by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our weekly recap of this week's new music. We're sharing our favorite releases of the week in the form of albums, singles, and music videos along with the "further listening" section of new and notable releases from around the web. It's generally written in the early hours of the morning and semi-unedited... but full of love and heart. The list is in alphabetical order and we sincerely recommend checking out all the music we've included. There's a lot of great new music being released. Support the bands you love. Spread the word and buy some new music.
*Disclaimer: We are making a conscious effort not to include any artist in our countdown on back-to-back weeks in order to diversify the feature, so be sure to check the "further listening" as well because it's often of top-notch quality too.
EDITRIX | “Tell Me I’m Bad”
“Tell Me I’m Bad,” the title tracking from Editrix’s upcoming full length debut is another mind melting burst of post-hardcore bliss. The opening track from the album rips right out the gate with an off-kilter dirge of distorted guitars and a persistent pounding rhythm, but shifts are never far, as the trio tightly move from section to section, without warning. The ground gives way and eventually Wendy Eisenberg’s warm vocals come in with a gluey melody, adding a dizzying hook to a song that is constantly in movement, every piece building and contorting from the last. It rips. Its brilliant. It’s Editrix doing their damn thing.
GATECREEPER | “An Unexpected Reality“ EP
The mighty Gatecreeper returned with An Unexpected Reality, a new surprise album (or EP, depending on how you look at it) that in true Gatecreeper fashion absolutely destroys. This is not your typical Gatecreeper release however, but a chance for the band to experiment, moving away from their colossal death metal sound to something a bit more ferocious (if possible) and a bit more out into the cosmic sludge realm, a tale of two halves. The first half is comprised of one minute doses of brutality, grinding metal with a primal sense of destruction. It’s phenomenal. The second half is a single eleven minute whirlwind of crusty space doom, crawling along with a pummeling intensity. Gatecreeper can do it all.
THE NOTWIST | “Al Sur” (feat. Juana Molina)
The Notwist are sort of the essence of what is meant by progressive music, forever changing and building toward something else. While they began as an amazing post-hardcore band in the 90s, sometime around the early 2000s their sound took a turn toward experimental pop and the harder to define. Much of the same can be said for visionary Juana Molina, an incredibly gifted songwriter and musician whose catalog ranks among the best of them, so pairing the two together on The Notwist’s upcoming album Vertigo Days, is a must hear. “Al Sur” is kind of the best of both worlds, with a mechanical rhythm that captures the psych-pop charms of both projects, and sputters and churns them into something free, vibrant, and infectious.
RENÉE REED | “Fast One”
We were first introduced to Renée Reed last summer with her single “Until Tomorrow” and we’ve been eagerly awaiting more ever since. The Lafayette based songwriter is getting ready to release her self-titled debut album in March via Keeled Scales (Tenci, Rae Fitzgerald, Sun June) and the latest single “Fast One” offers an immediate reason to be excited. With a really gorgeous acoustic guitar progression (we could listen to this all day) that ascends and descends with a restrained grace, it’s tightly locked. The gentle framework adds a sense of comfort and ease to Reed’s breathy vocals, the natural tension and release blossoming to the dreamy aesthetic.
THIRDFACE | “Villains!”
Do It With A Smile, the full length debut from Nashville’s Thirdface is one of the most exciting hardcore albums we’ve heard in a long time. The band do it their own way, taking traditional hardcore tropes and subverting them, making them weirder, more interesting, impactful, and often… heavier. The record’s lead single, “Villains!” is as great a starting point as any, quick to prove that band is as much brains as they are brawn. Every member of Thirdface is an incredible musician (see Yautja, Donors, Sallow, etc for further proof), but they really seem to bring out the best in each other, working to create something so immediate and visceral they are able to shift through an avalanche of rhythms and riffs without losing an ounce of intensity.
FURTHER LISTENING:
7XVETHEGENIUS “Break Soul“ | ALL FEELS “We Love This For You” | ALPHA HOPPER “The Goods” | THE BLACK ANGELS “Manipulation (Live)” | BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD “Track X” | THE BODY “Tied Up And Locked In“ | BOISE COVER BAND “Ashes To Ashes” (David Bowie cover) | CAUTION “Buy My Life” | COOL GHOULS “Helpless Circumstance“ | CORY HANSON “Angeles” | FIEVEL IS GLAUQUE “Simple Affairs“ | GUY BLAKESLEE “Faces” | IAN SWEET “Drink The Lake“ | MAXSHH “Speeddial” | MOGWAI “Ritchie Sacramento” | MUSH “Seven Trumpets” | NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE “Country Home (Live)” | NIGHTSHIFT “Power Cut“ | NOPES “Under The Leather“ | PEEL DREAM MAGAZINE “Geodesic Dome“ | SHEER MAG “Crushed Velvet” | SMOKE DZA “Lavish” (feat. Conway The Machine) | SPEED STICK “Protect Your Magic“ | STEREOLAB “Dimension M2” | THIS IS LORELEI “Jimmy Buffett Tape” EP | TWICE EYES “Nitewave“ | UM ARE “Donna”