MILT # 2

Haven’t done this thing for awhile. It’s been a weird year, which feels like a cliché, obvious, overly-stated thing to say. Like, yeah, it was a “weird” year for everybody. Doesn’t that just make mine “not-weird,” or alike to everyone else’s?

Regardless, the weird things about my year, other than the obvious ones like a pandemic, rampant-yet-always-existing injustices, etc. had to include the change in routine to the way that I go about my job and me figuring out where I am at and who I am emotionally. Adapting to a somewhat emotion-numbing med for the blues has been something, and figuring out what I can contribute to the world that will satiate a somewhat selfish sense of fulfillment has been something else.

Music has always been a constant, though. So here’s a playlist of some of the music that I have been listening to during this past weird-not-weird year. If you listen to it, let me know what you think.

Most of the playlist is comprised of music that I’ve discovered on Bandcamp. The lead-off is a warm, meditative drone track by Terekke. It sounds like floating in outer space. It’s awesome.

The warmth is then interrupted by a flurry of poppy, surf rock bands. Surf rock/”surfgaze” has been my recent obsession. Some of the surf bands I’ve been digging that are in this playlist include Grrrl Gang, a fun, pop-punk group from Indonesia; Foliage, which I can only describe as sounding like Morrissey with a surfboard; and Say Sue Me — one of my favorites as of lately.

The playlist is punctuated by a lovely, mostly instrumental piece by Sufjan Stevens (which is actually featured on the Bridgerton soundtrack). Then, the playlist meanders through a playground of emo (awakebutstillinbed), more surf, dreampop (Alvvays and Fritz), black metal (Violet Cold), and is bookended by a beautiful, nostalgic harp piece by Mary Lattimore. The title of her track, “On the Day You Saw the Dead Whale” is as powerful and depressing as the contents.

If you have a short attention span and/or a lack of time, then some of my favorite tracks from the playlist that I’d recommend include “Old Town,” “URL,” and, if you like noise, “Pride.”

Feel free to reach out and let me know if you gave any of the playlist a try. Or, let me know what you’ve been listening to. I’m looking forward to trying to do more of these. Also, I believe you need to log into Spotify to listen to the entire playlist.

Thanks and have a great day.

Fritz Sounds Like the Name of My Cat

I have a cat named Fitzy. Here he is.

Naturally, due to this slight coincidence, I was drawn to the band named “Fritz” that popped out at me one night while Bandcamp surfing. Fritz has renewed my love for shoegaze that really hasn’t been absent for that long. They’re an Australian-based band led primarily by a 21 year old. Fritz’s sound can most easily be described as noise-pop. It’s loud, bursting with brightness, led by airy vocals and backed by a percussion section that’s catchy enough to make you wonder if it is a drum machine doing the work (it’s not). The guitar riffs draw on shoegaze and the synths call back to the 80’s.

The track that caught my ear, “Arrow,” is off their most recent album that came out in February, titled Pastel. “Arrow” is a good representation of Fritz, I think. It’s super poppy, loud, and the harshness of the guitars contrasts nicely with the more gentle vocals and synths.

“Gracie, Forgive Me,” weighing in at a light minute and a half, is another strong track. The lyrics are charming, simple, and honest. A tame introduction then erupts into a siren of blaring synths.

I later discovered some of Fritz’s previous stuff, which leaned into more of a grungy, dark, dreamy vibe. The track below, “Iris,” off of their eponymous album has a gentle, depressive feel while the vocals float effortlessly through the song. The chorus then breaks in abruptly with guitars and yelling that are both harsh and moody.

My cat approves of Fritz, so you should, too. You can support Fritz on their Bandcamp here. If you’ve given them a listen or have some other dreampop/shoegazey recommendations, let me know!

Holy Fawn’s Black Moon: “Loud, Heavy, Pretty Noises”

Holy Fawn is an Arizona-based Bandcamp discovery that do just what they say they do on their page: blend loud, heavy, pretty noises.

Shoegaze, pop, and metal vibes somehow all make themselves known in Holy Fawn’s three track album, The Black Moon. The first track, “Candy,” starts off with loud, dominating guitars, slow crashing drums, with breaks of lulling, echoing vocals and melodious guitar riffs.

“Tethered” serves as an intermission track with its ambient soundscape that creates a feeling similar to that of which the album cover conveys.

“Blood Pact,” is the strongest track off of the album. The song is a plethora of ideas crammed into one package. The guitar melodies layered over electronic-sounding drum beats are dreamlike and whimsical. Eventually, the song erupts into a triumphant burst of energy at about the halfway point with shrieking vocals and aggressive guitars.

You can support Holy Fawn on their Bandcamp page here.

MILT #1

I’ve always liked making playlists. I remember back in the heyday of CD’s, I would pour hours into burning CD’s and making playlists for myself and (even better) others. If I was really into it, I would meticulously curate them so that even the transitions from one song to another sounded smooth and natural.

They always felt so meaningful when made for someone else, too. My sister, who is by far the biggest influence on my taste in music, would sometimes make me a playlist which I would then cherish and listen to on repeat. And it’s interesting trying to find a middle ground between the music you, the creator likes, and music that your recipient likes. You want them to enjoy it, but it’s also important that it, in a way, represents you. Wouldn’t want to make a playlist of music that you know they already like and listen to, right?

