Category: Art Rock

Pixx Announces New Album “Small Mercies”

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Musician Hannah Rodgers under the name “Pixx” has been making some of the most enticing “Art Pop” in the past few years. Her debut album The Age of Anxiety was one of the best albums of 2017, an album that fused various genres such as Art Pop, Synth-Pop, Dream Pop, and Post-Punk, and it all featured frequent Gothic sensibilities that offered a gloomy contrast to the album’s colorful tone. Today, Rodgers unveiled the details of her upcoming follow-up Small Mercies. The album will be released on June 7th. Rodgers has also dropped the album’s first single titled “Disgrace.” “This song is about growing up in an ultra-conservative Catholic school which was restrictive and oppressive. I think there is a lack of humanity in the way that system works, rather than teaching empathy and kindness it forces people into a dangerous self-loathing cycle. This is an ode to anyone trapped in a place they don’t feel they belong,” Rodgers says of the track. You can listen to “Disgrace” below:

 

Small Mercies Pre-Order:

https://pixx.ffm.to/smallmercies.owe

Album Review: SPELLLING – Mazy Fly

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Artist: SPELLLING 

Album: Mazy Fly

Genre: Art Pop/Experimental/Electronic

Label: Sacred Bones Records

Rating: 8/10

Have you ever discovered an artist so unapologetically imaginative and creative to the point where you suspect that this artist is not from this planet? Well, Chrystia Cabral A.K.A. “SPELLLING” most certainly fits this description. Following her 2017 debut Pantheon of Me, the Oakland, CA based musician delves further into her spiritual, poetic, and otherworldly mind on her new album Mazy Fly, the first on new label “Sacred Bones Records,” which is a perfect home for her immense experimental ambitions. This album, like I mentioned earlier, is vastly otherworldly with spacey instrumentation consisting of minimal and at times dark synthesizers, bare but mood-setting drum machine patterns, and eerie sound textures that can be as nightmare-inducing as they are angelic. The album is produced almost entirely by Cabral, but she also brings along other musicians for the ride to create her own universe. The live drums and guitars that flirt heavily with “Doom Metal” on the track “Real Fun,” the pristine saxophone on the track “Afterlife,” and the subtle violin on the epic track “Under The Sun,” are all gorgeous additions to this spiritual journey of an album, and also like I mentioned earlier, the alienistic lyrical themes further prove my hunch that she is from another planet. With lyrical themes such as aliens traveling to earth to discover music and dance to Billie Holiday and “Billie Jean,” and the use of theramin that evokes the spirit of B-level “Sci-Fi” films, it’s apparent that Cabral is a visionary who constantly looks past the surface level and lays her eyes upon the stars. Though she often speaks from the perspective of someone who extremely admires the universe and it’s endlessness, Cabral explores human sentiment as well. The track “Hard to Please,” speaks on the emotional and mental toll the pain of trying to please an unsatisfied lover can take on someone, but with a constant sense of optimism, this album never strays into nihilism or cynicism, no matter how deeply personal this album can get. Though I feel like Chrystia Cabral has yet to reach her magnum opus, Mazy Fly is one giant leap toward her masterpiece.

Written By: Steven Sandoval 

Date: 02/26/19

 

U.S. Girls Share New Music Video for “Time”

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U.S. Girls released an incredible album last year titled In A Poem Unlimited, and those who have been lucky enough to see the band perform live know that seeing them perform is a beautiful experience. You can get a glimpse of what it’s like to feel the band’s live energy with their new music video for their track “Time,” which was shot by Alex Kingsmill during their set at “SappyFest” in Canada. The band have also shared a string of upcoming North American tour dates. You can get all the info, as well as watch the video for “Time” below:

https://4ad.com/news/951

“Time” Music Video:

 

 

