BONE CASTER – ROMANCE THE SERPENT From the fantastical song titles — like “Bioluminescent Butterfly” and “Tower to the Moon” — to the varied BY TOM MURPHY textures and moods of the songs, it is clear that Brad Schumacher offers us a full journey through a mythical space in music. With roots in dungeon synth and black metal, Schumacher transcends with great imagination in the arrangements, taking us to places of tranquil and transcendent beauty through passages of gritty, dark, eldritch peril with spooky ambient pastoral folk and cosmic drones. Listening to the album is like hearing a visionary, transformative fantasy and horror film that simply doesn’t exist but really should. Robert Eggers should direct. GRAPHICS – THE GREAT UNCONFUSING At the nexus of Tortoise, Captain Beefheart, 70s prog and math-y free jazz one will find something approaching what you’ll hear on this album. Graphics seems to free-associate, going off into melodic passages and then back into gloriously discordant yet expertly syncopated rhythms that accent and augment the way guitar lines run, while bass guides the texture and tonality of the music. Even in its most challenging sections, there is something joyful in the performances that instantly render its experimental leanings accessible. The cinematic flourishes of the songs suggest a narrative of getting back on track and focused after an extended period of journeying in the psychological and creative wilderness. MANMADEMADMAN – FOURWARN’D Think of this fourth album from Manmademadman as a more inspired collection of experiments in synth composition and songwriting. Though the tracks are coherent, each feels as though it is guided by intuitive experiments in production and the expression of moods and psychological spaces. The lyrics come across as poetic sketches of emotions often buried. Musically it spans IDM, psychedelic industrial, techno and ambient. In moments it hits the same part of the brain most stimulated by The Legendary Pink Dots, Burial and Depeche Mode. Yet it never feels derivative and the immediacy of the production keeps it a fresh listen beginning to end. THE SNAIL – DADAO HUMAN MUSIC If Dirty Beaches went full plunderphonics dub and sound collage, Alex Zhang Hungtai might be doing something like this. Just turn off genre expectations and take in the sounds and masterful production techniques that Vail Kuntz employs. It’s almost like cut-up technique was used in the song title generation, yet the wordplay is perfect for each track. The images suggested by “Funk Shui” and “Anemic Boogie” alone, and the sound paired with each, create new associations in the brain which music doesn’t do often enough. The latter song in times is reminiscent of Nicolas Jaar and King Tubby, but written as a pop song that expands the very concept. WHEELCHAIR SPORTS CAMP – OH IMPERFECTA If you’re expecting the same kind of visionary, jazz-infused hip-hop heard on 2016’s NO BIG DEAL, this is a major leap in a different direction. The evocative beatmaking still informs the songwriting and the spectacular sense of rhythm that has been a part of Kalyn Heffernan’s projects all along. But some of this music is exuberant punk that punctures notions of privilege with imagination, compassion and humor, lending each song an elevated righteousness that renders even its most pointed invective a poetic elegance. With contributions from Jello Biafra, Amy Goodman, RAREBYRD$, Kimya Dawson, Olivia Jean and Junia-T, this album expands concepts of punk and hip-hop, illuminating each subject in ways the genres have needed. WHITE SATAN AND FARM TOAD – WOLF A genre-bending re-imagining of country classics as darkly pastoral. The vocals are often processed and distorted so that while every song benefits from exquisite performances from Gregory Hill, Maureen Hearty and Kim 9, each feels subversive and somehow off in a way that still works. Not in a William Shatner covering “Rocket Man” way. But listen to “Some Velvet Morning” (Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra), “She Thinks I Still Care” (George Jones), “Wichita Lineman” (Glen Campbell) and “Hello It’s Me” (Todd Rundgren). For those familiar, there is something sinister and unsettling that is truly more Satanic music as considered by Anton LaVey, than the bombastic heavy metal of the 70s and 80s that modern day Puritans keyed into for the Satanic panic. SEE MORE: QUEENCITYSOUNDS.ORG No. 149
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