Sunday, November 24, 2019

Live: Deerhunter @ Fuzz Club (Athens, November 21st, 2019)


It's a long distance from Athens, Georgia, to Athens, Greece, and even longer the time we had to wait until we finally got to see Deerhunter live in our city. The excellent 90-minute set they played at Fuzz Club last Thursday could not possibly include all the great songs they have given us over the years, but despite missing several of our favorites, we would certainly include this performance among the best live experiences of this year.


Bradford Cox and his band presented us earlier this year "Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?", one of my favorite albums of 2019, and as expected a good part of the set was based on this release, including the excellent opening salvo of "Death in Midsummer", "No One's Sleeping" and "What Happens to People?".


The other record that featured heavily in the set was "Halcyon Digest", an album which will be turning 10 next year (perhaps an indication that this is the band's favorite work?), with "Revival" and "Desire Lines" being among the highlights of the evening. New and old material combined seamlessly to create a unique rock experience containing all the idiosyncrasies that make Deerhunter such a special band.



Before Deerhunter's performance, we had the opportunity to catch a brief set by Moon Diagrams, the name which Deerhunter's drummer Moses Archuleta uses to present his warped electronic experiments. A different kind of experience, for sure, but certainly an interesting one.

Moon Diagrams, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, Nov. 21st, 2019)
Deerhunter, live @ Fuzz Club (Athens, Nov. 21st, 2019)
Check out below what Deerhunter played at their first ever Athens, Greece, show and videos of "Futurism" and "He Would Have Laughed", the epic set closer:

Deerhunter - Futurism (live @ Fuzz Club, Athens)


Deerhunter - He Would Have Laughed (live @ Fuzz Club, Athens)

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Listening Habits: 09-10.2019

It is the end of days for 2019 and for the second decade of the 21st century as well, which means that the time of reckoning is near! What were the albums that stood out in the last twelve months and, perhaps more importantly, what were the new music creations that meant the most to us in the last ten years of our lives? All these questions will be answered soon, but for now Cool Music Central asks and answers the more simple question of what have we been listening to the most in the last couple of months.

"No Home Record" is the first ever album that Kim Gordon releases under her own name and it marks her first venture into experimental electronic music. Her unmistakable vocal delivery and bursts of guitar noise here and there remind us of Kim's past work, but the only other record in her resume that came to my mind while listening to the the new songs, which often feel closer to Aphex Twin than Sonic Youth, was "The Whitey Album" where Sonic Youth, under the guise of Ciccone Youth, experimented with pop music deconstruction. The end result is nothing less than exhilarating, subverting what you might expect from a Kim Gordon solo record and finding new ways to bring together noise rock and electronic music.

Angel Olsen's "All Mirrors" is also a reinvention of sorts. She moved from folk to electrifying rock in her previous album, 2016's excellent "My Woman", and now lush string arrangements come into the picture, redefining her sound and creating a rich, textured orchestral background for her powerful, emotional delivery. Another masterful work by one of this decade's best songwriters!

In our Top 15 below, you'll find several more strong new releases that solidify my assessment that 2019 has been one of the best years in recent memory for music, including Diiv's "Deceiver", a deep dive into '90s dream pop with the spirit of My Bloody Valentine guiding their efforts, Thom Yorke's "Anima", perhaps his best solo effort so far, plus the amazing debut by Dublin's The Murder Capital, titled "When I Have Fears", which we recently had the pleasure of attending its live presentation.

Here are our Top 15 albums and tracks for September - October 2019:

Top 15 Albums

1.   All Mirrors - ANGEL OLSEN
2.   No Home Record - KIM GORDON
3.   Anima - THOM YORKE
4.   Deceiver - DIIV
5.   When I Have Fears - THE MURDER CAPITAL
6.   Any Human Friend - MARIKA HACKMAN
7.   The Center Won't Hold - SLEATER-KINNEY
8.   This Is Not A Safe Place - RIDE
9.   Close It Quietly - FRANKIE COSMOS
10. Venus In Leo - HTRK
11. In The Morse Code Of Break Lights - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
12. Stars Are The Light - MOON DUO
13. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 / Part 2 - FOALS
14. Eton Alive - SLEAFORD MODS
15. Years To Burn - CALEXICO / IRON AND WINE

