drone and electroacoustic-pop echolalia from one of the most arresting voices I've heard this year.
Don Cherry, Collin Walcott & Leon Thomas + Oregon, Sunrise
Don Cherry's my guy. Captures the crucial moment between the freewheeling free jazz/fusion years and Codona's singular approach to world-building and -uniting musics. Leon Thomas' golden yodel always heals my spirit.
Rizan Said, Ma Waraa Al-Shaabi (ما وراء الشعبي) – Beyond Shaabi
Syrian synth jams of the utmost slink and shred. But there's also something extraterrestrial afoot … an ancient alien atmosphere that shakes the temple loose and unveils a sick-as-hell spaceship.
Extol, Aura of Decay
First album in 13 years! It's been too long! I, for one, welcome Extol's tech-thrash return à la Synergy, an unheralded gem. These proggy metal gnarls can be mean and sprawling, but lean into powerful melodies with a moody Cynic-ism.
Straw Man Army, True North
Peace punks go acoustic, but no less wiley. Their obtuse sense of melody, at home with the band's nervy post-punk thus far, is an unexpectedly brilliant match for these '60s-style folk experiments. It's like Current 93 got into The Mob, but there's no distortion pedal to be found.
David Lord, Days in Woods
A jazz trio sets up shop on a toadstool. Gnomes puff on magic smoke while fairies knit scarves from flowers. Lightly hallucinogenic tunes transpire — wiry and wiggly guitar squigglin' to a rhythm section keeping parallel time.
Karl Mattar, The Weather of the World
These songs are like beauty drops from eyes squeezed shut. With a delicate, yet muffled sound like Nick Drake and of Montreal under coats of Mount Eerie, the Beirut-based singer-songwriter makes sense of an ongoing grief as war rages around his home.
Orbital Gate, Engineering His Planetary Dominion
"Smart slam" is a paradox, yet there's no other way to describe this one-woman metal band of technical, melodic and pinch harmonic'd brutality that still chugga-chugs with utmost ignorance.
Carmen Quill, Harmless
An idiosyncratic songwriter so in tune with her soulfully abstruse upright bass that it's hard to tell which melody comes first. Talk Talk's avant-pop era comes to mind, but Quill's world feels more like a gloved hand on the shoulder: small, close, warm, weird.
Esther's Mood Ring, Dream Ecology
The smiling, psychedelic spirit of Time-Lag Records ripples throughout these unhurried and grubby, yet shimmering jams in search of nothing and no one.
Lou Turner, Strangels
Ain't a better way to sum up this indie twang better than this opening line: "There’s a pocket New Testament / Holding up the kitchen table leg / To keep it from wobbling too much after a pour." Never too clever, but always heart in hand.
Sarah Davachi, Book of Carols
Here's what you do: Buy a 5-disc CD player. Load it up with these longform jammers. Drift about your day in subtly shifting drones for organ, trombones, tapes, ancient pipes and whatnot. Remember there's a sixth disc, but you have sunk into the floor.
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