"The whole “Black metal influenced by Pink Floyd” thing has been in effect for around two decades now, but it finally attained perfection in the mind-blowing Absolute Elsewhere, a dizzying journey into the cosmos that manages to brilliantly fuse art rock’s sci-fi spaciousness with black metal’s relentless fury while compromising neither. Instead, it makes the collision sound, well, natural: Witness, two minutes into the first movement of “The Stargate,” the way the pummeling riffage effortlessly gives way to a vast, winding, weirdly moving instrumental passage featuring a haunting pipe organ melody and taut, pizzicato guitars. Or how the spectral, synth-y second movement suddenly erupts in an explosion of guitar and roared vocals. They deliver the coup de grace in the second movement of “The Message,” when vocalist Paul Riedl—an absolute dead ringer for David Gilmour here—sings over and over, “Can you hear them calling your name?” I sure can, Paul; and wherever they’re going, I want them to take me along." – J. Edward Keyes
"I’m just gonna go ahead and take the liberty of calling this Dan Snaith’s pop record, a half-hour blast of sunshine that rip-roars its way through a kaleidoscope of mainstream dance music styles, giving all of them a distinctive Caribou twist. Look no further than “Volume,” an early payoff built on a hefty sample of M|A|R|R|S’s timeless “Pump Up the Volume.” Snaith could have vivisected the source material, but he doesn’t—instead, he serves up the song’s hook and that classic piano chord pretty much as-is, just tweaking the rhythms and layering in other elements to amplify it. In other words, the thrill of recognition is exactly the point. Again and again—on tracks like the breezy, soaring “Over Now” and the Daft Punk-y “Come Find Me”—Snaith aims for the pleasure centers and hits a bullseye every time. Honey is not so much a record to obsessively dissect as it is a record to play at high volume—preferably late at night, preferably in a room packed with friends. It is the sound of pure, uncomplicated joy." – J. Edward Keyes
"On Queda Livre, 25-year-old Caxtrinho weaves tales of social injustice and class inequality with clear intent, drawing on personal experiences from his hometown of Belford Roxo—a gritty neighborhood on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro—while adding a nebulous quality that blurs the lines between myth and reality. Tracks like “Cria de Bel” navigate the space between personal narrative and social commentary, relating raw vignettes of everyday Black life with psychedelic contours. Binding all this together is the electric crackle of Caxtrinho’s live band, adding verve to the artist’s singular gift for avant-storytelling." – Filipe Costa
"There’s a temptation to employ the ol’ phoenix metaphor when talking about the first Julie Christmas album in 14 years, except the Julie Christmas on Ridiculous and Full of Blood isn’t a phoenix; she’s a wild-eyed, feral vulture swooping down to pluck out your spleen and peck out your eyes with her razored beak. Throughout, the band constructs imposing towers of guitar—big, steely chords that glare menacingly downward. And in the center, Christmas just goes fully bananas; arguably one of metal’s best vocalists, her performance here is a wonder of extremes, from Björk-like chirps to full-throated bloody-murder howls. (If there was a better rock song in 2024 than “Supernatural,” I must have missed it.) Where predecessor The Bad Wife had a kind of ruined Victorian theatricality in its riffs, here the songs crest in giant, post-rock-y explosions—guitars rocketing up sky-high while Christmas shrieks from the center. It is, to use technical language, a fucking stunner. Hopefully, the next one will arrive before I hit retirement age." – J. Edward Keyes
"Dummy‘s sophomore record is a deeply creative work of neu psychedelia that lives up to its sparky title and feels a natural and bold follow-up to the 2021’s more studious Mandatory Enjoyment. In contrast to that record’s pandemic-era quiet-time vibes, Free Energy is an ecstatically-minded record full of club bangers inspired by live performance and the physicality of music—but also with field recordings, spaced-out jazz interludes, more textured rhythms, guest appearances from Cole Pulice and Jen Powers, and other sonic choices that make sense in Dummy’s technicolor world. All the high-minded moving parts and the band’s tendency towards letting their pop songs dissipate into cosmic dust doesn’t mean you can’t dance to it—just look out for that (what else?) wall of flutes. Also! While this music feels digital, do yourself a favor and listen to Free Energy on vinyl if you can. The analog format lends the music a depth and richness that makes for a more immersive experience, signaling that no matter how exploratory Dummy’s music may become, it feels most impassioned when grounded in the human qualities of rock." – Mariana Timony
