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The Flatliners

Inviting Light
Rise (2017)

Since 2002 Canadian punk band The Flatliners have been making a name for themselves. It’s hard to imagine the same ska/punk band that put out Destroy to Create released an album like Inviting Light. If you couldn’t tell by the album names alone—it’s a departure. Inviting Light is by far the most mature sounding album the band has released, and … Read more

Matt Pond PA

Still Summer
131 Records (2017)

Matt Pond PA has delivered a flurry of music since their inception in 1998 around the enigmatic songwriter and namesake. His revolving cast of collaborators, creators, and guests have served him well throughout his career. Just as it goes, he is very underappreciated and underrated as a songwriter. They are that band, and he is that singer, that you just … Read more

Needles//Pins

Goodnight, Tomorrow
Mint/Dirt Cult (2017)

Needles//Pins are one of those hard bands to pin down. They just sound like what rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to be, you know? It’s catchy, gritty, relatable, and working class. It’s to the point without being mindless or jingoistic. Goodnight, Tomorrow is their second LP, the follow-up to Shamebirds (2014). The first record is an enjoyable romp, but it … Read more

John Frum

A Stirring in the Noos
Relapse (2017)

Technicality in death metal is a very common treat, and it has been present within the genre since its beginnings. Through time this idea has evolved, moving from the likes of Death and Suffocation to acts like Artificial Brain and Ulcerate. John Frum is a new entry in this tradition, formed by members of some elite bands of the extreme … Read more

Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones

Astrild Astrild
Denovali (2017)

At some point in the '90s a strange scene begun to form, spawning from the adventurous nature of Gore and their follow-up project Bohren & der Club of Gore and expanded by the likes of Asunta and Phantom City. Taking the cool jazz structures, artists begun performing alchemical experiments with ambient music, abstract rhythms, drone elements and aspects of dark … Read more

She Spread Sorrow

Mine
Cold Spring (2017)

Alice Kundalini is releasing the second album under the She Spread Sorrow monikier, following the her debut full-length, Rumspringa. Forged in the death industrial heritage of Cold Spring records, she continues to implement fierce power electronics over her bleak ambiance. The form she takes in Mine is a continuation of the sound of Rumspringa. Dark and pensive in its narrative, … Read more

Cayetana

New Kind Of Normal
Plum Records (2017)

Normally when I hear obvious shades of the 1990s, my first thought is straight from an ad campaign of the era: been there, done that. It’s an oversimplification, but you get the point. The real problem is mimicry instead of taking influence. Cayetana have some clear influences from the alt rock of my formative years, but they’re ultimately set in … Read more

Crystal Fairy

Crystal Fairy
Ipecac (2017)

Buzz Osbourne has nothing left to prove. His band, Melvins have sustained the ravages of time and, perhaps even more impressively, the ravages of the music industry. Next year will mark the 30th anniversary of Melvins' first album and within that time frame there has been few artists as prolific as Osbourne, whether it's with Melvins, or Venemous Concept, or … Read more

Nothington

In the End
Red Scare Industries (2017)

Few things are stable in this topsy-turvy world. One constant has been Nothington. With the release of In the End, the San Francisco band’s fifth full-length, they’ve continued down the road they started with All In. It’s classic chord-driven punk with a working class, heart on its sleeve aesthetic. Early reviews compared them to Social Distortion, which isn’t horribly inaccurate … Read more

Jason Isbell

The Nashville Sound
Southeastern Records (2017)

Had Jason Isbell stopped making music after his run with the Drive-By Truckers, his output would have already been legendary enough. “Outfit,” and “Goddamn Lonely Love,” alone are inches away from being modern standards. After a few promising records in the midst of a drugs-and-booze phase, Isbell got clean and released Southeastern in 2013, a stunning record of recovery and … Read more

The War on Peace

Automated People EP
Independent (2017)

Imagine if the last few minutes of your life on a doomed Earth were spent dancing in a nightclub, as the sound of buzzing synthesisers whirred into a thick crescendo that battled the looming darkness outside. This is the atmosphere that Chicago three-piece The War on Peace have created on their newest EP, Automated People. The band, who sound like … Read more

Jessica Moss

Pools of Light
Constellation (2017)

Jessica Moss is a prominent member of the Canadian experimental scene, most known for her participation in the Thee Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra & Tra-La-La-Band collective, as well as being a founding member of Black Ox Orkestar. A performer known for her versatility, she has also appeared as a guest for Frankie Sparo, Broken Social Scene and Arcade Fire. In … Read more

Arcadea

Arcadea
Relapse (2017)

Remember that movie from the 80's where that little rocker kid got sucked into the video game and found himself on that desert planet, where he had to throw jewels into a volcano while battling flying lions that had lasers shooting out of their eyes?No?That's probably because that movie was never made. But if it had been, Arcadea would be … Read more

Rammstein

Paris – the special edition
Universal (2017)

Ah, Rammstein. Härte. Neue deutsche. Grinding metal guitars, brute masculinity, pyromania, double entendres, operatic sub-sonic vocals, wordplays galore and taboo subjects. In a live context, they burn – literally, being one of the few bands whose singer eventually deemed it necessary to become qualified as a licensed pyrotechnician and with fans on occasion having been carried out of concerts suffering … Read more

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