Artist of the Day: Julia Holter

When I heard Julia Holter’s “Horns Surrounding Me” on the radio (yes, I’m privileged enough to have a local indie station) a month or so ago, I felt sure I’d heard it before. That’s kind of strange, considering that song sounds like almost nothing else. The hook was brave, the song jarring and intense. It wasn’t just hinting at envelope-pushing like so much exciting new music, it was pushing with full force. The track is high point of tension Holter’s new album, Loud City Song, if tension is measured traditionally, with eerie note choices and discord. The rest of the record is... well, actually, it’s pretty difficult to make any kind of general statement about the rest of the record, except that it’s great. It’s riveting from start to finish, even if it starts slow and finishes with a formless 7 minute number. It’s defiant in form, but also classically excellent; there’s so much variation packed into this little bundle of sound, it feels like a feature film, with emotional highs and lows to boot. 

Artist of the Day: Frankie & the Heartstrings

As you may or may not have seen this week, Songkick have officially declared Local Natives the hardest working band on Earth over the past calendar year. How so? A calculation of total shows played combined with miles covered, which sees the LA group top the tree ahead of Kendrick Lamar and Alt-J, having amassed a commendable 188 shows and 192,486 miles. Now, I'm not about to argue with those figures, but what I will call into question is the criteria by which we define "hardest working." Should it be based purely on live endeavour (as has clearly been the case here), or should studio output also be considered? Alternatively, would it not also be wise to consider extra-curricular work; the type bands have no obligation to carry out, yet persevere with for the good of the musical community, be it on an international or merely local level. I can't offer a definitive answer, but if the latter is to have any influence, Sunderland's Frankie & the Hearstrings surely deserve a mention.

Artist of the Day: Rorcal

Key Release: Világvége (2013)

"You have no idea what to expect."

It’s the sort of line a band throws on packaging to dare you to buy its album. Nine times out of ten, the ploy works (and it’s exactly that, a ploy), but it’s that other ten percent in which the real meat of modern metal lies. That’s where the chimeras of heavy music dwell – the fearless bands with nothing to lose. It's where the visionaries come from, bands like Mastodon and Opeth who are now household names for their ingenuity and steadfastness. That's where Rorcal is clawing its way up from, and for a beast like Rorcal, every road from here on is the one not taken.

If you haven’t heard of Rorcal, you’re in the overwhelming majority. The quartet was birthed in Geneva in 2006, and made a name for itself by pounding the local scene in support of cult heroes like Knut, Red Sparrowes, and Wolves in the Throne Room. The outfit’s early sound owed much to its hardcore contemporaries, but by the time Myrra, Mordvynn, Marayaa dropped in 2008, Rorcal was waist-deep in doom and sludge metal. In the band’s eloquent words, “Somewhere between Drone, Doom and Black metal, let yourself go into the bowels of the whale.”

Artist of the Day: Dave Brubeck

It's been just over a year since legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck passed away, but his graceful playing, years ahead of its time with its "cool" jazz idiosyncrasies, will continue to live on and dominate my playlists for decades to come.  I consistently find myself immersed in Brubeck's prolific back catalogue come Christmas time, as his classic 1996 album, A Dave Brubeck Christmas, has become a personal holiday tradition of mine.  From the opening playfulness of "'Homecoming' Jingle Bells" to the contrasting somber "'Farewell' Jingle Bells" closing out the record, with additional amazing solos in "Winter Wonderland" and "The Christmas Song," I will forever wonder how A Dave Brubeck Christmas has bypassed becoming a December staple in everyone's yuletide household.

