Unlike last year, where I was just too preoccupied with Real Life and other things and hadn’t allowed myself to really get to know the new music I was acquiring, I’m making a concerted effort to pay attention to what’s coming out these days, and I’m quite happy to say that I’m finding a lot of really good stuff out there!
These two mixtapes were basically holdovers from late 2023 where I’d started a list of songs but hadn’t gotten around to completing it and arranging the tracklist flow. I’m quite happy with how they came out, however, and I hope you enjoy them as well!
From the Open Skies:In My Blue World 2, created 14 January 2024. No, I have not written the sequel to In My Blue World just yet! I only have a very rough two-page outline of an idea, but I think it’s worth working on as a future project later on in the year! All I’ll say that it involves our heroes facing off a new foe with a much stronger and creepier ability to siphon magic for their own nefarious uses! And what better way to prep for a future novel project than creating a mixtape soundtrack for it? [Note: for those of you playing along, the title here is borrowed from another ELO song, heh.]
Walk in Silence XXVIII, created 30 January 2024.First of all, I can’t believe I’m already up to twenty-eight volumes of this series!! (Then again, I’ve been making them since 1988, so…) This, Listen in Silence and Untitled have pretty much become my own NOW That’s What I Call… compilations that just won’t quit. This one came out surprisingly well and I’m finding myself returning to it more and more.
Okay, so the brand-new ‘last’ Beatles song just dropped early this morning:
Did I sleep terrible last night in anticipation of this release at 7am PT this morning? Yes, yes I did.
I’ve only heard it twice as of this post — both times on KEXP’s morning show with John Richards, of course — so I’m still trying to process it all. I’d been familiar with the grainy bootleg version for a few years now, and I had a feeling this was the song the Threetles had been working on and abandoned back in 1995.
It was one thing to be blown away by two all-new songs back then, especially with the dreamlike “Free As a Bird”, but it’s still pretty wild to be able to witness a third new song from the band that inspired and influenced me for decades, a band that had broken up a year before I was born.
So, thoughts so far: — I am now dearly hoping they play around with “Free As a Bird” and “Real Love” to make John’s voice clearer on those as well, especially the latter. I love both tracks, but the vocals on that one are extremely warbly and muddy. — Dare I say, the ending of this track sounds a bit…Radiohead-ish? I mean, it’s a very Beatle-ish ending with a melody that’s a variation of the theme but still very different. Still, those darker chords give the song, and the band, an unexpected freshness. It’s like ‘hey, we might be a 60s band, but we still mean something in the 20s.’ — Did I immediately buy the single off Amazon? Of course I did! I’ll have to give it a few further listens, as well as its b-side — a brand new stereo mix of their first official single, “Love Me Do”. –Did I also pre-order the new 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 CDs that are dropping next week? Of course I did! And yes, I will definitely do a post on those releases here when I have a moment.
…and on that note, I’m back to the writing mines. See you sometime soon!
I still had a long way to go to get my act together, but I’d like to think that I might be getting there, mistakes and all. Already I was having to deal with JA’s influence — sometimes positive and helpful but just as often negative and intrusive — and learning how to set boundaries for myself. Meanwhile, my job at the Coop had changed over the course of just a month or so: I’d started out as a checker and floor help, but moved onto what would end up being one of my frequent fall-backs down the line: assistant shipping and receiving clerk. I was up back in the messy and dusty back room checking in the new deliveries and seeing out the old returns, and also doing a bit of cleaning around both levels of the store. I did most of the heavy lifting for the main receiving guy who I got along with but I think he thought I was a bit simple and treated me as such, when in all honesty I think the roles were flipped here. Nice guy, but definitely full of hubris. [I remember he also had a weirdly strong obsession with Tina Turner, partly due to the biopic What’s Love Got to Do with It having come out a few months previous.]
About the same time I struck up a friendship with a woman a few years older than myself who was a holiday temp. We got along like gangbusters and our talks sometimes ended up turning into flirtation and eventually it became a short fling. In retrospect I’m kind of sad that I let it go on the way it did because I definitely was not in the right frame of mind for a relationship. It didn’t last long and felt guilty for a long time about the way I ended it, severing a friendship in the process.
