What have you been listening to this week?

It's been a couple of weeks since I've written here, so what I've listened to in the meantime is:

• Death - Leprosy. Solid release from these guys.
• Death - The Sound of Perseverance. "Hey Guy" I hear you say. "I read your crap every time and alphabetically you missed Scream Bloody Gore!" Well, Death's first album never hit the spot for me. I appreciate it, and I can see the appeal, but it's not something that I could see myself listening to regularly and want to keep in my collection. The Sound of Perseverance, on the other hand, was Death's final album and is another one that's polarizing. A lot of people dislike Chuck's vocal style on this album, and I can see their point, but it doesn't bother me, and I find the songwriting on this album to be some of their best overall.
• Death - Spiritual Healing. Going back in time here, a solid release from them.
• Death - Symbolic. My personal favorite. The song-writing is top notch, the riffs are memorable, and the songs are all distinct from each other.
• Def Leppard - Pyromania. I got into Def Leppard as a kid in the 80s through Hysteria and then ventured into their past with Pyromania. I have a soft spot for this album and love the 80s vibe.
• Deftones - Entire discography except for their self-titled album. While being lumped into the nu-metal label in the mid-90s, it seemed to me that they never really fit in with that sound or aesthetic. Sure, their first two albums, Adrenaline and Around the Fur were closest in nature to nu-metal, but their third album White Pony saw their sound expand and then evolve through the subsequent albums into their current sound, which I have no idea how you classify it.
• Demonoid - Riders of the Apocalypse (death metal). Side project from members of Therion, this is a death metal concept album about the four horsemen, and how they're actually summoned through the sins of humanity. There's an amazing atmosphere throughout this album, and the riffs are head-bangingly amazing.
• Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Finisterre (black metal from Germany).
• Despair - Beyond All Reason (thrash metal from Germany). A random purchase I found in the late 90's from a used CD store in Podunk, Washington. It's a bit on the slower, heavier side of thrash.
• Destinity - Resolve in Crimson (melodeath from France).

I just found a band called silicon estate, and have been playing the album "life's alright" on replay for like two days straight so far. Very chill lofi psychedelic good lyrics. Everything I love in a chill song. Check it out!

Chart for me: https://i.imgur.com/vrV3ZFJ.jpg

Cruel Force is maybe the best release this week (I'll make a separate post in the Fresh Friday thread). Plenty of other great stuff has been in my rotation too.

Begerith is a great alternative to Behemoth that I've latched onto lately.

Astrophobos is one of my favorite black metal bands - Malice of Antiquity is one of my fave releases of all time.

Kei Ogura. He did the closing songs in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I was hoping I'd find all of those on spotify but I only got the last one. In listening to his other music though, i really like it. It's very pleasant, and his singing is very relaxing to me.

Rio En Medio - Let's Groove

This has been stuck in my head all week. Hybrid of vocal-heavy girl pop and dance.

Try listening without bopping along - it's borderline impossible.

I stumbled across Tsunami by Bambie Thug and haven't been able to get it out of my head.

It's the first song I've heard in a while that made me stop and think - wait, what the heck is this, it sounds different and interesting.

After listening to some more of their stuff, I guess I'd describe it as swaggering, aggressive, sex-positive hyper-pop. Well worth checking them out.

ceo@business.net - as good as it gets

Gentleman by Fela Kuti from 1973: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amW0M3_xeyE

Finally doing the deep dive on his catalog, loving it

Here's my chart: https://i.imgur.com/MPqYxyw.jpg

Apparently, a lot of Boards of Canada :)

My guilty pleasure -- emo music. Nobody in particular, just the spotify-curated emo playlist. I absolutely hated emo as a teenager, but all these years later I'm realizing how infectiously catchy a lot of these songs are. The playlist itself definitely blurs the line between pop-punk and emo (blink-182 is not emo!), but all the same I enjoy it.

My fiancé picked up minidisc players for both of us this past week, so we've been burning our mp3 collections onto those and I've been listening to Streetlight Manifesto, Billy Idol, and L'arc~en~Ciel mainly while I'm working. Beastie Boys are next.

Newborn Sun by Chon was my most listened album this week. Just a ton of good songs in there, and it's a very nostalgic experience (I listened to it almost religiously back in 2024-2015).

pewtwo!, specifically their M.A.D live set. It is exactly my kind of garbage.

Also been relistening to Tobacco's Fucked Up Friends, it's an album with perfect flow. (Gross Magick is the best track!)

Two songs have been stuck in my head this week... Not new, but came up in rotation. Very different vibes.

Elephant - Hannah Georgas

Fashionable People - Joel Plaskett Emergency

The Steel Panther station on Amazon if I'm driving or walking a long distance, as the algorithm picks most of the stuff I fell in love with as a teenager and still surprises me from time to time with tracks I'd forgotten from the Hollywood sleaze metal days.

If I'm writing, it's been a constant stream of vapor and chillwave stuff from YouTube. I've found it to be a perfect backdrop for science fiction stuff.

At the reccomendation of another Tildes user I've been greatly enjoying the first disc of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mwng by the Super Furry Animals. Also in the car I really enjoyed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Surgery_Disasters by the Dead Kennedys.

McFly's latest album Power to Play and some of their older songs. It is, IMO, their best album so far.

Also some Imagine Dragons, Within Temptation, L'Arc~en~Ciel, and a few other artists.

Sunbather - Deafheaven

I never really used to “get it” until recently. I really enjoy black metal and it pops up often in those circles as a sort of alternative/adjacent album to take a look at. The first time I listened to it, I didn’t like it because it felt weird and didn’t have the “darkness” of black metal.

I’ve been giving it a second listen and it’s really growing on me. It’s actually incredible how they can take many of the sounds of extreme metal and give them this sonic brightness. At the same time, this album just feels so sad. I feel it nails so accurately this unique feeling of sadness, loneliness and even quietness while basking in the intense sun, even if that’s not actually what the album is about. This feeling of abrasive brightness and the emptiness of experiencing this brightness and nothing more, is something I haven’t felt when listening to any other album.

I recently discovered the band Lawrence and I strongly recommend checking them out. Their songs vary in genre between pop, soul and funk (and cool blends of those) so if you're not clicking with one song maybe try a few more.

My favorite part is their story: It's two siblings who grew up writing songs together and a band made up entirely of their high school and college friends. They both have incredible voices and know how to write some really catchy hooks and great compositions. I haven't been this excited about finding new music in a while.

Some good songs:
Don't Lose Sight - their big pop hit
Freckles - my personal favorite
Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me
It's Not All About You

I've also been listening to a lot of Lake Street Dive, Vulfpeck, and The Beths lately.