New Release Album Cycle 12-6-2024
This weeks playlist is included
Here we are, the last dregs of the new releases for 2024. There are some next Friday, none of which I recognize by name, and like two the week after that. So I plan to put out my Top 200 list on the 22nd of the month. I work on this list starting in week one of the year, and to put it before everything has been released would just feel dirty. This will be the final normal Sunday album release post. Next week I will do my top concerts of 2024, the following week will be the album list, and the final week will be a little year-in-review post. Honestly, I am starting to dig into January 2025 releases already, and I expect to have my first Sunday album post of 2025 up on January 12th.
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Advance Bass – Horrible Occurrence-This is pretty interesting. I just listened to this album from Owen Ashworth, who used to be known as Caisotone for the Painfully Alone. I will never understand how you give up that name. As I am listening to these really well-written stories in song, some of them heartbreaking, some of them tender and sweet, and some just odd, I wonder just what the hell this guy has been through recently. In reading about the album, I find that this is him writing about a fictional town of Richmond, and these are stories from there. OK. Ashworth sings the songs in a very raw and melancholic style with just synths, piano, and other electronic doo-dads accompanying him. It won’t be appealing to everyone, but it’s a good one to sit down with and really listen to at least once.
Low Harness – Salvo-at first I thought this might be a little too lo-fi and straight forward for me, but the more I listen to the band from Falmouth the more I really like this. I assumed Falmouth was in Netherlands of something, but it is Massachusetts. The band calls themselves Krautpop!, which makes sense. It’s pretty dense, indie rock that does not wear their hooks on their sleeves. Once you let it sink it you will find a lot of layers and probably get a little nostalgic for different indie rock bands of your past.
Cameron Winter Heavy Metal—this is the front person for the band Geese. They have two albums out, the first I love a lot and the second not so much. They are a band that is not going to stick to one thing. That is for sure. Here we already have a solo album from Cameron Winter, during the first minute of which I said, ‘Oh hell no.’ It sounded like nothing I personally can listen to. I let it go, though, and for a bit I was like, OK, this part is good; OK, this song is interesting. Figured this would be one of those projects where they have to get some ideas out of their head, and it’s just OK. The more I listen to this, the more I hear a lot more. His vocals throw me off a lot, and the music is super off, but then there is a beauty that comes out in a lot of it. The songwriting, once you get down to the lyrics, is pretty masterful. There are Tom Waits, Lou Reed, ANOHNI and Nick Cave vibes in places—though he sounds nothing like any of them (well, maybe an alternate universe Tom Waits). Definitely worth a listen (with an open mind). I am on my third listen now, and I would say this is not a throwaway solo project from a band member; this might be the start of a catalog of solo material that people will consider on its own.
Lauren Mayberry – Vicious Creature— Lauren is the vocalist for Chvrches and also a co-songwriter and producer in that group. Chvrches has an extremely solid catalog of music out there, but it certainly felt like they needed a break as it was getting a little same ole same ole. This is Lauren’s first solo album, and she must have thought she missed out on her chance to be a mainstream pop star. This is an album 100% going Top 40. The songs sound a bit dated, though, and are certainly not up to par with the current pop superstars. It’s a perfectly fine listen, and it’s got hooks galore; of course, I just do not hear anything that strikes me as anything more than average, except maybe “Punch Drunk,” which I think is the standout.
ROSÉ – rosie-Now ROSÉ is an artist going solo that has everything happening that can hold up with the current pop superstar hierarchy. She is from the massive South Korean K-Pop group BLACKPINK. That group plays venues such as Dodger Stadium. She already has the hit of the fall with “APT?'“ featuring Bruno Mars. It’s your earworm's favorite earworm. The songs on here are done in English and would appeal to fans of Taylor, Lady Gaga, and the like. She has a little more of a mature pop sound (besides that APT. song) than Olivia and Sabrina and such. Well done, and a lot of potential for hits here.
Angel Olsen and Various Artists – Cosmic Waves Volume 1
Alice Hebb-Saison
Babbymorroco-Amour
Ego Ella May – FIELDNOTES: COMPLETE
Fennez-Mosiac
Horse-Envy
J.R. Carroll-Dark Cloud
Lubalin – haha, no worries
Nils Frahm – Paris
Ross From Friends – Ross From Friends
Sleepy Hallow – Read This When You Wake Up
Smino – Maybe in Nirvana
Throbbing Gristle – TG BERLIN
Until I Wake – Renovate
White Denim – 12
Yoo Doo Right – From The Heights Of Our Pastureland