Mind you, I was about to not follow my own damn advice in short order.
O-Positive, Home Sweet Head, released 1 November 1993. This local band was always a favorite for the indie crowd and especially on WFNX. I never got around to seeing them live but I did own a few of their albums including this one with its radio favorite “Hey Dave”.
Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Mono, released 1 November 1993. This German alt-rock band had a minor alt-rock radio hit with “Every Generation” which WFNX played quite a bit. It’s a dismal heartbreaker of a track but it’s one of their best. A band worth checking out.
Cocteau Twins, Four-Calendar Café, 2 November 1993. As I’d said about the “Evangeline” single, the rest of the album had a very wintry feel, light and ethereal as always but with a bit of cold tension added. I listened to this one quite a bit during my writing sessions.
INXS, Full Moon, Dirty Hearts, 2 November 1993. This one didn’t go over well with the fans and critics as they felt it too noisy and abrasive and trying to jump on the grunge bandwagon, but they were already looking to evolve past their tried-and-true rock style. Cheesy video aside, I loved the single “The Gift” and had it as a cassette single, and I used to listen to it on headphones a lot.
Kate Bush, The Red Shoes, 2 November 1993. This album, which would end up being her last for quite a few years, was based on the story of the same name and may have distanced some fans who didn’t quite get it, like myself. It retrospect I think it’s a pretty good album and very similar to her previous records.
Various Artists, No Alternative, released 9 November 1993. I absolutely loved this compilation (it’s part of the Red Hot Organization tribute album collection) and listened to it frequently. Bob Mould’s “Can’t Fight It” is one of my top favorite tracks of ’93 and I even attempted to learn how to play it myself! It’s a wild alternative mix: Matthew Sweet, Goo Goo Dolls, Pavement, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, and a hidden track by Nirvana. Highly recommended.
Various Artists, Stone Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, released 9 November 1993. I loved this one as well, even though I sometimes skipped some of the tracks. The Cure’s trippy take on “Purple Haze” fits in with their glossy Mixed Up sound, PM Dawn’s “You Got Me Floatin'” is by far the funkiest Hendrix cover I’ve ever heard, and Seal’s “Manic Depression” is powerful. Also highly recommended.
Paul McCartney, Paul Is Live, 15 November 1993. Paul was a busy guy in the early 90s, not only releasing a new and popular album but also making TV appearances as well as embarking on a tour with a great backing band. He leans pretty heavily on his Beatle past here, so much so that he riffs on the famous Abbey Road cover for this one — as well as its connection to the ‘Paul is dead’ myth.
The Fireman (Paul McCartney & Youth), Strawberries Oceans Ships Forest, 15 November 1993. And that’s not all — he even found the time to work with producer Youth to create a fascinating and experimental take on ambient techno music, taking bits and snippets from his Off the Ground album and reconstructing them into something completely new. While it’s not for everyone, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Us3, Hand On the Torch, 16 November 1993. Like Guru and his Jazzmatazz project, this was similar in that it was steeped in Blue Note grooviness and laid over hip-hop beats. This one on the other hand is more upbeat and lively. “Cantaloop” was such a huge and unexpected hit that you still hear it to this day.
David Bowie, The Singles Collection, 16 November 1993. I was never the biggest Bowie fan but I eventually warmed to him via this two-record collection, which I bought mainly because it contained pretty much all of his most famous tracks in one place — thanks to the then-recent wave of Rykodisc reissues finally gathering his back catalogue under one roof. I’d often listen to this one on the way home from the job, taking the T back to Copley Square.
Ace of Base, The Sign, released 23 November 1993. Often slagged off as ‘the next-gen ABBA’ (after all, they were from Sweden and were a two-man, two-woman band that sang bubblegummy pop), they were surprisingly catchy and consistent with their output of stellar pop songs. I’d own their first two albums on cd and would throw them on every now and again just for fun.
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Coming up: End of the year, end of an era, and the start of…something?
I seem to remember that the New England summer of 2003 was extremely warm and humid, which meant that I’d have the garage door open at night when I worked down in the Belfry. This was well before my parents’ house started seeing more surprising wildlife cutting through the yard, by the way, so there was little expectation of a wildcat or a bear walking its way in to see what was going on.
