With 25 records I’ve managed to check out over the course of the past few months, I will cover around 13 of them in the first half of this instance of Capsule Review. It’s worth throwing in an aside that this first half will feel a bit more ‘negative’ in the sense that only one of the reviews here will have a 4+ rating on it. At best, there might be a couple of records that I might find either too weird or be just on the verge of being a very pleasing listen had it not had some glaring flaws. At worst, let’s just say that I’ll go off on a tirade about the fall of the music industry as we know it…
Goat – Medicine (13 October 2023)
Eccentric avant-rock Swedish band Goat have been in the business since the late 2000s although they claimed that they’re just the recent incarnation of their hometown’s long-standing tradition. With Medicine, the typically psychedelic direction and production feels as if it went completely overboard, forsaking a moment of breather in accessible tunes in favour of nonstop waviness and raga influences. It’s a very densely edited record that is excessive in its sound as the fuzzy vocals and distorted guitars leaves little room for thought or nuance. Although tracks like ‘I Became the Unemployment Office’ might sum up best the ways psychedelia mixes with heavy metal, nearly all of the album doesn’t work on me at all. It’s definitely one that’s based on personal taste. 0.4/5
Filipe Catto – Belezas São Coisas Acesas por Dentro (26 September 2023)
Brazilian Filipe Catto rose up to prominence throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s for their songwriting, rock instrumentation, and distinct singing starting with the EP. Belezas São Coisas Acesas por Dentro sees much of Catto’s artistry come through with major inspirations from the legendary Gal Costa. While there’s no doubt that Catto’s singing is at its most conventionally impressive, the guitar works & vocal echoes simply don’t sway me as much as I would’ve liked. The contemplative theme of heartbreak is one that you can feel even if you don’t understand the lyrics thanks to the minor keys of the whole instrumentation. With some nice highs as a compliment, there’s some props that could be given to Catto even if it’s not exactly among one of the craziest albums I’ve listened to this year. 3.3/5
Sam Wilkes – DRIVING (6 October 2023)
Sam Wilkes had previously dabbled in a lot of jazz prior to what feels like a big left turn on DRIVING which positions anecdotes about longing for a partner that you can’t get back. You can sense the alienness of the whole project through its electronic backing which puts you on guard in the muddled state of recollecting someone you used to know (pun intended). In retrospect, you can make out the post-repetition of minimalism and the small orchestration that mirrors a chamber composition in the album. Yet, its execution can at times feel as if there are some bits that are to be desired and the attempts to dive into hypnagogic pop meander more than empathise. Definitely one of the more interesting conceptual albums in premise even if it can feel a bit dreary with its ambitions. 3.2/5
Chris Brain – Steady Away (6 October 2023)
Not one to hide his idolisation of Nick Drake, Chris Brain is among one of the aspiring folk singer-songwriters in the local Leeds scene. His notably baritone singing and delicate fingerpicking makes for a clear comparison between his biggest inspiration and himself. Thus, when Steady Away comes through as his sophomore release, what could’ve been an easy time to deride the lack of identity is instead met with a genuine kind of distinction. The folk baroque sound that often defines Drake’s melancholia is replaced with a subtle sense of optimism, a hopeful ode to the pastoral scenery and a certain level of respect to the subliminal nature. With lush orchestration and gorgeously evocative imagery, it’s easy to imagine Brain’s songwriting as based in one way or another as being reminiscent of Romanticism. If there’s anyone who shows that they have what it takes to inspire with their poetry in the near future, may Chris Brain take the glory. 4.3/5
CoCec – The Inimitable (3 March 2023)
The Arizona-based hip hop duo CoCec is among the signed names in Fang Over Fist Records whose name didn’t exactly enjoy a far-reaching influence. With The Inimitable, there’s a strong focus placed on the autobiographical background surrounding the emcee .smallz.’s everyday life and his thoughts on the way that we perceive each other in life. The beats are largely from the boom bap period by Tsoh Tso which admittedly doesn’t stand out as much as I would’ve liked. At the same time, .smallz.’s rapping doesn’t sway me as much as the likes of Aesop Rock or Eminem. However, there are moments where the featured singing feels magical when you throw in some restrained ringing of the guitar; few tracks feel as nostalgic and bittersweet as ‘All That You Wanted’ with Donivan Berube. It might not be a cream of the crop, but one can’t help but feel reassured that there’s some retro-styled throwback to when rapping is centred around rhymes and flow. 3/5
Lamp – Dusk to Dawn (10 October 2023)
One of the forefront Shibuya-Kei bands have returned with a jazz-centric record that rests on the directions of sophisti-pop and chamber pop. The quaint piano notes, lush guitar riffs, and genteel singing from both Kaori Sakakibara and Yusuke Nagai helps to make one of the more mellowly enjoyable albums of this year. While I do feel that its chillness might be missing a certain bite that makes it innovative or otherworldly in one way or the other, Dusk to Dawn’s refined production truly helps to make for an experience. One that would make you consider looking into one of Japan’s most eclectic subgenres even if veteran listeners might find it to be relatively ‘average’ as to say. 3.8/5
Nas – Magic 3 (14 September 2023)
Legendary New York emcee Nasir Jones is at his final lap with Hit-Boy as his go-to producer since 2019 with the trilogies of King’s Disease (big shout out to the second and third) and Magic. Magic 3 sees Nas rap about his talent, wealth, womanising, the usual which might be a bit tiresome if you’re hoping for some more left-field deviations from him. Meanwhile, the beats continue to be among the better ones that he ever rapped in with R&B, souls, even trap being mixed into it. With that being said, there are moments where Nas’s skills get evocative with his signature storytelling based on gossip around the NY scene only to get flipped in its excitement by his weird bars about getting laid. It might be a midlife crisis moment, but I guess the record does at least land all right even if it might not have the shine of the other records. 2.4/5
