#Electronica/House/Hip-Hop/Beats

[mrscorpio]

Another MR. SCORPIO'S HOUSE FIRE is UP!

Mixcloud: http://bit.ly/Mixcloud306

D/L: http://bit.ly/DL-HF306

Shows: http://bit.ly/ScorpioPodcasts

Featuring:

Name/Artist/Album

Party People (Extended Mix)/CASSIMM, Gene Farris/Party People

Drippn' (Karizma Baltimore Drip)/Mr. Flip/Drippn'

Acid Groove (Extended) /Zurra/Acid Groove

Professional Widow (Armand's Star Trunk Funk Mix)/Tori Amos/A Tori Amos Collection: Tales of a Librarian

Ruleta (The Real Deep Bossa Mix)/The Sandbust Orchestra/Ruleta

Suncastles (Original Mix)/Libellula/Suncastles

Afraid To Feel (Extended) /Lf System/Afraid To Feel

Better Off Alone (Extended Mix)/Marlon Sadler/ Sam Supplier/Better Off Alone

Let Me Show You (Extended Mix)/AKA AKA, Artenvielfalt/Let Me Show You

Alegria (Extended Mix)/Dave Winnel/Alegria

Freak Me (Extended Mix)/Adapter/Freak Me

Overture (Edit)/Tibi Dabo/Overture

Mighty (Untouchable)/Blu, MED & Bane Capital/Good Fortune

Tsunami (Intro) (Prod. By Jamil Honesty)/Substance810/Makin Waves 2: The Tsunami

ComeOnHomeSoul!!!/9th Wonder/Zion IX

Lost Forever/Travis Scott/Utopia

Memba/Mustafa Shakir/A Harlem Boi Biopic

P.O (Patent Ocean)/ONENESS & Freemanz Production/Unity

W.E.B./Count Bass D/Walter Dwight

Locked Up/Jemini The Gifted One & Danger Mouse/Born Again

C.A.U.T.I.O.N/Nyck Caution/Nyckstape

Cold Sphere/Da Flyy Hooligan & Kong The Artisan/F.O.M.A. (Fundamentals Of Musical Art)

Marionette Flex (Feat. Nolan & Fly Anakin)/Denmark Vessey/Omakase

Don't Panic feat. Defcee, ZeroStar, SolarFive & Ace Cannons/Zilla Rocca & Jason Griff/Stacking Chips

Spiderman/Giggs/Zero Tolerance

The Speed of Power/Raw Poetic. Feat. Damu the Fudgemunk/Away Back In

Born Sinner/J. Cole/Born Sinner (Deluxe Edition)

hold me down (feat. Jimetta Rose & Voices of Creation)/Noname/Sundial

Vibe 56/Marques Murrey/Chai Tea Vibes LoFi/ Vol. 6

Painted Houses feat. Conway the Machine/Smoke DZA & Flying Lotus/Flying Objects

Show & Tell (feat. Freddie Gibbs)/Mick Jenkins/The Patience

RUNAWAY/Touch Sensitive/Ta-ku, Rini/Songs To Come Home To

Time To Go/A.M. Breakups/REDIVIDER

It's On/Kaidi Tatham/The Only Way

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Cardamom • Clove • Nutmeg • Ajwain • Peppermint • Cinnamon • Cayenne Pepper • Pippali • Mustard

Bandcamp

[ynatmusic]

YNAT-Prince of Persians🔊⤵️ https://open.spotify.com/track/1md0HwFu1h4q7nj9AaR4yE

Follow YNAT on Spotify🔊🎶⤵️ https://open.spotify.com/artist/3zxzMRixNBkAq0UdesgpcX

Rap, Trap ,Hip-Hop, Phonk , Drill , House ,Lo-fi , Dance, EDM Playlist on Spotify🎶🔥⤵️ https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0etLIV9iU9Nsu3ifv1s0oz

#NewMusic2023 #NewMusicAlert #rap #hiphop #Trapp #club #top

[iamsuperdre]

(superdre)

[rabbitechoes]

so i'm doing these songs posts weekly now instead of monthly to hopefully, 1. make things feel a bit more fresh and relevant and 2. cover more songs!! chose a pretty uneventful week to start doing this tho!! i also threw in two songs from the tail-end of last month at the start of this because they rule and i wanted to shout them out. anyways, enjoy!!! also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter <3

"HEATDEATH" - NOISE ARTIFACT

◇ released: June 28, 2024 ◇ genres: electronica, indietronica

I was going to add this to my post from last month, but I hit the image limit!!! I had to shout this out somewhere on here though, so I'm doing it now. I found out about this song and NOISE ARTIFACT on Twitter. This is some really solid, furry, indietronica with some incredible synth-work. Also some really raw and confessional songwriting which sounds suffocating under all of the electronic instrumentation. Really digging this song, definitely gonna keep an eye out for more of her stuff in the future!

