James Spearing: For me there can only be one answer this month. The album I’ve most eagerly anticipated in 2024 finally arrived and did not disappoint. Of course, I’m talking about Dreamstate from Kelly Lee Owens.
Kelly has definitely changed her sound on this album, while still reflecting on life and existence (but it’s by no means the departure that LP.8 was). While I can’t comment on any factors in her life that may have influenced this, perhaps working with members of Diplo and Chemical Brothers on Dreamstate has resulted in this sound that is likely to win her many newer and younger fans. Old fans like me are very happy to be sticking around too. Don’t get me wrong, I love the lighter side to this album (‘Sunshine’, ‘Higher’), but Kelly still excels in the more brooding moments like ‘Dark Angel’, ‘Rise’ and ‘Air’. I can’t wait to see her live in March.
Will Collins: A new Touche Amore record is always a cause for celebration, and Spiral In A Straight Line is no exception. Taking their music further away from its post-hardcore origins, whilst still retaining a clear hardcore aesthetic, it is a record that marries beauty with raw, unfiltered emotion. Sandpaper-scoured vocals rub up again intricate melodies and widescren arrangements to accompany the direct, heart-on-sleeve lyrics the band have become known for. It’s a powerful and cathartic listen.
On the quieter, sparer end of the spectrum is the new demos collection from Broadcast, Distant Call. Where demos can often feel unfinished, working best as a document of the journey to the finished article, the songs here are compelling in their own right. The lo fi production and minimal arrangements (often nothing more than voice and a gentle guitar line) give the songs an ethereal, spectral quality that makes them irresistible.
My final shout for the month is the new Swamp Coffin record, Drowning Glory. For some reason, 2024 has been the year I have embraced sludge metal and, in a year which has seen stand out cuts from the likes of Cowardice and Thou, this is right up there with the very best. Heavy, doomy riffs, caustic vocals and nasty production give the record a crushing, nightmarish heaviness. It’s a grimly compelling howl of despair, perhaps unsurprising given the strife the band have been through.
Tom Burrows: All my abandoned-building-somewhere-between-dream-and-reality heads rise up: it’s the 30th anniversary of Aphex Twin’s Selected Ambient Works Volume II. I’ve been getting reacquainted with the meditative and unsettling masterpiece from everyone’s favourite Cornish producer. Mainly while reading. But this month I was reading dystopian horror fiction, so it felt appropriate.
In terms of recent releases, I’ve done my usual scattershot listening. I’ve settled on a few for more than one listen. Bawo’s new mixtape It Means Hope Where I’m From continues the impressively poised and precise flows shown on last year’s Legitimate Cause. He’s surely heading for bigger things. Tyler The Creator’s Chromakopia is the usual mix of catchy tunes, stylish production and lack of substance (I’ve enjoyed my early listens). And I’m getting more into MJ Lenderman’s Manning Fireworks from the other month. As Fran said in his review, Lenderman’s classic/contemporary writing style on songs like ‘Wristwatch’ is enjoyable to listen to.
My most played release though has been Bon Iver’s new Sable EP (I refuse to add the stupid caps or additional punctuation on any of the titles). This feels like a classic artistic reset: a back to basics, short release with some stripped back, gorgeous songs. It feels like healing music, and like Justin Vernon has reduced the inscrutability that I find his music prone to at times. ‘Speyside’ and ‘Things Behind Things’ in particular remind me why I initially became a fan way back in 2008.
Rick Larson: Welcome to another entry in what has become Rick’s Women in Punk Rock Corner. I don’t see any reason to stop now. This month got off to a great start with legends Sleater Kinney playing for free in Golden Gate Park and was punctuated in the middle with new albums by The Linda Lindas and Amyl and the Sniffers.
But, I want to talk about Die Spitz, a ferocious band of four young women from Austin, Texas. I saw them open for Amyl and the Sniffers last year and they were a revelation. Punk, metal, grunge delivered with power and flash. My friend, Andrew, was so taken with the band that he pulled off hiring them to play a party in his backyard last weekend when they happened to be in the Bay Area for another gig. Seeing what is one of the most exciting up and coming punk bands in the U.S. of A. at arm’s length with a crowd of East Bay teachers, students, people in various stages of substance abuse recovery, slam dancing Methodists, and random hangers on like me, is one of the best live music experiences I have had. Aside from going very hard, Die Spitz are some of the
most pleasant people you’d want to meet. I’m a firm believer that young women are going to save rock ‘n roll and this country and I now have more firm evidence to support my thesis.
Sam Atkins: I had two ‘Patterns’ on heavy rotation this month, the great latest album PATTERNS from Kelsea Ballerini as well as the fantastic eighth album from Laura Marling Patterns In Repeat. I reviewed the second of those right here, but I could shout about how gorgeous that album is constantly. Seeing the final show of Laura’s London residency this past weekend where she performed the entirely of this album accompanied by a string quintet and choir singers has made me fall even harder in love with this fantastic record.
My most listened to music of October was definitely Brat though, specifically remix album Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat. A re imagining more than simply remixes, it has made my adoration for Charli and the Brat album as a whole increase massively. Hearing an album that’s sort of about the defining album of the year is a fascinating way to remix your work and Charli xcx continues to amaze me.
Picky Bastards 