This was also the time of several weekend road trips! I was still heading into Boston every now and again, spending the day hitting my old book and record store haunts, spending some time in Back Bay and on the Common, then taking the Red Line up to Harvard Square where I’d hang out for a good few hours before heading home again. More locally I was still hitting Toadstool Books up in Keene, and the Newbury Comics/Barnes & Noble run in Leominster. (Sometimes both on the same day!)
Speaking of books, it was around this time that I really started reading more voraciously. Before then, I’d pick up the occasional book I was interested in but stuck with comics for the most part, but I’d finally decided that if I was going to be a writer, maybe I should, y’know, do my homework. I soon had a mountain of books next to my bed with both SF/Fantasy and litfic, ready to be opened.
A lot of money spent on shopping and gas, but it was definitely a fun time!
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Stereophonics, You Gotta Go There to Come Back, released 2 June 2003. I’d been a fan of this band since the HMV days, and still am to this day. This album feels more organic than some of their previous records with some genuinely heartfelt tunes like “Maybe Tomorrow”.
Rob Dougan, Furious Angels, released 3 June 2003. The man who brought us the classic Matrix moment with “Clubbed to Death” released exactly one album, and this was it. Half instrumental and half growly vocals, it doesn’t quite measure up to his signature song (which is included here) but it did work perfectly as writing session soundtrack material. He’s done a lot of production and scoring work, however.
Dave Gahan, Paper Monsters, released 3 June 2003. The other lead singer of Depeche Mode finally released his first solo record this year, and you can kind of tell that his songs are chillier and more visceral than Martin Gore’s whose songs tend to have more heart to them. Still, this one’s an interesting record that proved he could go it alone.
Love and Rockets, Sorted! The Best of Love and Rockets, released 3 June 2003. One of my favorite bands of the late 80s finally dropped a greatest hits to tie in with their expanded rereleases of the last couple of years. It’s a simple selection with not that many deep cuts, but it does prove just how great they were!
Soundtrack, The Animatrix – The Album, released 3 June 2003. The two-fer of Matrix movies was supplemented by a third project, an anthology of American-Japanese animation containing in-canon back stories and side stories, many that actually tied in directly with the three movies, and released as a box set with a dvd and a soundtrack.
Radiohead, Hail to the Thief, released 9 June 2003. After their one-two weirdness of Kid A and Amnesiac, the band didn’t quite return to their previous sound but instead chose to find a middle ground between the two styles. This one’s probably my favorite of their later period and there are a lot of deep cuts on this album that I love.
Duran Duran, The Singles 81-85, released 10 June 2003. Finding singles from this band was always an adventure, considering their first few years were filled with alternate versions, dance remixes and odd b-sides, sometimes only available on import. This box set compiles every one of them up to “A View to a Kill”, and it’s a great mix.
Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers, released 10 June 2003. The third record from this band finally saw them get major airplay thanks to the “Stacy’s Mom” single, but the rest of this record is just as fun and quirky, including the fabulous album cut “All Kinds of Time” which is the best song about football I’ve ever heard.
Ambulance LTD, Ambulance LTD EP, released 17 June 2003. This band from NYC only stuck around for a couple of years before vanishing, but what they put out was a couple of records full of wonderfully understated indie rock. They’re definitely one of those ‘oh, that band! I remember them!’ groups, but they’re well worth checking out.
Michelle Branch, Hotel Paper, released 24 June 2003. I didn’t actually own this album, but I did own its lead single “Are You Happy Now” which I thought was an excellent eff-you pop song that wasn’t sung by Alanis Morissette. Definitely a change from her previous poppier singles.
Liz Phair, Liz Phair, released 24 June 2003. You either loved or hated her, and I think I started with indifference (her 90s single “Supernova” got way overplayed on WFNX), but over the years I’d grown to enjoy her work.
Dang, how are we on volume 27 already? Or more to the point, how are we not at a higher volume, considering I started the series in 1988? Heh.
Either way, I’m happy to return to making mixtapes more consistently again. I’ve made it a point to give my listening habits a bit more breathing room — and paying attention once more to when a song or album catches my attention, and letting my brain latch onto it instead of just flitting onto the next shiny. I know it’s helping that I made that choice on purpose to tie in with my MU4 novel project, but the real point was to reconnect with why I love to listen to music so much. I’d lost track of that for a while.
