It’s the middle of January. The year has barely begun. And yet here I am, already typing about new music. January!
Music in the last few weeks has sounded amazing. I’ve been listening to it from a perspective and headspace I haven’t been in with music for more than briefly in quite a while. I think about the patterns that come with grief and assume that has something to do with it. There’s also the wall I hit emotionally with my housing situation. Being finished with 2023, a fucking shitty year for me, also likely helps. And then there’s the hormones. It’s like someone came in with a power washer and cleared away the mud.
It’s also probably a phase, and if I don’t take the opportunity now, who knows if I’ll be inclined to later. January update it is.
The new Slift album is out today. I listened to it in full once through and then listened to “Confluence” another 20 times. I’ve already heard the first two or three songs from earlier youtube uploads and a live KEXP thing, thought those were more than simply quality, and was primed for tonight’s near-80 minute listen. 80 minutes is normally way too much, and who knows if I’ll do that again soon, but yep. They did good. And I am target demographic for “Confluence” between the vampire jazz beginning and the psychedelic space ride it goes on later. It reminds me of Myst. How many times am I going to say shit reminds me of Myst? Did you know I heart Myst? It’s a compliment. Curious to see how all this music emotionally develops over time. [Edit: I listened a second time a few hours later. Punishment.]
Idles has been piecemeal releasing songs and videos to the internet, their album due out in about a month. I may not have written about it well at the time, but about two years ago I went through an obsessive listening phase with their music and it hasn’t exactly gone away. I mostly left the Joy album alone because I was already overdoing it… and the other day I finally heard-heard “Never Fight A Man With A Perm” and OMFG. This song. The humor of it is so familiar (LOVE the line “you look like a walking thyroid”), which is a shitty thing to realize about yourself and the world you know, but the music alone sucked me in back to that obsessive place. Add the new songs on top and eeesh what the fuck. Go watch “Gift Horse” and tell me if the fact that the vocalist is not readily petting the bull makes you as tense as it made me. Talk about a walking thyroid. But so cute and so patient and so demanding of a nice pet. Also I want the shirt the guy’s wearing in the party section.
Fucking squeeing over a pink fucking concrete mixer. What the hell is wrong with me? WOOOO!
And Whitey released a new music video. Wait, I typed that wrong: Whores released a new song! There’s a video! It’s by Whitey! Which is a fun way to say that there’s a lot of Portland in it! Hey I know those people! Of course I do, it’s a Whores video. One time I remember talking literally to Whores and mentioning Red Fang, though not what about because it was probably a decade ago. And here we are. Weird what happens when you stick around long enough. Anyway, the new Whores album is out in April. That’s a long time, but we may endure. In the meanwhile, someone needs to pay Whitey enough money to develop a series.
Yesterday I got wind of a new Heavy Temple album, which I thought was hopeful fiction per the usual with these end-of-year anticipated albums list things people do, but it seems it was correct. Their album is also due in April. And the new song feels quite familiar, so if you like Heavy Temple already, you’re in luck. Their last album was a delayed favorite from 2021, so RIYL doomy rock akin to Witch Mountain or the usual Black Sabbath trail of bands.
And, get this amazingly beautiful piece of information I absolutely did not expect after at least a decade of silence: Iota is back with a new album this year. WHAT. I’ve been over-reporting my love for “Dimensional Orbiter” since I heard it in 2008. Seems they were recording during pre-pandemic times and are now releasing a new thing that may be a departure from the old thing(s). I have no idea yet but I am ready to hear it.
Hearing “New Mantis” by Iota just there: oh, I see why I like Heavy Temple. Not the same branch but definitely the same tree.
And here comes the weird shit.
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is back. Album and shows. Another “who knew?”
I don’t really feel like I’m putting good out into the universe by typing this but I learned that The(?) Gossip has an album coming in two months. If you’re here for the heavy, ignore this paragraph. But they were one of the first bands I saw live and it was a fine example of what I don’t want in my live music environment, which I couldn’t fully pin why until later news about the vocalist having a drunk conniption including a “don’t you know who I am” statement. I’ve tried to let them go out of frustration with those kinds of shitty entitled vibes, but I’m really curious to know what their first music in a million years sounds like.
And I’ll just mention Dua Lipa again. New song is called “Houdini“. There’s no news about an album yet but the single is an easy dance pop song with a bassline. I recently watched an interview she was in and got a sense of her being around in pop culture, if not music itself, for a good long time. Lots to be said for charisma and beauty alone.
I suppose there’s more, definitely more music I’ve experienced in the last three weeks, but I think that may be a good place to stop.
Meanwhile, I listened to King Buffalo’s discography in full for no apparent reason, almost got through OM’s discography, and then inhaled Oranssi Pazuzu‘s 2020 album that I’m not going to try to spell today and generally all-around felt super grateful for music making fine sense again. Oh, and last month I got word from the source that a couple of now-local musicians got together to make sound happen… and I can imagine that combination of energies really working out. Perhaps it shall. Until then, seems there’s plenty of new stuff coming for certain just around the corner, and yay!