MicShazam

Having not kept up with this journal at all, there's no way in hell I'm gonna be able to catch up. I've currently got a list of no less that 56 new albums that I'm interested in this year, and I'm finding more pretty often.

Not to mention all the albums I've bought already and all of the back catalogue albums from previous years... It's hopeless. So I'm just gonna mention a random few things that I'm checking out/excited about right now in this moment.

Madder Mortem - Liberator

From their upcoming album "Marrow". I found their previous album somewhat disappointing, but I still like this band a lot. This song is giving me some hope that this album will correct course. This album doesn't exactly reinvent their style, but Madder Mortem is still a modern prog metal band that's pretty much doing their own thing.

Farao - The Hours

This song is from 2014. Never heard of this Norwegian indie pop/songwriter before. Pretty much right up my alley. Her voice is not the most unique thing ever, but still great. It's really the songwriting and instrumentation that brings this one home. The video is really, really nicely made too.

DIR EN GREY - Aka (赫)

Quite against what I expected, I'm not very excited about this new Dir En Grey album. I'm gonna buy it, but the mixing job really bugs me and they're just not really doing anything new. The last five albums were amazing, so this one feels like a kinda weak thing to have waited 4 years for. Oh well... I'll probably like it a bit better once I finally get the CD and listen to it a bit more in depth. I just feel like most of the songs are kind of lacking in memorable ideas and the sound quality sucks (aside from having plenty of bass, which is great).

Stam1na - Enkelinmurskain

The second single from their new album which is coming out very soon. I'm so excited about this! The album is titled "Taival" and comes out around the 12th. I'm gonna spin this one non stop for a week when I get it.

I really dig the vocals here. The chorus is a real ear worm and that whole instrumental section is just great. Exactly my kind of metal guitar solo!

Still a top 5 metal band for me? Yup.

LE PRINCE MIIAOU - VICTOIRE (Official)

This French indie artist has an album coming out later this year. I bought an older album a short while ago when first having heard the above track on Facebook. I dig that other album, so I'm looking forward to this new one a lot. Interestingly, it's a complete stylistic change. The album I have is a mix of modern indie pop and retro pop/rock vibes with some novel production elements. This new album seems to take way more of an electronic/dance/rhythmic approach. Also makes me think of 80's new wave a bit.

MicShazam

I felt like just posting some of the stuff I've been listening to the most recently. It's not necessarily new music, although much of it probably will be.

Actually, I was thinking I wanted to post more about music, but I don't know in what form, so for now, I guess I'm just dumping some tracks that I like under some flimsy pretext.

Stam1na - Solar

Stam1na - Merivälimatka

Both of the above tracks are from the new Stam1na album, "Taival". It's a pretty varied album and the above tracks demonstrate the heavier side and the more melodic side of the album.
My favourite part of the album is probably the 3 part song cycle in the middle. There's just a lot to appreciate here if you give the album a good listen.

Kristeen Young - Kill the Father

I bought all three albums she's made quite soon after hearing one of her songs. There's just basically no way in which I'm not digging this. It's like a heavier Kate Bush mixed with PJ Harvey and some post punk influences. Awesome.
And of course I think she's a fantastic singer.

Ihsahn - The Eagle and the Snake

Ihsahn's new album, "Ámr" still isn't quite having me convinced, although I'm liking it more with every spin. However, it did prompt me to go back and listen to every prior album of his again. This reminded me how much I like the album "Eremita", from which the above track is taken.

Anneke Van Giersbergen - Physical

This summer I was listening a lot to this album so hearing this song again already feels kinda nostalgic. Reminds me of good times and sunlight.

MicShazam

Part deux or something.

Ana Burch - 2 Cool 2 Care


From the album "Quit the Curse" which, much to my surprise, is in the running for being a top 10 album of 2018 for me.
I'm getting a lot of new albums now, so I don't know where it will stand when the year is over, but you can't argue with the songcraft here.

"But MacShizzle, you have really bad taste in music. We've talked about this already and everyone agreed."

Shut up.
It's a good album.


Arkona - Tseluya zhizn'

Is every metalhead on MB that's not listening to the new Arkona album making a huge mistake?

Duh. The above track speaks for itself!

Very much in the running for my personal top 10 albums of 2018.


