on the pulse - 2020 - week 45 - angel guide to starting over

This is another week full of striking contrasts - ethereal bliss and atmosphere juxtaposed with elements set to break it down in so many ways. Also one of those weeks I don’t pretend will get much traction because I’m also in the mode to cover more from my backlog, so let’s get On The Pulse!

blackwinterwells - seraph - So I’m not going to say I’m an expert by any means in the extremely online, hyperpop / bedroom pop / cloud rap / genre-pileup scenes; for me it’s more just keeping my ears on what’s coming out and trying to find the material that eventually resonates with me outside of snippets. So on that journey we now have blackwinterwells with this project from earlier in the year a patron requested, and ignoring that weird Twitter drama from a few weeks ago, what did we get with this? Honestly, I hear why blackwinterwells has gotten attention because there’s something to this - blending cloud rap with emo content is nothing new online but this leans much more heavily on misty, borderline Owl City shimmering texture and slightly askew melodies than driving trap percussion grooves, so it serves as a sharper contrast to the content that feels more blunt in the self-destructive relationships and painful isolation. Honestly, it’s so damn pretty that it’s easy to ignore how the melodramatic poetry leaning way too hard on religious symbolism can start running together pretty fast to the point where it’s a little one-note in its blissed out juxtaposition. And that can happen with music this airy - if you’re not gripped by its foundation points, which to me coalesces the best on ‘4aco’, it’ll wash over you and feel pleasant, but maybe not last, especially given how short it is and how it loses steam on the back half. So… strong 6/10, it’ll work for its target audience, but it’s a bit insubstantial, so it might not last.

Bagdadski Vor - Колхида - So we’re going back a bit with this one, a Russian screamo act dabbling in math rock but not to the point where it actively detracts from structuring a competent melody or even a hook. In fact - and this is going to sound crazy - but for an album entirely in Russian with screamed vocals and the occasional math rock guitar switch-up and flourish, this might be one of the most openly welcoming and bright-sounding rock albums I’ve heard all year - this is an album that could well-serve as an entry point to the genre even beyond the language barrier! The lead work is really well-balanced, the groove sections are complex but not to the point where they actively detract from the central melody, and while the drumwork is wild and crashing, it’s complimentary! Hell, some of the major key passages wouldn’t be out of place in the heavier ends of pop punk, even if the tones or distortion lean a bit closer to the rougher jangle of shoegaze, but it produces a similar balance I like in my black metal between the soaring shimmer and thunderous roil, just this time in a compact twenty-five minute package that wastes none of your time. Now admittedly I was concerned before I translated the lyrics because I hoped it wouldn’t go awry… and again, not working off a great translation, but a lot of what I found was pretty damn compelling - breakups captured in abstract dreams, doomed hookups still chased in fire-lit nights, and on the song with the translated titled ‘Pied Piper’, what might be a sly political message against authoritarian strongmen who promise to fix everything and the blinkered masses who buy into it. Hell, there’s an undercurrent of revolutionary joy in a lot of the writing, that gets that the fight is exhausting and lonely and death might be inevitable, but the spark of life to be created from its end and lived along that way, especially in unseating the old and corrupted ways to look forward… coming from Russia, those are some interesting and provocative themes that I’m surprised haven’t received more attention. And from beyond that… look, I’ll freely admit I can struggle find a connection to projects that are in different language… but I think this albums soars and burns so brightly it blew threw all of it… and it’s one of the best I’ve heard all damn year. light 9/10, not a bad moment on this, it will be overlooked, but it’s something truly damn special.

LORN - THE MAP - So we’ve actually got two quasi-industrial instrumental albums that I wanted to go through - and even if you don’t recognize the name, I bet more of you will recognize this guy than you might think. Lorn is an electronic producer who has been active throughout the 2010s - originally on Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, then went even more indie, but where I reckon more of you might recognize him is the Killzone Shadow Fall soundtrack, which he produced entirely in 2014, as well as having his music show up in a few movies and TV shows like CSI and Silicon Valley. So if you’re into a brand of polished but murky and gurgling industrial with smatterings of dubstep, his early work might be up your alley, but in recent years he’s slid towards dark ambient music and with this EP, which is more of a collection of “singles” before he puts out a full-length at some point… all of which feels more interesting than these three songs are. Have to be blunt, outside of some impressive sound design in terms of mix depth and texture, I didn’t get much out of these at all, mostly because like LORN’s work in the past few years it has felt increasingly directionless in its jagged synths that are more buzzing presence than tune, with little in the way of a build or a hook. Now this could work if the textures or progressions we did get were unique… but outside of how much the bass can swamp out the mixes and maybe an okay groove every now and then, the dour melodic progressions aren’t nearly as experimental or thought-provoking in their weirdness; they almost feel out of obligation, with the compositions just fizzling out when they run out of ideas that Arca didn’t do better six years ago. In other words, maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the cream of the crop when it comes to experimental electronic music, but this felt very rote and forgettable - strong 5/10, take it or leave it.

