Music for 9/11/26!!! More Eaze

@@@ More Eaze: Sentence Structure in the Country (Thrill Jockey, 2026). A record I got to via The Quietus, I’m on their free email list and I’ve been chewing the ass end of their summer published best of 2026 list thus far and it’s the best list I’ve encountered this year, I’ve found 3-4 records already on that bad boy. I guess The Quietus is teaming up with Thrill Jockey on some co merchandising of this record, whatevs, let’s peep. It’s like a piano singer/songwriter had a baby with an ambient blee blurp electronic record and then some. There’s singing and Apple Music has this record slotted as ambient music and without being a genre bitch I’m not sure you can call a record with extensive vocalizing and call that ambient. We all have our definitions and preferences. I like her singing, it’s not annoying it’s pretty plain, now this second tune brings on a kit drummer and we’re just blenderizing a lot of shit on this record. We’ll see how this record goes but as this third tune this is most definitely some of the most interesting indie rock music I’ve heard in a long bit. Fresh, I like fresh. This third tune Bad Friend is going more indie than electronic so I’m guessing these tunes are going to have differing amounts of the parts I like and don’t like and you know what that produces??? Mixed Bag City, we’re going to mixed bag city people. It is the next day and I’m going to peep a coupla tunes and call it a reviews starting with track 5, Biters. There is most definitely creativity going on here, I don’t love the indie tunes with electronic garnish I like the tunes where the electronic sounds dominate. Other people love indie music, mostly white people but if you like indie music and you like electronic music you might just shit your pants.

Music for 9/10/26!!! Black Door

@@@ Black Door: In the Shadows of a Funerary Gleam (Wolves of Hades, 2026). A highly regarded metal release at bandcamp for August 2026. Is now a great time to listen to heavy metal, fuck yeah, horns up ya shittaz! If you’re not disgruntled about where shit is at don’t read this blog, for real what’s wrong with you? After a funereal organ bit to open the record we descend into the thrash pits, I smell a wee bit of Motorhead up in here, I like that old school grind. That was obviously before the massive explosion of metal subgenres that I’ve never been able to get a handle on. What is the difference between black metal and death metal? I’m not sure I give a shit, I give a shit if a record bangs. The tempo is super caffeinated and the singer comes in as a reverbed overlord, like that bridge in the Lord of the Rings where Gandalf goes hat over ass down into the fire. Big space. This record is not an intellectual exercise, this is epic guitar tones, big drum sounds and a dark singer with some rock feels tossed in. I like it, no pretensions, it’s not a full meltdown record but it’s got stuff going on, some records don’t need a lotta prose, peep it like it don’t like it it’s like that. As usual, the record makes me a liar, I’m on track 5 and it’s a metallic storm, thrashing and moshing and epic distortion. I was watching the insanely creative animated show Adventure Time and there was an episode where there’s a knife storm that the characters have to deal with, this fifth tune, Sinister Musings of a Lamenting Spectre, is like that it’s an animated knife storm. Falling falling falling, with shredding and darkness.

Music for 9/9/26!!! Nuevos Rios

@@@ Nuevos Rios: Nuevos Rios (ZZK, 2026). I got to this record from Colombia via the 5 songs you need to hear this week out of KCRW in LA, an email list I almost immediately regretted but maybe this record will redeem the email list. The first tune shows off the large ensemble, marimba, a really ear catching guitar player, many layers of percussion and a lot of mostly female singers. It’s a really pleasing stew with a lot of flavors. Let’s peep more and see if they keep up the momentum. The second tune is a slower banger but with all the layers present that were there in the opener, it’s just a bit more melancholic and I like it. Due to the history of slavery across the Caribbean and down into South America these large ensembles sound a bunch like Afrobeat but this record spans 9 tracks over 37 minutes, no 20 minute Fela bangers here. They pop the top on the third track Malvada and out comes a retro synth among all the other sounds and I’m like you go and do that creative shit and it’s working. They play with plenty of fire and I will admit that loving heavy metal and free jazz as I do I could use more fire but they’re not soft. I like it rough, I love hearing people push things. This fourth track Mi Bombo is a lighter dance track but even then they bring in what sound like traditional Latin flutes and that’s an ear catcher. It’s a bit on the too bubbly side but not quite a skip. A lot of times I will classify a record as a record for people with good jobs or a record for dirtbags like myself and this is one that works for both, there’s most definitely creativity and energy going on here. I wouldn’t sleep on this record. They are absolutely pumping it on track 6, La Memoria De Justino, when you’re throwing down bangers at track 6 you’re going places.