[Note: One song is missing from this Spotify version of the mix, “Splinter” by Chatham Rise, which sits between Miss Grit and Beck as track 9.]
For your listening enjoyment, here’s my year-end mixtape! As expected, this one’s a bit all over the place and I’m sure I’m missing a few songs I should have put in there, but I think it still came out pretty well.
To be honest, it kind of mirrors my current status in life: all sorts of nonsense going on in the world, most of which is out of my control, but on the other hand I think I’ve managed to control what I can in my life, and that’s what really matters.
The title comes from the Cheekface song “We Need a Bigger Dumpster” which may not have been my top song of the year (that’s Hot Chip’s “Down”, firmly sitting as Track 5 as always), but it fits perfectly considering.
Hope you enjoy!
I’ll admit I didn’t have the time or the inclination to go into super detail with the end-of-year lists this year, so I will at least provide you with my top favorite albums. You can safely assume that nearly all of my favorite songs of 2022 made it to the above playlist, with a few exceptions!
TOP ALBUMS (listed chronologically with top favorite in bold)
Yard Act, The Overload The Beatles, Get Back: The Rooftop Performance The Reds, Pinks & Purples: Summer at Land’s End Spoon, Lucifer on the Sofa White Lies, As I Try Not to Fall Apart Beach House, Once Twice Melody Nilüfer Yanya, PAINLESS Bob Moses, The Silence in Between PLOSIVS, PLOSIVS Wet Leg, Wet Leg Hatchie, Giving the World Away Warpaint, Radiate Like This Dubstar, Two Porcupine Tree, CLOSURE / CONTINUATION Röyksopp, Profound Mysteries I, II and III The Beths, Expert in a Dying Field Alvvays, Blue Rev PVA, BLUSH The Beatles, Revolver Super Deluxe Edition The Cure, Wish 30th Anniversary Edition
December’s releases were mostly rereleases with a few new albums sprinkled here and there, but those reissues weren’t merely cash-grabs but collections worth picking up and checking out. There were a lot of them this year, weren’t there…? Anyway, this one’s going to be a bit short as well because of that.
Voice of the Beehive, Let It Bee (Remastered & Expanded), released 2 December. One of my favorite albums of 1988, it finally sees a major reissue with several b-sides, single versions and live tracks added. It’s a super fun album full of sassy pop gems. [Music trivia: yes, that’s Woody from Madness on drums! Bedders was also part of the band at one point too!]
Robbie Williams, Life Thru a Lens (25th Anniversary), released 2 December. US listeners might know half these songs better as part of his American compilation The Ego Has Landed, but this is the original UK source album. This was his first peak period with hit singles such as the ubiquitous “Angels”. This too has been reissued with numerous b-sides and live tracks.
Hot Hot Heat, Make Up the Breakdown (Deluxe Remastered), released 2 December. Another reissue of a 2002 album that got heavy play in the Belfry during my writing sessions. “Bandages” was one of my favorites of the year as well, and still pops into my head now and again.
The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Mountain Lake Park, released 2 December. Glenn Donaldson’s output this year has been quite extensive, and with this one — named after a small park here in the Richmond that I’ve walked through many times! — is full of lovely instrumentals recorded around the same time as this year’s Summer at Land’s End (and originally released as a vinyl-only bonus record with that one). And he also dropped a new EP on the 23rd, Dust in the Path of Love.
Paul McCartney, The 7″ Singles box set, released 2 December. A full 159 tracks spanning his entire solo career and containing several rarities such as non-album sides, single edits and international versions. This one’s less about the remixes and all about the original songs.
Leftfield, This Is What We Do, released 2 December. This group sneaks out an album at the end of the year of laid back electropop I love the best: the kind that gets me moving but I can also listen to while chilling out.
The Clockworks, “Blood On the Mind” single 9 December. Yet another single by this great band, this one sounds a bit like early Smiths with its bouncy Johnny Marr-like jangle, but it sounds just as tough as any of their previous singles. I see nothing but success for these lads!
