Lots of great music dropped this past year. In alphabetical order, here are some releases that I particularly admire.
Blume – Synthetic Sounds for the Modern Soul & In Reverse
Arthur Bennell’s Blume project is one that brought immense amounts of blissful serenity with the two albums he has released this year. The densely layered and shimmering soundscapes he paints with a sun kissed dream pop hue are like endless blue skies blotted with puffy clouds that deliver a soft enchantment far removed from the troubles of the earth. What one might be haste to call escapist, is perhaps better viewed as relief/cleansing, or a zenned-out rapture identifiable through the nods to faith within Synthetic Sounds. The tranquil beauty of these releases is far from a quick escape of the dreary and mundane, and instead instills the drive to cultivate a life in a world that feels as beautiful as these albums sound.
Cursetheknife – Thank You For Being Here
Although Kevin Shields once said that his modus operandi with the My Bloody Valentine project was to take all the guts of rock, one of the most prominent developments within shoegaze over the last ten years has been growing number of bands making heavier grunge/post-hardcore oriented music that still maintains some semblance of etherealized texture. With this new crop of bands taking hold and demonstrating a new(ish) direction for the genre to go into, it remains to be seen as to what this movement holds, especially when it seems that we may be starting to hit a saturation point with the sheer amount of stuff that sounds like this.
But if there’s any new group in the latest heavy shoegaze crop that could stand to toe to toe with titans of its originators/predecessors such as Hum, Nothing, and late-era Title Fight, cursetheknife stake their claim as that band with the monumental Thank You For Being Here. Gnarled and near metallic distortion-heavy chords are abound in huge riffs on tracks like the 1-2 punch of “Feeling Real” and “Pissing Off The Neighbours”, but the group go beyond the big sound to weave in experiments in percussion on the industrial-esque loops of “Filter” and the blistering breakbeats of “In Dreams”. Throughout the record remains an intensive emotional heft that culminates in the colossal closing run of “Thank You For Being Here” and “cursetheknife.” Far from just sounding heavy, the band make songs that take the listener through a dark lowness and then out and above beyond it, demonstrating that there is potential for much in the way of substance and flash to be gleaned from the heavy-gaze sound when the songwriting chops meet the challenge.
fish in water project – DREAMS
Lately I’ve been seeking out projects that sit on the more boisterous and euphoric side of dream pop. DREAMS is a record that fits those criteria perfectly. The band serves up six ecstatic pop songs with shimmering guitars and stadium-sized hooks. It’s a dazzling display of big romantic feelings and sounds on the same level as other landmark releases in “arena dream pop” such as M83’s Hurry Up We’re Dreaming and The Depreciation Guild’s Spirit Youth.
Gilded Age – Voices
When prominent people in power refused to take Dr. Christine Blasey Ford seriously when she revealed that she had been sexually abused by Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh, Gilded Age and many of the woman-identifying people close to the band were outraged. It provided the context for the creation of Voices, a record on which the band constructed 10 powerviolence instrumentals and left lyrics and vocals to be handled by woman-identifying, nonbinary, and BIPOC individuals. The result is an 8 minute record that hits super hard, as the vocalists swing back at the anti-Indigenous racism, sexual violence, and the status quo’s refusal to believe and bring justice for abuse victims. It’s a heavy listen, but the refusal of these vocalists to go on unheard is part of the struggle necessary to bring abuses of power to light, hold their perpetrators accountable, and envision the destruction of the structures that enable and justify these cycles of oppression.
GODDEXX – Information Oblivion
There are many different albums I could point to in response to any claims that shoegaze hasn’t evolved as a genre since the release of Loveless in 1991, but Information Oblivion would be one of the first ones that I would point to. A much more digital and inorganic take on the genre, the sensation created by the swirls of textured melodies is less of a cocoon of reverbed fuzz, but rather the feeling of thousands of living nodules of noise crawling all over you. That may sound uncomfortable, but it’s part of the appeal, and juxtapositions well with the angelic coo of Kelia Solaris’s vocals gliding like wisps of vapour through the swarm. It’s surreal and all-consuming, with a fascinating conceptual narrative put forward in the songwriting.