Music for 9/8/26!!! ADULT

@@@ ADULT: Kiss Luck Goodbye (Dais Records, 2026). When I see synth driven dark electronic music labelled as punk I’m like yeah maybe but the opener to this record that I found on the Quietus best of year (published in July) brings the full breadth of alienation, confrontation, hostility all the good shit. Often times you might get some bullshit like Nine Inch Nails sneaking in the punk side door when their self indulgent white boy horseshit and is really electro grunge, but these guys who have apparently been making music for 25 years don’t seem to have big rock star aspirations. Maybe I’m wrong, I’m wrong a lot! I want to state publicly that I’m not in charge of determining what is punk and what’s not punk and while I think this record kicks some ass I am more a fan of the sounds than I am of the singer. She’s on a trip, I get that but she’s a bit extra with the tone and could switch up her flow on occasion, all singers can benefit from that. There’s a record that I loved, hold up I gotta go find it, oh yes I found it It’s by a female artist name Kilbourne and it’s called If Not to Give a Fantasy. It doesn’t match up one for one as there’s no singing on the Kilbourne record but the sounds, yowsa it’s labelled as hardcore and it is. What is the difference between punk and hardcore? Fuck if I know! A friend of mine dropped by this summer, he’s a huge music head and he told me that it might be useful in my reviews when I don’t recommend a record recommend another record, and that’s what I’m doing I’m fulfilling the prophecy. This is a good record, it’s actually an above average record, but the Kilbourne record is bangers up and down, no skips.

Music for 9/7/26!!! The Lemon Twigs

@@@ The Lemon Twigs: Look For Your Mind! (Captured Tracks, 2026) Super retro leaning rock off the Guardian’s best of 2026 thus far. Jangly guitars, check. Vocal harmonies, check. Beatles feels, check. I see from the bandcamp embed clipping process that these gents are from New York City and it may be hard to explain to non New Yorkers why this makes sense but may I say New York is a Disco Town, and people come to New York to play roles in the theater and in real life and musicians are not exempt. I wanted to hear this record because it had Big Star influences and I haven’t heard the drug addled (speed I think) manic stretching of pop and rock that they rocked, this is straighter. Which all makes sense because this is a super straight time, everybody on the grid lined up and ready to rock let’s not be sloppy. These faithful reenactments of sounds from long ago trigger many philosophical questions — do records need to be original? do musicians need to put a stamp on a super familiar sound? can faithful reenactments (Daptone being a high production house of faithful and mostly unoriginal compositions) be enjoyed? I think the answer is very much yes, you can enjoy whatever you want to enjoy, I’m so far from being in charge that it’s not funny and I don’t want to be in charge but I’m also free to mark something down for lack of originality. So there you have it, nobody gonna be puzzled by this record.

Music for 9/6/26!!! IZCO, hemlocke springs

@@@ Izco: Powerscroft (Brownswood Recordings, 2026) I returned to the Clash Magazine best 60 albums of the year thus far and picked out this one. I really am feeling the liquid funky nature of the GENA record and I recommend it to folks. This one is out on Brownswood that does a bunch of UK jazz as well as jazz-hybrid stuff. The opener here is pretty staid and conservative as far as dancefloor business goes, this record sits at the crossroads of lounge music, r&b, smooth jazz. I tend towards the more energetic and wild music, I like unexpected sounds, I like surprises, this is well put together but it’s a bit too proper for me. Moments of groove did catch my ear but not across the board.

@@@ hemlocke springs: the apple under the sea (AWAL, 2026) Also off Clash Magazine’s best records thus far. The opening track is mad dramatical before big pop music enters for the second tune. Ms. Springs has an interesting voice, strong. This is a pop music variant without a bunch of cheese but a lot of drama. There’s a difference in my world. The third tune is hopped up track that mixes Rocky Horror/Broadway feels/uptempo crowding and while I really like this woman’s voice, she’s got great tone, am I interested in the various versions of pop that can be explored and celebrated? Only marginally.

Music for 9/4/26!!! Gena

@@@ Gena: The Pleasure is Yours (Lex Records, 2026). I’ve listened to way more than 10 records today and it’s been biscuits up and down. I thought fuck this week and fuck bandcamp’s record of the day and let’s google up some best of summer 26 and a list came up from Clash Magazine that had this outfit out of Texas on the list. This record came out at the end of February and it’s 16 tunes spread over 43 minutes. The first part of the review said something about analog funk and I thought that sounds all right. First off the project has a drummer in the co-leader spot and the drums sound righteous and are super high in the mix, a big plus as far as I’m concerned. The female vocalist has a lax flow but she’s not lacking in either presence or energy. Some attempts to make a newer version of classic Parliament flavored funk can be super clean and too r&b’ed out and this doesn’t have that feel, at least to my ears. I’m now on the 9th track which is an homage to Prince with some ’80s sounding drums and some guitar shredding (not quite at the Prince level of shredding, he was one of my favorite guitar players of all time) Sonically the record works for me, great arrangements, I don’t know who’s doing the other parts than the drummer and the vocalist but these folks got soul, don’t sleep on this record. It’s fresh.