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"Lift You Up" - Jessie Ware & Romy

◇ released: June 30, 2024 ◇ genres: diva house, dance-pop

This was also released at the tail-end of June, but I'm counting it here! Jessie Ware teams up with The xx's Romy for a sleek diva house cut. I've loved Ware's last two records and I've recently been going through The xx's catalog - in which Romy is always a highlight. These two just have such a fun dynamic. That chorus is also electric. This just makes you want to move!!!

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"Ever Seen" - beabadoobee

◇ released: July 1, 2024 ◇ featured on This is How Tomorrow Moves (not yet released) ◇ genres: indie pop, folk pop

This is fine! Nothing too exciting about this track unfortunately. This shift into more folk stylings has kinda proven to be a bit of a detriment to beabadoobee, although I did enjoy "Take a Bite" a good bit. These songs just sort of make her feel like another face in the crowd. The unique presence she had across her last album isn't here on a lot of these new tracks. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how the album plays out!

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"Lithonia" - Childish Gambino

◇ released: July 2, 2024 ◇ featured on Bando Stone & the New World (not yet released) ◇ genres: psychedelic rock, alternative rock, psychedelic soul

I'm of two minds on this new Childish Gambino single. In one mind, I feel like this song is overdramatic and suffocating to its detriment. In the other, imagining this in the context of his new album and film on the way it could be a very climactic high. I guess we will see, but for now I'll just say I like it. I never really dove into his last album, nor its re-release, but I've been waiting for Donald Glover to make more wild, psychedelic stuff like Awaken, My Love so this is definitely a step in the direction I want.

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"Tobey" - Eminem, Big Sean, & Babytron

◇ released: July 2, 2024 ◇ featured on The Death of Slim Shady (not yet released) ◇ genre: pop rap

Irritating in different, a bit more tolerable ways, than "Houdini," which had all of the millennials doing cartwheels, but I'm still not really wowed by this. Eminem is usually the worst thing about an Eminem song so having him obscured by both Big Sean and Babytron, two other Detroit rappers, does make this a better listen. Still nothing remarkable, they sound awkward as hell over this beat. My hopes for this album are not high at all, but such is the case for Eminem past the 2000s.

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"HUMBLE ME" - Killer Mike

◇ released: July 2, 2024 ◇ genre: southern hip hop

Killer Mike is frustrating. He's a good rapper and a razor-sharp writer who occasionally has precision many of his contemporaries do not - but then he'll do something totally contradictory and dumb. Anyways, this new song has him tackling his arrest at the Grammy Awards a few months ago after he won Rap Album of the Year among other things, it's just a general hype-up song. It's fine, nothing too special.

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"Tough" - Quavo & Lana Del Rey

◇ released: July 3, 2024 ◇ genres: trap, alt-pop, alternative r&b

Quavo and Lana Del Rey collab for the second time in their careers, the first time being on Lana's Lust for Life record, for a song that is pretty decent. Lana has been teasing her country era following her wonderful album from last year, which was my second favorite album of the year, leaving me with a lot of trepidation. She slides on this track, cowgirl boots and all, to do her thing - or maybe "thang" depending on how country she goes from here. Quavo also delivers a decent performance and the two have better chemistry than you would expect. The bridge and the chorus towards the end are easily the highlight of the song, I love that part even if the song on the whole doesn't fully grab me. Not sure where this leads for either artist, this could just be a fun one-off!

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"Overture" - The Voidz

◇ released: July 4, 2024 ◇ featured on Like All Before You (not yet released) ◇ genres: ambient, neo-psychedelia, chillsynth

Not much to say about this song, it's basically a minute-long teaser, but The Voidz are returning for a new album soon! This single is kinda pointless so I hope we get something a bit more substantial in the weeks to come. Reminds me that I also need to revisit their last album, I remember liking a good bit of it.

