music-i-reallylike

[music-i-reallylike]

Sofie Letitre - Uncanny Valley

I found this hidden gem back in my days of listening to Noisia and going through their VISION Recordings catalog to find new artists to listen to. I found Sofie Letitre's song "Bare" and was rapt with the mechanical solitude of her voice within a backdrop of humming synths and rolling drums. This project contains a hypnotically homogeneous soundscape that is reminiscent of the trip hop genre (my only references to that genre being Massive Attack and Portishead) that gently holds Sofie's voice throughout it's tight tracklist. Some of the remixes in this album tease out the electronic minimalism of the original songs and pushes them out of their own universe to create spectacular re-imaginations.

Favourites:

Bare

Home

Perfect Mistake

I Need

Home (Think Twice Remix)

Home (Thys Remix)

Real (Infuze Remix)

I Need (Mono/Poly Remix)

[music-i-reallylike]

MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS - No New World

I didn't know anything about this band before listening to this album. No New World was released after a 3-year hiatus and a change of band members. This was recommended to me via YouTube's random album video suggestions. I was in the mood for new music to listen to, and the name of the band had me plenty curious enough to click on the video. This album is quite concise, yet is brimming with energy and a sort of youthfulness that I often find with indie J-Rock (or with any indie rock, really). The band's tight arrangements, with driving, distorted guitars and powerful drums, all supports Natsuko Miyamoto's sparkling voice throughout No New World.

Favourites:

New Order

あさひなぐ (ASAHINAGU)

No New World

HuHuHu

Sugar

スローモーションリプレイ (Slow-motion Replay)

[music-i-reallylike]

Red Velvet - Perfect Velvet

I've been a huge fan of Red Velvet ever since their introductory singles "Happiness" and "Be Natural" debuted. The idea of a dual concept from their name (the energetic and vibrant "red", and the soft and elegant "velvet") was enough to keep me hyped for future releases. Though their "red" concept was on full display in The Red as well as 4 incredible EPs before the release of Perfect Velvet, their "velvet" side didn't have as much exposure aside from The Velvet EP and some slow tracks in the other EPs. But Perfect Velvet completely changed that. The album showcased a revamped image from The Velvet that played with different shades and textures of their "velvet" concept. From the sneakily playful "Peek-a-Boo" and "Attaboy", to more mature R&B sounds in "I Just" and "Kingdom Come", this album is a great display of what the "velvet" in Red Velvet has to offer.

Favourites:

피카부 (Peek-A-Boo)

봐 (Look)

I Just

Kingdom Come

Attaboy

About Love

달빛 소리 (Moonlight Melody)

[music-i-reallylike]

Parannoul - To See the Next Part of the Dream

There's something about the seemingly plain album cover that connects really well with the title of the album. And when I listened to the record, the main word that connected everything together was "nostslgia". To See the Next Part of the Dream is shrouded with noisy distortion, and blurred vocals and guitars. The wall of noise that everything is wrapped in, much like the uncanny simplicity of the album cover, let's your mind fill in the gaps. There's a stillness among the roaring guitars, blasting drums, and synth riffs that is presented with Parannoul's amateurish yet yearnful voice.

Favourites:

아름다운 세상 (Beautiful World)

변명 (Excuse)

아날로그 센티멘탈리즘 (Analog Sentimentalism)

흰천장 (White Ceiling)

격변의 시대 (Age of Fluctuation)

Chicken

I Can Feel My Heart Touching You

[music-i-reallylike]

Little Simz - GREY Area

From the first track of this album, with her pen as her weapon, Little Simz comes in with no holds barred and unapologetically herself. Her vulnerability shines through the braggadocio. She holds herself with confidence and bursts with personality through her quick-wit lyricism and message of finding your self-worth amidst change. The variety of styles put on display, plus the use of live instrumentation in some of the tracks only adds to everything that Little Simz has to show in GREY Area.

Favourites:

Offence

Boss

Selfish

Venom

101 FM

Therapy

Flowers

[music-i-reallylike]

Lee Hi - Seoulite

With the album being released in two parts, it gave us two amazing album covers that celebrates the South Korean capital city. The album covers suggest duality, shown through Lee Hi's performance in this album, with bubbly pop tracks contrasted with soft and tender ballads. Lee Hi's voice is powerful, vibrant and shows versatility throughout the tracklist, from doo-wop inspired songs to intensely emotional ones. Seoulite is a rollercoaster of a record, full of ear-catching hooks and soulful verses.

