Dispatches from the Underground // October 2024 Pt. 2

New Music

Slow Heart Music – Hope (whitelabrecs) / Heavy fall vibes in the air this week. Some seasonal shifts in listening. This is shaping up to be a solid piece of autumnal listening by Slow Heart Music, out on whitelabrecs – Listening Habit

Rixe – Tir Groupé (La Vida Es Un Mus) / love that the new Rixe inexplicably sounds like Metal Urbain – Crypt໐-Zఠఠl໐gᴉcal Dis⅍ter

Rival Consoles – Gaivotas (Erased Tapes) / Sounds great, advance of new album – Fraser H

Tinariwen – Idrache (Traces Of The Past) (Wedge Records) / “Idrache (Traces of the Past)” collects a dozen rarities by Tuareg band Tinariwen, recorded live. Some are demos, later released in more produced versions, and four have never been released before. Available via #WedgeRecs, November 15th – Dan Kletter

the modern folk – Primitive Future III / all proceeds go to Hurricane Helene relief

New music by Blood Incantation, Pharmakon, The Bug, Drug Church and more! (h/t mmmmmm)

Octagon – 1999 (Acef Stripe Recordings)

Papa M – Ballads of Harry Houdini (Drag City) – new solo David Pajo, coming in November (h/t Sid Much Rock)

Ava Mendoza – The Circular Train / New one from Ava Mendoza. If you liked her Mayan Space Station trio w Wm Parker or Echolocation recs, this solo LP’s for you. I’ve been lucky to hear her up close in the guitar quartet and can say this new album is her best – Bill Orcutt

VA – High Bias: Music from the Book / Companion cassette for “High Bias: The Distorted History of the Cassette Tape” book by Marc Masters

Listening Recommendations

Rich Ruth – I Survived, It’s Over (h/t odubhda)

Anhedonist – Netherwards (Dark Descent Records) / It’s a gloomy and fog-filled morning here in the Ohio/WV border and it’s the perfect time to revisit the heavy and melancholic genius that was Anhedonist’s debut LP “Netherwards”. It may only be 4 songs but each is as powerful and memorable for it to be one of my favorite death/doom albums – blastbeats are my fetish

New Haunts – Worlds Left Behind / #BandcampFriday is tomorrow. So I’m skimming through bands while working / “New Haunts is the electronic solo project of UK-based composer and producer Alice Sheridan, drawing on influences including industrial, dreampop, goth and EBM.” – Nihilistic Wrong Hordak

Steve Reich – Music for 18 Musicians / A happy 88th birthday to Steve Reich – Nigel Wallis

J.M. Hart – So Below / contains some widely varying sounds and songs. From the blues/rock of “Arkansas” to the contemplative trippy space of “Desires” to the angry blow off of “I Gotta Believe”

Music Reviews / Blogs

Dancer / Whisper Hiss Split (HHBTM Records) / The good folks over @HHBTMrecs announce a new split between Dancer and Whisper Hiss. Dancer winds ropey bass and post-punk tangles of guitar around drums that refuse to sit still. The split’s cross-continental combo that’s fun on the speakers – Raven Sings the Blues

Tiger Village — Grid Work (Suite 309) / As Tiger Village, Tim Thornton creates a joyfully anarchic process-based form of percussion centered electronic bedlam,” writes Andrew Forell  – Dusted / Jennifer Kelly

GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR at Manchester O2 Ritz – 1st October 2024 – live show review by Matt D

Reading

Has social media pushed fandom to a point of no return? / It used to be people would respect your personal space – now, it’s all a bit sinister – Tracey Thorn via The New Statesman

Neko Case is always striving for more range – Eric R. Danton via Boston Globe

The biodiversity jukebox: how sound can boost beneficial soil microbes to heal nature (h/t Nigel Spencer / Folk Police Recordings)

Misc

Obscure Giants of Acoustic Guitar card set by Shana Cleveland on Tompkins Square – Jack Rose, Robbie Basho and Sandy Bull (h/t John Hogarty)