Roger Waters, The Lockdown Sessions, released 9 December. The eternally grumpy Waters released an EP of reworks of his classic songs from both Pink Floyd and solo albums, including an extremely moody reworking of “Comfortably Numb” that gives the original a run for its money.
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…and that’s it for the year! Come back tomorrow for my year-end mixtape and best-of lists!
In true Q4 fashion, November contained some new releases but far more box sets and rereleases: Ride’s 4 EPs, Spice Girls’ Spiceworld, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, The Fall’s 1970s, David Bowie’s Divine Symmetry, Erasure’s Erasure, Sparks’ No 1 in Heaven, and the Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots just to name a few. I’ve only mentioned a few here that were of deep personal interest.
SAULT, 11, AIIR, Earth, Today & Tomorrow, and Untitled (God), released 1 November. The mercurial British collective surprises everyone with not just one but five new albums, full of spiritualism, faith and positivity.
Phoenix, Alpha Zulu, released 4 November. I didn’t even know they were coming out with a new record until I heard “Tonight” popping up on satellite radio during our last vacation! I haven’t quite had the time to listen to this too much, but what I have heard I really like.
Seal, Seal [Deluxe Edition], released 4 November. I’ve mentioned this before that this feels more like a Trevor Horn-featuring-Seal album (I prefer his second album to this one), but “Crazy” remains one of my all-time favorite 90s songs. The remaster gives this record a much-needed warmth that was lacking in the original mix.
Fitz & the Tantrums, Let Yourself Free, released 11 November. Another band best heard (and seen) live, they’ve weathered the pandemic and are back with a new and fun album that gets you moving. We’ll be seeing them early next year!
Various Artists, Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtapes box set, released 11 November. The most enduring part of nearly every movie Hughes made in the 80s was the eclectic soundtrack. Why lean on big names and commercial sheen when you can introduce your audience to New Order, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Yello, Love and Rockets, Simple Minds, Oingo Boingo and more? His soundtracks were a big part of my youth and introduced me to many ‘college rock’ bands I may not have ever discovered elsewhere. This one’s a surprisingly detailed mix of 74 tracks from eleven different films and worth searching out.
Royksopp, Profound Mysteries III, released 18 November. The electronic band completes the trilogy of introspective thoughts about the unknown. It’s quite the achievement as the albums sound great on their own but also work seamlessly as an extended whole. One of my favorite projects of the year.
bis, Systems Music for Home Defence, released 18 November. This Glaswegian band is still going strong with its unique brand of bubblegummy technopop full of fun and humor.
Soundtrack, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, released 25 November. While most of this record is incidental music by John Murphy, it’s the two Old 97’s tracks that make this one such a treat, full of the same silly humor as the Christmas special.
The Cure, Wish [30th Anniversary Edition], released 25 November. released nearly four years after their previous deluxe edition rerelease (2018’s Mixed Up), my favorite 90s Cure album gets not only an extended review but a fantastic remaster that gives it so much more depth and warmth.
Metallica, “Lux Aeterna” single, released 28 November. The band’s first studio release since 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct album sees them older and more contemplative but still in full-throttle. Written and recorded during the pandemic along with their upcoming album 72 Seasons, the new track feels like a new direction for them.
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Coming tomorrow: December brings the last few weeks of new music for 2022.
I did not expect October to be so crammed full of amazing albums that I almost didn’t have time to listen to them all! Here’s a cross-section of some of the great stuff!
WILLOW, <COPINGMECHANISM>, released 7 October. She’s definitely come a long way from “Whip My Hair”, that’s for sure. This is a badass emo album that’s right up there with the best of Paramore and it’s surprisingly tight and blistery.
ALVVAYS, Blue Rev, released 7 October. Each album from this band has been a step in a different direction, and this one leans towards the bright, loud and dreamlike. This one’s also landed on many people’s end of year lists.
Broken Bells, Into the Blue, released 7 October. I’ve loved each of this band’s albums, and I’ve loved that each one lends itself to some kind of retro mood, but I did not expect their new one to go the same way Air did and get all 70s synth space rock! It’s a great sound for them, though, and well worth a listen.
Stray Kids, MAXIDENT, released 7 October. I’m…still not sure what to make of this band. Are they riffing on Disney pop? Are they the K-Pop answer to NSYNC? And the videos are just as mind-bogglingly weird but playful that you can’t not look away.