I’ve had a lot of time to listen to music these days (epidemics, amirite?). Here’s a recent playlist of music I listen to (hereafter MILT) that I have made for myself that you can enjoy, or not.

This playlist features quite a bit of music I’ve discovered through the local non-profit radio station, WMPG (who are currently rerunning old shows due to COVID). I’ve also got a bit of synth-pop (The Radio Dept., Spiritualized) and shoegaze/dream-pop (Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Slowdive) mixed in. I tried to bury natural instrumental intermissions throughout. I’m into it when an album does that.

Some of my personal favorite tracks are the first and last tracks, the imaginative instrumental “Shine” by The Album Leaf, and Liam the Younger’s spacey “Sleep Pt. 3.” Oh, and the amazingly 80’s track “The Promise” by When in Rome. It’s so cheesy but so triumphant. One track, “Sleep II” by Death Cult Cave, also won’t play for you because it’s a song I’ve downloaded from Bandcamp.

A note: I believe you have to log into Spotify or open up a Spotify browser to listen to the complete songs. Thanks, Spotify.

Sadness is the Name of This Band

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“Atmospheric depressive blackgaze” is the sub-genre that I’ve seen attached to Sadness, a one-person independent Bandcamp band. It’s a ridiculous, almost comically lengthy combination of four sub-genres… but it totally makes sense.

This seemingly arbitrary sub-genre is a combination of atmospheric metal, depressive metal, black metal, and shoegaze. Simply put, Sadness’s sound on the album I Want to be There, creates a landscape of loud, desperate, depressing yet (somehow?) blissful noise. A type of noise that makes you feel enveloped, or like you are drowning. Melodies and riffs linger for long stretches — creating the aforementioned atmospheric experience.

The album’s opener, “In the Distant Travels,” immediately creates a serene, spacey atmosphere that is abruptly interrupted by a wall of noise with piercing shrieks that somehow manage to cut through.

In the album’s second of six tracks, “I Want to be with You,” the shoegaze side of Sadness dominates. The distorted guitars are harsh, yet there’s a melody and chord progression underneath the noise. It repeats, eventually accompanied by triumphant, chanting, choir-like vocals: a nice juxtaposition to the music that really exemplifies I Want to be There well.

This album is an absolute trip and emotional rollercoaster. The feelings that this album gives off are intense, violent, raw, and melancholy. I admittedly don’t listen to much metal, but there’s so much in this package for people less familiar with the genre. I feel like I could recommend I Want to be There to almost anybody. You can support Sadness on their Bandcamp here.

Liam Betson is up to Something

Liam Betson has built up quite the catalogue. Over the last ten-plus years, Betson has released eight albums under various names: Liam Betson, Liam the Younger, and Death Cult Cave. The albums’ sounds vary from bedroom lo-fi folk to indie rock to lyrically-prioritized music laid over a synth-heavy stage. (This is all in addition to on-and-off touring as a guitarist in the well known punk band, Titus Andronicus.) Betson’s underrated commitment to his music, and perhaps more prominently his lyric writing, is both admirable and charming.

Under the name Liam the Younger, Betson’s most recent release is called Up to Something: a 14-track album that can be genrefied most easily as “indie rock.” Simply calling it an indie rock album, though, feels like a bit of a disservice. Betson’s focus is, and seems to have always been, on words. The music in Up to Something is the vehicle for lyrics that could stand alone just fine as poems. The subjects of the writing in Up to Something vary, but present throughout the entire album seems to be a sense of relatable, ordinary, everyday musings.

Take “No or Yes,” a track which ponders the beauty of imperfections:

Negative qualities make use beautiful
Up to a point
and then hate sure is ugly again
State violence, for instance
Something to hate
Hate as in exclusion from 
mercy and grace
Hating yourself, as it turned out, 
was a dead end
From now on
express yourself more wildly unhinged

Tracks like these display Betson pondering ordinary, everyday thoughts that one might have while walking down the street, taking a shower, whatever. And that’s where the beauty lies. His lyrics provide a sense of validation and relatability, and are sometimes delivered with a hint of witty humor. They’re the types of lyrics that make myself think that writing my thoughts in verse is attainable.

But beyond the strong lyrics, Up to Something is packed full of riffs that are both sharp and catchy. “Charcoal Gray” (below), “Time Drips,” and “I Wanna Cut You Out” are the catchiest off of the album and have the most punk-influenced feel. And over the layers of fast-changing chord progressions and riffs is Betson’s signature monotonous, sometimes drawling voice. The voice is real and sincere. It’s never dressed up with effects, nor is it ever over-the-top. The authenticity and nakedness of Betson’s lyrics match his vocals naturally.

As someone who enjoys poetry and reading lyrics while listening to music, all of Betson’s releases have impressed me. Up to Something is no exception and, in many ways, is perhaps one of his more accessible albums. You can support this humble and, in my opinion, severely underrated musician at his Bandcamp. If you’ve given his music a try, let me know what you think.