harvey_dug – Nu Grip
Nu Grip is a mixtape that take full advantage of its low fidelity production style to construct a murky and disorienting sound full of warbly samples seemingly poached from records that were found at the bottom of an abandoned algae-covered swimming pool and left out in the sun too long to dry off. The flows of the MCs add to the trippy experience as they veer on and off beat, ping pong around the stereo field, and drop in and out of coherence. It’s abstract hip hop with a beautiful rawness that leaves a mark much deeper than you’d expect from a project with a 22 minute run time
Hysterema – Hysterema & Gnest
Hysterema’s self-titled album still remains the most fun I had on a first listen of a record this year. Dark synthpop/EBM with wretched yelled vocals may seem like an odd pairing, but that only adds to the charm of a record I am unsure whether to dance or mosh to. Nonetheless, it commands some kind of aggressive movement on the floor. With the follow-up EP Gnest, the instrumentation leans harder back into noisy calamity for a superbly intense take on industrial music that exists in some nether region where metal, hardcore, and power electronics meet. If someone knows the esoteric Rateyourmusic genre for stuff that sounds like this, please let me know.
Jairus Sharif – Mega Optics
Jairus Sharif explained in an interview once that he uses the tag of “black classical music” to describe how his work “pay[s] homage to some of my heroes and lets them know I’m receiving the message.” The figure of the late MF Doom looms on Mega Optics, with Sharif referencing the artist’s surname on the title of two tracks, including the closer in which a verse of Doom’s floats in and out of the mix. On most tracks, it is the drums and the alto saxophone that take centre stage, constantly changing shape in their dance with one another, After taking a more confrontational call and response approach on “Compas Forge,” the two instruments swim in a psychedelic swirl on “80 Bars of Relief for KT” or “Breakfast PY2.” As important as homage is to Sharif’s work, Mega Optics goes well beyond tribute and remains a captivating work that continuously reveals new beauty with repeated listens.
Kraus – View No Country
Four years after the release of Path, one of the best shoegaze albums of the 2010s, Kraus follows up with another solid entry in his catalogue of noisy euphoria. He continues the trajectory of toning down on the unrestrained frenetic blasts of white hot heat he burst out with on his debut End Tomorrow, but maintains his knack for conjuring intense emotions that bleed out from the gauzy walls of fuzz. Lyrics may be largely undefinable, but what can’t be interpreted linguistically is felt profoundly on a visceral level. Kraus remains a voice pushing the noise pop/shoegaze scene forward, offering proof that there is still intense power that can be wielded within the tried and true conventions of this style of music.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Theory of Ice
Author, scholar, and musician Leanne Betasamosake Simpson delivers a gorgeous spoken word-laden art rock odyssey that traverses the natural world and contemplates the destruction laid upon it by capitalism, the shortcomings of online slacktivism to leave any impact beyond reaffirming the neoliberal order, and the continued legacy of Indigenous resistance to the violence of colonialism. Of the many highlights on the record is a stunning rendition of Willie Dunn’s ever so powerful “I Pity The Country,” a song that continues to ring true with sadness and rage as the exploitative and violence structures of Canada remain in place to enact violence and make little effort to build on the promise of reconciliation that was never true concerned with liberating Indigenous peoples on this land. In a year marked by climate catastrophe, the discovery of hundreds of child graves at sites of former residential schools, and a so-called progressive provincial government calling in police forces to attack and intimidate those who opposed the construction of a pipeline through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, Theory of Ice stands its ground as a record that confirms the destructive scourge that is colonialism while still holding onto the collective strength and hope that allows Indigenous-led struggle to continue and grow in power.
MJ Guider – Temporary Requiem
Following up the fantastic Sour Cherry Bell album from last year, Temporary Requiem sees MJ Guider take her droney mysterious darkwave further into the void of shrouded darkness, and even into choral territory on the gorgeous acapella “Sanctus: A Falling Dance.” With pulsing baselines, slow shifting guitar drones, industrial drum machine exercises, and stunning vocal harmonies, the record is Guider’s latest crown jewel in her run of ghostly and gorgeous releases.
