After a deluge of new music in June, July was a comparatively quiet release month; luckily, quiet doesn’t mean there were not a ton of amazing sounds hitting our eardrums. Below, check out some music from the past two months that have been on heavy rotation at Undrcurrents HQ.
Madam Data – The Gospel of the Devourer
PTP is one of the most impeccably curated labels around, so when they the drop something new you should pay attention. The Gospel of the Devourer, their latest release, comes from Philly-based artist madam data. Noise music whose appeal is wider than its genre tag would imply, it’s an album of desolate soundscapes filled with burbling synths, unnerving ambiance, metal intensity and shards of noise. The track titles tell a story of intergalactic war, constructing the narrative that plays in your mind throughout the album. Wildly ambitious and cinematic, it may be the only noise opera you’ll hear this year.
April Magazine – Sunday Music For An Overpass
There’s just something in the San Francisco air that seems to inspire ramshackle jangle pop. Paisley Shirt Records has been documenting this phenomenon for years, and their latest release from April Magazine is yet another hit in a catalog full of them. The album is on the more shambolic side of the genre, moving between between Galaxie 500-like slowcore jams and etherial, drifting soundscapes with ease. The band can purportedly be found in the Bay Area playing these and other songs under highway overpasses at dusk, which sounds like the perfect venue to hear these lo-fi pop gems.
The Buildings – Heaven Is A Long Exhale
Call and Response Records has been a reliable source of sounds from the Japanese underground for years, but for their latest release sees them expanding beyond their home base to release the latest from Filipino band The Buildings. The Manila based quartet is clearly influenced by 90s indie rock; you can hear hints of classic groups like Pavement, The Breeders, Guided By Voices and more throughout Heaven Is A Long Exhale. Largely written and recorded during the pandemic, the songs are colored by that experience; in many cases tracks were recorded without ever being played in front of a live audience, resulting in a softer and subtler sound that was cultivated in the studio. Luckily the results speak for themselves; this is a pitch perfect indie pop album
Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective – Ngủ Ngày Ngay Ngày Tận Thế
Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective are a Ho Chi Min City based musical group that have been playing together since 2015. Their debut album is thrilling and headspinning, a set of warped electronic tracks that are filled to the brim with interlocking textures and fractured melodies. There’s so much going on that I still feel like I’m wrapping my head around it; you can hear wisps of Vietnamese traditional music, trap, drone and much more, all stitched together with the playful spirit of plunderphonics forebearers. With live performances that sound more like the brutal prog of Black Midi than the electronic vignettes here, it’s clear that this album only scratches the surface of what this group can and will do.
Arushi Jain – Under the Lilac Sky
Composer Arushi Jain’s sophomore album, Under the Lilac Sky, feels expansive and never ending. She uses Hindustani classical ragas as a compositional base and melds them with the modular synth sounds of composers like Suzanne Ciani and Laurie Spiegel. Jain also centers her voice on some tracks, which at times floats above and at others weaves itself between droning synths to stunning effect. The end result is something that wears its influences on its sleeve yet occupies a space all its own. Another album on this list composed for listening during sunset, it’s music that captures the fragile beauty of the twilight hours.
John R Miller – Depreciated
Country music is a genre built on storytelling, and on his debut solo album Depreciated, John R Miller proves himself to be a master one. Miller came up in the West Virginia DIY scene, getting his start in punk bands before transitioning to folk and country music in his early twenties. On this album, Miller spins tales of women, cars, and being young and down and out, all bound together by the concept of depreciation: no matter what we do, everything’s value will diminish over time. Despite its title, this is one album that seems destined to be remembers for years to come.
Claire Rousay + More Eaze – An Afternoon Whine
Although Texas musicians Claire Rousay and More Eaze have collaborated on projects in the past, An Afternoon Whine is the first one that was recorded with the two in the same room together. Announced shortly before dropping mid-month, the album is both a fringe pop masterwork and a portrait of the real life friendship between two musicians. Rustling sounds of their day together mingle with auto-tuned vocals, etherial guitar melodies and pulsing ambient soundscapes. It’s the type of music where the joy of creation is palpable; if only all music could feel this nourishing and alive.
Stice – I Need Cash!!!
No song has been lodged in my brain more over the past month more than “I Need Cash!!!”, the first single from Stice since signing to Ramp Local. Stice sounds like what would happen if you took the darkest corners of the internet, threw them in a blender and turned them into music. Throbbing electronic beats accompany lyrics that flit between profane, vulgar and nonsensical. It’s music that’s nasty in the best way possible, and I can’t wait to hear what’s next.