Wilco – Cousin (29 September 2023)
Seems like Jeff Tweedy’s itching for an opportunity to make a relatively inventive record much like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Cousin stands out for its overt psychedelia that’s been established back in ‘Infinite Surprise’ and indeed, its uneasy creeping of the synths adds some tension to the violin-like guitars. Much of the record tries to mediate on self-reflection and while it does land well thanks to its mellow instrumental performances as in ‘Sunlight Ends’, it falters when it doesn’t land its experimentation with a certain precision. This is notable in ‘Pittsburgh’ when the noise blurs the nice guitar picking. It tends to be a pleasure for Wilco to try and toy around with their musical inspirations which leads to some of their best works. With that being said, the flippish moments of execution might at times make Cousin feel less rewarding as a listen compared to Cruel Country… 3/5
torr – Molecule (28 July 2023)
torr is one of the numerous hyperpop artists from the US and while the genre was extinguished aside from a handful of names, he remains interested in its weirdness. Molecule contains the usual twee indietronica that’s often rooted in emo rap’s modern angst. The combination of the youthful singing, glitchy production, and well-grounded adherence to the pop formula makes for a pleasant listen if you ever want to shut your brains off. However, it’s this obedience that makes for a critical weakness. It might have a nice vibe, but there’s nothing about Molecule that makes it stand out in comparison to Frost Children or Charli XCX. Fans of the genre might love it, but you might wish for a more comprehensive outlook influence-wise if you were to check this out with high expectations. 3/5
Dream – To Whoever Wants to Hear (1 September 2023)
Whether we think of an online personality, we tend to envy the seemingly infinite possibilities that they get to try out while we tend to preoccupy ourselves with the one ‘personal brand’ that makes us one-dimensional. We are green-eyed at the fact that they get to make a bank out of mere hobbies, we are jealous of the attention given to their everyday trivialities, we cheer at the prospect of their potential obscurity. Dream’s debut EP, consisting of seven songs that make up the total of just under 17 minutes, remind us of the importance of preserving artistic integrity. It’s the emo-rap-pop that tries to come off as relatable to the Zoomers and Alphas without the postmodern pop-culture twists of 100 gecs. It feels inauthentic even though he narrates a bit about his life from time to time. It falls short even on singing which feels indifferent compared to other contemporaries. It’s an equivalent to making toilet humour out of soiled pants and marketing it as the highlight of your comedy routine. When you compare it to Charles Bissell’s single in ‘Old Death’ as Car Colors, it’s depressing how Dream have managed to amass tens of millions of listens on Spotify compared to a clearly talented music veteran who saw little attention post-Wrens. This is the kind of song that Boomers would complain about whether they reminisce about the good ol’ days. It’s that offensive. 0/5
World’s End Girlfriend – Resistance and the Blessing (9 September 2023)
Long, dense, dizzying. World’s End Girlfriend is the stage name of the Japanese musician and record producer Katsuhiko Maeda whose electronic songwriting draws comparison to the textures of post rock and modern classical music. Resistance and the Blessing is one big bricolage both in influences with glitch, ambient, noise, and sound collage production and in length. Its use of samples with the opera and its heightened sense of grandeur would at times feel so excessive that it dances around between being too pretentious and too overwrought in its ambitions. As it tries to soar high in its layers, its thunder thuds instead. Too long, too clutterful, too much feels like the ethos here and sometimes, it’s better to cut the fat if you want to show how good your artistry is. 1.5/5
KOJAQUE – Phantom of the Afters (27 October 2023)
A proud Irish emcee since 2018 with his EP titled Deli Daydreams, KOJAQUE (a.k.a. Kevin Smith) has rapped about working-class life and identity for a good while. In Phantom of the Afters, he muses over his past, his nationality, and love life in a way that feels tied to his personal development as both an artist and as a person. If the beats, which are made up largely of trap-esque hi-hats and the boom bap kicks with sax mixed in, might not be up to more experimental tastes, then you might be in for a surprise with how mature this work feels. With frank admissions of not living up to the player lifestyle and how difficult his family life is, there’s a kind of consistent vulnerability that could be found here even if the technicality might not feel mind-blowing at times. At least with a couple of pop culture allusions, there’s a certain hope that could be found in wanting to be remembered the same way as the most beloved tragic heroes in our imagination. 3/5
Katie Dey – Never Falter Hero Girl (27 October 2023)
Katie Dey is an American music artist who generally leans toward oblique indietronica for a long time since nearly a decade ago. Never Falter Hero Girl seeks to make a breakthrough with the contrapuntal decision to both include glitchy production and chamber instrumentation. Its density might give off the impression of being a hyperpop product at least in inspiration, but it doesn’t give off the same aura of chaos or rather, the overt focus on online culture. Instead, like fairies that are emerging out of their rigid societal expectations, there’s that certain homoromantic subtext where there’s the desire to be together underneath the synths and the autotune. It’s by no means fantastical in examining LGBT+ subtext compared to Born Gold a decade ago. However, Never Falter Hero Girl offers a kind of sentimentality in its sound that you might not expect from your average indietronic record even if the lyrics have yet to come out of the closet. 3.8/5
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