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"JOYRIDE" - Kesha

◇ released: July 4, 2024 ◇ genres: romanian popcorn?, dance-pop, dutch house

Kesha has been embroiled, unfortunately, in more drama surrounding her and Dr. Luke as he seems to have produced a washed-up popstar's comeback single about women empowerment that is set to drop in a few weeks. Sorry, didn't mean to get involved myself. Kesha cuts through all the noise with this crazy dance-pop, house cut with accordions and whatnot. It's ... a lot. I'm not sure if everything works, but it certainly sounds interesting. She carries herself like a diva here, but it's over this goofy house beat. Y'know what? It kinda rules. You go girl!!! The accordion is making a comeback!!! Be on the lookout!!

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"Worldwid3" - femtanyl feat. zombAe

◇ released: July 4, 2024 ◇ genres: industrial hip hop, digital hardcore

In celebration of hitting 100k subscribers on her YouTube channel, rising digital hardcore artist femtanyl dropped a new song with zombAe. This is a fun little song with some cool production moments, which is to be expected given her past work. The main focus is zombAe's rapping and she does a good job, although I do wish there was a better balance between the two artists. This mostly just feels like a fun one-off.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ thanks for reading :3

psssst. i made a discord server called COSMIACORD ... if u wanna join and have fun, talk about music, play fortnite, or whatever here's the invite :3 https://discord.gg/rsHMenTU

[athousandgateaux]

I spend a lot of time seeking out and listening to queer music and artists, so I thought I'd share a list of some of my favourite artists* in case anyone's interested and doesn't know where to start.

*disclaimer: these are just some of the artists I like, not an exhaustive list of queer musicians. If you want to add suggestions, that would be awesome. I tried to group artists by genre, but many of them cross genres or are difficult to classify in that way.

Anyway, list is under the cut!

punk/metal/hardcore/post-punk

-Dog Park Dissidents

-She/Her/Hers

-Priests

-DITZ

-Crack Cloud

-Limp Wrist

-Queen Zee

-Danny Denial

-G.L.O.S.S.

-Slouch

-Tribe8

-Fit For Rivals

-Nervus

-Tacocat

-The Total Bettys

-Dyke Drama

-Pansy Division

-Art Project

-Trash Boat

-Against Me!

-Sloppy Jane

-Queen Zee

-The Degenerettes

-Size of Sadness

-Seth Bogart

-The Spook School

-Dream Nails

-Gina Young

-Mhaol

-Artio

-Arcadia Grey

-thotcrime

-VIAL

pop/hyperpop

-Rina Sawayama

-Kim Petras

-girli

-Regina Gently

-MUNA

-Janelle Monae

-George Michael

-Divine

-Noah Davis

-Sir Babygirl

-Myylo

-The Communards

-I Blame Coco

-MNEK

-Haley Kiyoko

-Boy Jr.

-Sofya Wang

-Allie X

-COBRAH

-Tayla Parx

-SOPHIE

-Hikaru Utada

-Alice Longyu Gao

indie rock / alt-pop / art pop

-Perfume Genius

-Model Child

-Shamir

-Lynks

-ZEE MACHINE

-Cry Club

-The Magnetic Fields

-Patrick Wolf

-Owen Pallett

-Black Belt Eagle Scout

-Moses Sumney

-Yves Tumor

-Anna Calvi

-Ah-Mer-Ah-Su

-Xiu Xiu

-Black Dresses

-NoSo

-Rostam

-Left at London

-Sneakyseabear

-Rosie Tucker

-MEN (JD Samson)

-Le Tigre

-Lord Troy

-Hunx & His Punx

-Arthur Russel

-Cris Derksen

-Ezra Furman

-Rhumba Club

-Arca

-Dizzy Fae

-The Spook School

-Jeremy Dutcher

-corook

-Saucy Santana

-Lilac Boy

-Knife Girl

-Mega Mango

-serpentwithfeet

-Bree Runway

-The Irrepressibles

-Becca Mancari

-MAN ON MAN

-Jayne County

-Gentleman Reg

-Tom Robinson Band

rap/hip-hop

-Chris Conde

-Kalifa (Le1f)

-Quay Dash

-Young M.A.

