Blurr Thrower – Les Voûtes (Les Acteurs de l’ombre)

Let me start this review with two albums that were released some time ago and which I haven’t talked about, but which have consistently come up in my listening queue. The first of which is French atmospheric black metal band Blurr Thrower‘s Les Voûtes. This album is strong on emotions. Their West Coast style suits them very well, and you just feel an immense leap in your chest with every chord change. For this alone, Les Voûtes shines above most other albums, and it’s the reason why, I think, I keep going back to it.

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አዝማሪ – سماعي (Sdban)

The other one is አዝማሪ‘s—or Azmari‘s—سماعي—or Samā’ī. The album was released early this year and is an amazing blend of psychedelic jazz and a multitude of music traditions from around the world: Ethio-jazz, West African music, as well as Middle Eastern folk. Most of my enjoyment of the album comes from the band’s near-constant use of odd-time signatures and traditional instruments along with a super tight groove and a wide variety of feelings. The album is a must!

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Squid – Bright Green Field (Warp)

Squid is a London-based band making hard to pin down punk music that’s got a lot of influences from all over the place. It’s noise rock, post-rock, hardcore, and progressive rock all at the same time, and it’s only better for it. Squid’s brand of experimental hardcore is different from that Fucked Up album I recommended last time, but both are based on a love of a multitude of genres and a true punk attitude regarding conventions.

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Sam Birchall – Cosmos and Disaster

Sometimes, you listen to math rock for the feels, sometimes for the chops, and sometimes for both! Fortunately, Sam Birchall offers us the latter (see video). I’ve had the same feeling first listening to Cosmos and Disaster as I did the first time I heard Space Corolla, even if the two are somewhat unlike each other. It’s just that Sam’s compositions have so much drive and sound so impressive on guitar that I was pretty much flabbergasted. I’m guessing a big part of what makes this so impressive is his hybrid picking style, which gives his guitar lines a wide range of notes, which makes it sounds like he’s all over the place! On top of that, the tone on this recording is damn near perfect! It’s amazing!