Dead Meat - The End of Their World is Coming - And here’s the second one… and again, this might be a bit more familiar than you realize, because Dead Meat is the side project of Algiers member Ryan Mahan, a debut that pulls on much of the same textured, organic but cavernous bleakness that drives Algiers’ unique production. And in a way it’s expanding much of the palette the group was touching with There Is No Year - horn-inflected free jazz digressions are now interweaving with blown out blaring synths, fractured vocal samples, the sounds of cocking guns and shuddering, trap-infused lockstep percussion. These are mixes that are built more to reinforce overwhelming dread, wailing klaxons and suffocating noise - perhaps to a fault, as you could argue that this becomes such a pulse-pounding experience throughout the project that it doesn’t showcase much in the way of variation outside of tempos and various degrees of snarled howls echoing across the mix. But that sort of haunted, implacable dread at a coming revolution, flagrantly anti-capitalist and likely bloody, the project certainly captures that mood… but I don’t know if the album captures the sense of liberatory joy that I’ve heard across similar projects in this lane from acts like Seeming and Special Interest, even if this might promise a more grisly picture. Not for the first time I wondered what Algiers frontman Franklin James Fisher might bring to these instrumentals beyond the mantra of the title track - most of them have the intensity to stand alone, but looking beyond that gurgling howl of intensity, I found myself hunting for a bit more dimension, or just more consistently strong grooves like ‘A Prayer Couldn’t Hang Their Heads Lower’. As such… light 7/10, if you’re into this brand of suffocatingly dark instrumental industrial post-punk, I think you’ll dig this.

BENEE - hey u x - Am I the only one a little surprised that we’re only get the BENEE album now, seemingly months after ‘Supalonely’ blew up with its defiantly Gen Z embrace of irony in genre-blurring pop? It was the sort of song that did reflect a strident voice coming in a similar wake as Billie Eilish, but admittedly one that took awhile for me to fully appreciate beyond the sneaking suspicion ‘why does this remind me too much of Lily Allen’? And sure enough, Lily Allen features on this debut album and it’s impossible to ignore some of the parallels across the board in a very ‘2000s past-the-event-horizon of irony’ that a certain generation of critics adored… and that I couldn’t stand. It ties into my general frustration with art playing on levels of irony that I mentioned when I covered beabadoobee, and while some of it is absolutely a generational thing, I think the larger factor is that it manufactures a level of deflection that can be very hit-and-miss in its delivery. For Lily Allen, while some found it charming I found it sour, navel-gazing, and frequently insufferable with the genre-blending rarely able to back it up, something I mentioned in my reviews of her work to a response as just as charming - thankfully, I don’t really feel that same aversion with BENEE, mostly because she feels more scattered and rough-around-the-edges and there’s a bit more of a core to her angst. Part of this is how despite the same genre pile-up, scanning from bedroom pop to guitar-backed hazy dream pop to even some tighter electronics and dance grooves like on ‘Sheesh’, it’s not a project that ever tries to convincingly project her own ‘coolness’, and when she tries like on ‘Supalonely’ and the kiss-off of ‘Plain’, it’s a sad joke - hell, there’s a song called ‘Kool’ where she outright admits she can’t play that game even if she tried. And there’s enough genuine sad wistfulness leaking through on the opening two tracks that introduces that core early on, and helps ground that relatability as a foundation that feels surprisingly consistent. It’s kind of a shame as the album continues the production gets less organic and more openly fractured as the deflection thickens with each layer of autotune and pitch-shifting and burbling percussion, but it’s pretty quickly discarded into more low-key, earnest moments that can feel simplistic or even childlike in trying to find moments of trust or escape or freedom from deeply held fears and anxiety, but they feel earned, especially by the closer. There’s also a loose breakup arc on the album and discovering of new love, but by the end the project is more about her growth and finding security in herself and what she wants, and ‘C U’ is a great low-key closer that anchors the sweetness of it all. Overall… I’m not going to say you haven’t heard this debut before, but it’s sweet and charming where it needs to be, and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. Light 7/10, it’s good stuff.