"The world is on fire in REVELATOR, and Elucid is struggling to reconcile the dualities. “Sunshine and tear gas/ Flash bang/ Kool-Aid Man bust through the walls/ To the victor, spoils/ Even rebels gotta pause when blood spilled so casually.” Throughout Revelator, images arrive in short, sharp bursts—“Bad pollen/ Waiting on money/ Thinking of murder/ Eating darkness,” goes one passage—mirroring not so much our current barrage of information as rapid gunfire in war zones. The production—provided by everyone from underground mainstays Child Actor to harsh noise duo Saint Abdullah to Elucid himself—mirrors that feeling of claustrophobia. On “Slum of a Disregard,” blasts of distorted guitar interrupt a sweaty, frantic rhythm track; on “SKP,” humid ambient tones hang far in the distance, like threatening storm clouds. As always, though, the album’s focal point is Elucid. Both solo and in his work with Armand Hammer, he’s perfected the art of crafting free-associative bars that demand both attention and contemplation. The album’s title is a reference to the apostle John who wrote the Book of Revelation, and on Revelator, Elucid sounds more prophetic than ever—looking for moments of joy where they can be found, ever aware of the wrath to come." – J. Edward Keyes
"No wonder Amaro Freitas was able to collaborate with esteemed guests across multiple continents—including Hamid Drake, Shabaka Hutchings, Aniel Someillan, and Brandee Younger; he can do absolutely stunning things with a piano. Y’Y isn’t just an exchange of brilliant musical ideas though; it was also an opportunity for Freitas to tap deep into shared African roots, and to connect over concerns about the impact the human race is having on planet Earth. Such positive interactions between a multitude of multicultural voices led to an album of top-notch improvised music that flies way beyond simple categorizations like “jazz” or “Brazilian music.”" – Andrew Jervis
Really lovely stuff. Especially loving the prepared piano work and the snaky percussive rhythms coaxed out of it.
"This is UK saxophonist Nubya Garcia’s follow-up to her impressive debut album, SOURCE. Produced by Garcia along with Kwes, Odyssey has an arching scope, a wide-open feeling befitting the title. There’s a lushness to the music thanks to Garcia’s core band and her relaxed, muscular playing. Guest singers like Esperanza Spalding and Georgia Anne Muldrow—the latter featuring on the monumental “We Walk in Gold”—appear as guides on this musical journey. The album is tremendously expansive in every dimension, both epic and intimate. Garcia’s themes, like on the title track and “Water’s Path,” are heavy with complex feelings. Follow the whole path to a moving experience."
"From language and identity to scope and sound, the seventh long-player from Brooklyn-based Roberto Carlos Lange, aka Helado Negro, spans dimensions. “LFO (Lupe Finds Oliveros)” and “Es Una Fantasia” act as bombastic bookends while “Echo Tricks Me” is lush, lending weight to more threadbare moments, like the beats-y “I Just Want To Wake Up With You,” the thoughtful “Out There,” and the contemplative “Colores del Mar.” As on Lange’s previous records, PHASOR’s main concern is with attrition of times and place, and the realization that the personal, no matter how one externalizes it, is inherently political." – Mike McGrath-Bryan
"It’s a bit strange to think about, but Iglooghost has become an institution of weirdo online electronic music. Seamus Malliagh is merely 27 years old yet he’s become omnipresent in this sphere, a testament to his work ethic and the way he’s pushed the “wonky” genre forward. On Tidal Memory Exo, he once again strays from an expected path, combining deconstructed club and grime in a dizzying combo. “flux•Cocoon” feat. Oli XL and “Pulse Angel” feat. Rocks FOE typify this mode, with the rappers being laundered through an absolute storm of production tricks, the standard UK beats blown away by Iglooghost’s frantic meddling. Tidal Memory Exo is Malliagh’s way of saying, “Who’s got it like me?”" – Eli Schoop