MOVE – Freedom Dreams
Seething with rage through a barrage of punishing riffs, MOVE lash out at cops, gentrifying landlords, and the carceral state on one of this year’s hardest hitting hardcore releases. For as much as there remains to be righteously angry regarding capitalism’s racist structures of domination and exploitation, a ray of optimism still shines through, most brightly on the title track, as the band stands firm in their commitment in the struggle to turn the goal of Black liberation into a reality.
Myst Milano – Shapeshyfter
Shapeshyfter is a record peppered with quotable bars that pop out from a dynamic and playful production-style that refuses to conform to a single groove. The braggadocious swagger makes for an incredibly fun listening experience and proves that Myst Milano really is “the bitch these hoes pretend to be.”
Musali – There’s a Body In The Trunk & there’s fertilizer in the concrete
There is no shortage of exciting artists in underground hip hop scenes putting out great stuff in the past year, but Musali has quickly become a favourite of mine with these two projects. The beat selection is an excellent bunch of laidback loops constructed around gorgeous jazz and soul samples, with a few cuts veering into glitchier electronic territory on there’s fertilizer in the concrete. The relaxed and repetitive movement of the instrumentals is the perfect vehicle for Musali’s calm and measured delivery, as the MC raps candidly about the emotions, connections, and self-examination that eternally come and go with the passage of time.
Musali was also a great interview guest. I strongly recommend checking out our chat in which we discuss finding self-affirmations in music, speaking the imagination into existence, and seeking meaningful attention and communal support in online music spaces.
Pink Siifu – GUMBO’!
This is one of the best hip hop records to come out this year, and perhaps most significantly is one that exemplifies the positive side of a dichotomy often seen with music making. GUMBO’! is described as a greatest hits album, not in the literal sense, but as an expression of the best of the many sounds and genres that Siifu has created in throughout his discography. What may seem on the surface as an individual display of triumph is actually tied together with an overarching sense of community, and is presented as a gift back to the folks that give meaning to Siifu’s life. Many of these same folks are involved in the album, with 34 guest artists and producers, and Siifu and many other vocalists acknowledge and portray those behind the scenes that provide the care and love that allows for artists to find their avenues to create in.
In an era where the hyper-individualistic grinding loner is so often celebrated by music press, fans, and music capital, GUMBO’! stands in opposition as a triumphant realization and open acknowledgement that an artist’s best work is realized through the strength and support of family and community.
Parannoul – To See the Next Part of the Dream
Much has been said about the musical content of this bedroom-spun emogaze masterpiece, so I’d again like to draw attention to the way in which this release blew up earlier this year. To know that an unsigned anonymous artist could have a release gain tons of traction through word of mouth spreading via online music communities like RateYourMusic and various subreddits, and coverage by a few blogs/publications demonstrates both the fact that music journalism still has some tangible cultural pull, and that artists can find a fanbase without requiring the submission of their art to the whims of a streaming service (the album wouldn’t hit streaming services until a several months after its release). While this isn’t the only release that has had a similar viral come up, it feels refreshing both as a callback to the blog era of indie music culture and as a window into a future in which music consumption and artist support isn’t mediated and exploited through corporate hands or the pseudo-liberation of NFT and crypto-adjacent baloney. What if we made the next part of the dream devoid of Spotify wrapped graphics and blockchain Twitter discourse? That would be pretty cool.
Quinton Barnes – As a Motherfucker
When I say that Quinton Barnes is one of my favourite voices in R&B right now, I mean that quite literally. His smooth vocal delivery is on glorious display all over this record and reaches near transcendental bliss when he harmonizes with himself. Beyond sounding gorgeous on the mic, the lush and glossy production adds ever more dimensions of richness to this incredibly pretty record.
Rat Jesu – Emo Girl Ex Machina
Rat Jesu pulls from genres like hexd, trap, emo-leaning pop punk, and grungy alt rock to create a raw and powerful record full of infectious melodies, cathartic emotional passages and killer guitarwork. Beneath those dizzying and dazzling lo-bit soundscapes is an hard-hitting bunch of songwriting, established immediately with the powerful depiction of gender dysphoria in the opener “Romantic Vivisection.” Emo Girl Ex Machina is a huge and often awe-inspiring statement that ought to be on more year-end lists. Don’t miss out on this one.