-Backxwash

-Mykki Blanco

-Ocean Kelly

-Cakes da Killa

-Ddm

-Big Dipper

-Cartel Madras

-Angel Haze

-Deep Dickollective

-Saucy Santana

-Big Daddy Karsten

-Ayesha Erotica

-CHIKA

-Tayla Parx

-Doechii

-DAMAG3

-Fly Young Red

r&b/soul/funk/disco

-Remi Wolf

-Arlo Parks

-Syd

-Shea Diamond

-Meshell Ndegeocello

-Dua Selah

-Jackie Shane

-Sylvester

-Bronski Beat

-SuperKnova

-be steadwell

-Orion Sun

-Labi Siffre

country/folk/blues

-Sufjan Stevens

-Mary Gauthier

-Trixie Mattel

-Lavender Country

-Lord Troy

-Beth Elliot

-Paisley Fields

-Onsind

-Holly Miranda

-Rae Spoon

-Grace Petrie

-Orville Peck

-Villagers

-Lucille Bogan

-Ma Rainey

-Kokomo Arnold

-Peg Leg Howell

house/electronica

-Quanah Style

-Divoli S'vere

-Boy Pussy

-Fritz Helder

-Mx Blouse

-Chippy Nonstop

-Gendered Destruktion

-dj genderfluid

-Electric Fields

-Urias

-vivivivivi

[robbiefischer]

Can I ask 🎶 for Julian AND any other OCs you’d especially like to answer it for?

Of course you can, anon! Sorry to sit on this for a few days, but apparently music taste is a thing I will agonize over. Hopefully it's okay, but I think I'm going to do this for Niko, Alexei and Elijah as well. Thank you so much for this lovely ask, I really appreciate it and I hope you're having a great day! 🖤

🎶 MUSICAL NOTES — what type of music does your oc like? do they listen to music very often?

Julian listens to music all the time. Well, okay, that's likely hyperbole but he'll often have music playing in the background if he's doing something else and really likes being surrounded by it whenever it's practical. He just really enjoys setting the vibe with music, and also thinks it's crucial for him to listen to a wide range of genres and artists to inspire him as a musician. He considers it research, in a way and gets a lot of inspiration for his songs and new sounds to explore with fables from listening to other bands and singer-songwriters. There are very few genres he won't explore and doesn't enjoy, but if he's just listening for pleasure he tends to gravitate towards indie folk and indie rock, alternative, emo, singer-songwriter, indie pop, twee, chamber pop and avant garde. Think some Matador Records (both current and historical - he loves Belle & Sebastian, Cat Power, boygenius, Shearwater, Sonic Youth, Boards of Canada, Modest Mouse) with a twist of Sufjan Stevens/Elliott Smith/Seabear confessional and that'll give you a good starting point for what he tends to like. I'm really hoping to upload a Spotify playlist pretty soon of what I imagine a lot of his all-time favorite songs are, but it might take me a little bit because it needs to be perfect for my boy.

Niko's also a fan of having music playing whenever he can. His tastes in music tend to run a lot heavier and darker than Julian's in general. He's more into post-punk, art rock, alt rock, funk, electronica, goth rock, industrial metal, darkwave, synthpop, glam rock, that kind of thing. He loves The Cure, Soft Cell, Joy Division, The Talking Heads, Sisters of Mercy, The Birthday Massacre, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Velvet Underground, David Bowie, Bauhaus, PJ Harvey and Queen, to name a few. He also loves Hozier, go figure.

Alexei likes anything pop or dance pop. Really, if it's got a good beat, he's into it. He doesn't listen to music all the time (partly because he can't) but it's always on in the car or when he's getting ready for work to pump himself up. He tends to especially love female artists most - he really loves Carly Rae Jepsen, Dua Lipa, old Madonna, The Go-Go's, Kesha, La Roux, Lady Gaga, Charli XCX, Ladytron, Lizzo, Taylor Swift, Kylie Minogue, The Donna's, Olivia Rodrigo, Adele, Ladyhawke, Billie Eilish... but he's pretty open to new genres and artists.

Elijah tends to have music going in the background most of the time, but what it is depends on what he's doing. He listens to a wide variety of genres and will try pretty much anything. When he's streaming, in scrims or running strats with his team, he's probably listening to some lo-fi hip hop/chillhop kind of thing because the lack of lyrics works better for him and it doesn't distract him from whatever game or match he's focusing on. Other than that he tends to gravitate towards electronica, techno, house, EMD, electronic pop, synthpop, triphop, dance-punk and new wave.

