So much music is readily available that it’s just as easy to miss out on new music as it is to discover it. This regular series aims to help remedy that by recommending five superb releases in hip hop, metal, punk, indie and the avant-garde that likely flew under the radar of many. Whether feeling overwhelmed by the amount of music the Internet allows access to or simply looking for something new that has not been buzzed about, allow these lists to make choosing what to listen to an easier process.
The Body / Full of Hell — “One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache”
Hitting the market a mere week after releasing their latest album, “No One Deserves Happiness,” avant-garde sludge metal duo The Body has teamed up with modern power violence innovators Full of Hell to release a collaborative record that takes the sounds of both parties to bizarre extremes in “One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache.” Although rooted in crust punk, Full of Hell has always shown a strong interest in noise music, but even the group’s recent collaborative album with harsh noise forefather Merzbow was not as dissonant as this. More experimental than metal, The Body shares duties on this album remarkably well as both bands become engulfed by unsettling distortion.
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Amnesia Scanner — “AS”
Despite appearances on DJ mixes from names as big as Björk, Berlin-based producer Amnesia Scanner’s presence on the UK electronic underground circuit has been shrouded in mystery since their emergence in mid-2014. Without a face to put to the music, the sophomore EP from Amnesia Scanner, “AS,” has an otherworldly quality that feels completely untethered from the present, and although brief in length, it sounds like it came from about a future decade. The glitch-laden sampling and resonant post-industrial atmosphere overlaying intense grime beats creates an unorthodox unity between IDM and UK Bass, blending to a futuristic sound.
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Open Mike Eagle / Paul White — “Hella Personal Film Festival”
Abstract hip-hop is a waning style in the genre’s landscape as experimentation has become more oriented toward delivery rather than lyricism, but the verbose and cryptic approach to rhyme schemes and wordplay is still kept alive by rappers, such as Open Mike Eagle. On his collaborative album with UK producer Paul White, “Hella Personal Film Festival,” Open Mike Eagle is as creative and distinctive as he always is in his incorporation of ironic humor and dry wit in his low key flow. Paul White crafted the beats for every song of this album and his production channels the same blues rock and indietronica vibes implemented in his work with Danny Brown and Homeboy Sandman.
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Mt. Wolf — “Hex”
With several EPs already under their belt, London act Mt. Wolf continues to refine their sound in small steps by releasing an EP-length expansion of their 2015 single, “Hex,” featuring several new tracks. “Hex” sees the inventive ambient folk sound of the group become completely distant from the trip hop of past efforts and evolve into a more mature and atmospheric style that resembles the lush and delicate side of post-rock more than anything else. At only four songs, the music here is as dreamy as it is melancholy, and is vocally reminiscent of Sigur Rós and Active Child.
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Plague Vendor — “Bloodsweat”
Leaving behind the breakneck pacing and surf rock influences of their debut album, Californian garage punk rockers Plague Vendor have grown substantially in the past two years and express it loud and proud on their sophomore album “Bloodsweat.” For the most part, they have ditched the rapid hardcore shredding in favor of meatier songs with leaner guitar muscle. While their younger selves still shine through in subtle aspects, “Bloodsweat” is a darker and wilder album in tone for the band that strikes a very unique balance between gnarly and cavernous post-punk grooves and hard rock-informed jams that recall the unhinged spirit of The Stooges.
Listen here.
Alexander Beebe can be reached at [email protected].