Album Review: Xiu Xiu – Girl with Basket of Fruit

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Artist: Xiu Xiu

Album: Girl with Basket of Fruit

Genre: Experimental/Art Rock/Noise

Rating: 8/10

“Xiu Xiu” are an interesting band to say the least. Lead by sole member Jamie Stewart, this vastly eccentric band have been making music since the early 2000’s. Music that has gained admirers for their brash experimentation soaked in tumult, and also music that has gained detractors who find the band incredibly grating. I understand both parties to be honest, because whether the band are creating disturbing songs about double penetration, or reimagining the soundtrack to David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks,” one thing is certain, their music is not easy to listen to. On one hand I’ll admire the band’s uncompromising style, and on the other I can find them immensely self-indulgent and utterly repulsive, but that’s why I find the band so damn intriguing. By now, going into a “Xiu Xiu” album, I expect to hear some bizarre shit, but somehow the band managed to achieve what I thought was impossible after so many years, the band managed to make their most uncomfortable, disgusting, insane, and off putting album yet with Girl with Basket of Fruit, and it’s in my opinion their best work. This album sounds like the mindset of someone who is losing their entire God damn mind. Filled with ramblings of nonsensical words I’ve tried to decipher but have failed greatly, this album is a haunting nightmare-inducing experience. The album opens with the title track, an off the wall Hell ride that features abrasive tribal drums, manic sound textures, and Jamie’s obnoxious vocals with graphic lyrics detailing frogs jumping up a woman’s butthole, fucking a duck, and floating dicks. Yeah, it’s so absurd and humorous that even Jamie is aware enough to scream “Stop Laughing!” in the middle of one of the verses. The psychotic nature heightens even more on the following track “It Comes Out As A Joke,” where Jamie sounds like he’s in the midst of a bad acid trip while he destroys everything in his room. Picture Bob Geldof destroying his guitars and breaking furniture in Pink Floyd’s “The Wall.” It’s that kind of intensity but this song is even worse and makes that particular scene look like “Sesame Street.” The more ambient tracks like “Armargi ve Moo,” or “Ice Cream Truck” are more somber in tone, but are no less bizarre, with Jamie continuing to frantically rant these cryptic lyrics, and scathing violin that is the complete opposite of beautiful. Odd instrumental choices like these frequently appear throughout the album, like the weird chicken sound effects and incomprehensible audio clips on “Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy,” or the atmospheric sounds with tribalistic drums that echo the opening track on “Scisssssssors,” and with the bass in this production turned abrasively up and sounding intentionally  messy, it’s clear that the band wanted to create their most unsettling album yet, and my have they succeeded. Can this album become a bit of a gimmick at times? Most definitely, but what prevents this album from becoming a complete parody of “Industrial” or “Noise” music is that we all know by now the artistry of the band is completely sincere. They’re never about shock for shock’s sake, and Jamie sings on these tracks with overwhelming passion, but what most of these songs mean, whether they’re metaphoric or just flat-out nonsense is beyond me. I just strap myself in and enjoy this psychotic ride with a smile on my face. Maybe I need help.

Written By: Steven Sandoval 

Date: 02/13/19

Album Review: Le Butcherettes – bi/MENTAL

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Artist: Le Butcherettes

Album: bi/MENTAL

Genre: Alternative Rock/Post-Punk/Garage Rock/Art Rock

Rating: 8/10

Some musicians are just completely captivating, whether it be on record, or during a confrontational live show, some musicians just demand your attention. Teresa Suárez Cosío A.K.A. Terri Gender Bender is without a doubt one of those enthralling musicians. The Denver, Colorado born artist started playing guitar and writing songs at a very young age when her and her family moved to Mexico. She has embarked on countless music endeavors since she was fully established in the music business, everything from her “Bosnian Rainbows” project with frequent collaborator Omar Rodríguez-López, to her star-studded supergroup “Crystal Fairy,” you can bet she puts her blood, sweat, and tears into everything she does, but her main project, the one that has her full heart is “Le Butcherettes.” Starting out as a “Garage Rock” duo that drew a lot of influence from feminism, “Le Butcherettes” have had a rotating lineup throughout the years, which has lead the project to vastly shapeshift on each album. Their 2011 debut Sin Sin Sin was a minimalist howl that spoke on gender politics, their following album Cry Is For The Flies was a lot darker and sinister in nature without losing it’s thought provoking and immensely poetic lyricism, and the band’s third album A Raw Youth contained synth-heavy Glam with a grandiose presentation. One thing has remained among these style changes though, and that’s sole member Terri Gender Bender’s personality and distinct style. Her artistic style of deep cutting and sometimes zany vocals, raw and grungy guitar riffs, and her signature organ that sounds like a circus from Hell are all what makes her style so incredibly unique and intriguing, and on her new album with a new live band bi/MENTAL features all of these things and then some. Everything that has made the band so musically compelling is perfectly incorporated into the mix, but the melodic and lush delivery with an underlying sense of melancholy but strong self-aware ethos are all balanced out perfectly on this album, making this the band’s best work to date. bi/MENTAL is largely ambitious with artistic instrumentation filled with Proggy synths, “Post-Punk” ridden guitars, groovy basslines, and some of the best sounding drum work there has ever been on a “Le Butcherettes” record, but of course, the main thing that sticks out and immediately grabs the listeners attention is Terri Gender Bender’s impactful vocals and meaningful lyrics. There are recurring themes of mental illness and bipolar disorder on these songs, and how these things can be hereditary and run through a family’s bloodline. These subjects are poetically delivered and the myriad of changing emotions conveyed on these songs reflect the theme of bipolar disorder. One song can be about self-empowerment and conjuring up the courage to rid yourself of a toxic relationship like the track “strong/ENOUGH,” but then the emotion can completely change like on the track “in/THE END” where Terri sings “In the end we’re faithless. We’re just in search for guidance” speaking on the frantic and confused human condition. The ever-changing sentiments on these songs beautifully represent the mindset of most humans who can’t help but get lost in introspective thought, and Terri fearlessly delivers these themes, forcing you to hang on to every word that is said. Some of these tracks are largely collaborative. Jello Biafra of “Dead Kennedys” provides a spoken word outro on the opening track “spider/WAVES,” artist and activist Alice Bag provides vocals on the sinister sounding “mother/HOLDS,” and all of these songs are cleanly produced by Jerry Harrison of “Talking Heads” and “The Modern Lovers,” but as effective as these features are, none of them overshadow Terri Gender Bender. They probably couldn’t if they tried, because her artistry is completely captivating and it’s very evident that she is an important figure in modern “Rock.” There’s no doubt that she’ll continue to push the boundaries and provoke thought, and that is the kind of ambition we need in the music world today.

Written By: Steven Sandoval

Date: 02/04/19