Amen Dunes "Freedom (Sacred Bones)"
If you are only as good as the friends you keep, then Damon McMahon aka Amen Dunes is like the best dude around. He’s worked with everyone from Godspeed You! Black Emperor to our pal Delicate Steve. Now THAT is some stellar company. It helps that the dude is enormously talented, as is evident on his latest collection Freedom (Sacred Bones). Sure it’s darker than his previous albums, yet he’s somehow found joy in his sorrow, creating songs that are at times danceable and funky, and at other times are grimy and tough. In fact, Pitchfork referred to the first single “Blue Rose” as “his most immediate music to date” so go ahead and check it out!
Chris Carter "Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1 (Mute)"
As a founding member of Throbbing Gristle, Chris Carter helped build the foundations upon which electronic music has been built. Also, he created X-Files! What’s that? A different Chris Carter did X-Files? I know! We kid here! For his latest release, Chemistry Lessons Vol. 1 (Mute), he combined his love of electronic music with his “guilty pleasure” obsession with English folk music. So expect here electronic music with nearly a sci-fi noir feel to it, combined with melodies that wouldn’t be out of place in nursery rhymes (he said so himself in the press for the album!). Check out the euphoric first track from the album “Blissters.”
Hawthonn "Red Goddess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing) (Ba Da Bing!)"
I cannot tell a lie. Hawthonn’s new LP Red Godess (Of This Men Shall Know Nothing) is in turns frightening and hauntingly beautiful. So at times, it can take you to a place of serene calm with passages that ache with the gorgeousness of sunsets. Other times, it’s gonna sound like a murder man has you tied up in his damp basement and this is the soundtrack he’s gonna play as he decides how miserable he’s gonna make your last remaining minutes. So yeah, it’s a little from column A and a little from column B. But both columns are fun, as is evidenced by the Philip Glass meets Buffalo Bill sounds of “Misandrist.”
Your Food "Poke It With A Stick (Drag City)"
Sure, most people have never heard of Your Food or their only LP Poke It With A Stick. But those who have hold in in such high regard that they’d likely love to tell you about it in great detail at any opportunity. Thanks to Drag City, now we can all become like those chosen few who happened to stumble upon this long out of print, highly collectable album from the KY post-punks. How music that sounded like this was being recorded in KY in the days before the internet 700 miles away from their angular sound’s NYC epicenter is baffling. Sounding a little bit like rhythm obsessed NY bands ESG or Bush Tetras, this is sure to get your motor running. Check out the first track from the reissue, “Leave.”