Amaarae - THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW - I’ll be honest: this is one of those cases with an artist where I’m not sure which lens is appropriate to analyze the content. For one Amaarae’s approach to R&B is very influenced by Afrobeat, specifically from her native Ghana… but there’s also something about her sound that feels very much analogous to the very online, genre-pileup feel of certain pop music, so its textures and content feel much more wide-ranging and colourful. She had a pretty well-received EP in 2017, so now with this album getting a lot of critical acclaim, I wanted to make the executive decision and give it a listen… and I’m honestly a bit conflicted. On the one hand, it absolutely makes a ton of sense why critics like or outright love this album because it is the sort of effortlessly poised, ethereal but textured trap-R&B that has some deceptive edge in its pictures of dancing, partying, and fucking a bit too hard. I’d almost say there’s a bit of a Miguel feel to the album, in the blissed out but very organic vibe, just how damn effectively Amaarae can create the atmosphere where her guests serve as figures drifting in and out of the party, some blurring of genres off a lot of smoky guitars… but Amaarae is much more likely to throw sharper curveballs with a bit more rock distortion, along with Afrobeat rhythms interwoven into the bassy trap grooves. It’s effortlessly cool - I’ve seen some critics cite certain moments on the project as parodying parts of the scene, but it really feels way too secure in its expansive vibe to take potshots - and in a different time I could see this becoming staples of all too many upscale swanky downtown nightclubs for warm nights… and thus me feeling lukewarm on it leaves me out in the cold here. It’s not even that I take issue with how the content doesn’t show a ton of dimensionality or how it can leave Amaarae a bit of a cipher or chameleon in the vibes she tries to cultivate, but my central issue is the delivery: I’ve said before that chipmunk vocals or bad falsetto just can hit an uncanny valley for me, and Amaarae’s baby-voiced cooing is really damn close to that territory, even before you drop Autotune on top of it - for an album that’s otherwise so effortlessly sexy, this delivery just doesn’t work for me whatsoever, even if it’s husky and well-placed in the mix. It adds to the generally ephemeral feel of the album - a lot of colour that’ll paint a cool night, but without the body to really stick. So look, I absolutely get why this album is getting a ton of acclaim - if you’re looking to set a vibe, this’ll do it and I respect that… I just wish I liked it more. 6/10, but if what I described is more your thing, you’ll probably like it a lot more.

Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guide - it makes way too much sense that this is the Aesop Rock album we’re getting in 2020 - which many are hailing as one of his brightest and most accessible to date and again, for an abstract, somewhat paranoid and pessimistic loner lurking around the fringe, I can see why some people have finally found more kinship with Aesop Rock, even if the content still requires a lot of time to get your head around - time folks now have! Maybe that’s why Aesop Rock feels so comfortable over some of his more bright and eccentric production to date - he’s been prepping for an apocalyptic calamity for years, especially one leaving him stuck inside with a gamer’s instincts, an overactive imagination, and old-school punk mindset to scavenge and be prepared however you can as capitalism decays. But that would all be too easy for Aesop Rock, because midway through the album you get the impression that Aesop Rock is finding his own ‘spiritual’ renewal on this trip, partially referencing a trip he took to Peru and the Amazon as a moment that sparked his imagination and even sought to puncture his pessimism - ‘they whispered something to me I will bear unto my coffin / What’s apparent via Occam is despondency as common’. And that gives this album something of an arc - an outcast survivor like him could easily do it all alone or succumb to his own distrustful nihilism, especially when he’s inclined to let in the odd spirits and live wild for better and worse, but that can lead to its own form of warped decay, either in his surroundings or his own increasing age, most starkly seen when the scenes crash back to earth and he’s dealing with fruit flies and back pain, or takes a detour to go skating over a 6/4 instrumental on a song literally called ‘Side Quest’. And while he walks the lonely road - the only one he’s ever known and one where he’ll go until he sees red - the advice he passes along shows the steep consequences that path has laid on himself… but given the natural ending of death not really having much greater significance to his experience, painting the odd journey in such vibrant colours has value in and of itself - the meaning of life is to give life meaning, as it is. And of course like any Aesop Rock album it’s quotable for days - he paints pictures with such vibrant and tactile detail, this time with the easy excuse to play with even more references to demonology and oddball fantasy and an eye for animal behaviour, and while I don’t think it’s as accessible in its storytelling as The Impossible Kid, this album is all about the wondrous journey, both external and internal, and that safari is a damn great one… although not without its flaws. To the surprise of nobody, this album can feel both long and meandering, and while that’s the point and I’d argue the production is more consistent in its spikes of guitar, scratching, caked-over percussion and off-key spurts of keyboard, the sharp clarity of it all makes me wish there was a little more focus on blending Aesop Rock’s voice into the mixes - it often feels like he’s rapping on top of them rather than within them, and that doesn’t quite help the atmosphere especially when the instrumentals are so inviting to fit him in. On another note, I’m not sure the standouts of this project can really match his best - there isn’t a ‘Blood Sandwich’ or ‘Acid King’ that really nails the human drama here - which I think he knows, as he’s plenty comfortable writing himself into his own abstract corner, but for an album all about the journey, it leaves me looking for the sharper moments that elevate the whole, and while we get a few like the demented quirk of the organ of ‘At The Gates’ and ‘Sleeper Car’, the spiky space rock of ‘Button Masher’, the bassy buzzy warbles of ‘Holy Waterfall’, the impressive bleakness of ‘Fixed and Dilated’, the propulsive build-up of ‘Marble Cake’ and the haunted wisps and scratching of ‘Salt’ and ‘Kodokushi’ that might be some of the best blended songs here, there aren’t as many. So… maybe better than Malibu Ken even if you can tell Aesop Rock has taken a few queues from TOBACCO in his keyboard choices, but it’s not quite his best. Solid 8/10, definitely an eccentric journey, but one worth taking.

