What have you been listening to this week?

I've been listening to The HU's latest offering, Rumble of Thunder ... and more recently, took a refresher through Foo Fighters' discography to-date.

Beach House’s Become EP, especially Devil’s Pool. It’s got a kind of Western sound to it, and I’m a sucker for that. Paired with Beach House’s usual dreamy sound, it’s got this really nice slow melancholy vibe.

I've been listening to a bunch of 90s house/break beats/mixes and all that fun stuff. Reliving my high school years I guess haha

Queens of the Stone Age's In Times New Roman has been a constant in my rotation since it came out a few weeks ago. Their best body of work since probably Era Vulgaris. Also broke Slip by Quicksand out of the archive.

Recently discovered Monster Rally which I sort of describe as being the music in the waiting room between dimensions.

Also any of the albums/EPs that neel & natural/electronic.system have put out are good working music - a deep sort of ambient techno. Start with Sinergia and if you like that, you'll like the rest.

Currently I'm on an Irish music kick. Saw Doctors, Dubliners, Gaelic Storm, Wolfe Tones, etc.

It's not for everybody but it makes me happy. ☘️

I've had The Garden Of Earthly Delights on repeat. Such an ethereal song. Plus the lyrics are pretty cool too.

All sorts of different metal this week. Had quite a few moments at work where I just needed to jam to get my mind off of things. Imgur link to chart

The YouTube algorithm put this jazzy lo-fi and synth-heavy mix in my path and I've been glued to it for some inexplicable reason.

Other than that, a small indie band I've been following, Superocean, just dropped their first album, "Permafeels" and it's an upbeat jam perfect for the summer. I particularly like this song, "Julia I'm Alive"

Shannon and the Clams for that groovy 60's sound!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3cf3jsWNw

I have been listening to Tame Impala's lonerism album on repeat this week, especially the song "why won't they talk to me". Something about the atmosphere of the album resonates with my current life and I just can't get enough.

• Darkest Hour - Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation (metalcore from US/DC). This is the first album I heard from Darkest Hour and obviously the one that got me hooked. Accessible Losses is a longer song, and would typically have been the closer on some of their other albums, but here is inserted as an epic banger midway through the album. Veritas, Aequitas is the 12-minute instrumental closer and the highlight.
• Darkest Hour - So Sedated, So Secure. The second full-length release from Darkest Hour, where their sound is a little bit more raw than on Hidden Hands but a bit less mature. Special shoutout to the re-release copy that has humorous bonus tracks like Bear Hunting, USA.
• Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin. Their fourth album was the one that really propelled them into more mainstream awareness and acceptance.
• Darkseed - Midnight Solemnly Dance (gothic metal from Germany). I bought this album recently so I'm still digesting it, but it's squarely in the realm of mid-paced gothic metal with raspy (not harsh but not clean either) male vocals, occasional female vocals, distorted guitars and no blast beats. I'm not adding a link to the youtube album stream because the cover is slightly NSFW.
• Darkseed - Spellcraft. This is the first album I heard from them, purchased randomly from a used CD store in northern Washington state in the late 90s, solely because they thank various melodeath bands in the liner notes. Like Midnight Solemnly Dance, this is gothic metal with IMO some fantastic song structure and an ear for melody.
• Dawn - Slaughtersun (Crown of the Triarchy) (melodic black from Sweden). Only two released albums by this band but those were enough to elevate this band into the higher echelons of meloblack. Epic song lengths, twin guitar harmonies, blast beats galore and shrieked vocals.
• Day Without Dawn - S/T EP (indie rock/progressive metalcore). This was one of the incarnations of the various members making up various bands like Postman Syndrome, Biclops, or the current (and ostensibly most well-known) East of the Wall. Personally this is my favorite lineup. The songs are catchy and unique while remaining within their overall "sound" and in this EP make up a short concept album.
• Day Without Dawn - Understanding Consequences. As good as the EP is, this full-length is even better.
  Personal highlight on this album is the song A Cruel Statue, if just for the build-up to the riff that closes out the final minute of the song.

Had a friend suggest to me that (American style) dubstep is the "heavy metal" of EDM, a take I.....strongly disagree with.

As a consequence though, along with listening to Super Mario 64 soundfont versions of a few albums, I have been revisiting a lot of the metal albums I like recently.

Opeth - Blackwater Park: a true classic, can't be beat, one of my favourite albums of all time, and I think the best metal album ever made. Every song is a journey.

Metallica - Master of Puppets, but mostly in SM64 soundfont form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXP29pDpOak . My second favourite metal album of all time, will never get tired of listening to the eponymous track, and every other track on the album is great. I hate Metallica and think they suck and every album they put out after this is garbage (I'm being a bit hyperbolic so don't take me seriously, but I still think they fell off hard after it).