Barbara Morgenstern - Brain****

I'm posting this song, but I haven't even heard it! I love Morgenstern so much that I don't want to spoil the album in advance.
All the rest of you who don't care so much can check out the single from "Unschuld und Verwüstung" above.


The Agonist - The Moment

Kind of maybe starting to be a top 10 metal act for me. It just scratches an itch, you know?

MicShazam

I've been discovering incredible amounts of good music during 2018 so far, which got me wondering how my top list of artists/songs/albums will look in just another year. It's gonna be a pretty thorough rearrangement, because I really do love some of these new "additions" quite a bit. Neko Case is just one example of an artist that's threatening to mess with my top 10 rankings in several ways.

It might be premature, but I feel like my current standing is very different from just one year ago. Here's what I think might define my current tastes, at least in terms of my top artist/albums/songs:

All time top 10 artists
Neko Case
Dir En Grey
Stam1na
Tori Amos
Arkona
Waltari
Judie Tzuke
Kate Bush
Alela Diane
Barbara Morgenstern

All time top 10 albums
Tori Amos - Night of Hunters
Neko Case - Blacklisted (maybe premature, but oh ma gawd is it good)
Judie Tzuke - The Cat is Out
Waltari - Release Date
Kate Bush - Never Forever
Dir En Grey - Withering to Death
?
?
?
?

All time top 10 songs
Kate Bush - In Search of Peter Pan
Case/Lang/Veirs - Atomic Number (just... beautiful)
Arkona - Serbia
Judie Tzuke - How Sweet it Is
Tori Amos - Cloud Riders
Dir En Grey - Toguro
?
?
?
?

... and they're left incomplete, because this is really hard.
But the lists above reflect where my head is currently at, more or less.
Right now, I'm listening to a lot of metal. When I get back to all that singer songwriter material, that would make another attempt at lists like these lean even more heavily towards that sort of material. I'm pretty confident that Alela Diane, Neko Case, Laura Veirs and Beth Orton all have a shot of getting at least one album in my top 10. And that's actually quite something. Beth Orton's "Sugaring Season", for example, is really something special.

I just realized this is basically a ramble. I'm still gonna hit that button and post it. Living on the wild side!

MicShazam

Haven't been checking out any new releases in a while since I've been getting so many things to listen to in the mail. That's gonna last a while longer, so if I wanna post something in here (and for inexplicable reasons, I do want to. Is anyone even reading? ... *crickets*) then I have to come up with something else.

Here's what I'm listening to this evening:

Tove Styrke - Kiddo

Second album by Swedish electropop artist Tove Styrke. Tove is a nordic girl's name, Styrke means "strength".
Pretty catchy album on the first spin. Lot's of variety between the songs. They all felt very individually distinguishable, with their own little sonic flourishes and ways of handling a solid pop melody and beat. Tove doesn't have the most unique singing voice ever, but she's got enough attitude and skill that it serves her well. I feel like this one is pretty solid. I might end up thinking pretty highly of it with subsequent listens. Definitely need to check out her other album(s).

A random track from the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Haff_Bawmpo

Katy B - Little Red

Soooooooo smooth.
I love the vibe of this album. It's this very poppy/dancey R&B pop thing with some quite catchy songs and, not least, just that slightly melancholy slow jam vibe that I love so much in a good dance album. Like Kylie's "Fever" album.

100% certain that this one will grow on me like a fungus.

A random track from the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REFzovTWGxU

MicShazam

Just as I was thinking about how much I'm looking forward to it, a new single from an upcoming Jinjer "micro EP" is out. I think they're also working on a full album, but it's some distance away and it probably won't be out until well into next year.

Jinjer - Ape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC3djB7-nc0
Definitely more progressive in style, like they said the EP material would be. Pretty complicated song, but it's still got a lot of immediately enjoyable grooves and melodies.

The video weirds me out a bit. Feels like it's both very 2018, and sort of oddly 90's with that Matrix trench coat and that silly haircut that makes me thing of Prodigy.

Questionable fashion aside, it's a cool little track. I also like the video. Performance style videos are always the best.

