Regardless of the phrase "heavy" showing within the title of this web site twice (this place was made practically 15 years in the past! [what the fuck]), throughout the writing employees, we contemplate ourselves followers of all kinds of musical genres, together with pop, hip-hop, digital, nation, and past.
The drained trope of answering "oh, I hearken to just a little little bit of every thing" when requested about what music we hearken to is completely a cop-out 9 instances out of ten, however it's typically true. We needed to provide respect to these un-heavy data that dominated our listening habits all through 2023, and since they didn't match wherever else on this web site, we put them right here to your perusal. For those who're open minded and prepared for a enterprise past the blastbeats, give these data a go!
Aesop Rock – Built-in Tech Options (Summary Hip-Hop)
To be sincere, I most likely wouldn’t have accepted a maximalist rap album from anybody else aside from Aesop Rock lately and Built-in Tech Options is the most likely essentially the most maximalist you may get, even for Aesop. The album, which is thinly tied by an idea a few retro-futuristic tech firm/cult and their eldritch adventures, is a journey and a half, operating by slower, darker, tougher beats than Aesop has been utilizing for some time now and the extra upbeat and lighthearted fashion that the rapper has grown well-known for. Each modes shine by excellently on this launch however, maybe surprisingly, the darker one stands out extra, creating a few of the most vicious and danceable beats that Aesop Rock has churned thus far.
The very best instance of that’s the closing observe, “Black Snow”, which additionally options Nikki Jean. From the deep, rumbling bass of the start of the observe, by the dream-like center passage, and all the way in which to the completely brutal drop on the finish of the observe, “Black Snow” drips fashion and aggression. That final passage, paired with the curtailed, staccato vocals, create an depth that’s good proper on the finish of the album, tying off its hazy vibes into one thing which reminds us of the cult being sung about – glossy, lethal, and obfuscated, within the shadows, lurking.
None of this is able to work with out nice manufacturing and Aes did most of his personal right here, to nice outcomes. The beats are current however so are the entire many frills and accouterments that embellish, the samples used sparingly however to nice impact. All the pieces shines with a darkish, full sheen, precisely the kind of sound that this album wanted. Put all of this collectively and you’ve got one of many strongest releases from considered one of rap’s most prolific artists.
-Eden Kupermintz
Brighde Chaimbeul – Carry Them With Us (Scottish Folks, Drone)
The much less mentioned about this album the higher, because it actually is one to be skilled. For those who’ve forgotten since I’ve lined it, Chaimbeul makes use of smallpipes and her partnerships with Colin Stetson to create a whirling, deep album which you could get misplaced in. It’s made up of layers and layers of emotional, scintillating wind instrument sounds, tantalizing and hypnotic like solely wooden could be. The extra I hearken to this album, the extra I uncover, a wealthy tapestry of nostalgia, braveness, melancholy, and introspection that transforms as you hearken to it, actually containing multitudes.
-EK
Clearbody – Bend right into a Blur (Shoegaze)
Clearbody take the post-grunge, HUM-inspired sound that has been so prevalent in hardcore and post-hardcore circles the previous few years and, with Bend right into a Blur, have created a set of songs that goes nicely past the simplified, cussed imitation that their friends are wont to interact in.
Bend right into a Blur comes three years after their debut One Extra Day, and the distinction in manufacturing and composition are virtually instantly evident. As for the previous, the tracks listed here are beefier and extra layered than something on One Extra Day. It appears a metallophone is following the higher-register guitar strains in the course of the heavier elements of opener “Peering By”, including a contrasting lightness to these lumbering sections.
Whereas One Extra Day contained a number of uptempo, punkish tracks, Bend right into a Blur by no means reaches the identical tempos. Quite, tracks comparable to “This Can’t Go away Us” shuffles morosely with a sluggish, rolling tom sample that serves as the primary rhythmic driver of the track. The verses of “New Essence” is perhaps essentially the most distinct departure in comparison with the band’s earlier materials. The verse has gentle, twinkly guitar chords and a skipping snare beat that wouldn’t be misplaced on a late-90s Smashing Pumpkins album. Regardless of all of those advances within the manufacturing and composition of the band’s music, Bend right into a Blur retains the identical pensive, dream-like qualities that make Clearbody’s sound so interesting.