Bush, The Art of Survival, released 7 October. Another 90s band I’ve always really liked. This one kind of reminds me of the great but underrated The Science of Things, full of hard rocking but without the attempts at commercial poppiness. Really enjoying this one.
The Cult, Under the Midnight Sun, released 7 October. Another classic band returns! I always felt their best work has been when they utilized their dark post-punk-meets-goth sound and this one doesn’t disappoint.
PVA, Blush, released 14 October. Someone’s been listening to their Front 242 albums, because this one’s just full of that chilly, clinical European EBM that I love so much. It’s a wild album and a hell of a lot of fun. This one’s high up on my favorites of the year!
Wild Pink, ILYSM, released 14 October. A curious band with a curious sound…they’ve got that pondering indie rock style that kind of reminds me of Destroyer, but then it suddenly veers into a shoegazey wall-of-sound riff that just knocks me flat. Really love this one.
Knifeplay, Animal Drowning, released 19 October. Dreampop with a darker edge, this is totally something I’d have been listening to back in my teen years. I think KEXP played one of their songs exactly once and I immediately went and put it on my shopping list!
Too Much Joy, All These Fucking Feelings, released 21 October. The gang of goofballs returns once more with a new record recorded over the last year or so and premiered by a year’s worth of singles to promote it! Still dorky and still a lot of fun.
Tegan and Sara, Crybaby, released 21 October. Another album written and recorded during the pandemic, the two sisters came through with an album that sounds surprisingly bright and energetic.
Taylor Swift, Midnights, released 21 October. I’ll admit it right now, I totally love “Anti-Hero” because it’s such a beautifully crafted song despite it being so gloomy. I’ve really come around to her music these last couple of years, especially since her recent re-recording project.
Robyn Hitchcock, Shufflemania!, released 21 October. Ever the oddball, Robyn continues his long and illustrious career with tasty alt-pop goodness combined with his unique brand of strange lyricism with yet another great record.
Sloan, Steady, released 21 October. One of my favorite Canadian bands and another “I will download anything they release” group, this quartet deliver yet another wonderful pop confection.
Arctic Monkeys, The Car, released 21 October. This band has achieved the status of ‘we will record and release anything we damn well please’ and provide us with…lounge jazz? Sure, why not? They can certainly pull it off, that’s for sure. It’s definitely not the album a lot of people expected, but if you give it a shot, you won’t be let down.
a-ha, True North, released 21 October. It’s almost criminal how Morten Harket’s voice still sounds so angelic decades on, isn’t it? Their newest is a wonderful gem, and I’m glad they’re still going strong so many years later.
Sigur Rós, ( ) 2022 Remaster, released 28 October. I had this album on heavy repeat while writing A Division of Souls down in the Belfry back in 2002. The new mix sounds absolutely stunning and it’s still an amazing album.
The Beatles, Revolver Super Deluxe Edition, released 28 October. I mean, of course this one is on my top five best releases of the year! I was extremely curious as to how it was going to sound, considering the limitations of the original. Giles Martin outdid himself here, however, managing to take the song completely apart (with help from Peter Jackson’s magical sound team, doing the same thing they did with the Get Back miniseries) and put it back together in a new way. The album might sound pretty much the same, but the new remix has given each instrument a lot of breathing room, giving each song more life than it already had. As I’d said a while back on Twitter, the original sounds like a black-and-white movie from 1966 while the remix sounds like a movie made today about 1966. Absolutely stunning.
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Coming up next Tuesday: November tunage! December will follow on Wednesday, followed by a year-end review on Thursday.
Pretty sure it was about this time that I realized that I had not made or completed any mixtapes this year! There’s just the one that I’d thrown together back in March but never sequenced. Shame on me, considering I had the time to do it, but never got around to it. Not going to kick myself about it, though…I’ll have time to start fresh again in the new year. In the meantime, this month definitely had a bumper crop of great new albums and singles that captured my attention!
Two Door Cinema Club, Keep On Smiling, released 2 September. The band has mellowed out a bit over the years, but they’re still consistent with their infectious pop that’s fun to listen and move to.