Top 15 Tracks

1.   Blankenship - DIIV
2.   Green & Blue - THE MURDER CAPITAL
3.   Summer - ANGEL OLSEN
4.   Sketch Artist - KIM GORDON
5.   Not The News - THOM YORKE
6.   The One - MARIKA HACKMAN
7.   Hurry On Home - SLEATER-KINNEY
8.   Future Love - RIDE
9.   Falling Down The Stairs Of Your Smile - THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
10. Lost Heads - MOON DUO
11. You Know How To Make Me Happy - HTRK
12. 41st - FRANKIE COSMOS
13. In Degrees - FOALS
14. Kebab Spider - SLEAFORD MODS
15. Midnight Sun - CALEXICO / IRON AND WINE


Sunday, November 03, 2019

New Releases: October 2019

Roundup of the most interesting albums, singles and EPs released in October 2019:

Albums

All Mirrors
ANGEL OLSEN - All Mirrors
KIM GORDON - No Home Record
DIIV - Deceiver
BIG THIEF - Two Hands
MARK LANEGAN BAND - Somebody's Knocking
SWANS - Leaving Meaning
BODEGA - Shiny New Model
FOALS - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2
CHROMATICS - Closer To Grey
WIVES - So Removed
WILCO - Ode To Joy
GUIDED BY VOICES - Sweating The Plague
DESERT SESSIONS - Vols. 11 and 12
RICHARD DAWSON - 2020
ALLAH LAS - LAHS
BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT - Veils of Winter
LIGHTNING DUST - Spectre
LIGHTNING BOLT - Sonic Citadel
REFUSED - War Music
BATTLES - Juice B Crypts
DANNY BROWN - uknowhatimsayin¿
808 STATE - Transmission Suite
FLOATING POINTS - Crush
LARRY GUS - Subservient
CARLA DAL FORNO - Look Up Sharp
CAROLINE POLACHEK - Pang
CORRIDOR - Junior
COLD IN BERLIN - Rituals Of Surrender
STARCRAWLER - Devour You
WHITE REAPER - You Deserve Love
MIKAL CRONIN - Seeker
KELLEY STOLTZ - My Regime
MARK KOZELEK AND PETRA HADEN - Joey Always Smiled
MAGNAPOP - The Circle Is Round
THAT DOG. - Old LP
MEDICINE - Scarred for Life
THE MUFFS - No Holiday
JIMMY EAT WORLD - Surviving
ELBOW - Giants Of All Sizes
THE SHERLOCKS - Under Your Sky
COMET GAIN - Fireraisers Forever
JOHN - Out Here On The Fringes
HXXS - Year Of The Witch
THE HECKS - My Star
HOVVDY - Heavy Lifter
SORRY GIRLS - Deborah
BRIX AND THE EXTRICATED - Super Moon Wolf Moon
CIGARETTES AFTER SEX - Cry
DAVID J - Missive To An Angel From The Halls Of Infamy And Allure
13 MILLION YEAR OLD GHOST - 13 Million Year Old Ghost 

Singles & EPs

SLEATER-KINNEY - Animal
POLICA - Driving / Trash In Bed
GHOST WOLVES - Crooked Cop
TEAM DRESCH - Your Hands My Pocket
JIM JONES AND THE RIGHTEOUS MIND - Get Down Get With It
THE EMPTY PAGE - You're Tame / He's Very Good at Swimming
SINEAD O’BRIEN - A Thing You Call Joy
LOU HAYTER - Cherry on Top
GIRLS IN SYNTHESIS - Arterial Movements EP
LARRY GUS - Kerkis (Judas-Tree)
BDRMM - If Not, When? EP
HEAVY LUNGS - Measure EP 
CHEVAL SOMBRE - Been a Lover / The Calfless Cow
WILL BURNS AND HANNAH PEEL - Pale Tussock
BORUSIADE - Misfits of Broken Dreams 
GERRY CINNAMON - Sun Queen / Canter
LIAM GALLAGHER - Now That I’ve Found You


Angel Olsen - Lark