This is esoteric and cerebral rock. The use of Agitprop (political propaganda, especially in art or literature) in the album’s title defines this as highbrow music, clearly, but Peel Dream Magazine’s quality ensures its never pretentious or fawning. It’s clear that Stevens thinks consciously and acutely about the meaning of his music.
Isobel Campbell emerges solo after a quiet fourteen years. Her latest album, There Is No Other… presents a bit of contemporary seriousness without overshadowing her familiar, dreamy sound. There Is No Other is different from anything we’ve already heard from Campbell. On this album emerges her new persona: a soft-spoken activist.
Philary is the solo project of Alex Molini (Pile, Jackal Onasis, Stove), who has cultivated an artful combination of heaviness and harmony on I Complain. Molini melds sludgy, bass-driven riffs with catchy and melodic vocal lines; it’s a winning combination, and yet it is performed here in a way we haven’t quite heard before.
Live records are often boring, but this King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard collection finds new ground, and finds an interesting cue. The songs of the record are stylistic landscapes, aesthetic insights that touch a style that embraces from psychedelic rock albums like Gumboot Soup to the stoner metal of Infest the Rats’ Nest.
Larger than the sum of its parts, Trace Mountains’ Lost in the Country is honest and lasting. Each little hook, vocal flair, snare hit. The songs keep an enduring pace, excited to get moving, even if it’s just to the woods out the front door. The drum kit hikes the path so the lyrics can admire the world and the melody can whistle along the way.
Dragoons are a product of Melbourne’s music scene: a group of friends whose members occupy various bands, sharing in creative energy; united by a vision deeply rooted in community. They’ve built an identity that is as hardworking as it is prolific, something further extrapolated on their latest release Horrorscope.
With their new self titled album, Pure X make a roaring comeback. The last missive from the Austin, Texas based band was Angel. Released in 2016, the sound of that album was crisp and clear; with songs drifting by at a languid pace. With their newest album, Pure X keep the tempo the same but let a bit of chaos into their songs.
The EP is immaculately constructed, as sure footed a debut as they come, the product of patient songwriting and collaborative strength. While the band wear the “bedroom rock” tag, their music rises far beyond the idea of lo-fi home tinkering, each song an example of dynamics at work, both gentle and mountainous.
Stephen Malkmus, aided by the defacto guitar wizard of our times Matt Sweeney, explores a pastiche of otherworldly Eastern modes, ritualistic canticles, and tasteful-palette pastoralia. Though these melodies evoke faraway settings and time tables, Malkmus delivers his lyrics in his familiar vernacular, one that’s steeped in hyperspecific modernity.
Forever Honey understands the importance of personal reflection. On Pre-Mortem High, the band explores the relationships we have with each other and with ourselves, through catchy dream pop and jangly 80s new wave anthems. The band have turned the coming-of-age anxiety we feel in our 20s into music that’s brimming with life.
Nothing about Macula Dog has ever screamed pop. Imagine mutants soundtracking their life in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, and you can approximate the territory Macula Dog covers. Their live shows only add to this image, with elaborate video setups and/or lifesize puppets. Yet, with the new EP Breezy, they seem to be making pop moves.
