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Sophie Lillienne

The Fragile Idea
IRMA Records (2015)

Artistically satisfying and incredibly eclectic, 2015’s The Fragile Idea from Italian electronic artist Sophie Lillienne seems designed to lull a listener into a somnambulistic state. Typically lumped into the trip hop genre, Sophie Lillienne’s music is full of unconventional, quietly haunting melodies, scratchy rhythms, and dramatic vocal performances. I would almost say that the dark and gloomy Fragile Idea is … Read more

Feral Kizzy

Slick Little Girl
Eliterecords (2015)

Feral Kizzy’s new album Slick Little Girl was easy for me to like. I am a big fan of new wave, glam rock, and dark ‘80s music, so I was easily seduced by our obviously shared tastes. I immediately caught the Lou Reed reference of the title (lyrics from “Make Up” off the Transformer album). I love me some Lou, … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Blazing Eye

Blazing Eye EP
La Vida Es Un Mus Discos Punk (2015)

This is some of that rhythmic punk that's making the rounds lately. Kind of like Dawn of Humans (with whom they are currently label mates) but more on the crusty and menacing side than the weird and experimental. Blazing Eye is a quartet out of Los Angeles that share membership with Raw Ponx-affiliated acts like Drapetomania, Tuberculosis, and Sadicos. They … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Nite School Klik

Nite School Klik
Liquid Amber (2015)

Though his own catalog has been hit-or-miss since 1996’s classic Endtroducing, I’d place DJ Shadow among the relatively few who have managed to stay ahead of the curve in the rapidly changing world of electronic music. Shadow’s own label, Liquid Amber, was formed in 2014 to provide an outlet for unique sounds, and a year later, they’ve already put out … Read more

Great Cynics

I Feel Weird
Specialist Subject Records (2015)

Naming a record I Feel Weird is a statement about the psyche of Great Cynics, and an applicable one at that (for the band, not necessarily the members). The band’s third record, it wavers between melodic pop punk with digressions into exploratory indie-alt rock. What that means in real English is that they play punk-ish songs with a lot of … Read more

Mamaleek

Via Dolorosa
Flenser (2015)

The experimental black metal outfit from San Francisco has been able to create a veil of mystery around their existence. The origin of Mamaleek is traced back in 2008, and since then, these guys have been quite active. Their first couple of albums, the self-titled debut and Fever Dream, were released on a very limited amount of copies through (I … Read more

Locrian

Infinite Dissolution
Relapse (2015)

Locrian’s approach to metal is to disassemble the core structures, push them further away from their crude beginnings and delve into building them back up again into towering walls of sound and phases of light and dark. Infinite Dissolution is a record that shares small similarities to the genre that it’s born from, mostly in Terence Hannum’s hoarse screams and … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Asid Bateri

Demo
Dead Tank (2014)

Here's some of that good ol’ raw punk that was en vogue a few years ago. You know, those salad days before everyone started going gaga for the gothic, post-punk, all-weird-all-the-time trend that’s hot right now. (Personally, I like both styles quite a bit so I’ve got no complaints. I’m just having some fun here.) While the intro shows a … Read more

Mittenfields

Optimists
Independent (2015)

Optimists is the debut LP from Washington D.C. emo/indie-rock outfit Mittenfields. The band’s influences are immediately recognizable: Singer Dave Mann obviously listens to Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire, while the band’s three guitarists draw heavily from 1990s indie and emo classics like Mineral, Built To Spill, and Pavement. If you like those bands and want to hear the same sound … Read more

Bell Witch

Four Phantoms
Profound Lore (2015)

Getting it right when it comes to extreme doom/death is a very tricky business. It is quite a misconception that as long as a band is able to play really, really slow and have heavy riffs, they can be considered successful and good at what they do. Bell Witch know better. The duo from Seattle is relatively new to the … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Sick/Tired

Dissolution
A389 (2014)

Sick/Tired don’t mess about. They’re angry, and they want you to know about it and they do so via the medium of fast, raw grindcore. The Chicago band pound through fifteen short, but certainly not sweet, tracks in a delirious sub-twenty five minutes with guest collaborates Merzbow and Lasse Marhaug adding more noise bases compositions to the furious mix of … Read more

S/V\R

Deluge
Union Finale (2015)

It was not that far ago that I was listening to the previous S/V\R album, Sur Les Femmes and I was thinking just how intense their music was. Separating their previous album into two halves, the first saw them taking on their most chaotic and punishing form, rendering their soundscapes completely indecipherable. On the second part though, they seemed to … Read more

The Splits

II
Dirtnap (2015)

I really like Dirtnap Records, but they can’t all be winners. The Splits start off II with a really positive vibe in “Rotten Me,” with a powerful and familiar rock ‘n’ rollin’ base behind music that’s emphatic and emotional. I really like the enunciation by singer Helena throughout this song.Unfortunately, the majority of the record doesn’t hold up to the … Read more

Friend Roulette

I See You. Your Eyes Are Red.
Good Night (2015)

As far as indie-rock goes, Friend Roulette’s sophomore album I See You. Your Eyes Are Red. is pretty gothic. I don’t mean “gothic” as in Bauhaus and bats, but more in the sense of classic literature imbued with feelings of terror and longing. This six-piece band from Brooklyn is both bold and bizarre, featuring violin, clarinet and two percussionists along … Read more

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