Music for 9/3/26!!! Cyst, RAP

@@@ Cyst: 00 (Lucky Me, 2026) A few pre release tracks from a record that comes out tomorrow and is bandcamp’s record of the day today. We got the first three tracks on tap here. The opener is ramped, propelled by a drum ‘n bass beat with lotsa chopped vocals and glitched sounds over the top. Male and female MCs, not really MCs and not really vocalists kinda in between, I like the female performer she’s kinda cloudy without being angelic. Second tune, Rabbit, is more openly hip hop without being full on. The male MC is fat tongued and it’s a bit hard to get with his energy, at least me at least. I’m a big agnostic on this second tune and we just fired up the third tune and it’s a sci fi stripper pole tune, lots of R2D2 blurbs and bleeps. It’s a very sort of nihilistic feeling group of sounds, some detachment, some outer space, I think the beats and the vocal approaches really define the tunes here. I get why somebody would go this route, it’s not really what I’m in the mood for right now. I don’t think I’m a good candidate to return to the rest of the record but feel free.

@@@ RAP: Navigator (Jolly, 2026). Yesterday’s bandcamp record of the day! I can’t find this record on Apple Music, so I’m just gonna rawdog the bandcamp stream due to time constraints. It’s another British effort, this time out of London. The opening track is an electronic beat, chill with some big reverberating guitar in the back, and then an autotuned gent rocking a bit of a moaning I’m hot you hot thing. I’m a little meh on this opener, not a great sign, track 2 is opening with some piano and then in comes the beat with a fat electric bass, I mean it feels like a variant on trip hop but not a variant I can get with.

Music for 9/2/26!!! Steve Lacy, Kate Bollinger

@@@ Steve Lacy: Oh Yeah? (RCA, 2026). This musician’s name is bouncing around with the release of his latest record a few weeks ago, I caught it on an All Music notable release email. I think the opening track opens the album in an interesting way — it sports a gray area beat, a little funky and a little rocky, a bit of buzzy bass it’s a marketer’s wet dream spanning a larger audience than usual. The second tune, is it cool? switches gear with Lacy to moving in the MC direction and a guest appearance from SZA though after the intro he brings in more of the indie feels that are part of the opening tune. I’m digging in on the third tune and I can see how the major label would lick their lips over this musical formula there’s a thinly veiled pop sensibility embedded beneath the indie feels and the funk-ish sounds, it’s a pretty conservative formula rigid and seeking approval, and pandering to boot. It’s interesting that the Apple Music blurb says he’s a new age guitar god melding genres, and I get the melding genres (not the part where he says he’s making a unified statement of desire that’s horseshit.) but I don’t hear any interesting guitar here, it’s pretty boy vocals that really leap out here. Oh string flourishes at the back end of this tune, some pretty boys are bad juju from what I’ve heard.

@@@ Kate Bollinger: Shop Girl (Ghostly Intl, 2026). A prerelease tune I got to via the KCRW 5 songs of the week. I’m not really even sure what this tune is supposed to be, it sounds more like a Broadway tune than any sort of indie tune, it’s a little 80s, it’s a bit Barry Manilow, I don’t really know what’s going on here. I reread the KCRW blurb and it’s supposed to be a tune from an imagined musical. Oy, bad choice on my part, I hate musicals ah well.

Music for 8/31/26!!! Boyg1rl and Novagang, Tara Clerkin Trio

@@@ Boyg1rl and Novagang: Exit 2B (Decent/Surfgang, 2026). This collab between two dancefloor musicians is up on Pitchfork’s best of 2026 thus far list. The opener is more than a bit disorienting but I dig the chopped and wild nature of it. If you thought that somebody couldn’t take drum ‘n bass -ish beats and then crank up another coupla notches you would be wrong wrong wrong. The question here is not whether this is too over the top the question is whether the over the top-ness means anything or is it just a ramped shit biscuit that people are latching onto. Some of these bass sounds are insane just bellowing through my small desktop monitor woofers and I know that thus is undoubtedly dancefloor music that is supposed to be in your face but these two vocalists are giving me a headache right now. I might feel differently at a different point time but despite a good blenderized tune as much as the next guy this is almost fully untethered and I don’t know what the word for it is.

@@@ Tara Clerkin Trio: Somewhere Good (World of Echo, 2026) This is off a month by month best of month list by Pitchfork and it’s blurbed as a mash of genres — dub, jazz, world, some other business. This first tune Lake Walk is a piano driven jazz-ish thing and it’s got not a penny whistle but a woodwind of some type swirling around the piano. The groove comes out in the second track, and it’s not really my kind of groove, this is a non sweaty groove with New Age bits to it, and everything gonna be all right. I’m a card carrying lifelong white person but this is white people brunch shit, I can’t get with this. Nobody gonna get challenged, nobody gonna get sweaty, nobody gonna feel uncomfortable, and I’m for all those things. Unfortunate. My guess is that not a lot of folks who roll in the no sweat, no challenge car are not regular readers of this blog which is their loss, fuck ’em. Before I let you go for the day check out my podcast The Magic Organ, it’s super fun, lotsa genres lotsa vibes. This is like some 21st century Dave Brubeck, it’s not good for your mind.