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.
AS IN | “Not A Doctor, Not Today”
As In is comprised of Emerson Stevens and Candace Clement, both formerly of Western Mass’ late great Bunny’s A Swine, a true staple of slop-rock for all eternity. The duo got together to make some new lo-fi music, recording on mics not recommended for recording, and generally giving it their signature best. “Not A Doctor, Not Today” captures so much of what we love about them, and it does so for a good cause. All proceeds made from their single will be donated to the One Fair Wage national relief fund for tipped and service workers out of a job. Stevens and Clement’s vocals lie directly on top of each other, but rather than a simple harmony, they opt to sing completely different lyrics, allowing you to have fun listening to both at the same time. Their questions only linger for a moment before they come together and separate again. This back and forth continues until they jangle into the somewhat sardonic hook, “I got so scared I asked the lord to save us”. It’s lyrically brilliant.
HOLIDAY MUSIC | “Plant Man”
This Holiday Music single was released on May 1st, so technically it doesn’t belong on this week’s “Fuzzy Meadows,” but we somehow didn’t find out about it until Monday, so we’re gonna let the rules slide (who is making all these rules anyway). Fresh off the release of the excellent Certified Ailments, one of our favorite records so far this year, comes new single “Plant Man,” picking up with the same touches that made their record so special. The melody feels ever so slightly warped, like a dream half asleep, but half conscious, gliding along in a fog. Mike Hlady’s lo-fi construction relies on a programmed beat, but the guitars whisk it away toward another dimensions, using the rhythmic pulse as a springboard to dive and explore the space in between.
MAXSHH | “Half a Loaf” LP
While the future of Tundrastomper is uncertain, the members have found themselves busy with new projects. Last year Skyler Lloyd released the beautiful Lrrr album and last month Max Goldstein released a new album with his instrumental freak-prog band Fred Cracklin. Less than a month later, Goldstein returns with Maxshh’s full length debut, Half A Loaf, an incredible new record that is quickly proving to be one the year’s best surprises. Hell, I can’t stop listening. We already know that he’s one of the best drummers of the DIY world (and proves it all over this record), but his songwriting is really radiant as well, landing an array of orchestral prog, free jazz, dreamy and disjointed indie, tangled bedroom punk, and knotted experimental pop over shifting polyrhythms that sound like they’ve come hurtling down a mountain. You probably won’t hear anything quite like this again this year, but Half A Loaf is a masterclass in scattered ideas strung into a cohesive statement of intent.
SINEAD O’BRIEN | “Roman Ruins”
After a string of great singles (we’re still pretty stuck on “A Thing You Call Joy”), Sinead O’Brien has announced her sophomore EP, Drowning In Blessings, due out at some point later this year via Chess Club Records. The poet turned post-punk auteur has a knack for bringing her near-spoken word dialog into melodically strung together prose, nestled within the motorik beats and on new single “Roman Ruins” a sinister wash of feedback guitars and synths, that sound both deep in a groove but also slightly ominous. As O’Brien speaks circles between the lush and shifting backdrop, each line lands in its own punctuated gift, something to unravel as her words bounce gingerly along the way.
ULTHAR | “Churn”
Ulthar’s brand of earth collapsing death metal is as heavy a night’s sleep on a bed of nails. The Oakland based juggernaut is set to release their sophomore album, Providence, next month via 20 Buck Spin (Tomb Mold, Immortal Bird, Ruin Lust) an album that looks to continue the onslaught they began on Cosmovore. Leaning on the crusty and blackened end of the death metal sound, the band tear through riffs, stampeding rhythms, and demonic croaks that seem to summon all that is evil. The record’s second single, “Churn” is quick and dirty, a primal that comes growling from the start with a duel shriek of ungodly terror and disgust. The band grind and twist riffs into corkscrew patterns and monolithic pounded drums, a moving force that demolishes at all tempos.
Further Listening:
-(16)- “Me And The Dog Die Together“ | THE BERRIES “Ancient Steel” | CAFE RACER “Faces“ | CANDIDATE DEMO “God Jokes” LP | DANIEL ROMANO’S OUTFIT “Forever Love’s Fool“ (feat. Danny Carey) | DIED “Oja de Macao“ | DIRTY PROJECTORS “Lose Your Love” | DOUGIE POOLE “Los Angeles” | FONTAINES D.C. “A Hero’s Death” | JAD FAIR & HIFIKLUB “Staying At Home“ | JEHNNY BETH “Heroine” | LIVING GATE “Heaven Ablaze” | MAMALARKY “How To Say“ | MOMMA “Habitat” | NO JOY “Birthmark“ | POPE “The Lunchbox EP” | QUELLE CHRIS & CHRIS KEYS “Horizon” | SHELL OF A SHELL “Knock” (Pallet Session) | SILVER SCROLLS “Walk Two (I - Nature’s Promise)“ | SINGLE MOTHERS “I’m Wrong” | SQUID “Sludge” | SQUIRREL FLOWER “Take It Or Leave It“ | TADZIO “Pint of my Blood” | VELVET VAUGHAN “Sleep Walk” | VOIDCEREMONY “Desiccated Whispers” | WIRE “The Art of Persistence”