Friday, August 15, 2025
Kira Skov - WHAT TIES US TOGETHER, WILL KEEP US APART
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 12:15 PM 0 comments
Thursday, July 17, 2025
Ulver - Liminal Animals
'Liminal Animals was written and arranged by Ole Alexander Halstensgård, Kristoffer Rygg, and Jørn H. Sværen, mixed by Anders Møller at Subsonic Society, mastered by Vegard Sleipnes, and performed by Halstensgård, Rygg and Sværen with Stian Westerhus (guitar, bass, strings and backing vocals), Ivar Thormodsæter (drums), Anders Møller (percussion and choir), and with special guests Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet), Sara Khorami (choir), Astra Eida Rygh (choir), Sisi Sumbundu (choir) and Torgeir Waldemar Engen (choir).
The album was recorded and produced at Lupercal in the Old Town, Oslo. Additional recordings were done in Pitch Black Star Spangled Studio, same city, different location.
The cover art features The Senseless Seven, a 1911 drawing by Austin Osman Spare. Design by Paschalis Zervas, + wolframgrafik, Athens.'
- via Bandcamp
Just thought I'd shoutout Ulver's latest release (November 2024), the first album without their longtime keyboard player Tore Ylwizaker, who passed away in August of 2024. From what I can tell, the album had been in the making for a couple years, but it never featured Ylwizaker, who was pursuing other projects. 'Liminal Animals' is a continuation of their further exploration of electronic driven pop, and their diverse continuation of experimenting in styles, from the black metal/folk elements they started from. I mostly posted this because I think "Hollywood Babylon" might be my favorite Ulver track ever made; without knowing the bands intentions behind the song (I'm guessing the obvious leaning more on the cynical side), it works as both a rah-rah anthem and a pointed criticism that I think few bands/songs have encapsulated -- even if unintended. All the more that it is wrapped up in a glamourous/commercialized sheen in contrast to the subject matter of the song.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 1:26 PM 0 comments
Friday, June 20, 2025
Nankai TRIO - Antarctica
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 4:15 PM 0 comments
Friday, May 23, 2025
YEYEY - Last Blush
'Last Blush' is his second full-length album, the first being 'The Vision' in 2015, which I'm excited to check out.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 4:25 PM 0 comments
Friday, May 16, 2025
Billy Nomates - Metalhorse
Definitely check out the rest of her discography if you like what you hear. Her debut album is probably the most punk prevalent of the three, with an overall dynamic range exhibited across/within all her releases. She also recently did the soundtrack to the theater play of Mary & The Hyenas.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 2:06 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Stranded Horse - The Warmth You Deserve (with Boubacar Cissokho)
His most recent album 'The Warmth You Deserve' features another Sissoko (or Cissokho), Ballaké's younger cousin Boubacar, likewise a kora player. The pair initially collaborated on the 2016 album 'Luxe'.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 1:01 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
robot koch - Allow
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 10:38 AM 0 comments
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Brad Armstrong - Heart Like A Sigil
I wanted to show some love for his most recent solo release, his third full-length 'Heart Like A Sigil', from 2022. He paired up with Maria Taylor's (Azure Ray) LA-based indie label Flower Moon Records, as well as featuring her on 10/12 of the album's tracks with accompanying vocals. This album basically became my "bummer but bright" go-to album when it released, with certain tracks like "Take Me Down to Carolina" seemingly having even more added weight to them today. Other favorites include "The Witch (Part 1)", "Fading Out", and "Reels Out", which cast the most evocative shadows to the contrasted lighter moments on the album. Overall every track feels very cinematic and filled with specific purpose.
Just a great songwriter, and he manages to tow a line of multiple genres with a solid country/rock foundation. Maria Taylor also deserves a lot of credit too -- her harmonies and voice give this album a lot of added dynamics, punctuated by Armstrong's unique lyricism and delivery.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 11:45 AM 0 comments
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Ty Walker and The Humanoids - Home On The Strange
The new album standout tracks for me are "All Hat, No Cattle" and the closer "Cosmic Mystery", with the altogether takeaway that it's exciting to still see groups making experimental (both lyrically and musically) forms of country music. And also in this case, how effectively and uniquely it can be done. Also dig the album art (also on vinyl) by Mark Rogers.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 1:36 PM 0 comments
Friday, January 31, 2025
Uulliata Digir - Uulliata Digir
Uulliata Digir is an avant-garde metal band from Poznań, Poland. Stumbled across this recently and thought the inclusion of trumpet within heavy metal was definitely not something you (I?) hear everyday, and for all their layers pull off a very cohesive sound. Their debut album (which seems to include a mix of members who were in past projects) of the same name is basically 3 long tracks with 2 short interludes, but they make a promising showing of what could come. The band has a female/male vocalist that bounce off of one another throughout, often colliding together in what are some of the more frenzied and seemingly hysteria-induced moments of the album. Lots of people seem to compare them to Imperial Triumphant; the singer Julita Dąbrowska reminds me of Chelsea Wolfe in some ways, especially on the opening track "Myrthrs". Overall just a pretty solid debut and worth checking out.
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 12:10 PM 0 comments
Monday, January 27, 2025
L.S. Dunes - Violet
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 3:39 PM 0 comments
Adrift - Dry Soil
Posted by lessMTVmoreTMV at 2:34 PM 0 comments