Renee Reed – Renee Reed
It takes little more than flowery finger-picked melodies and Renee Reed’s enchanting vocals to construct vivid imagery of psychedelic scenes on her self-titled album. Like a siren of the swamp, she lures the listener into a state of earthly tranquility that is eerily undercut by a Southern gothic tension lingering in the trees at the fringes of our field of vision.
Ruohtta – Gutna
This Sapmi black metal project takes us to the frozen forests of Sweden, where it wages war with the dark history of colonialism within the region. Thick crunchy riffs tinged with a gothic post-punk hue envelop the ferocious drumming and screamed vocals that propel the simultaneously militant and atmospheric nature of the record.
Schizoscriptures – Schizoscriptures
After putting out the fantastic Pale Blue Family Van last year, schizoscriptures dropped a new self-titled album in May that is a forceful display of raw energy and intense industrial brashness that occasionally clears into very pretty melodic passages. While it still retains the digitality of previous projects, this project also sees a great infusion of guitarwork into the heavy and chaotic sound. Schizoscriptures again proves to be an artist to keep an eye on, especially if the signs pointing to digital hardcore becoming the next wave in the online underground do in fact materialize.
Sour Blue – Schema EP
When photographic evidence of CGI dog, Polysonic Bloom, Dorvin Borman, John War, and Kris Pitzek in the studio together first surfaced on Instagram earlier this year, I was very curious as to what these artists with solo projects in different little pockets of psych-adjacent dreamy electronica would conjure up together. What they offer on Schema is a dazzling journey of trippy textures and sparkling melodies, akin to falling into a rabbithole and entering a surreally delightful alternate dimension. With a second EP and album in the works as well, Schema is an incredibly strong foundation for new and exciting developments in their conjured worlds of hallucination-inducing sounds.
vera etc. – online
I had been eagerly anticipating this album since hearing the single “hi” back in mid 2020, and oh boy did vera, etc. deliver on this one. As the title suggests, the record is very much a reflection of online culture and musically, it is also a very much a product of the world wide web. Like is the case with many genre-mashing projects by bedroom musicians, it’s hard to imagine someone finding inspiration from sounds as broad as shoegaze, chiptune, drum n bass, glitch and sound collage to mash together in a sound they describe as “cloudbreak” without having spent a significant amount of time on the computer. Beyond the fuzzy pixelated textures and scrambling breakbeats, the album packs many emotional punches, like the sweet ode to online friendship on “internet trash” and the entire back half of “sunday,” where a wistful chord progression is set to reflections of a journey navigating through “digital intimacy”, “shitty insecure terfs”, “yung lean references” and many other characters, motifs, and moments encountered while logged on. Emotionally potent and a masterful display in creative songwriting and production, online feels like a future classic from this digital age.
Wednesday – Twin Plagues
For a pretty shoegazey sounding record, Twin Plagues stands out in how the vocals and songwriting lay bare and unclouded by reverb to supply an intense emotional weight. Karly Hartzman has a knack for delivering seemingly unassuming lines that drive a stake in the heart. The harmonizing of fuzzed out electric guitars with Xandy Chelmis’ lap steel and the pastward look painted within Hartzman’s lyrics shape the record as a look back at a youth spent in sleepy small town/rural environments. For anyone with a similar upbringing, hearing lines about brawling little league teams, burnt down dairy queens, fucked up buzzcuts, and crossbows in family photos will transport you back to your own hazy memories of the past.
Yen Tech – Assembler
In an album that simultaneously disgusts as much as it breeds awed fascination, Yen Tech takes his accelerationist pop project into more morbid and gourmandizing territory on Assembler. He posits himself as a “post-human techno cretin” constantly craving an ever-growing amount of raw resources and life to devour. I’m inclined to draw a parallel between this being and Mark Fisher’s likening of John Carpenter’s The Thing to the shapeshifting and all-consuming formlessness of modern capital. As the Assembler reaches its final form, it taunts us to play the “Extinction Game”. With its robust systems of defense and violence the being seems both impossible to defeat but also assuring its own destruction, Tech’s portrayal of some extractivist Metaversian cryptid is a succinct embodiment of much that casts a dark shadow over the present and a harrowing tomorrow, if it is not dis-assembled before its infinite growth death drive comes to its final conclusion.