Favourites:

My Star

희망고문 (Blues)

한숨 (Breathe)

Fxxk Wit Us

Official

안봐도 비디오 (Video)

Missing U

밤샘 (Up All Night)

나는 달라 (I'm Different)

[music-i-reallylike]

ROAR - I Can't Handle Change

So, I'm a sucker for schmaltzy (and I don't mean this in a bad way. I'm just like that) bridge sections in music. And hearing the bridge from the title track on TikTok got me curious. The thing that caught my attention was the cover for this EP, which alludes to Phil and Ronnie Spector, whose tumultuous and abusive relationship was summarized in "Christmas Kids". I Can't Handle Change is thematically centred around mental health issues, especially with respect to how it can permutate one's relationships with other people and also oneself. Owen Evans' voice is full of character: nasal yet powerful, squeezing its way through the higher registers. The production in this EP is eclectic, borrowing from styles like 1960s pop à la Phil Spector, barbershop quartets, and indie rock.

Favourites:

I Can't Handle Change

Heart For Brains

Christmas Kids

Just a Fan

[music-i-reallylike]

black midi - Cavalcade

Working backwards from their discography, Cavalcade was next up. This album maintains the off-kilter song structures and off-the-wall productions from Schlagenheim, and still contains the jazz fusion and experimentation that Hellfire had (but without the thematic constraints). The songs in this album play with dynamic extremes, going from wild highs ("John L", "Chrondomalacia Patella", "Hogwash and Balderdash") to whisper-quiet lows ("Diamond Stuff", "Ascending Forth"). From the get-go, black midi is always self-assured in their sound and aesthetic, which is why the change in style from an incredibly volatile record like Schlagenheim to Cavalcade was not at all jarring.

Favourites:

(Yeah, this is gonna be another one where all of the songs are my favourite. Each song is consistently good and there's just so much detail in the chaos.)

[music-i-reallylike]

Ash-B - EVERYTHING

After her appearances on the second and third seasons of the South Korean rap competition TV show, Unpretty Rapstar, I was curious about her as an artist. Her style was aggressively risqué in season 2, while being more toned down in season 3 albeit keeping the same edginess from the previous season. Although it didn't seem to work for television (she was one of the first eliminated in the second season, but did make it to the finals after entering halfway through the third season), her loose yet sharp delivery, oft-raunchy lyrics, and nasally voice is displayed wonderfully in this EP. Everything shows Ash-B's versatility in different rap styles and potential to break into the mainstream.

Favourites:

전부다 (Everything)

BLOCKED

홀려 (Hypnotize)

IDEK

[music-i-reallylike]

Purity Ring - another eternity

I can't remember from whom I found out about Purity Ring, but after hearing "begin again", I had become enrapt with its sound. Megan Jame's performance in the song, as well as the rest of this album, shifts from drifting lullabies to rousing refrains, while the synth riff provides a great countermelody to her crooning. The production in this album feels spacious, almost cavernous, but not empty. Her angelic voice and ear-catching hooks fills in the voids between the layers of softly echoing synths, looming bass tones, and pounding drums.

Favourites:

heartsigh

bodyache

push pull

begin again

dust hymn

sea castle

stillness in woe

[music-i-reallylike]

Amon Tobin - ISAM

I wanted to listen to more of Amon Tobin's work after hearing him help out with producing "Sunhammer" on Noisia's Split the Atom. At the time that I sought him out, I found Foley Room and this album. Like the former album, the foundation that ISAM is built on is made from processed field recordings. Whereas Foley Room focused on highlighting the aspect of the recordings themselves, ISAM (an acronym for "Invented Sounds Applied to Music") sculpts these sounds to create fantastical compositions, from the uncannily childish "Wooden Toy, to the adventurous epic "Dropped from the Sky". This album, much like the album cover, emphasises the minute details that comprises the macrocosm of ISAM.

Favourites:

Journeyman

Piece of Paper

Surge

Wooden Toy

Mass & Spring

Kitty Cat

Bedtime Stories

Dropped from the Sky

[music-i-reallylike]

Arca - Arca

With a confronting album cover, Arca bares her soul to us. Her self-titled album is punishing yet tender, drawing us in with her storytelling and delivering it through an uncannily diverse sound pallette that includes processed pianos, morphed whips, and shifting percussion. This album is loaded with ballads that talk about her experiences with sexuality and intimacy through a lens of abjection (a common thread that runs throughout her work). Arca's voice is operatic yet fragile, spanning from murmuring lows to soaring falsettos. Arca is a mysterious and haunting experience that shows her inner self by peeling back the layers of skin that hides it.

