Howard Hello "Election Year (Temporary Residence)"
Marty Anderson (of Dilute and Okay) and Kenseth Thibideau (of Tarentel and Sleeping People) have re-joined forces as Howard Hello to take on the state of America right now. So yeah, this can be very scary stuff indeed. Thankfully these tunes are as soothing and catchy as they are odd. Imagine the Radiohead robot singing lead on “Fitter, Happier” was a member of French band Air and was as mad as hell, and you are getting close to the strangely beautiful sounds of Howard Hello. Sure, the lyrics can be hyper-specific in terms of hot-button issues of the day–after all, the album IS called Election Year (Temporary Residence) after all, but none of that matters with tunes this lovely. Start your love affair with this beguiling record with the first single, the pastoral sounds of revolution via “MCD” (which stands for “mass civil disobedience”).
Fever Ray "Plunge (Mute)"
Could a new Fever Ray record have surprised the world at any better a time? There we were, the Friday before Halloween, depressed as everyone else is in 2017 when we got word that the new Fever Ray record had just dropped (people still say records dropped, right?). Before we even had time to fully digest this experimental piece of pop mastery, Pitchfork had named the record “Best New Music.” Best new music indeed! On Plunge (Mute), her second album as Fever Ray, the Knife’s Karin Dreijer is as experimental, frank, and more transparent than ever. Gone is the vocal pitch-shifting of her first release, as her Bjork meets Annie Lennox vocals mix with the most modern of beats and heady, atmospheric soundscapes. Check out the first single from the album, the bubbly “To The Moon And Back.”
Double Ferrari "Double Ferrari (Ernest Jenning)"
If you’re like me, and you love classic video game music, then you’ve likely come across Bit Brigade. If you haven’t, let me explain. They are a band that plays classic video game music (Mega Man, Castlevania, Super Mario Bros. etc) on stage in a heavy metal style as someone plays the game on a screen behind them. Their live performances and videos are multimedia explosions of fun. Well, Bit Brigade also has a band to release their original instrumental heavy metal music. And man oh man, this debut from Double Ferrari is a fun one. If you like instrumental heavy metal, you aren’t gonna love a record this year more than this one. Produced by Tim Green (The Fucking Champs, Joana Newsom) this is blistering, relentless dual guitar gymnastics. Technical and soulful at the same time, it’s an absolute blast. Check out the self titled tune “Double Ferrari.”
Savak "Cut-Ups (EJRC)"
Everytime someone says “guitar rock is dead” a band like Savak jumps up and say – “HEY WE ARE HERE!” And thank the gods that they are – mixing ever record i loved when i was in my ’20s (ok… and my ‘30s… ’40s and–sigh–50’s), Savak love the crap out of such bands as WIRE, The Saints and R.E.M. If you like any of those bands or at least one of them (and i assume you do?) Cut-Ups is the record for you. Plus who doesn’t like horns and rock? I mean i’m not talking about late Chicago (early I’ll give ya for sure), but tracks like “Natural Light” and “Loma Prieta” will actually make you happy when the horn guys step on stage (a first for everything). Check out the aforementioned “Natural Light.”