The HU, Rumble of Thunder, released 2 September. The Mongolian folk metal band returns with another badass record of songs of both battle and peace. We saw them at last year’s Outside Lands and they put on one hell of a great show!
Codeine, Dessau, released 6 September. I remember this band from my college days in Boston — a NYC slowcore band that frequently played in the area and even occasionally got play on WFNX — and this is what should have been their second album before it was shelved to make way for The White Birch instead.
Preoccupations, Arrangements, released 9 September. This noise-rock band consistently releases great post-punk albums full of thick tension and irritation. The new album is a shorter affair but is no less powerful with its walls of guitars and twitchy beats.
Quivers, “If Only” single, released 9 September. One of my favorite Aussie bands sneaks out a standalone single and it’s a lovely torch song. I’m of course looking forward to hearing more from this band!
Sudan Archives, Natural Born Prom Queen, released 9 September. Kind of weird, kind of funky and definitely an album that captures your attention and refuses to let go. I’ve been seeing this one show up on a lot of music journalists’ end-of-year list, and they’re not wrong.
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, When the Lights Go, released 9 September. Known for his work as a producer and numerous guest spots on other electronic acts (such as BRONSON, where I’d first heard him), this is a great album for chilling out and relaxing.
The House of Love, A State of Grace, released 16 September. I’d always felt this band never got their proper due here in the States other than their occasional single like “I Don’t Know Why I Love You”. Great to see they’re still rocking out and still writing great tunes.
Death Cab for Cutie, Asphalt Meadows, released 16 September. Ben Gibbard seems to be returning back to what DCFC did best in the early 00s: brilliant melodies and heartfelt lyrics that never quite fit the pop mold yet still hit you square in the heart. Still, this one’s also a lot more noisy, kind of reminding me of Kintsugi‘s weirder moments.
The London Suede, Autofiction, released 16 September. So glad to see this band has returned after a number of years on hiatus, as they’ve always written such great heartfelt songs with just that slight hint of glam but without ever quite going full T Rex (I mean, aside from that first album way back in ’93…). The new record is a lovely listen.
The Beths, Expert in a Dying Field, released 16 September. One of my favorites from the last few years, they return with another banger of gorgeous guitar pop that just makes you want to bop around. Highly recommended!
Hooverphonic, “Mysterious” single, released 16 September. Oh hey, one of my favorite 90s bands sneaks out a single as well! Sweet! I’ve always loved their brand of symphonic music that would fit easily both on a dance floor and as a movie soundtrack.
The Clockworks, “Advertise Me” single, released 21 September. Damn, this band just keeps coming out with amazing music! A new song just a few months after their debut EP, it features them at their best: angry yet somehow heartfelt at the same time.
Editors, EBM, released 23 September. This band’s career has taken so many interesting turns: the bleakness of Joy Division, the tension of early Interpol, the grimness of goth, and now they’ve entered an entirely new and more electronic-based field with the addition of Blanck Mass as a full-time member. And they pull it off beautifully.
Asian Dub Foundation, RAFI (25th Anniversary Edition), released 23 September. Completely passed over in the late 90s, this group blended drum ‘n bass with reggae and made a number of brilliant records that hardly made a dent here in the States. “Naxalite” was one of my favorite tracks to listen to during the latter half of my HMV years.
Buzzcocks, Sonics in the Soul, released 23 September. Pete Shelley may have passed away a few years back, but he gave Steve Diggle the blessing to keep the band going, and their new record maintains their classic post-punk rage.
Pixies, Doggerel, released 30 September. Good to see this band is still going strong after reuniting some years back. This one definitely reminds me of Bossanova — not as noisy as their other classic albums and maybe a bit more radio friendly, but not without Frank Black bringing in his weird lyrics.
Bjork, Fossora, released 30 September. It’s been a good five years since her last album, but she’s no less weirder, musically and visually. This is her take on the pandemic, full of songs about loss and desolation, but somehow it still comes across as beautiful.
Dropkick Murphys, This Machine Still Kills Fascists, released 30 September. If anyone could revitalize Woody Guthrie’s protest music and give it a much-needed shot in the arm, it’s these guys. Guthrie’s daughter Nora provided them with his lyrics and they put together a great album full of righteous piss and vinegar.
Walk In Silence 