Based mostly on a observe that the band wrote and pinned to their Twitter web page, it appeared like Clearbody spent a substantial period of time and vitality composing and recording Bend right into a Blur. Regardless of the case, it’s clear that the band’s efforts have paid off as a result of the standard of songs listed here are far and above what any of Clearbody’s friends are doing with the identical influences.
-JD
Griefeater – For As soon as, Then, One thing (Shoegaze)
After weeks of deliberating prime 10 and prime 25 lists, one pattern has emerged from my 2023 musical tastes: genre-bending throughout steel, indie, and pop. Whether or not it was a technical loss of life steel band injecting their report with classical passages, or a shoegaze embracing dream pop and new wave, 2023 was the 12 months of inventive style mixes. It was notably cool to see non-metal bands undertake harsher thrives from the darkish realms of black steel and loss of life steel.
However maybe no band encapsulated this pattern as a lot as Griefeater, a blackened alt-emo group from Chicago. Their second EP, For As soon as, Then, One thing, popped into my Bandcamp feed by means of the “shoegaze” tag and rapidly discovered its means into my heavy rotation.
They seize the spirit of nostalgic teenage emo reminiscences, then inject the angsty unhappiness with a wholesome dose of reverb and up the ante with black steel screams. It’s a totally unconventional mix, but one which feels just like the pure subsequent technology of emo and black steel. The emotional depths of black steel are pushed to new ranges with the distinction of anxious and heartfelt emo, whereas anxieties and earnestness of emo anthems attain their true apex with raspy howls. Hear for the final word wet day afternoon or just-cry-it-out second.
-Bridget Hughes
Hotline TNT – Cartwheel (Slacker Rock, Shoegaze)
The loudest present I attended in 2023 was not, as you may anticipate, a steel present. Quite the opposite, it was Hotline TNT, a band that adroitly combines the sickly candy hooks of energy pop, the crushing quantity and vibrato arm vertigo of shoegaze, and the indifference and detachment of slacker rock. Since 2018, the band has launched a string of EPs and one LP, 2021’s Nineteen in Love, however it’s 2023’s Cartwheel for which the entire band’s considerably disparate influences are maxed out and are available crashing collectively in good concord. Whereas a lot of the band’s early work as a trio was made up of straightforwardly-strummed (however warbly) chord progressions in open tunings with out a lot deal with dynamic variance, Cartwheel is teeming with extra mature songwriting and layers. It’s not clear if that is on account of frontman Will Anderson merely bettering his compositional chops with age and expertise or the band beefing up from a trio to a five-piece, permitting for extra melodies and layers to emerge. However regardless of the case, the repeating melodies of the intro and verse in “I Thought You’d Change”, for instance, will not be attribute of the band’s early work, however they’re the primary contributors to creating the observe an irresistible earworm which you could solely dig out with repeated listens.
Different noteworthy modifications to the band’s sound seem in tracks like “Magnificence Filter” and late album spotlight “BMX”. Each songs use what feels like analog and/or modular synthesizers, or one thing that emulates them, to create hypnotic, oscillating melodies and layers that add to the band’s newfound depth. However even with the inclusion of a number of new layers and the manufacturing pushing every thing into the pink, the element elements are all distinct from each other within the combine. Whereas opener “Protocol” blasts off into orbit across the one-minute mark, the melody that pops up across the two-minute mark is obvious and distinct from the underlying heaving mass of sound.
With Cartwheel, Hotline TNT have lastly discovered the right recipe for balancing the components that make their music such a singular stability of pop sweetness and shoegaze density.
