2021 November Listenings

Phase Selector Sound - Disassemble Dub

I’ve been looking for a dub record like this for so long, and it’s just sitting there in the drawer the whole time…

Release date: 1999-07-22

[8.8/10]

Christophe De Babalon - 044 (Hilf Dir Selbst!)

Gothic drum & bass. Man this is tight.

Release date: 2021-09-24

[8.6/10]

Curd Duca - Waves 2

Sequel to last year’s fantastic Waves 1, and just as exhilarating to listen to.

Release date: 2021-11-12

[8.5/10]

Various Artists - Sound Storing Machines: The First 78rpm Records from Japan, 1903-1912

A compilation of really ancient Japanese music recordings. A sublime listen.

Release date: 2021-04-20

[8.4/10]

aya - im hole

Eerie experimental electronic pop. Claustrophobic stuff, and yet it is so good…

Release date: 2021-10-22

[8.3/10]

Grouper - Shade

Hypnotic bedroom pop / folk. Very stripped back yet powerful.

Release date: 2021-10-22

[8.3/10]

Richard Dawson, Circle - Henki

Old school prog rock meets Richard Dawson. Circle is one of the very few bands that do prog music like how Yes or Camel, and while this sound like an odd fit it’s actually very compelling.

Release date: 2021-11-26

[8.3/10]

Various Artists - “I Could Go Anywhere But Again I Go With You”

The music you hear when you enter a shrine in Breath of the Wild.

Release date: 2018-01-19

[8.2/10]

Novi_sad - Κεραυνός

Organic ambient music.

Release date: 2021-10-29

[8.2/10]

snd - Tenderlove

Minimal techno like how it should be. Pretty good. And I snatched it for 5 bucks…

Release date: 2018-09-10

[8.1/10]

The Stranger - Watching Dead Empires In Decay

Evil Caretaker be like.

Release date: 2013-10-28

[8.1/10]

Kid Koala - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Eccentric lo-fi hip-hop. Lots of fun to listen to.

Release date: 2000-02-22

[8.1/10]

Breakwater - Five 7"

Obscure emo / screamo gem. Pretty dope.

Release date: 1995

[7.8/10]

Soho Rezanejad - Honesty Without Compassion is Brutality, Vol. 2

Dramatic experimental pop music. On this album her vocal prowess is on full display - sometimes it sounds like Jenny Hval, sometimes it sounds like King Woman.

Release date: 2020-01-20

[7.8/10]

Marina Rosenfeld - Teenage Lontano

This is the recording of two different sound art happenings. The first suite is avant-garde choral music, glossolalia music? Second suite is like a bunch of R&B songs stacked on dissonant electronic sounds. Eerie stuff but oddly comforting…

Release date: 2021-10-15

The Bandcamp page for the album contains a lot more information, such as the locations and the meanings of those pieces.

[7.8/10]

Kidcrash - Jokes

Screamo-ish math rock. The riffs are pretty cool.

Release date: 2007-06-30

[7.8/10]

Succumb - XXI

Death metal. Pretty filthy stuff.

Release date: 2021-10-01

[7.7/10]

The Body, BIG|BRAVE - Leaving None But Small Birds

This is more folk than doom, the track Oh Sinner sounds like it could be from a recent Earth album. The last two tracks feature grinding doom guitar riffs, but still retain a lot of the old time blues / country feel. Pretty good, I feel like The Body is better when they’re collaborating with other artists than doing their own thing…

Release date: 2021-10-01

[7.6/10]

BADBADNOTGOOD - Talk Memory

Fusion. The first couple of songs sounds like Dungen’s instrumental tracks, and overall it’s more jazz oriented than the lo-fi hip-hop sound they’ve been known for.

Release date: 2021-10-08

[7.5/10]

Full Of Hell - Garden of Burning Apparitions

The guitar tone in this album sounds more like alt rock than death metal… which I kind of enjoy. Some songs are less powerful than others but the ones that are good are really pretty good.

Release date: 2021-10-01

[7.5/10]

Shackleton - Departing Like Rivers

Mystical tribal electronic music.

Release date: 2021-09-10

[7.4/10]

Youth Novel - Youth Novel

Screamo. In terms of song structures this one isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but it does have some pretty decent riffs.

Release date: 2021-02-14

[7.3/10]

Leah Dou - GSG MIXTAPE

Chill-hop. Not bad but not really my mood.

Release date: 2020-11-28

[7.3/10]

Trustfall - Trustfall

Gothic pop. Kind of reminds me of a more restrained Arca or a more approachable David Sylvian. OK but not great.

Release date: 2020-03-20

[7.2/10]

James Blake - Friends That Break Your Heart

Electro-indie-pop. This is definitely better than 2019’s Assume Form, but is still no where near his self-titled LP from a while back. The songs that features only himself are better than the ones with other featured guests.

Release date: 2021-10-08

[7.1/10]

Busdriver - Jhelli Beam

Experimental hip-hop / abstract rap. I get that the dude must be really talented but his talents are definitely not on full display in this album.

Release date: 2009-06-09

[6.3/10]

當代電影大師 - 告訴我他們都在本來的什麼地方

There is a pretty drastic improvement from their EP to this one. I still dislike the vocals (and the lyrics… man are they cringey), and overall the songs are all lacking in the bass frequencies, though this is due to Spotify shitting on qualities of uploaded songs… But the songs where they appropriated other bands like 草東 or 透明雜誌 are fun to listen to.

Release date: 2021-11-05

[6.3/10]

Portrayal of Guilt - CHRISTFUCKER

Another lackluster release from once-promising hardcore band… maybe this is what should’ve been expected all along…

Release date: 2021-11-05

[5.8/10]