Friends And Their Music Recommendations

For the first time in — dare I say months? — I took a friend’s music advice and it led to me stopping by Amoeba to pick up a new LP. This happens very infrequently. Alas, the album — Excavation by The Haxan Cloak — was too good to pass up.  I know I don’t typically post my “Ten Best Records Of The Year…So Far” list until mid-June, but now’s as good a time as any to discuss some of the best recommendations I’ve received from friends so far in 2013. Hopefully it’ll turn you on to something new and exciting as well. So here we go. In list form, because…well…I am who I am. An OCD-afflicted nerd who can’t suss out his own thoughts unless they’re written or typed as an ordered list.

The Five Best Music Recommendations I’ve Received So Far This Year (2013 Edition)

• Mountains – Centralia (Thrill Jockey) – Offered up by one of my co-workers, copies have popped up in the store often enough that I’ve had a few opportunities to listen — both critically and for pleasure — and I strongly approve. A new album finding its way into my hands at work is a rare-enough occurrence  but when that album turns out to be good!? That’s like a once or twice a year phenomena. Beautifully layered electronic soundscapes that blended with proper instrumentation (guitar, cello, etc.) to create expansive and lush songs. That is, if you can call ’em “songs.” There’s a kind of a tenuousness to these compositions in that they seem to be in perpetual motion (slow though it may seem) and constantly evolving. In short, it’s definitely one of the better ambient records I’ve heard this year.
• Nihiti – For Ostland (Lo Bit Landscapes) – A few years ago Lo Bit Landscapes (or…somebody…) sent me a copy of Other People’s Memories in the mail and I didn’t even listen to it before I traded it to a local store for credit. It turned out to be a huge mistake, as once I realized what I’d done I instantly regretted it. For Ostland is a continuation of the dark (not…you know…like Nordvargr or Atrium Carceri) ambient pop sounds that made Other People’s Memories so good (…in hindsight. D’oh!). The same friend who reprimanded me about ditching their last record without so much as a cursory listen hipped me to For Ostland, and I’ve been listening to it A LOT of late. Maybe it’s because I’ve been in a weird place lately (anxious, over-analytical, generally uneasy) but this seems to fit the mood rather well. In that it stokes my unease rather than alleviate it. Perfectly druggy, electronic, and poppy while remaining inaccessible enough (to most) so that I can safely recommend it to others without feeling like I’m urging them to watch a Selena Gomez music video.
• A Story Of Rats – Vastness And The Inverse (Translinguistic Other) – An Ian recommendation, which is about as solid/trustworthy a recommendation as I can receive. The metal albums he typically recommendations I listen to can be hit-or-miss, but when he prefaces the suggestion by saying he’s confident I’ll like it, he’s mostly right. So it went with A Story Of Rats, which I’ve been WEARING OUT lately I’ve listened to it so much. Two tracks, two sides, each one 17+ minutes worth of blacker-than-black dirge-y doom metal. I’ve always been partial to the buried melodies and endless rumble/fuzz of heavy artists like The Angelic Process, Nadja, or Bell Witch (one of the best records of last year was their LP called Longing). This record hits all those aspects I love about doom/drone metal. Listen hard enough and you can discern a melody. Listen while performing some mundane task and you’re more likely to hear the inherent (but most-assuredly not overt) dreaminess. Each listen I’m hearing something else. And that might be the highest praise I can pay an album.
• The Men – New Moon (Sacred Bones) – A guy who works at a local store that focuses more on modern music was the first to let me know that The Men (whose Open Your Heart stole mine last year) had a new record out, and he even gave me his copy to take home and listen to. My first thought was that it sounded like a dirtier, noisier Gin Blossoms (I know what you’re saying…but…wait, honestly…). “Half Angel Half Life” is TOTAL New Miserable Experience-era Blossoms but with much lower production value. To my absolute lack of surprise, I like the poppy turn the band has taken on this album. “I See No One” is as good a fuzzed-out garage-y pop song as I’ve heard since last year’s Mikal Cronin ditty “Gone,” which was easily one of my favorite songs of 2012. Give it a shot, I think you’ll like this one.
• Skagos – Anarchic (Flenser) – Another Ian recommendation. I think he figured the combination of an album put out by Flenser (who released the aforementioned Bell Witch LP last year) and a (maybe? hopefully?) Song Of Ice And Fire reference would immediately grab my attention. The best comparisons I can make would be to either Kentucky (holy shit was that Panopticon record good last year) or Wolves In The Throne Room, but neither are really PROPER comparisons. In Anarchic, Skagos have recorded an album that stands on its own as a unique take on atmospheric black metal. If you think you’ve pinned down their sound, you’ll be surprised by the twists and turns (dare I say swirls? WHIRLS!?) these four pieces take.