-JD
JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown – SCARING THE HOES (Experimental Hip-Hop)
I’ve been a fan of different and experimental hip-hop for a couple of years with rising depth, and my private album of 2023 is the collaborative LP SCARING THE HOES that includes two of essentially the most influential and critically acclaimed underground rappers JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown. Because the title implies, this report goals to be abrasive for hip-hop requirements; this isn’t as off-the-wall as some Dying Grips cuts, thoughts you, however the difficult music is there. Within the title observe, Danny and Peggy commerce bars about looking for success whereas making experimental music over dissonant saxophone and moist cavernous clapping. When the drums kick in, the wailing saxophone all of a sudden clicks into place and the track’s hook sinks in deep and simply is smart. Turning an absolute mess into an earworm is the secret on SCARING THE HOES.
The shining star on the heart of this report is Peggy together with his phenomenal manufacturing job. The instrumentals took as a lot care because the lyrics and flows that trip up prime, with Peggy choosing utilizing a Roland SP-404 sampling workstation as an alternative of Professional-Instruments, and he pushed the bounds of the machine to create a few of the most participating and artistic instrumentals hip-hop has ever heard. Kanye West is clearly an enormous (musical) affect on Peggy, as is Baltimore’s membership music scene, constructing glitchy beats round pitch-shifted vocal samples, with Kelis’ ”Milkshake” being the centerpiece to “Fentanyl Tester,” essentially the most infectious observe on this album and considered one of my favourite songs of the 12 months.
Past the unbelievable music, SCARING THE HOES exhibits these two rappers at their best possible. It’s so nice to listen to Danny Brown ship his greatest work since 2016’s post-punk influenced Atrocity Exhibition. I’ve at all times seen Peggy as a rapper secondary to his manufacturing a la RZA and Dre, however he goes completely onerous right here. When initially hyping this report, Danny and Peggy initially referred to this album as a Half I, and sadly that suffix was dropped by the point the album got here out. Hopefully extra collaborations between these two rappers are deliberate for the long run, as a result of their chemistry is plain.
-Jimmy Rowe
Large Problem – Quantity One (Psychedelic Rock)
Psychedelic rock followers will already be aware of the work of Invoice Fisher, the inventive pressure behind Church of the Cosmic Cranium and an completed solo artist. However as if his present endeavors weren’t sufficient, Invoice paired up together with his brother Marty Fisher to unleash this – forgive me – large album on the world. Introspective, sprawling, and endlessly participating, Quantity One has dominated my non-metal listening this 12 months.
Based mostly on the Brothers Fisher reminiscences of small city life in Nottingham, England, Quantity One embraces a wide selection of genres to take listeners on an entertaining and introspective journey. We start with delicate, jazzy harmonies that blossom into onerous rock riffs with out dropping their melancholy edge. Replicate on the passage of time, on summer season days and winter’s arrival. Bluesy rock builds into heavy fuzz as we proceed our voyage, bursting into doomy riffs as “Drifter” concludes. I’ll admit, a number of individuals have caught me dancing to fuzzy rock banger “Kneel” – when you can hearken to this one with out shifting, you could be fabricated from stone. The juxtaposition showcases what makes Quantity One so particular: whimsical anecdotes wrapped in songs that simply rip.
-BH
Slender Head – Moments of Readability (Different Rock, Shoegaze)
Slender Head, with their 2016 debut Satisfaction, was one of many first bands I heard that was reinterpreting HUM’s and the Deftones’ combine of different rock and shoegaze for a contemporary viewers. Seven years later, there are a bevy of different bands presenting their very own variations of the identical sound, a mode now sometimes called heavygaze or grungegaze (please chorus from rolling your eyes till the top of the entry), however Moments of Readability has confirmed that Slender Head are leaders of the pack.
Whereas the band’s final full-length, 2020’s twelfth Home Rock, lacked the main focus, vitality, and potential that their debut promised, Moments of Readability serves as a stable inventive rebound. Slender Head have turn into adept at writing succinct verse-chorus-verse structured songs with out most of the heady or meandering compositional buildings that their friends have a tendency to supply. The compact track buildings, high quality songs, and thick, punchy manufacturing fashion that permeates the album, permits every track on Moments of Readability to face by itself whereas additionally being element elements of a soundly sequenced complete.
