Jeff Rosenstock "POST- (Polyvinyl)"
I know you are a super supervisor and are used to getting this record for free, but over at Bandcamp our pal Jeff Rosenstock released his new record Post (his debut for Polyvinyl!) on New Years Day with a name your own price scheme (as is his want) with 10% of the proceeds going to the Puerto Rico relief fund. Pretty cool, ‘ay?So cool we will do the same – license the record and we will send 10% as well! With that being said it is time to crank up Jeff’s follow up to last year’s “Worry”. Wanna get back to the rock? Well then just settle in for THE resistance anthem of 2018 in “Let Them Win”.
The Body & Full Of Hell "Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light (Thrill Jockey)"
If you’re making a list of bands that are at the forefront of modern heavy music, you’re not gonna get far in that list before you’ve written down both The Body and Full Of Hell. The two groups have been pushing the boundaries of dark, experimental music for years now. So it makes perfect sense that the two bands have teamed up to record an album. Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light (Thrill Jockey) was written and recorded in just one week. Abrasive, throbbing, and heavier than Sleep covered in lead, this is the real deal. Agitated, stuttering electronic hints mixed with the most distorted guitars of all time, and vocals that would scare even the toughest of metal fans, this is a combo made in heaven… make that hell. If you wear a serious number of black clothes and have been known to throw the devil sign with your hands on occasion, this is the LP for you. Check out the throbbing gristle of “Earth is a Cage.”
Escape-ism "Introduction To Escape-ism (Merge)"
Ian Svenonius, he of The Make-Up, The Nation of Ulysses, XYZ, Weird War (amoung other bands) as well as the the author of titles such as The Psychic Soviet, Censorship Now!! and Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ’n’ Roll Group has graced us with a new project. Introduction to Escape-ism (Merge) is the debut of Ian as Escape-ism, a heady mixture of sounds that venture to territories covered by such luminaries as Folk Implosion, Gorrilaz, Jon Spencer, and Royal Trux, among others. At times Suicide-esque in it’s tonality, this is garage-fuelled electronica, with basses buzzing and Ian telling you all how it is. So pay attention! Start with the Cold War paranoia of “Iron Curtain.”
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”).