MicShazam

Oh yeah, and I also just ordered the two newest Amaranthe albums. As far as the current crop of popular metal bands go, you're not gonna find one that pisses off old school metal neckbeards more. So of course I'm attracted to them like a moth to a flame. Well, I'm not sure how much I will like this overall, but these Swedes know how to do a mean pop-metal hook. I want to hear more metal that feels modern and forward looking. It's fairly slim pickings.

Amaranthe - Maximize

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfk7YZJtmeo

Amaranthe - 365

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDVycjDLx4Y

MicShazam

New music. Oh yeah.

Marie Davidson - 'Work It'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Df3jHYTrs

My god this is cheesy. I like it.

Farao - Lula Loves You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYVp3AGShfw
Gonna try and be like a true MB resident: *ahem* "If you don't like this, I don't like you."

Doe Paoro - Loose Plans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PtEYLAqPOk
Pretty basic old school r&b stuff. I would be lynched for this if anyone really noticed, but I feel like contemporary artists working in classic styles have more solid songs on average. Like the albums, even if nothing innovative, are more solid than the albums from the time where these styles were first pioneered. Hindsight gives you a lot of material and inspiration to work with. It's like contemporary genre artists often manage to laser focus and get rid of all the tripe. Just memorable tunes front to back. Most music geeks say the first bands in a style are the best. I say they're the worst*. Haven't actually heard this album in full, but I'm basically saying that I feel like it's probably solid overall.

*: There's a lot more to say there. It's too big a topic for this space and I already think I shouldn't have said it.

Ingrid Michaelson's Song's for the Season - White Christmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-HuVGtcH8
Oh. My. God. Just the right kind of nostalgic christmas vibe. I can't wait to visit my parents for christmas now Totally gonna buy this album. Her voice is adorable. I'm fully convinced that this is worth my money.

Hélène Grimaud - Bagatelle I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdn1gzvXPvk
Most gorgeous rendition I've ever heard of this piece. Gonna buy this album for sure.

MicShazam

A while ago, I got a large amount of albums that were all by Danish artists. The thing is, that I've never really liked Danish music. Except for D.A.D, I just didn't actually have any Danish music in my huge collection. I've done a lot to explore Danish music now and found a lot that I actually really like. What surprised me was how easy it was to pull off. I took a chance on about 10 CD's and liked all of them right away.

Anyway, I just want to post some Danish music that I've been getting into. From some really solid albums.

Karen Busck - En Kærlighedsaffære


Karen Busck - Det Er Slut Nu


Karen Busck - Listetyv


Both from the album "En Kærlighedsaffære". A very beautiful, melancholy songwriter album. Some really good lyrical imagery on this album, like using a tennis metaphor to paint an image of failure and quiet despair: "(translated) I prepare to smash the ball and it rolls pathetically across the ground". Almost a shame it's in Danish, because the lyricism is one of the things I think is really amazing about this album.

Line Bøgh - Something Else and Something Else and Something Else Again






I just really like her somewhat odd voice. There's a lot of accent there, so it's obvious she's not English or American. I think this album is very strong vocally, but also in terms of songwriting. Very low key, but incredibly well done in terms of arrangements, textures and song structures. It's an album that's got a lot of feeling to it. Fortunately, I know she's got a few other albums too.

Fallulah - The Black Cat Neighbourhood






Just some good, modern indie pop. Had some hits years ago, but probably not across the border. Or maybe she did, I don't know. I really dig this kind of thing these days, so of course this album is right up by alley with ease.


I want to post some more, but for now I'm leaving it at this. Turns out it's actually hard-to-impossible to find songs from many of these various Danish artists on Youtube.

MicShazam

Some new music:

Azusa - Heavy Yoke (Official Music Video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktjgXsNSSgo
Damn! That's pretty interesting. One of very few metal releases that have really caught my attention in 2018. Kinda worried that the album is gonna be too much one dimensional high speed smashing, but this one track certainly has several things going for it.

Sigh - Homo Homini Lupus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF_gBJ1SjF4
New single from Sigh. Pretty Iron Maiden like in that opening riff, but more of what you expect from Sigh right after that. Still not sure what I think of this band.

ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN - Your Glorious Light Will Shine - Helsinki (Album Track)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzWAkj0uwfs
Anneke Van Giersbergen performing various Vuur and The Gathering track with a symphony and no metal instrumentation. Sounds pretty crisp.