Tracks like opener “The Actual” include ethereal choruses that turn into fast earworms. On the opposite finish of the spectrum are songs comparable to “Trepanation” and “Gearhead” shed the wistfulness and as an alternative indulge in additional simple aggression. The affect of the Smashing Pumpkins can also be rather more prevalent on this assortment of songs in contrast with their earlier albums. “Breakup Track”, as an illustration, sounds prefer it could possibly be a B-side to “Right now”. And never solely does “Caroline” characteristic moments of Billy Corgan’s nasally snarl, however it additionally includes a guitar solo that captures the identical fuzzed-out traditional rock stylings of Corgan’s leads.
For those who’re in search of a stable gateway into the present wave of bands combining 90s different rock with shoegaze, then look no additional than Slender Head’s wonderful Moments of Readability.
-JD
Paramore – This Is Why (Submit-Punk Revival)
I took the good distance round in loving Paramore. I didn’t permit myself to get pleasure from any of the prevailing emo-pop in highschool, so MCR, Paramore, Jimmy Eat World and associated acts got here later into maturity after I shed the disgrace of responsible pleasure and style and scene divides. Within the years since lastly letting go and accepting poppier music into my life, Paramore grew to become considered one of my all-time favorites, and I lastly received to see them reside in 2023 on their tour in help of This Is Why. Tears have been shed, and it was a beautiful present.
The album itself? A transparent maturation and evolution within the Paramore sound, who more and more hinted at new wave and post-punk influences as they developed out and in of pop punk, post-hardcore, and emo pop. Within the lengthy six years between the New Wave-leaning After Laughter and This Is Why, it’s evident that the band’s progress into post-punk revival by means of influences and references to 2000’s heavy hitters in Bloc Occasion, Arctic Monkeys, and Interpol all the way in which again to some very clear Speaking Heads vitality. It’s an excellent search for Paramore and all of the growing old followers who put the hair dye away in favor of ache reduction patches on the decrease again and knees as a result of these live performance flooring don’t hit like they used to.
This iteration of Paramore is slickly produced, intricate, and infrequently delicate. The tight-knit trio of Haley Williams (who stays an absolute goddess and powerhouse vocalist), multi-instrumentalist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro is one of the best lineup the band has ever had, and their command of songcraft on This Is Why makes it considered one of their best possible. They’ve since wiped their social media profiles after asserting their accomplished report contract and noting that their future is unsure, however right here’s hoping that Paramore can as soon as once more skirt disbandment and proceed to elaborate on this fashion. It’s an excellent search for them.
-JR
Temple of Angels – Limitless Pursuit (Dream Pop)
It’s an exquisite, particular factor to see a band actually arrive. They’ve found their sound, manifested their inventive imaginative and prescient, and delivered every thing with skillful execution. Some bands take a couple of albums to achieve this second of perfection, others could by no means get there in any respect. A uncommon few gems nail it on their first full size.
Few releases seize this phenomenon greater than Limitless Pursuit by Temple of Angels. Born as a shoegaze band, Limitless Pursuit finds the Austin, Texas-based quartet experimenting with ethereal dream pop, 80’s-style new wave, and synthy post-punk wrapped in a gothic ambiance. There’s a variety of threads to tug right here, however Temple of Angels brilliantly weaves their numerous vary of influences into a stunning report that’s equal elements haunting and comfortable.
Dive into the title observe “Limitless Pursuit,” which is without doubt one of the greatest Cocteau Twins-inspired songs I’ve heard in ages, then savor the bubbling delight of “Tangled in Pleasure.” Submit-punk vitality infuses “When the Shadow Smiles Again,” sung by drummer and vocalist Patrick Todd. Facet observe: the twin vocalists in Temple of Angels, Bre Morell and Todd, solely provides to the richness of Limitless Pursuit. Morell delivers dream pop perfection, whereas Todd brings a barely mournful vitality to post-punk and new wave numbers. Not fairly shoegaze, not fairly dream pop, Temple of Angels has discovered a surprising hybrid that’s all their very own.
-BH
