It seems hard to believe woods had time to reflect upon his life on the road, but it’s clearly been on his mind, as visions of “home” fade and he’s left sleepless on planes, in hotels, and at soundchecks. The grind of it all brought him back to Kenny Segal, the pair resuming their chemistry for Maps, yet another record that feels destined for hip-hop infamy.
We’re Still Here, boasts a truly impressive roster of collaborators. With contributions from collaborators such as Melt-Banana, Thou, Marissa Paternoster, Shirley Manson, SOUL GLO, Sunrot, and Gouge Away - just to name “a few” - this record sets out to platform the voices of as many individuals and identities from the scene as possible.
Maximalist and controlled, Pearl & The Oysters have created a fully formed concept and sense of self. Far from Brave New World, this album quite nearly suggests there is no dystopia (or utopia) in the human being-toward-technology. It just is and the party is happening no matter what. You can love this fate and join in the dance.
Crispy Crunchy Nothing is the latest album from PACKS, the nom de guitare of Toronto DIY rocker Madeline Link. The fourteen song, thirty minute LP is clearly indebted to the larger ‘90s alt/indie rock movement, but it celebrates that lineage with a renewed sense of passion, efficiency, and inventiveness.
Härvest, Poison Ruïn’s second album overall (depending how you look at it) and first record together with their new label, retains the band’s flair for the medieval, distilled in the toil and struggle of the era’s poor and working class, a sentiment that hasn’t changed all that much in modern times.
We Know the Sky, the sophomore full length album from Yours Are the Only Ears (aka Susannah Cutler), provides the listener with heartfelt melodies and intensity, manifesting itself through nature and vivid imagery. Cutler's songs are full of spirit and tender ruminations on the travails of love and the ever changing world around us.
Musically, The Window is the Dream, is a tightly woven textile, with minute intricacies. Vibraphone, bass, guitars, and synthesizers all cooperate or battle with Jana Horn’s voice to illuminate her images via purposeful poetry. The phrasing and delivery of the lyrics is laconic; her poetry is delivered as such. It is magical, uncompromising.
While Meyhem Lauren will forever represent Queens, Champagne For Breakfast, comes as a historical West Coast moment, the first collaboration between Madlib and DJ Muggs. A meeting of undeniable giants, the legendary producers work in unison together to design the wavy elegance and the minimalist psych-laced blueprint.
Whitney’s Playland describe their music as exploring the “usual things in life: love and loss,” adding that these explorations occasionally have a satirical tinge to them. While the descriptor is accurate, the way in which they approach these reflections on Sunset Sea Breeze is more clever than their Bandcamp copy gives them credit for.