In Flames - Clayman: I bought this album when I was 11 or 12. Fast paced death metal with great melodies. Haven't heard much In Flames after that, apparently they made a turn in direction towards more nu-metal at some point?

Megadeth - Rust In Peace in SM64 form! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Wc1rMPjyXU Great album, true classic, what do I need to say, the lead guitars on it are incredible.

Meshuggah - Koloss mostly in SM64 form again, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEfhizNQh70 , it's great, venturing on near unlistenable, but pulls back to be fascinating at the last second instead. Love the polyrhythms, can't imagine trying to play this on drums.

After all that I can conclude two things:

• I really don't think dubstep (really brostep, the American form) is the "heavy metal" of EDM
• the Super Mario 64 soundfont really works well with any album

Also I listened to all of Dave Brubeck's Time Out. I've heard (and loved) Blue Rondo and Take Five many times before, I think this was my first time with the whole album. What can I say, true jazz classic, love it.

I listened to the entire Ween studio discography in anticipation of an upcoming concert.

I'll say that the first three albums are...not my cup of tea. A little too scream-punky.

Maybe I'm lame or mainstream, but Quebec is my favorite album. Transdermal Celebration, Tried and True, and The Argus are what popped up on Pandora ~15 years ago and got me into them, and they're still the best songs IMO.

I've found myself playing this in a loop. Ellie Goulding and Calvin Harris - Miracle (Sunset remix by BURNS). It feels like a beach vacation at magic hour.

https://piped.video/watch?v=Be9s9c-9u-c&t=98

The Dead South
Elliott Brood
Shovels and Rope
Sarah Jarohz

I have recently had on repeat A Space of Partial Illumination E7​.​002 by The Future Sound of London.. I work from home, so music is important for me to not distract and kind of blend into the background. Super chill, highly recommend!

After picking up Jean Michael Jarre's Oxygene (1976) last month I looked into his more recent work, and have been listening to Oxymore (2022) for several days now.
The album is a sort of homage to Pierre Henry who was an early figure in the movement of a compositional style called Musique Concréte

The album is very moody and Industrial. It incorporates the use of sound collage more than his other works as far as I am familiar, perhaps with the exception of Amazônia (2021) which is green-gorgeous and I also recommend highly.

I can't believe I only just heard The Arcade Fire - We. They have such great hooks. In particular" I unsubscribe, I unsubscribe, this ain't no way of life, I don't believe the hype" that line just kind of hits me.

Dance Gavin Dance has been in my rotation for the past few months and they'll probably be there til I die. Love these guys. Swan Soup and Turn off The Lights, I'm Watching Back To The Future Pt. 2 have been sticking with me hard lately. Swan Soup has kickass bass and Turn off the Lights has such an epic feel.

Still listening to and loving Masayoshi Takanaka. Died Out was such a surprise when I was listening to The White Goblin. Crazy how hard that song goes compared to his usual style.

Been checking out Royal Coda's Compassion. Love Becoming The Memory. Such a nice funky song. Love Kurt. All In Question surprised the hell outta me. Such an interesting song. Haven't wrapped my head around it fully yet.

I've been listening to a lot of REZZ, especially this mix (WARNING: flashing lights). Her music is absolutely amazing. A lot of super dark and interesting techno tracks with super strong bass.

My last.fm collage for the week. A mix of Progressive Metal, Black Metal, War Metal, Dungeon Synth and Clown Core (lol).

Highlight of the week for Emyn Muil, a one man Tolkien themed Epic Black Metal suit from Italy very reminiscent of Summoning, in special their Afar Angathfark album which I've been listening on and off the past couple days. Very symphonic with heavy Dungeon Synth undertones, at times very atmospheric and haunting and then crescendos into epic passages with lots of clean vocals as well which is uncommon for the genre. Not the most original thematic, Black Metal is full of Tolkien references, but I think the execution is top notch and manages to capture the epic high fantasy nature of Silmarillion and other stories taking place in early Arda before Lord of the Rings.

The Tesky Brothers - So Caught Up has been living in my head the past week. The groove and that voice hit just right. This particular live version gives me chills.

One of my favorite minimal techno artists released this amazing track: NTO - Les Orangers (Satori Voices Of Corsica Remix). Which sound like one of their old tracks (NTO - petit vibes), while being orchestral and immersive all at once.

I’ve been listening to a lot of Zach Bryan. He’s an Americana/Country/folk artist that’s not particularly new anymore. He’s a lot more raw and authentic than “country” you’d hear on the radio. Simple but beautiful songs that aren’t overproduced.

My wife says all of his songs “sound the same.” I guess I can see her point, but it’s a sound I love lately.