Poltergeists: Week of September 21, 2015

Poltergeists is a biweekly feature in which Michael and Wes share tracks that they have had on repeat over the past two weeks.

Michael

Solanaceae - “I Saw Them Through The Pines / They Only Walk On Moss”

Kim Larsen (:Of The Wand & The Moon:) brings his mystical arrangements to a slightly different project that bills itself as “psychedelic folk.” I am a new fan of :OTW&TM: and am not qualified to speak for their discography but am deeply in love with the self-titled Solanaceae album from 2013. The acoustic elements in each track are well constructed and the perfect balance of complex and enchanting. I am easily wooed by creatively dark and strange lyrics. If you have an obscure title and an acoustic guitar, chances are pretty good that I will enjoy what you are putting out. But this is an expert crafting a very real feeling through music.

HORSKH - “Trajectory (2 Methyl Remix)”

This song instantly hooked me. I am a big fan of slowing down fast dance songs and making the complex layers of the speedy original drawn out and even more complex. 2 Methyl has managed to take a track that I was alright with, look through the dark layers, and make it a track that I have listened to every day this week. Horskh originally released the Dawn EP as a good look into what they had to offer as an Audiotrauma label debut, but this extended version really grabbed my attention with remixes from Näo, LOSS, FLESH, and Hologram_.

Wes

Azure Ray - “We Are Mice”

Azure Ray - We Are Mice from Hold On Love Directed by Nik Fackler

This song, and actually a lot of other Azure Ray tracks, have been on repeat for me for probably a month, maybe a month and a half. There’s a lot of elements that I just keep coming back to - the tonal static creating rhythm, the melancholic piano chords, the soft vocals, seemingly vibrating through sheer sadness. In addition to the beautiful melody, I have been a sucker for Azure Ray’s lyricism as well. At some point I just gave up on listening to lyrics, and Azure Ray has been a helpful reminder of the poetry songwriting can have.

Deafheaven - “Come Back”

"Come Back" by Deafheaven from the album 'New Bermuda,' available October 2nd. Pre-order and receive downloads of "Come Back" and "Brought to the Water" now. Pre-order on iTunes: http://found.ee/DeafheavenNewBermuda Pre-order on CD and vinyl: http://found.ee/DeafheavenNBstore Official Site: http://deafheaven.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deafheaven Twitter: https://twitter.com/deafheavenband Instagram: https://instagram.com/deafheavenband/

I was feeling a little apprehensive about posting this track, as I’ve already written about the upcoming Deafheaven album, but I am just enjoying it so much that I decided I’d make a note of it anyway. One thing that I really enjoy about Deafheaven is a use of dynamic range (or at least the illusion of it; I haven’t actually looked at the waveform or anything). This track starts out fairly quiet; there is a slow, clean guitar riff, content to let most of the space be empty. It drops from that riff into what you’d expect, roaring riffs and blast beats, which carry you for several minutes, before dropping back to clean chords and slower drumming. This fuller echo of the introduction carries out the rest of the song; it comes back to those sad slow chords, and allows its relative quiet to contrast the chaos of the middle section.

Poltergeists: Week of August 24, 2015

Poltergeists is a biweekly feature in which Michael and Wes share tracks that they have had on repeat over the past two weeks.

Michael

iVardensphere - “Aether”

iVardensphere + Future Bass = Tribal-bass-drop-future-glitch. Review finished. Nothing else to say. Music is done. We all quit.

I really enjoy this brief step away from the normal for iVardensphere, and in a trilogy no less! There are so many iVardensphere-ian elements in this song, but it is very clearly a different part of Scott’s brain that needed to be exercised. One thing that I often have a problem with when I listen to future bass stuff is that the rhythm is not something that appeals to me easily. Too many glitchy elements lose me or something. “Aether” is not one of those songs. It has a really nice groove to it. I look forward to more of this.

Haujobb - “Input Error”

I know that I Die You Die did it already (we try not to overlap with our awesome Canadian counterparts) but I feel like I have some things to say about this track, and single for that matter.

Haujobb is a very popular project. I am sure that you have a story about how nice and funny Daniel Myer is because it is infinitely true. Sometimes I feel like Haujobb is a project that gets that automatic hype, much like Aesthetic Perfection or Suicide Commando. People are going to buy it no matter what it sounds like at this point because they have been satisfied in the past, and it is comforting for them to know that they will most likely enjoy whatever comes out. But! Take a minute and listen to this track. It is minimal but full, and epic but mellow. It is the perfect combination of elements that I didn’t know went together. The subtlety of some of the elements creates a tension that you may not really even notice because they are just the various textures underneath the more abrasive patterns, and as a musician I am instantly hooked. I find new elements every time I listen to the song, which is what keeps drawing me back to Haujobb. Daniel and Dejan are both extremely talented musicians (check their various personal projects) and I appreciate that they continue to come together and make songs that push what is the most popular style at the moment to the side. It is inspiring.

I am also addicted to the Schwefelgelb remix.

Wes

Deafheaven - “Brought to the Water”

Oh man I am stoked for this! I really loved Deafheaven’s Sunbather; it is one of the few albums that I find myself dipping back into over and over again. In the first half of “Brought to the Water”, Deafheaven seems to depart somewhat from some of the big post-rock feelings that were present in much of Sunbather in favor of a more traditional black metal sound; big open chords are largely traded for chugging, fast lines; tremolo picking and blast beats are out in full force. Once we get to the back half there’s some progressions in here that almost give me a melodic hardcore feel. I’m not quite sure who I’d compare it to, and I’m happy about that. After listening to this track a few times I’m fully ready to hear the new album in October.

White Lung - “Take The Mirror”

There are 488 items in my Bandcamp wishlist. The first thing that I added to that wish list was the album Sorry by White Lung, and you know what? That album is still dope as fuck to go back to. The opening track, “Take The Mirror,” gives you a pretty good idea what you’re in for. Frenetic guitars are paired with a powerful vocal delivery; the song manages to never let up while also evolving enough over the course of the track to never strike as boring. I’ve been listening to this album off and on for three years now, and I’m still loving it every time I rediscover it.