Favourites:

Piel

Anoche

Saunter

Reverie

Castration

Coraje

Whip

Desafío

Fugaces

Child

[music-i-reallylike]

black midi - Hellfire

I first heard of black midi just before their debut album came out, with their single "Ducter". It was like nothing I'd heard before and was intrigued by their style but for some reason, they'd slipped past my radar with Schlagenheim and Cavalcade. A couple years later, I saw the music videos for the singles "Welcome to Hell", "Eat Men Eat" and "Sugar/Tzu" and was instantly reminded of what hooked me in with "Ducter". And thus started my journey through Hellfire (as well as the rest of their discography...in backwards order. But I'll get to those later). This album is an eccentric blend of jazz, British post-punk, and show tunes, building upon the jazz fusion that they experimented with in Cavalcade. It's a concept album that has uses Hell as a loose theme that connects the songs together. Geordie Greep's crooner-style voice is dramatic and demanding, while Cameron Picton's is more controlled. The dense instrumental layers are all splashed and smeared on top of Morgan Simpson's fierce drumming. Hellfire is an album that shows black midi in tune with their own sound, yet still wanting to go further with it.

Favourites:

(All of them. I feel like this is an album intended to be listened to as a whole. Every single track in here does its part in structuring the inner world of Hellfire.)

[music-i-reallylike]

Playboi Carti - Die Lit

I will admit that this album took a while to grow on me. Once I learnt how this album was meant to be understood and listened to, I was able to grow an appreciation for it (this is a lot to say for a Playboi Carti album but I still think it's a pretty nice record). In Die Lit, Carti focuses less on lyricism and more on atmosphere and energy. His voice is bouncy, energetic, and nonchalant on top of Pi'erre Bourne's aurally addicting productions. Though the runtime of this record could be trimmed down, the sonic pallette that Carti works with, as well as the heavy-hitting guest list, provides much variety that prevents the project from losing steam. And man, that album cover is amazing...

Favourites:

Long Time (Intro)

R.I.P.

Old Money

Love Hurts

Right Now

Poke It Out

Home (KOD)

Fell In Luv

Pull Up

FlatBed Freestyle

Middle of the Summer

Choppa Won't Miss

R.I.P. Fredo

[music-i-reallylike]

San Holo - album1

album1 is coated in warmth and nostalgia, the hiss and warble of tape, the crackle of old vinyl, the fuzzy synthesizers. San Holo blends analog and digital sounds by utilizing these artifacts and weaves them into his productions. The resulting product is an organic record that is enthralling and full of emotion, even poignant at times. The riffs from the guitar, piano, and synths ring into the distance, frizzling and quivering almost like another voice. The additional performances from acts like Sofie Winterson, Bipolar Sunshine, and Caspian, as well as extra production from Duskus and Cassini, adds to the overall aesthetic of this record.

Favourites:

everything matters (when it comes to you)

lift me from the ground

brighter days

go back in time

voices in my head

forever free

surface

vestal avenue

[music-i-reallylike]

Phuture Doom - Phuture Doom

The combination of metal and electronic music certainly isn't new, though Phuture Doom's self-titled album is a thrilling addition to the canon. The appropriation of black metal aesthetics and their mysterious arrival to Skrillex's OWSLA roster lends itself to the album's use of occult symbolism throughout the esoteric promotional material and the album itself. Phuture Doom is packed with choral chanting, blast beats, and haunting riffs, all blended together with elements from other genres like acid house, gabber, and big beat.

Favourites:

Black Acid Reign

Han Breaks

Mach 100

Doom Terror Corps

Paradise Lost

Phuneral Phuture

Exodus

[music-i-reallylike]

Astra King - First Love

The recent announcement of PC Music's cessation after the end of this year is definitely sad to hear. They were one of the biggest forerunners of the bubblegum pop and hyperpop scene as it is today. And with an exciting roster of artists, their releases were always something to look forward to. This EP coming out after the announcement is no exception. It's hard to not draw comparisons with A.G. Cook's works when it comes to this record. But what I think makes Astra King unique is Astra's intentionally apparent naïvete in terms of their approach to music. The Scholastic-esque cover and the accompanying educational-themed livestream ties into Astra's bedroom pop aesthetic. Where A.G. Cook took pop tropes and stripped them to their bare essentials, Astra takes those building blocks to create her own, novel sound. Although PC Music is ending, it's undeniable impact can be heard through the likes of newer artists like Astra King.

Favourites:

A Little Bit Closer

Make Me Cry

Born For You