Delving into recent playlist of our contributor and Letters From a Tapehead mastermind Sean Caldwell! We highly recommend checking out Sean’s Philly Mix as well as his review of Helmet’s classic “Strap It On”.
Guerilla Toss – Twisted Crystal
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″]Twisted Crystal, Guerilla Toss’ new LP, feels more personal than ever for the band. Angular yet irresistibly catchy, this collection of pop songs pulls influence from powerful groups like The Slits, ESG, Gina X, and early Madonna, with sing-speak vocals from Kassie Carlson nodding to legendary artists like Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, and Lizzy Mercier Descloux – combining this all into a twisted, crystalline concoction. [/perfectpullquote]
Release Date / Label: September 14 via DFA Records
Oh Sees – Smote Reverser
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″] Crack the coffers, Oh Sees have spawned another frothy LP of head-destroying psych epics to grok and rock out to. You’ll notice the fresh dollop of organ and keyboard prowess courtesy of “Memory of a Cut Off Head” alum and noted key-stabber Tom Dolas…the Quattrone/Rincon drum-corps polyrhythmic pulse continues to astound and pound in equal measure, buttressed by the nimble fingered bottom end of Sir Tim Hellman the Brave and the shred-heaven fret frying of John Dwyer, whilst Lady Brigid Dawson again graces the wax with her harmonic gifts. [/perfectpullquote]
Release Date / Label: August 17 via Castle Face
Exploded View – Obey
Exploded View, the international music project of Annika Henderson, Hugo Quezada, and Martin Thulin has returned and taken flight with their second full length, Obey. The album was recorded at Hugo’s and Martin’s studios in Mexico City with Annika visiting from Berlin. Leaving behind their raw, live recording process, and embracing overdubs and multi-instrumentalism, the band has crafted their most ambitious work to date. The four-piece that recorded the band’s self-titled debut album and Summer Came Early EP became three to create a more concise collection of songs. Their motivation for creating together remains purely passionate and the improvisational spark the band is known for has morphed into the emotional flames of being close friends with a deep desire to make music with each other.
Release Date / Label: September 28 via Sacred Bones
Thou – Magus
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″]Magus is Thou’s first full-length since 2014’s Heathen. In the months leading into the new album, Thou will be releasing three drastically different EPs: The House Primordial on Raw Sugar, Inconsolable on Community Records, and Rhea Sylvia on Deathwish, Inc. Each record will focus on a particular sound—noisy drone, quiet acoustic, and melodic grunge—all of which is incorporated into the new LP, subsumed in the band’s more standard doom metal. [/perfectpullquote]
Release Date / Label: August 31 via Sacred Bones
KEN Mode – Loved
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″]Anyone dead set on having bands ready to sit in a specific pigeonhole concerning their genre must absolutely hate KEN mode. The Canadians have made music that spits, soothes, seduces and sets things on fire and that’s just in their last few releases. The stories told and feelings displayed through their particular style of noise have never relied on any particular sound or feature, which is a big part of their appeal. Loved, this year’s much anticipated follow up to Success takes the band down their darkest path yet, complete with menace and terror at every juncture, not to mention the bountiful crunchy riffs and spills of American noise’s noisier neighbours.
Heavy Blog is Heavy
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Release Date / Label: September 31 via New Damage Records
AD.UL.T – A Dainty Bit
Not to be confused with a longer running / better-known ADULT., this is a second EP from a Boston duo that is never afraid to let their inner freak out. For a proof see our video premiere of SELAH and/or read up what The Alternative had to say about the EP.
Release Date / Label: July 13 / Self-Released
Review: Soundblab
Heroin in Tahiti – Casalina Tapes 2010 | 2017
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″]Heroin In Tahiti is a duo from Rome, Italy hailing from the Roma Est scene, a sort of local community based in the crumbling and deteriorated neighborhoods which were already eternalized by Pasolini and Neorealist Cinema (think of Pasolini, De Sica, Visconti, etc.) The duo plays a variety of cheap guitars, analog synths, drum machines, and pedals, achieving a dirtiness which is tragically lo-fi and out-of-time at the same time: a “Spaghetti Wasteland”, as they call it.
Forced Exposure
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Release Date / Label: June 22 via Boring Machines
Reviews: Dayz of Purple and Orange
Colin Stetson – Hereditary OST
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”15″] Hereditary is a horror film directed by newcomer Ari Aster. It follows the Grahams, a family in mourning after the passing of grandma. Annie, the family’s mother, suspects that not all is as it seems after grandma’s death – something unnatural may have been left behind. Scoring duties on Hereditary came to Colin Stetson (Lavender, collaborator of Arcade Fire). Though his background as a saxophonist makes him an unconventional choice for horror composition, Stetson has conjured an instant classic for Hereditary using an army of strings, chimes and drones. The end result is a uniquely uneasy, sinister suite of music capped with one of the most unexpected conclusions in recent years – listeners will find themselves totally possessed.
Terrorbird
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Release Date / Label: June 8 via Milan Records
Review: Echoes and Dust