"As drummer for psychedelic noise rock unit Dreamdecay, Justin R. Cruz Gallego established his underground rock bona fides before striking out on his own with 2021’s Ajo Sunshine. Marking his debut for Sub Pop, G.I.S.M. bristles with spiky tonal shifts taken from experimental rock, and complex, interlocking rhythms inspired by Gallego’s Latino heritage. “34” interrupts its droning post-punk with a keyboard solo straight out of Stevie Wonder’s ‘70s era before disintegrating in a cloud of granulated noise, while “Cholla Beat” segues from aggressive Sonic Youth strumming into a forlorn coda that gets carried away by the wind. Handling most of the instruments himself, Gallego balances the organic and synthetic textures with a tightrope walker’s grace." – Erick Bradshaw
"This album’s collaborations read like the guest list to a once-in-a-lifetime party of adventurous musicians—the kind that us mere mortals wish we were cool enough to be invited to. Marshall Allen, Laraaji, Laurie Anderson, Terry Riley, Jlin,, and RP Boo are all under this one roof—along with many more. The crowning glory coming-together moment is the opening track, where Georgia Anne Muldrow’s vocal swings as if June Tyson was still with us, dancing atop Jacob Garchik’s arrangement of the perfectly unhinged Kronos Quartet. They did Sun Ra proud." – Andrew Jervis
"The inevitability of change, the immutability of love, and the beauty of California are the narrative threads tying together News of the Universe, a lush work of peak psychedelia from La Luz that draws its mind-expanding qualities not so much from its sonics—though producer Maryam Qudus (now a member of the band) adds a gorgeous alien touch to frontwoman Shana Cleveland’s surrealistic songs—but from the raw beauty of its emotional journey, which chronicles a space of time in which Cleveland gave birth to her son and was then diagnosed with and successfully treated for breast cancer. The life-changing quality of these experiences are mirrored on News of the Universe, which is also in constant flux: musical phrases arise to never return and songs circle in on themselves; lyrics from Cleveland seem to glimpse the world within the world, third eye trained on the simmering psychedelic underbelly of California as she spins through her heavy, sophisticated rock songs with the graceful air of a ballerina, each proto-metal guitar solo matched with feather-light close harmonies beamed in from Neptune." – Mariana Timony
"Deep into MG Ultra, the explosive sixth album from Machine Girl, Matt Stephenson delivers an apocalyptic motto to live by: “If I gotta eat shit, I’m ready.” They’re not bluffing. If 2020’s breakout U-Void Synthesizer made the New York noise duo cult darlings, and 2022’s soundtracks for the video game Neon White took that audience globally, then this record marks the moment where the misfits take it to the masses. On songs like “Sick!!!” and “Cicadas,” they temper their dissonance with just enough structure and stickiness to lure in the curious before subjecting them to the rave equivalent of hazing, all gabber BPMs and piercing synths. And yet, coming out of a year where AI slop flowed like water, bot farms proliferated like weeds, and billionaire politicos proposed austerity initiatives named after literal meme currencies, Machine Girl’s deep-web ruckus is deeply resonant, even relatable—and ultimately, liberating." – Zoe Camp
"These songs about depression and bipolar disorder seem to beckon the listener to come closer, to be still. Otherwise, you’ll miss achingly heartfelt lyrics tamped down to a whisper. You’ll fail to appreciate the bare-twig loveliness of Daudi Matsiko’s guitar playing, sparse until it flowers in glorious eddies of tone. The rich swathes of long cello notes that vibrate through “oMo (Man)” won’t resonate in your chest, and the swirls of saxophone rising through “Fool Me as Many Times as You Like” will not make you dizzy with beauty—but lean in, and fragile, tender melodies will take root, the fact that you had to concentrate to hear them making them even more precious." – Jennifer Kelly
"As you might expect from an album that opens with an extended lyrical riff on Digital Underground’s “Humpty Dance,” Service Merchandise is an album with its gaze fixed backward. But Previous Industries—Open Mike Eagle, STILL RIFT, and Video Dave—are too savvy to simply serve up sepia-toned flashbacks (or, worse, a litany of complaints about how “things aren’t what they used to be”). Instead, Service Merchandise uses the past as a jumping-off point to consider the here and now. “Don’t dwell, gotta keep it present,” Video Dave cautions on “White Hen,” and throughout Service Merchandise, echoes of the past appear in revised form in adulthood. “They stole my bag out of my locker, I reclaimed my bag,” Dave raps on “Babbages,” and then, “I asked the doctor fix my shoulder, pain came right back.” Throughout, the three players have the same combustible chemistry as classic De La Soul, and they gamely pass the baton over beats that draw on smoky piano jazz and moody, ‘60s soundtrack instrumentals. As the album goes on, the way then seamlessly gives way to now begins to mirror the accelerating passage of time itself—from 7 years old to 27 to 47 in the blink of an eye. “Everything’s priced to go,” warns the chorus of “Fotomat.” Beneath its references to G.I Joe and Nickelodeon is an album that’s all too aware of the ticking clock." – J. Edward Keyes