Chris Stapleton - Starting Over - No mincing words, I had no idea where Chris Stapleton was going to go with this album. Now very much established with a mainstream presence that even Nashville radio can’t ignore fully, I had no clue where he was going to take his sound after the extremely stripped back From A Room EPs three years ago - Dave Cobb was still producing so I expected it to sound great, but Stapleton’s music is usually pretty textured and intriguing, and where I’ve found the most potency has often come in the writing, and again, it feels like indie country hasn’t so much left Stapleton behind but has expanded its breadth and timbres beyond his breakthrough moment, which is worth noting given his hype. And the more listens I gave Starting Over, the more I had the feeling that this was pleasant and solid and in patches taking that extra step to stick the landing… but not quite far enough, and certainly not to the degree of the best country music that dropped in 2020. It is nice to realize that Dave Cobb’s production and layering finally has the sense of detail and warmth that was missing from the previous Stapleton albums, like how the strings slip in behind ‘Cold’ or just how supple and lovestruck ‘Joy Of My Life’ feels - and more proof he knows what to do with a bassline when it’s integral to the composition like on ‘Hillbilly Blood’, which should be all the time but baby steps I guess. And nobody can deny that Chris Stapleton has one of the most distinctive hollers working in country of any stripe; it’s why when he recorded ‘Devil Always Made Me Think Twice’ after letting Hailey Whitters have it earlier this year, he gives it the bluesy growl it really needed. But here’s the strange thing: Stapleton has been working as a songwriter-for-hire in Nashville for so long that I’m long familiar with the cadence and structure of his tunes, not to the point of cliche but where when I get his album, I’m looking for what he saved for himself to deliver a strikingly unique project, and… again, it’s patchy. ‘Starting Over’ is an excellent opener even if it’s no ‘Broken Halos’, ‘Maggie’s Song’ is as good of a tribute to his dog who passed away as you’ll get, ‘You Should Probably Leave’ is a surprisingly mature flirtation where she’s always on the cusp of heading out, ‘Nashville, TN’ is a great swan song from an industry lifer, and ‘Watch You Burn’ is the sort of fire & brimstone stomper against mass shooters that was both a welcome surprise and easily the heavier cut here! But let’s be real: was the Guy Clark cover of ‘Worry B Gone’ really all that essential, especially when he’s going to cover ‘Old Friends’ right after it in the track list? And to round it off, I’m not wild about the sequencing either - outside of the opener and closer, the album’s flow can be a bit jerky and haphazard, which makes it feel longer than it is. That being said… there’s not a bad song on it, and I recognize my criticisms come from someone who has really high expectations for Chris Stapleton - I think he’s got it in him to make his version of The Guitar Song, and it bugs me he’s not quite there yet. But there’s enough obvious greatness and this album is easy to like, so… very light 8/10… I get why it’s gotten so much acclaim, and it’s worth hearing.