Here are some one-shot reviews of LPs that came out earlier this year:
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything: I think this album has the best name ever. The politics are clearly Leftist as this has most of the same band members as Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The singing is much more bearable than previous releases with the psych-rock influence alongside the post-rock core. Vocals do wear on me sometimes, and the musicality isn't exactly virtuoso quality. Nonetheless, really great LP - 8.5/10
An Autumn for Crippled Children - Try Not to Destroy Everything You Love: Another album with a great name. I literally have no idea what the hell the vocalist is saying on any track. Nevertheless, my God a lot of this record is epic. I love the music on every song. This LP is a great, new installment in the "blackgaze"/post-metal movement, kind of a kindred soul to last years Deafheaven release - 9/10
Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness: I really do try to take every album for-itself and only in relation to itself when I review or try to enjoy it. Sometimes, however, exceptions have to be made. This is just such a case. Angel Olsen's last release was an awesome piece of alt-country/rootsy goodness that simply is absent from this new album. I cannot help but see it as a regression. There is also nothing really of note to the lyrics for me - 5.5/10
Katy B - Little Red: in stark contrast to Angel Olsen's LP, I cannot help but see some seriously great progress with this new Katy B album. This thing is undeniably catchy and groovy. The lyrics are generally not great, largely politically neutral - with the notable exception of "Crying for No Reason" where Katy does a bit of psychoanalysis on herself, a standout track. Pretty good album - 7/10
Isaiah Rashad - Cilvia Demo - I don't know exactly how I feel about this thing. I dig the shit out of some of these beats, really pretty great moods. RIP Kevin Miller is a sick track. But I think a lot of this demo sounds exactly like that: a demo, kind of half-cocked. Not sure how I feel about that, especially since Black Hippy has taken this dude under their wing. A couple good features by the Hippy crew does help the final track significantly. I also think this guy is way too politically neutral for Black Hippy, especially with Kendrick (whose album concept was about the dialectic of individual and society) and Jay Rock en-tow. Half-cocked album, half-cocked score - 5.5/10
Alcest - Shelter - this part black-metal band exorcises the lest remnants of metal from their sound and goes the full shoegaze. Some really nice moments on this album. But those moments are just that - fleeting, temporary, moments. This album, post-first listen, is so boring. I mean, really boring. Boring album, boring score 5/10
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