Artist Of The Day: Snowflake

I'm in Seoul, currently experiencing one of the coldest winters in recent memory. As I hide under my blankets and watch the snow swirl against the windows, I find myself gravitating towards all sorts of music--warm and sunny songs are comforting, but there's a dark appeal to tapping into stormier feelings, too. No wonder Snowflake has been on my playlist for a while: split the difference between Mogwai and Grizzly Bear and you still wouldn't come close to describing the New York art-rockers, who just released debut album We All Grow Towards The Sea this week. The band handles brooding melodies and textures with a surprisingly deft hand, producing songs as impressive as anything Mother Nature can conjure in scope and sound while showing off unexpected dynamic range, colorful instrumentation, and razor-sharp hooks. While every song, from the eerie piano ballad "Initials" to the spunky and powerful "Black Stars," is outstanding, if you only listen to one song, make it "Hurricane." Project leader D. James Goodwin doesn't so much ride over the song as sink into it with his hypnotic, drawling voice; meanwhile, the electronics, guitar and drum sink into the background before exploding two verses in, tearing the fabric of the song apart in a destructive display both visceral and beautiful. Throughout its debut, Snowflake suggests that perhaps this destruction is a good thing, that something better will grow in place of what the blizzards blow away.

Stream We All Grow Towards The Sea below (make yourself a good blanket fort before listening if you so desire), and find more on Snowflake at the band's Facebook.

Artist of the Day: Sun Kil Moon

Maybe it's the beginning of the cold, winter months or the first snow that makes Sun Kil Moon so relevant, but regardless, Mark Kozelek's brainchild is one that cannot be ignored. After leading the seminal 90's slowcore group, Red House Painters, Kozelek went solo under the moniker Sun Kil Moon. His slowcore roots stayed to an extent, but his playing excelled and flourished. Kozelek's knack for fingerpicking and arpeggios is beyond belief, and he rivals the skills of any prominent classical guitar player.

Sun Kil Moon's music is haunting beautiful, but mellow and inviting. Although the sometimes coldness of the lonesome guitar rings a bit too hollow, Kozelek's vocals are always warm as he transcends a level between singing and storytelling.

Kozelek's latest album, entitled Benji, is set to be released in February on his Caldo Verde label. It promises to be as sentimental and honest as every release he has put out prior, and it is one of my personal most highly anticipated albums of 2014.

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Artist of the Day: Pretty & Nice

I saw it again! A glitch in the matrix! A fold in consensus reality! A hole in the music-press net we’re told is impermeable! So, who cut it? Maybe let’s not think about it yet. I just listened to this record by a Boston band called Pretty & Nice that I’d never heard mention of before. It’s called Golden Rules for Golden People. It came out in April. I stumbled on it by chance, and it’s one of the best things I’ve heard all year. 

Artist of the Day: Withered Hand

Five years since his full-length debut, and nearly 18 months since his last release of any kind, news Dan Willson - aka Withered Hand - is on the comeback trail could not be more welcome. One of Britain's best-loved cult artists, the Edinburgh based indie folk musician finally emerged last month with a new song, "Black Tambourine," precursing the announcement of second album New Gods, due in February. Overseen by prominent Scottish producer Tony Doogan, the record promises a polished and expanded sound relative to previous works, with the lead track embodying this aesthetic shift. A streamlined, jangly gem of the highest order, its style is reflected by guest contributions from indie pop royalty in The Vaselines' Eugene Kelly and Pam Berry of, you guessed it, Black Tambourine - though crucially it's a step which feels natural as opposed to abrupt. With members of Belle & Sebastian, Frightened Rabbit and King Creosote also set to appear, this collaborative spirit looks to have carried over to an LP which, if time in the the works is any indicator, should be one of 2014's early highlights.

Artist of the Day: A Perfect Circle

Around the turn of the century Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan paired up with guitar tech Billy Howerdel to form A Perfect Circle, a new alternative rock group that pulled from all corners of influence and genre. Rounding out the lineup with drummer Josh Freese, Paz Lenchantin on bass and Troy Van Leeuwen on guitar, the group would make a big splash over the course of several years before fading away into the dust of hiatus and reuniting in 2010.

