Like most years that join the rear-view mirror, 2022 develops its hazy complexion. As it does, brilliant highlights cut through the fog. One of those lights is Squirrel Flower's latest record Planet EP. The self-produced effort, released last January, earmarks a chapter in the artistic career of Ella Williams that is worth exploring for its clarity of emotion.
No one loves a bloated rock star “supergroup” but everyone loves a DIY community “supergroup” or if you prefer, a new band featuring familiar faces, each of whom make great music. Patter falls into that latter category, a trio comprised of Seth Engel (Options), Wilson Brehmer (The Knees, Jodi) and Joe Suihkonen (The Deals, Gentle Heat).
Dear Nora is back. Mo Schweiger spoke with the band’s vocalist, Katy Davidson, about their latest, and self-proclaimed best album, human futures. Davidson spoke about making art during times of social and political tumult, the changing state of the music industry throughout their expansive career, and Lady Gaga.
Cincinnati’s Corker first introduced themselves with A Bell That Seems To Mourn, their debut EP, released in the Fall of 2021 via Future Shock. They’ve since joined the ranks of Feel It Records (Flea Collar, Smirk, Delivery) and are set to release their full length debut album later this Summer, but they have a new single and tour dates before that!
San Francisco's Galore certainly fall into the category of artists who have picked up on the “New Zealand” sound. Their initial album and particularly their latest five song EP, Blush, are brim-full of both catchy melodies and uncluttered, seemingly simple, guitar-driven arrangements, airy and full of bright melodies that stick to your ears.
Sporting just seven tracks, Is It You? is fashioned after the incessant way that the human life is led. Much like how consecutive days unconsciously turn into weeks, each song exists distinctly separate from one another and still somehow, the tracklist can also be blended together into one mind-melting thirty minute trip.
Debuting in 1972, a year after the infamous 1971 year in music, Harvest was this country’s number one selling album of that year, and has remained Neil Young’s signature and most referenced album. It came off the heels of the first hiatus of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, with the success of Harvest coming as a surprise to Neil himself
Over the past few years, and a couple of EPs, Western Mass based trio EIEIEIO have been wielding their warped and wild noise punk mayhem, careening around gang vocals aided by jazzy freak outs, aided by math-rock flourishes. They continue to gel and deliver tastes of their world in a progressively intriguing manner with "Gentlemen Stop!"
We're happy to present "Post-Trash's Staff Picks: The Best of 2022" as voted by the site’s wonderful contributors (including their individual lists). With 23 of our writers submitting their votes, we had 313 different records nominated (which means there weren’t many repeats) and only the top eight records received a score of sixty or higher.
Fievel is Glauque is led by Ma Clément and Zach Phillips, backed by an expert crew of musicians. Flaming Swords transports you back in time to a bizarro Parisian nightclub, where jazzy guitar chords mix with prog-rock licks, smooth saxophones squeal with angular bursts, shuffling drums flirt with breakbeat rhythms, and sultry vocals hypnotize.
As anyone who reads our “Fuzzy Meadows” column already knows, the “list” is just the beginning, and we’re always eager to add some “Further Listening” for consideration. Despite what some would have you believe, music is not a contest. We profiled many records in our “Year In Review” feature, but the fun doesn’t stop there.
All you can learn about Vivi Milne online is that she’s from Sacramento and that she’s released six albums so far, of which Solstice is the latest. That can be a double-edged sword if the music isn’t up to a scratch. Luckily for Milne and her listeners, her concept works, and it shrouds her persona, as well as her art, in a bit of a veiled mystery.
What is most exciting about this endeavor is what it might say about the band’s future, through the foreshadowed new directions. There are nods to industrial and ambient music on “Bleeding Out,” shades of emotive post-rock on “Kids,” straight up death metal on “Punishment Box” and even subtle hyper-pop influence on “TAH”.
The mingling of June McDoom’s distinct voices, as they blend with and overtake each other, is enjoyably discombobulating. It sets the tone for a daring and lovely debut EP that doesn’t just bounce between polarities, but actually unfixes them. This isn’t an acoustic, stripped-down-and-turtlenecked kind of debut.