[dustedmagazine]

VirgoTwins — ArtSpace (Damn That Noise/Expanded-Art Records)

Photo by STILLRIFT

Jon Ivan Gill is an author and academic who views hip hop culture as a global philosophy of life and social justice. Encompassing history, religion, Afro-futurism, culture and philosophy, he collapses lineal time and logic, making world building connections that are often startlingly apposite. Part cosmic beat poet and part hardboiled dialectician, his musical alter ego, Gilead7, embraces contradiction, paradox and poetic license, building his narratives to arrive at deeper truths about the world. In producer Boricua Sandy, Gilead finds a collaborator equally wide-ranging in her inspirations. Together as VirgoTwins, their debut release ArtSpace combines an eclectic range of soundscapes with Gilead7’s exploratory verses. Sandy matches his words with expansive backings that owe as much to ambient electronica as traditional hip hop. If this seems counterintuitive, her music frees Gilead7’s lyrical flow from the strict imperative of rhythm and gives ArtSpace a loose, understated vibe that serves as a counterpoint to the intensity of the words and the scratching of guest DJ Presyce.

“Othello’s Children in the New World” is structured as an argument between a tenured professor protecting his status and his younger non-tenured colleague, with Gilead7 playing both parts. It ranges across Afro-diasporic history, the destruction of indigenous cultures and dismissal of their intellectual and artistic achievements by an academic structure wedded to power rather than knowledge— “What they don't know won't hurt 'em/But it will still our imperial power from global interior to coast/And to prevent that great awakening I'll do the most/Make the real historical records disappear like a ghost.” This tour-de-force of verbal and analytical dexterity plays out over growling bass and snippets of communal voice. “Shadow Work” celebrates unacknowledged underground artists. Sandy energizes hazy dreamscapes with loping drums and a circular guitar riff as Gilead7 chronicles the struggle of unrecognized innovators. Jessica Santana provides a foil on the RnB tinged “Empath” where removing a water bug from the house leads to a meditation on difference and co-existence set to a quite lovely piano backing. “A-Symbol” is a freeform reflection on how language and meaning are twisted by power but offers art, specifically, hip hop culture as self-defining path to identity and resistance. With ArtSpace VirgoTwins meld poetry and polemics into a potent interrogation of distorted of histories and a demonstration of the subversive potential of language and music. 

Andrew Forell

[savinggracemusic]

Saving Grace Music proudly presents Highest Frequency Vol. 2, an album repping vibrant UK electronic music culture to the fullest. The LP collects 11 high-grade tracks from music legends, bubbling talents, and currently undiscovered artists. KoDean Productions opens things up with a cold serving of his trademark Sci-Fi Drill sound on the enigmatic Dreams. While Saving Grace upstart Slinki comes with a true dancefloor destroyer known as ANX BNX is a hyperactive footwork riddim with an arresting melody and a thunderous kick drum. Murk stays true to name on Slowwww, a high-octane, jump up drum & bass roller. UKG & Bassline legend DJ Q brings us his epic track All Mighty, combining elements of dub, dubstep, drum & bass, and a powerful reggae vocal sample the track the track takes you on a journey through his music inspirations. On Fantasmo Circuitry, 11-year-old DJ Marcel displays influences beyond his years from 80’s electronica and jazz & Hip Hop, skillfully executed with meandering piano, slap bass, and 808 beats. Mighty Funk'Houser reminisces about a fine lady on his soulful deep house/bruk joint, Chantay Had A Vybe. Krash displays his unique bassline style on Going Home, featuring a bittersweet piano rift and handcrafted bass. Positive_Con flips a classic sample into the anthemic bass-hybrid banger Underground. Shaun Dean's bouncy garage riddim Like It is a fresh and flavorful take on a classic oldschool sound. Eclectic, weird & comical production duo Foxglove Riot takes us foraging for Subterranean Garlic on a forest moon - to the sound of rugged drums, enchanting melodies, and nostalgic vocal harmonies. For the album's cinematic conclusion we enter the Austerity Chamber, Tony Phorse's simulation of a near-future dystopia, soundtracked by distorted techno beats and apocalyptic synth. Highest Frequency Vol.2 continues the legacy of solid sounds from up north. From hypnotic beats to dancefloor bangers, Highest Frequency Vol.2 slaps hard and deep. All you gotta do is press play. The Highest Frequency vol2 OUT DECEMBER 14TH 2022

[mrscorpio]

Check out a BRAND NEW MR. SCORPIO'S HOUSE FIRE TODAY!

Come Vibe in September with US!

01 Sep 2023, 1:00PM ET USA/ 6:00PM London UK

http://invader.fm @invaderFM

[luuurien]

Guppy - Guppyloid: World Tour

(Electropop, J-Pop, Electro-House)

Some of the most innovative and well-produced vocaloid music in years, Guppy's debut album positions them as an absolute powerhouse of modern electropop. Acutely aware of its unconventional use of Hatsune Miku's voice in oily trap bangers, noisy aggrotech beats, and glossy electro-house madness, Guppyloid: World Tour is a tour-de-force of freewheeling pop alchemy.