Artist of the Day: Self-Evident

You would think that after so many years, I would get sick of listening to math rock, but these great, oft-undiscovered bands have a way of constantly skittering out of the cyber woodwork.  My latest obsession hails from the snowy streets of Minneapolis and operates under the oddly meta moniker of Self-Evident.  Formed all the way back in 1997, these rhythmic engineers have been cranking out album after album (six in total) of addictive jazzy excellence that, regardless of their incontrovertible merit, have commonly been overlooked by those expected fans who gravitate toward the Kinsella form.  Sometimes, I suppose, even the unquestionable deserve a little push.

With hours of material to explore, Self-Evident's back catalogue can appear quite intimidating, but their 2012 offering, We Built A Fortress On Short Notice, is a good place to start.  There's the melodic beauty of "Bartertown," the classic genre brilliance of "In Cowardice" and the title track's other worldly post rock conclusion, just to name a few.  Of course, that's barely scraping the surface of this ocean of untapped mathy resources, so go on and get up.  This is happening right now. 

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Artist Of The Day: Kaskelott

Indie-rock has lost basically all meaning as a genre, but bands like Swedish quartet Kaskelott show the scene is still alive and well. The band's debut EP Retrospective showcases a knack for dark, groovy tunes as catchy as they are introspective. "Stay Together" opens the four-track effort amicably: guitar melodies weave into thick slabs of bass, while slow, sturdy drum beats move the song towards an inevitable sadness. Vocalist Joakim Örneblad is an appealing presence, earnest without ever being cloying, and the song's quieter moments allow him to show real vulnerability. From that foundation, the band expands in a number of directions. "Where You're Going" is a standout: pitched somewhere between Travis and The Lumineers, it brims with warmth, its subtle dynamic shifts and gentle pastoral instrumentation evoking a surprisingly resonant sense of longing. "It Matters," on the other hand, dares you to dance your demons away with its brooding synths and chugging beats before Örneblad exorcises them in the song's soaring chorus. The most interesting track, however, may be closer "Feelings (That I Shouldn't Feel)," which takes the band in more of a math-rock direction. The song's minimalist composition belies reservation, as if the band's trying to keep a tight grip on its own emotions, but the song's bridge subverts expectation by blooming in a brief moment of uplifting bliss. Kaskelott may not be reinventing the wheel with Retrospective, but the band still navigates into plenty of interesting spaces.

Stream "Feelings (That I Shouldn't Feel)" below and find more on Kaskelott at its Soundcloud and Facebook.

Artist of the Day: Wooden Shjips

When someone mentions the San Francisco psychedelic scene, it’s easy to think: Ty Segall. I mean, the guy is basically a scene all to himself. Releasing about a million albums a year, he does his best to flood the market. Spend all your time soaking in Ty’s seemingly endless material, though, and you’ll certainly miss out on some of the best the Bay Area has to offer. Wooden Shjips, with their most recent release, Back to Land, really took me by surprise. When I heard San Francisco garage, I heard fuzzy bang-up guitars and big melodies. This band is something else. 

Artist of the Day: Graph Rabbit

With a barren release schedule and the end of year list-athon fast approaching, late November is a window most music fans use to gaze back over the past 11 months, evaluating, re-listening and, of course, ranking their favourites in obsessive, time-honoured fashion. Clearly, some records are always going to be more prominent in our thinking ]than others, and this time last year it was Brooklyn's Graph Rabbit who occupied the forefront of my own mental rundown. A serene, slow-burning wintry masterpiece, Snowblind perhaps made a bigger impression on me than any other record in 2012, and although word of its existence barely escaped blogs such as our own, it was an entrance which truly felt like the beginning of something valuable.

Artist of the Day: The Damned Things

As metalcore heroes Every Time I Die kick off a new tour with letlive. and Code Orange Kids this week, Fall Out Boy revs its pop engine across the U.S. It's easy to forget heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things, consisting of Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman of Fall Out Boy, Scott Ian of Anthrax, Rob Caggiano of Volbeat and ex-Anthrax, Keith Buckley of Every Time I Die and Josh Newton who has since left Every Time I Die, these big-name artists created a big sounding alter ego rooted in hard rock and punk that's worth your time more than almost everything on the radio.

