by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_) Kris Handel, and Matt Watton (@brotinus)
Welcome to FUZZY MEADOWS, our 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. 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.
CAUTION
“Connection” (Elastica cover)
As it's creeping up on the 30th anniversary of Elastica's classic (yet semi-controversial) debut album. coincidentally this cover of "Connection" by Caution that just dropped is very well timed. It also is a perfect fit for the overdriven guitar colors of Cash Langdon and the fierce (multi-tracked ) vocals of Nora Button, whose libidinously sneering approach matches the bite of Justine Frischmann. Caution pay due respect to the snotty original with an added bit of gauze layered on top as Langdon's guitar slices through with searing leads and Button's attitude and acumen with chirping melodies truly pushes this rendition into a different space. Caution have provided the world with an incredibly energetic and highly enjoyable homage to a fantastic bit of punky nostalgia that will melt your heart. - Kris Handel
THE GREEN CHILD
“A Long Beautiful Flowing Cape”
Four years after the release of Shimmering Basset, Melbourne’s The Green Child make their triumphant return with Look Familiar, due out November 15th via Upset The Rhythm (Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, Screensaver, Marcel Wave) and Hobbies Galore (Matt Harkin, J. McFarlane's Reality Guest, Chateau). With the new record comes an expanded line-up, the duo of Raven Mahon (Grass Widow, Rocky) and Mikey Young (Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring) now joined by Shaun Gionis and Alex Macfarlane, allowing the band dip further into experimental pop ether. Blending dreamy synth pop, krautrock, and warm psychedelic bliss, “A Long Beautiful Flowing Cape” sits upon a slinky rhythm, equal parts delicate and immersive, brilliant as it shuffles and cements the deep pocket. With everything locked into mesmerizing place, Mahon’s vocals are given room to float and flourish, the entire composition glowing.
KURIOUS
“Par For The Course” (feat. Mr. Fantastik)
There's always been a kinetic chemistry inherent in Kurious and MF DOOM's collaborations, and it's easy to see how they gravitated toward each other. Majician, executive produced by DOOM prior to his passing, is a modern gem of underground hip-hop and a defining statement from Kurious. The raw and off-kilter rap album is chopped with mystical soul samples courtesy of Mono En Stereo and lyrical complexity that keeps the super villain's legacy close to heart. No song embodies that spirit quite like “Par For The Course” which brings the ever mysterious but always on-point Mr. Fantastik along for the ride. A decisive blend of the old school and hip-hop’s woozier modern tendencies, the pair of DOOM associates hit the hard boom-bap framework running, bending bars around samples, a celebration of hip-hop exuberance.
MOPE GROOVES
“Aileen”
New Mope Grooves music has been much anticipated, but the untimely passing of Stevie Pohlman makes it a bittersweet affair. Her final statement, Box Of Dark Roses, is due out Oct. 25 on 12XU. Our second taste of this album is true to her uncompromising artistic stance, a tribute to executed sex worker Aileen Wuornos, whose crimes of self-defense are well known from the film Monster. The song’s high-tension, electronic swirl is relentless and anxiety inducing, while the multilayered, off-kilter harmonies repeat Aileen’s name and implore us to see her not as a criminal but as an emblem of what our society does to women who defend themselves. The tragic parallelism of women who lost their lives under oppressive patriarchy cannot go unnoticed, but one feels the song build to a conclusion of hope and camaraderie, finding inspiration in past struggle. - Matt Watton
SNOOPER
“Relay”
Fat bass, bouncing tom-toms, crunchy, squeezed guitars, alien vocals – that’s right, baby, Snooper is back. New track “Relay” isn’t all gas and no breaks like some of their other songs. It has a (relatively) slow build, allowing for some dynamics as the instruments play off each other, culminating in raucous but contained chaos. Recorded at home onto 1/4 in. tape, Snooper aren’t letting the Third Man association compromise their authenticity. Calling this ‘egg-punk’ hardly seems fair or useful anymore; let’s just call it what it is: a got-dang ripper. The single is a way to announce their upcoming November tour, and if this doesn’t get you moving, I don’t know what will. - Matt Watton
Further Listening:
1-800-MIKEY "Digital Pet" LP | ALVILDA "Paris été" | BANANAGUN "With The Night" | BENNY THE BUTCHER & 38 SPESH "Internal Affairs" (feat. OT The Real) | BIG'N "End Transmission" | CALIFONE "Burn The Sheets.Bleach The Books" | CONDUCTOR WILLIAMS "Get Away!" (feat. Rome Streetz) | DAZY "It's Only A Secret" (feat. MSPAINT) | DUCKS LTD. "Grim Symmetry" | EMILY ROSE & THE ROUNDERS "Too Much Too" | FIONA APPLE "Lately" (Don Heffington cover) | FULL OF HELL & ANDREW NOLAN "Burdened By Solar Mass" | HEARTWORMS "Warplane" | HORROR MOVIE MARATHON "Surgical Theatre" | HOWLIN RAIN "Down A Drain" | IAN DAVIS: ROCK BAND "Sub Rosa" | INGROWN "Enemy" | KESTRELS "Lilys" (feat. Weird Nightmare) | LAMBRINI GIRLS "Big Dick Energy" | LIVING GATE "Destroy and Consume" | LOTS OF HANDS "Game of Zeroes" | MARGARITAS PODRIDAS "Mugre Morada" | MIKE "Pieces of a Dream" | MORPHO "Half of Two" | MUGGER "Candy Apple Baseball" | NICHOLAS CRAVEN “Unreal” (feat. Ransom & Stove God Cooks) | NUCLEAR DAISIES "Blown A Wish" (My Bloody Valentine cover) | OCS "Golden Phones" | PATOIS COUNSELORS "Marge Attack" | PORRIDGE RADIO “God of Everything Else” | SHOWER CURTAIN "Bedbugs" | SORRY "Waxwing" | STRAW MAN ARMY "Look Alive" + "Extinction Burst" | TEKE::TEKE "Audiotree Live" | VINCENT REESE "Asshole"