"Over four albums, Rosali has evolved from a wry but heartfelt acoustic folk singer to the wrangler and chief instigator of one of the best country rock bands on the planet. Bite Down brings the Nebraska jammers from Mowed Sound further forward into the spotlight, putting a smoldering ache under “Hills on Fire” and a Crazy Horse swagger into sprawling “Change Is the Form.” Add to this the quiet power of Rosali’s singing and the fearless intimacy of her words, and you get one of the strongest, most moving records of 2024." – Jennifer Kelly
"For her sophomore album, the Caribbean-Belgian composer Nala Sinephro plotted the trajectories of jazz and ambient music and aimed for where they would intersect. Like a NASA satellite, Endlessness hit its mark perfectly and then kept going, seeking what lies beyond those orbits. She was helped in her launch by stars from London’s young jazz scene: Lyle Barton on piano, Nubya Garcia on sax, Black Midi’s Morgan Simpson, and Sons of Kemet’s Natcyet Wakili on drums. However, this is Sinephro’s record through and through, ascending so gradually on her arpeggiated synth lines and delicate harp that we hardly realize we’ve left the atmosphere. Study it closely and Endlessness is as complex as astronomy; take a step back and it dazzles like the night sky." – Matthew Blackwell
"SML’s debut is a switched-on jazz record that began life as a series of improvisations which were subsequently chopped, screwed, changed, and rearranged in home studios across L.A. The result is something potent and fermented—“Greg’s Melody” has the insular, fractal quality of something off Bon Iver’s 22, A Million, while “Industry” approaches the expansive, lolloping grooves of Can or Harmonia, and “Rubber Tree Dance” boasts a latticework of electronic percussion overlaid with patient, considered horns. There are worlds of all sizes contained within these fine 13 tracks." – Will Ainsley
"Initially rising to prominence through his thought-provoking guitar instrumentals, Portuguese artist Rafael Toral has spent the vast majority of the new millennium in a kind of self-imposed exile, fittingly known as The Space Program, a 13-year ambient-electronic endeavor centering around self-made musical gadgetry. As his first collection of guitar music to emerge since that extra-dimensional period, Spectral Evolution is, by definition, a homecoming; at the same time, its subversive jazz philosophy (see “Changes,” a deconstruction of George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”) and ambient undertones demonstrate a quantum leap where technique and form are concerned. It’s a bit ironic, really: Through the simple act of circling back, Toral leads us straight to a wellspring of creativity, and potentially, the future of guitar music." – Zoe Camp
"You’re down with dungeon synth, but have you delved into druid-core? Like heavy fog pierced by moonlight, this Welsh-language trio (whose name translates to “The Sadness of Women”) conjures an atmosphere thick with foreboding yet streaked with beauty. Using a pair of zithers, bass guitar, and electronic drums, the Leeds-based group combines ancient tradition with modern technology, like Dead Can Dance playing a set at Hadrian’s Wall. On “Y Trawsnewidiad” (The Transformation), Tristwch Y Fenywod sings “On the edge of the forest/ The terrifying sound of invisible creatures,” but they have the means to lull them—and you—into a state of enchantment." – Erick Bradshaw
"The latest from the contemporary giant of spiritual jazz starts off as a prayer and then turns into a party—many, many parties. Dense with exciting guests and collaborators—Thundercat, George Clinton, Taj Austin, and Ras Austin, and more—Fearless Movement is not just for the soul but the hips. Washington glides above the textures for melodies and solos, but the contemporary R&B and hip-hop are upfront in “Asha the First,” “Together,” and “Computer Love,” with Patrice Quinn’s vocals. The funk duet with Andre 3000, “Dream State,” is Washington at his best, and the album ends with “Prologue”—more goodness to come?" – George Grella