Artist of the Day: Death

Key Release: Symbolic (1995)

There may have been earlier death metal bands (Possessed is often credited with being the first), but none shaped the genre with way the aptly-named Death did. The brainchild of guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, Death released its debut Scream Bloody Gore in 1986 to the shock and awe of fans who previously had thought they knew “heavy.” Full of horror-themed lyrics and sporting gruesome cover art, Death’s first three albums (Scream Bloody Gore, Leprosy, and Spiritual Healing) laid the blueprint for bands like Morbid Angel and Deicide who would take the genre to new popular heights.

Artist of the Day: Mylets

I often find myself being very skeptical of one-man bands.  My initial thought is always the same: Is it really that hard to get along and play with other musicians? Henry Kohen, the mastermind behind Mylets' euphoric, loop-driven melodies, certainly seems like he could use some help on stage, as he is simultaneously playing, singing, setting tempos, tapping pedals and using his almost never free hands to program percussion among loads of other instruments, but just because he's somehow amazingly doing everything by himself doesn't mean he's some self-obsessed diva, too good to work with anyone else.  In fact, Kohen was the only member of his old band willing to completely give up his life for music, and seeing where he is now, I think it's fair to say he made the right choice.

Artist Of The Day: CFCF

Michael Silver invites as much as he terrifies. Better known as ambient electronic artist CFCF, he composes sparkling minimalist gems that, in their own mysterious way, tap into something visceral, even as their murky production and sound betray little. Take his recent experiment, the Music For Objects EP, where he wrote short pieces for everyday objects like keys, cameras and glass: Silver opted to hint at these items' hidden essences through subtle instrumentation and songwriting instead, making for an engaging, rewarding listen. His patience and faith in the listener's intelligence pays dividends on his most recent release, Outside, which feels at turns adventurous and reserved, playful and haunting. If you look too close at these soundscapes, they'll shiver your soul, but you won't be able to peel your eyes away either.

Find more on CFCF at his official site and stream the first track from Outside below.

Artist of the Day: Weatherbox

San Diego's Weatherbox is one of the most underrated outfits in all of current music. The brainchild of vocalist/guitarist Brian Warren has undergone multitude of lineup changes over the bands six-plus year career, but they remain just as brash and innovative since their debut album, American Art. Weatherbox plays a style of alternative/indie rock that is angular and jutting. Guitars are crisp, yet distorted, while Warren's voice has a distinct tinge to it. Often reminiscent of early Modest Mouse, Warren's words are thought provoking and cryptic. The music that backs him up is just as unique, with almost progressive aspects to it. Fans of early Say Anything and At The Drive-In will find Weatherbox to be an interesting cocktail with a new twist.

The band has only two albums and a handful of EPs under their belt, but a new release is planned for sometime next year, as they have just recently signed to Triple Crown Records. Keep your ears open for that, as it should be as immensely golden as all of Weatherbox's back catalogue.

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Artist of the Day: Boards of Canada

This past month has brought a highly anticipated and long overdue event in the electronic music calendar: the reissue of almost the entire Boards of Canada catalogue. Men everywhere who post on internet forums and wear vintage clothing are said to be stoked. I should know, I’m one of them.

Artist Of The Day: Death Grips

Somehow, Death Grips keeps surprising us. A little over a year after leaking No Love Deep Web without their label's permission, they've come out of nowhere to release the brand new album Government Plates. While "Birds" was released in August, the strangeness and out of nowhere posting of the track made it feel like a one-off. However, it seems that was simply a teaser for this record. "Birds" isn't quite a strong indication of the sound of the record, however the one correct sign you may get from it is that the record is far more focused on the beats and features more vocal-less parts. Even during the rapped parts, the vocals seem to be turned down lower than before, giving Zach Hill and Flatlander the spotlight rather than their weirdly worshipped frontman MC Ride. It's definitely an interesting listen, if not their best, and worth downloading. You can download Government Plates for free right here, and stream it on their Soundcloud.