☆☆☆☆☆

Just like the other projects releasing off Dismiss Yourself this year, Guppyloid: World Tour is an album that could only ever exist on a label as inventive as them. A bit of a mystery artist, little about Guppy is known except for the music they make and their few posts on social media - a fitting presence for a vocaloid artist like them - but what that facelessness also does is force you to focus entirely on their music to get an understanding of them, unable to utilize any visual or vocal cues to build your idea of Guppy off of. Thankfully, their music is more than incredible enough to be all you need to fall in love, their 12-song debut some of the most innovative and well-produced vocaloid music in years that proves the style still has tons to offer today, joining the camp of artists like Kikuo and Dennoko P who take advantage of the iconic voice synth software in similarly unconventional ways. Guppy, however, is willing to veer away from the avant-pop and glitchy electronica sounds of their contemporaries into entirely new waters, treating Hatsune Miku to a buffet table of modern hip hop, brash electronica and industrial, and heavier dance styles than Miku's usual sugary dance-pop, the resulting songs unlike anything else out there right now. Guppyloid: World Tour knows how odd an album it is, and it fully embraces all the delightful peculiarities that come with it. Guppy thrives off how they can use absurd concepts to their advantage, finding ways to incorporate Hatsune Miku's bubbly voice into all kinds of strange situations: lead single Gloop features a drill-inspired beat heavy enough for Chief Keef to croon over, but Miku's chipper rapping and hilarious "You thought you could fuck with Miku, bitch?! I'm gonna kill you, motherfucker!" that comes completely out of the blue makes this one of the most surprisingly enjoyable songs this year, and the rapid switch into a dembow groove with mechanical synth stabs and fast-paced raps on the preceding Haus is just as bewilderingly fun. Guppy more than manages to make J-pop infused bangers that can compete with the best of them throughout World Tour, ピンポン's four-on-the-floor drums and shimmering guitar lines situated around light brushstrokes of distortion and glitchy electronics, and Suenalo featuring digital brass and more organic instrumentation as a way to open up the album's second half with an unexpected traditional pop tune, but rather than feeling like by-the-numbers electropop to fill in the gaps these songs are just as creative and compelling as any of World Tour's more outré outings through their exuberant energy and explosive production - Guppy may just be working with vocaloid right now, but it's incredibly easy to imagine what a live singer could do with ぐるぐる目が's sunny bitpop beat or the thrilling key modulations placed all throughout ゼッタイワラウ・ズットエガオ. It's always a challenge to get an album with as many ideas as World Tour to work as one cohesive piece, but Guppy's commitment to putting their all into whatever the desired effect of a particular song is - Gloop's vivacious trap, Nosebleeder's buoyant complextro, カラコン's glowing electro-house - allows the album to do anything and everything it wants without ever losing control of its overarching vision of fun, futuristic electronica. There's also an underlying balance to World Tour's seemingly random switch-ups and detours, Guppy's sound decidedly wild but never for the sake of it. When Calico seemingly trips into a new groove and vocal melody about fifty seconds in, it's not out of nowhere, instead making space for light piano chord backings and flickers of synth and guitar before heading back into the synth-lead sound of its opening moments, and the switch from elegant orchestral strings into a frantic gabber beat on the album's final track 死 ends up a brilliant way to show off how well Guppy can bring distant elements together to create contrast and excitement in their songs. Each of these songs still stick to their guns for the most part, but the splashes of color that come from Haus' purring synth bass or ゼッタイワラウ・ズットエガオ's tense bridge section leading into the final chorus are just enough to take World Tour to the next level without causing the album to gridlock itself into genre-bending experimentation just to say it can. Wherever Guppy takes the album, there's a reason they do so, and the magic of World Tour comes from discovering the core of these songs through their sugar-coated exterior. Over time, the initial confusion of what these songs are trying to do fades as you become more comfortable with their ingenuity and playfulness. Guppyloid: World Tour couldn't have been any better a way to be introduced to Guppy's tour-de-force of freewheeling pop alchemy, a constant rush of sleek electronic beats and radiant vocaloid singing, reeling you in with its unorthodox sound before revealing how simply enjoyable it all is in spite of that - seriously, how in the world are songs like Gloop and 死 as good as they are? World Tour's ethos is that there's nothing Guppy can't take on, and they prove again and again how well they can navigate different styles and keep all their idiosyncrasies an essential part of the formula. For Guppy, vocaloid is less a specific J-pop style and instead a jumping off point for all kinds of electronic mischief, Hatsune Miku's voice as primed for audacious hip-hop as it is gummy synthpop, World Tour's unlimited palette giving Guppy access to a sound no one has strove for until now. It's one undeniably bizarre album, but it wouldn't want it any other way - Guppyloid: World Tour does absolutely everything right in treating you to the deeply intriguing, ridiculously engrossing world of Guppy.

