Best of Noise Rock 2021


I want to hear crass distortion, bass-heavy songs with harsh vocals! This is noise rock!


Number Five: Изразец – Изразец


Изразец (Izrazec) is… noise jazz? This one is somewhat hard to classify, as I first put it into the jazz category, before listening to it again more closely and ranking it with noise rock. Well, one thing is for sure, that blend is rather unique, and it’s also super satisfying! One discovery for you!


Number Four: Guzzlemug – Uncarved


Guzzlemug is a strange thing, and on Uncarved we get to hear two of their long-form compositions shine their brightest. It’s … Read more

Best of Math Rock 2021


Math rock is usually characterized by odd-time signatures, but through the years it came to encompass a lot more than that. Now, you can find straight-up alt-rock bands under the math rock tag, and even though I used to be a valiant gatekeeper of the genre, these days are passed. I now fully embrace all kinds of math rock music, be they super rhythmically engaging, or only remotely belonging into math rock territory. I hope you’ll feel the same way as I do about these following albums.


Number Five: 水中スピカ – mEq


There always seems to be a new Japanese … Read more

The Black Heart Rebellion – دختری در شب تنها به خانه می رود / “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”, an Alternative Soundtrack to the Motion Picture

The Music

The Words

“دختری در شب تنها به خانه می رود” (Dokhtari dar shab tanha be khaneh miravad) is a 2014 horror movie from Ana Lily Amirpour. It is an American movie in Persian language, and it received moderately good reviews. It didn’t strike me as being especially good, but it seems that it struck a chord with Belgian group The Black Heart Rebellion, who decided to write and record their own music to the film. The band has a good track record, with their 2015 album People, When You See the Smoke, Do Not Think It Is Read more

fulusu – Old House #1


Most of my exposure to Japanese rock (j-rock) has been through Anime theme songs, but it’s a genre I’ve dipped further into from time to time when an Anime theme has really grabbed me, especially with bands like The Pillows, Flow, Nico Touches The Walls, Veltpunch, and Maximum The Hormone. So when I saw this promo for fulusu’s debut American release Old House 1, it totally piqued my interest. This album starts out with some ambient noise on ‘Ra’ that continues into second track ‘Consideration: Rain’ and abruptly ends to reveal the melodic j-rock … Read more

Sub:Shaman – Apnea

Coming all the way from Singapore, progressive indie rock band Sub:Shaman just released their most recent album, Apnea. Consisting of nine explorative tracks, this forty-five minute magnum opus intertwines a wide variety of genres into the band’s own style and vision. Progressive rock, math rock, indie, and jazz all partake in the melting pot that is Apnea. The alternative quintet will use scat singing, pulsating electronic notes, dissonant chords, odd metres, and seventh chords to their advantage, and it creates something greater than the sum of its parts. I didn’t remember why I followed this page on bandcamp, but … Read more