Only found out about this recently from a copy of Loud and Quiet. Brilliant stuff and certainly in my top 20 for the year

2 Likes

Noiserv - Uma Palavra Começada Por N
Really not sure which songs of his to pick, could easily pick half of the album. Portuguese singing one-man band. I don’t think there are any English language reviews of it, so I can’t even steal any words. Just such a warm sounding album, with (apparently) synths, metallophone, omnichord, melodica and other instruments, and a beautiful voice. The album is only half an hour long, so it zooms through. The vinyl and cd packaging are both great too.

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0 voters

Nnamdi - Brat

I think I discovered Nnamdi at a similar time to Sault, although he doesn’t seem to have got the same attention as Sault did. I’m part posting this here just so I can remind myself to listen to it a lot more. Not even sure how to describe it, as it just has so many different sounds and tunes throughout.

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1 Like

Car Seat Headrest - Making A Door Less Open

I assume most people know CSH already, although I’ve only recently listened to him/this album in the last month. Maybe folk are less keen on this album compared to his previous ones (?), so I’m curious about the score it will get. But I have just been loving it - it just makes me want to move my body in almost-dancing kind of moves. I even really like Hollywood. Hollywood makes me want to dance!

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2 Likes

SAULT

  • Untitled (Black Is)
  • Untitled (Rise)

0 voters

I’m with you on this one (apart from Hollywood), but based on the tone of any discussion of it in other threads prepare for it to (unfairly) get the lowest score here

Untitled (& Pepper)

Kali Uchis - Sin Miedo (del Amor y Otros Demonios) (R&B, Pop)

Listening Links

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kBGNJgDfASUCsU_DqzNagSzjhqjGjmJZ8

https://music.apple.com/gb/album/sin-miedo-del-amor-y-otros-demonios/1537594555?ls

https://open.spotify.com/album/0GaMO6MLhbmtAFnKmKrdXB&ved=2ahUKEwjnnf_0obTtAhUlQEEAHVEpAkcQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw0qT_SRXERrc7F4Vq88Xs9V

Quite an eclectic mix of styles that are coherently pulled together under a general vibe of extremely chilled out R&B. Starting with a gorgeous, slowed-down cover/update of bolero la luna enamorada, it winds deftly between trap beats (¡aquí yo mando¡), Alexandra Saviour/Lana Del Ray-esque retro-pop (vaya con dios and que te pedí), reggaeton (de nadie or te pongo mal) and synth-pop (Telepatía or //aguardiante y limón %). Vocally Uchis is in excellent form throughout, demonstrating a great range and delivering hooks like nobody’s business. Well worth your time even if you speak little/no Spanish - great pop tunes are universal.

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1 Like

Hamilton Leithauser - The Loves of Your Life

Yer man from The Walkmen’s 4th(?) solo album and the first I’ve really got into. Love everything about it; the characters / story telling, lush and varied instrumentation, warmth in it’s homely production and of course Hamilton’s ever present urgent rasp. I found it a very comforting listen on release, at the start of lockdown, and I can see it continuing to provide the same sort of comfort in times to come

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The alva noto album that came out this year sounds very much like the previous three in the series, and is therefore great

1 Like

Thanks for sharing this - have bought it on the strength of those two tracks. Looking forward to it coming in the post!

1 Like

Love this record. It’s a strange, unclassifiable, beast but one that deserves a bigger audience I think.

1 Like

Such a great record, really giving me a headache in finalising my top 5!

1 Like

This is so great. Wonderful melodies and chord progressions throughout. Mad that something as simple as the outro to Seeing Eye Dog can sound so affecting.

3 Likes

Yeah, that outro is incredible, it might be my favorite bit of music all year. There’s something about repeating a phrase over a sad chord progression at the end of a song, it’s so simple but so effective.

1 Like

Jesu - Terminus

The end of the year surprise. I’d only been familiar with the Silver EP and have repeatedly read that it’s all diminishing returns from there, but I love this and it’s been all I want to listen to lately. Definitely an album for when it’s getting dark out - slow, bleak, sad, and beautiful. It wouldn’t surprise me if people who like Midwife end up liking this too.

Keeps getting more miserable and pretty:

Tempted not to link this one because it feels like the climax / resolution of the album, but that twist outro is magical.

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2 Likes

It’s only diminishing returns in that Silver is the perfect Jesu song. Nails the aesthetic so well there’s almost nowhere to go. All of the post-Silver records have good stuff on them though.

2 Likes

I should finally get around to trying them this upcoming year, that EP was one of my first and favorite discoveries from this place.

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Bit off topic but you should check out Iroha if you haven’t heard of them - Andy Swan, who was in Final with Justin Broadrick, ending up in a very Jesu place musically (also featuring Jesu bassist Diarmuid Dalton and occassional mixing from Broadrick). Very much in that Silver post-metal/shoegaze washed out ballpark and often hitting the same heights imo.

3 Likes

Thanks, I’ve never heard them before, I will definitely check them out.

1 Like