Soundtracks for the Grieving
I've always had a pretty widespread taste in music, ranging from metal to classical and a lot of in-between. There aren't a lot of genres I don't listen to, so I tend to find a lot that I like in the outskirts, either from friends' recommendations or just randomly thumbing through YouTube during my work day. I've come across some really great stuff that's been resonating with me recently, both emotionally and musically, so I I figured I'd do a little write up about what's been filling my headphones for the last couple months.
A lot of this will be too dark for most and definitely a little foreign, but I'd never steer you wrong when it comes to quality.
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Michael Arthur Holloway - "Guilt Noir"
Holloway was one of the first artists I stumbled across when seeking out a new genre I'd briefly heard about called "Doom Jazz." First off, I loved the name immediately, but then I took time to listen to many of the artists that seemed to fit into this genre. A lot of the genre conveys this smoky club at 3am vibe, where time has gone a little slippery and the drinks keep coming and somehow the universe opens up all its secrets to the listener. It is the smallest taste of David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" soundtrack. It is the lonely saxophone player on the fire escape of a New York alleyway at midnight, missing a lover from a decade before. There are other instances where the music is less rapturous and more chaotic, bringing a dark, cacophonic crunch to the ears. It is one of the more interesting genres I've stumbled across in quite some time.
Other artists to check out: Manet, Lowering, Bohren and Der Club of Gore, The Kiliminjaro Darkjazz Ensemble / The Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation, Mephistofeles, Dale Cooper Quartet and the Dictaphones, Murcof, The Orchestra of Mirrored Reflections, Bad Angels, Aging, Eric Truffaz
I stumbled across this one months ago during a particular ambient-influenced hunt for new tunes. I remember reading the description of this project and thinking "that sounds fascinating; I'll have come back to this." Of course, I neglected to save it in any of my playlists first, so when I thought about it again months later I couldn't remember the artist's name or the project's name, only the concept. This pissed me off.
Fast forward to two days ago (seriously) and it popped back up in my YouTube algorithm again at just the right time. It is an absolutely fascinating six and a half hours of music from start to finish. Here's the description of the project. You can hear the musical techniques being implemented to help achieve The Caretaker's conceptual goals. I love it.
"Everywhere at the End of Time was a series exploring dementia, its advancement and its totality.
Audio remembered, disfigured and forgotten by The Caretaker."
This project moves from 1920s jazz with some slight echo and fuzz effects around the edges to more effects added on in later tracks, accompanied with hard stops to the ends of songs. Later tracks devolve into more muted expressions, static noise, and then calm. It is a truly spectacular collection of work.
Big | Brave - A Gaze Among Them
Just...wow. I've been listening to this Canadian three-piece nonstop for the last five days. An old grad school friend of mine posted up about 10 different audio clips in his Instagram stories and I took the time to check them all out (as he's got a pretty wide and varied taste in quality tunes too). I was pretty much immediately captivated by their sound, checked them out on YouTube, and then bought everything I could.
I guess this is technically considered drone metal? Whatever it's called, I love it completely. It's a wave of loud, chunky guitars and mournful wailing/screaming that's been hitting me in all the right spots this week, especially as I drive between my new house and mom's to transport my things into a home I've not yet slept in. The female singer's voice just seems to add a little something extra, some kind of emotional heft to the music. They've got several albums, all of this same style of slow, lumbering, simmering anger that's just gorgeous.
If there are other bands out there like this, I need to find them.
Gojira - From Mars to Sirius
Progressive metal from France. I've been listening to these guys for months and I am unbelievably hyped on the new record that just got released. These guys have held my interest because of their absolutely bonkers musicality. Time signature changes, guitar techniques, and the lead singer's voice keep things fresh on pretty much every album.
From Mars to Sirius was the first album I heard from them (mostly because I liked the cover the best) with the track "Flying Whales" probably being my favorite off the album. I don't know what else to say about these cats other than I love putting their stuff on and cranking it up loud as fuck when I need to clean the house, move a bunch of stuff around, or I'm just in a 'mood.'
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