[motion90affect]

"My Arcade" | Electronic | Downtempo | Alternative Hip Hop/Breakbeat Ins...

[david-gonzo]

Tons a great new music this year, with last year's personal hip hop revival continuing strong. While I found several new metal bands (pretty much all death metal) this year, none were strong enough to crack my top ten.

Black Thought + Danger Mouse – Cheat Codes

After over 15 years “in the making,” Danger Mouse and Black Thought’s joint album came out this year and to my ears lives up to the hype.  Sounding like a lost time capsule from the past, thanks in large part to DM’s fuzzy soul beats, gives the whole affair a timeless classic sound.  Black Thought’s voice carries intelligent authority weaving lyrical webs that prove once again that he is one of the GOATs.  And to top it all off a killer DOOM verse from beyond the grave on Belize (calling back the great goofy Adultswim sponsored Mouse and the Mask Danger Mouse/DOOM collab with a Black Thought feature…full circle). 

Bjork – Fossora

This is the Bjorkest Bjork has ever Bjorked.  To me it feels like this album, more so than any other one, is built using all the tools learned from her endless experimentations over the last 30 years.  She described this as a dancing alone in your room type of album, which is very true…though I’ve danced all around my house to it.  The breadth of instrumentation and seamless blending styles on this album is truly stunning: strings, woodwinds, brass, choirs, and electronica.  She used all her tools available to make her most immersive album yet.  With it being her “mushroom” album, it does feel grounded, but in an alien way.  Like we are shrunk down to near microscopic sizes, experiencing the world as worms or single cellular creatures…reacting to the natural symphonies of the wind, and the dirt and the bugs.  Fossora is about the connection of all things on a molecular level, and while to me it feels like a cumulative achievement, I know that to Bjork it’s just another album on her journey, just as important as each one before and each one after.  I love Bjork.

Zola Jesus - Arkhon

I feel such a connection with this album, perhaps because I got to see parts of her process during the pandemic as we got Patreon updates.  Musically its such a leap in so many ways, production being one of the big things.  The sound is big and mixed to perfection and having turned her tracks over to a session drummer and bassist to evolve, these songs became big pop art tracks.  Could prove to be a major step in her evolution as she’s typically been a self-produced artist in the past, and has probably grown all she can within that limitation for the time being.  And yet the highlight is the simply beautiful acoustic piano and voice track, Desire.  A milestone of an album for an artist still evolving and finding herself 10+ years into her career.

Boris – W

This year Boris celebrated their 30th anniversary as a band by releasing 3 phenomenal albums, each within three of their main stylistic areas: heavy rock, drone metal and experimental ambientish psychedelic freakout.  W, serves in part as somehow cleaning up the loose threads from last year’s thrash punk masterpiece NO (NO + W=NOW, get it?), but also stands on its own as a psychedelic vibe.  Floating on waves of feedback, tentacles of terror grasp from the darkness but fade to smoke upon hearing a siren’s song across the ocean din.  A few tracks of dirge doom accentuate the journey towards the end, but overall, it’s a pleasant place to sink into…a sensory deprivation chamber in audio form.  

Venom Prison – Erebus

Venom Prison already have a history of taking giant evolutionary steps with each album and Erebus is no exception with this being the first solid step toward crossover potential.  The riffs are still progressively putrid, and the punishing primal screams of Larissa Stupar still gut wrenching, conveying intelligent expressions of anger at various forms of toxic male behaviors/drawing parallels with Greek mythology.  On Pain of Oizys, Larissa shows off her clean goth rock vocals with the trip hop style of the track still ending up a great introduction to the band with the powerful stadium death metal ending.  The production choices were brilliant, crystal-clear drums and leads, the crunch always solid…just perfect modern production for technical death metal, with colorful flashes of ambient tones lending to ominous transitions throughout.  Another chapter in what seems certain to be a legendary career.

