SAVAK "Beg Your Pardon (EJRC)"
Woah! Did you guys know that Mr. Spock’s super-conservative, overbearing Vulcan father Sarek is now releasing music? *puts on glasses* Wait… OH! Savak! Never mind. These dudes just keep getting better than better. This is their third LP in three years, and judging from their trajectory in another 3 years they are going to be releasing Pleased To Meet Me. The angular rock! The power-pop! The humor! The classic rock references! The sax solos! The swimmy guitars! The melodic choruses! Beg Your Pardon (Ernest Jenning) has it all. So check out the jammy-sax chug of “Nature Erased.”
Eiko Ishibashi "The Dreams My Bones Dream (Drag City)"
Eiko Ishibashi’s new LP The Dreams My Bones Dream (Drag City) is a wonderfully ramshackled, travelogue of an album. Written in the time after the passing of her father, she decided to dig into her family history and this is the lovely result. It’s a little bit like Stereolab is covering Miles Davis and Radiohead at the same time, with a little bit of her mixer’s Jim O’Rourke influence thrown in. Some train sound effects here, some detuned tuner there. The occasional soundscape-esque instrumental… Really, until you listen to this one you’re gonna have a hard time picturing it with your mind’s eye…er… mind’s ears. So check out the bouncy Stereolab syncopation of “Iron Veil.”
Sloucher "Be True (Swoon Records)"
If, like me, you devoured the heyday of ‘90s indie rock like it was popcorn at a superhero movie, then Sloucher’s debut record Be True (Swoon Records) is making some late-in-the-year moves towards being on your list of favorite 2018 records. If you remember standing in church basements waiting to see Grandaddy while listening to Pavement on your Walkman wearing a Built To Spill t-shirt the whole time… But also had an ear out for the better mainstream grunge stuffs… Well, get ready to fall in love, starting with “Perfect For You.”
Ian William Craig "Thresholder (Fat Cat)"
Ian William Craig’s latest LP Thresholder (Fat Cat) was born from a commissioned job in which he was tasked with creating tracks “based on concepts of quantum physics, black holes and space” and if that isn’t enough to get you to check this out then you and I have very different tastes. Somewhere between William Basinski, Brian Eno, and detuned space radio transmissions, this glacial, haunting collection lands with the thud of a satellite upon reentry. Most of these tracks could be used to signify rebirth, death, the coldness of space, the harshness of life, and the beauty to be found in all of those things (so, you know, like the ending of 2001). Combining looped noise, analog hisses, organs and synths, and angelic choral touches, Pink Floyd WISHES they ever got this sci-fi. The whole thing is meant to be listened to as a whole, but for our purposes, check out “And Therefore The Moonlight.”