Action Bronson – Cocodrillo Turbo

I’ve been a casual fan of Action for a while, but mostly for his cooking and “Watching Ancient Alien” shows, up until a few years ago when I really gave his music a chance and became a fan.  On Crocodilo, his charisma is on full display, which combined with a ridiculous sense of style, peppering his clever wordplay with absurd morsels of teenage humor makes for a nonstop laugh fest.  But the secret weapon is the psychedelic journey through the wilderness that is the beats.  The whole thing is only 30 minutes long, but it’s lean with no filler.  Every sound and nonsensical skit serves to keep you moving on the roller coaster ride.  This album just gets me hype and laughing at the same time.  Start a party off with this to set the tone for the evening.  Turbo.  Turbo.

Willi Carlisle – Peculiar, Missouri

Finding Willi is all thanks to KJHK, where I think I’d heard Vanlife a few times before I finally paid attention and immediately checked out his latest album.  This is Great Plains folk music, with dashes of country in the proper proportions.  He’s a helluva songwriter able to cover all kinds of topics with a down home genius philosophy.  Great road album for sure, with lots of great story songs to make you think.

Zeal & Ardor – Zeal & Ardor

Z&A are a meme band that turned out to be good, mostly in the beginning on the strength of founder Manuel Gagneux’s musical talents.  Now on their third album Manuel is able to fully write for himself through the “gimmick” of the band, and the results are vastly elevated as a result.  Sure, there’s plenty of fire and brimstone Satan blues metal pageantry on this self-titled effort, but Zeal & Ardor have become a fully fledged road tested band with some great songs backing them up.  There are some obvious nu metal batches on the bands sleeve, used in the most tasteful head banging ways possible here, giving rounder edges to some of the jagged black metal influences driving the riffage.

Tyler Childers – Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven

I certainly had reservations when I learned that Tyler’s new album would be gospel leaning, but upon hearing it I realized I had heard almost all the songs before during his 2-night live stream from Red Rocks…and they’re all great songs.  Just feel good, down home country church music expertly performed by his top notch band, probably one of the best country bands on stage right now.  They’re tighter than rusty lug nuts, especially the drummer…picture a country Buddy Miles cement mixing the back beat with deft precision.  I will say that I rarely listen to the 2nd big band gospel or 3rd ambient triphop versions of the songs and stick to the Hallelujah versions which seem to be the definitive to my ears.  Can’t wait to see him next summer in St. Louis.  Fuck you Ticketmaster.

Boris – Heavy Rocks 2022

Boris’ 28th studio album, the 3rd one titled Heavy Rocks, and their 2nd album on this year’s list.  Boris’ interpretation of 70s proto-metal, fist pumping anthems with synthesized horn blasts driving the already muscle car riffing tracks, over the edge into turbo overdrive.  Boris are still at the height of their powers and I can’t imagine what they’ll do next. 

Special Mention:

JPEGmafia – Offline (EP)

This EP was really just the original mixes of tracks he couldn’t get on his LP! album last year due to uncleared samples, and got a ton of play from me.  It was yet another reminder not to sleep on artists singles and EP work as I tend to give weighted favor to full length albums.  But it also gives me an excuse to talk about how monumental seeing him this past October was.  He was so into his music, riding his beats and having a good time along with the crowd.  I’ve been a huge fan of him for years but seeing what he does live was enlightening…like unlocking some mod code to his music and ingraining it into my psyche even more.  I could listen to little else after seeing him for a few months and still spin something from him daily.  Peggy’s music is the closest thing to capturing what the inside of my brain sounds like, while being able to soothe out panic attacks and stress like a magic antidote.  You think you know me, indeed.

Honorable mentions:

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

Khruanggbin – Ali

Death’s Dynamic Shroud – Darklife

All Them Witches – Baker’s Dozen

Mike Baggetta/Jim Keltner/Mike Watt – Everywhen We Go

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio – Cold as Weiss

Universally Estranged - Dimension of Deviant Clusters

Sedimentum – Suppuration Morphogenesiaque

Tombs – Ex Oblivion (EP)

Blood Incantation – Timewave Zero

Freddie Gibbs – Soul Sold Separately

Jon Spencer and the Hitmakers - Spencer Gets Lit

Dead Cross - II

Bill Frisell /w Gregory Tardy/Jonathan Blake/Gerald Clayton – Four

Plaid – Feorm Falorx

Casket Grinder – Sepulchral Trip