Albums of Summer 2025 Part 2: Summer's Last Stand

Closing out summer with another double-sized episode of great albums! Including:

Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free Us (2014) Lawrence English - Even the Horizon Knows Its Bounds (2025) Julia Holter - Something In The Room She Moves (2024) David Longstreth, Dirty Projectors, and stargaze - Song of the Earth (2025) Madvillian - Madvilliany (2004) Magdalena Bay - Imaginal Disk (2024) Mac Millar - Balloonerism (2025) Parannoul - Sky Hundred (2025) Queen - Queen 1 (1973) Saga - Worlds Apart (1981) Sleep Token - Even in Arcadia (2025) Sobs - Air Guitar (2022)

2024 Album Roundup Series: The Problem With November.

 Ah, November. Too late in the game to get a fair shake, but still clearly within the boundaries of 2024. Still, some of these albums have a shot at Album of the Year - so what to do?

Tune in below to find out! In this episode:

Geordie Greep - The New Sound (2024) Friko - Where We've Been, Where We Go From Here (2024) Lisa Bella Donna - Electronic Voyages (2023) El Khat - Mute (2024) Master Boot Record - Personal Computer (2022) Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere (2024)

Of course, you know about this playlist.  This is its final form!

2024 Album Roundup Series: October Tier 6 Contenders

The last batch of tunes for Tier 6, including:

Floating Points - Cascade (2024) Mo Dotti - Opaque (2024) Debashish Bhattacharya - The Sound of the Soul (2024) Azmari - Maelstrom (2024) Leprous - Melodies of Atonement (2024) Kalandra - Frame of Mind (2024)

If you're here, you should be a Patreon member.  You just should:

And, as promised, the ongoing Dr. Spin's Radio playlist for 2024

2024 Album Roundup Series: October Tier 6 Contenders

More great and interesting music to check out, including music from:

Wesley Fuller - All Fuller, No Filler (2024) Jack White - No Name (2024) Chrystabell & David Lynch - Cellophane Memories (2024) Alcest - Les Chants de l'Aurore (2024) The Ethnic Heritage Ensemble - Open Me: Open Me: A Higher Consciousness of Sound and Spirit (2024) Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue (1985)

Here's a text post about Lynch and the Chanteuse

And, of course, the Dr Spin's Radio playlist.

2024 Album Roundup Series Special Edition: What is "Icelandicness?"

My wife went to Iceland and all I got was some GREAT music like:

Ásgeir Trausti - Dýrð í dauðaþögn (2012) Hjálmar - Skýjaborgin (2014) Uniimog - Yfir hafið (2014) Nachi Plank & Futuregrapher - Music for Kettle (Grandma's Edition) (2022) Various Artists - Heiladans 3 (2023) Hildur Guðnadóttir - Saman (2014)

Thanks to Lucky Records Reykjavik

And the ever-growing Dr Spin's Radio playlist, with example songs from throughout the year.

2024 Album Roundup Series: Tier 6 - Summer's End

Some new tunes to ease you into the semester, including:

Pepe Deluxe - Comix Sonix (2024) Joanna Wang - Hotel la Rut (2024) La Luz - News of the Universe (2024) Willow - Empathogen (2024) Lo Moon - I Wish You Way More than Luck (2024) Beth Gibbons - Lives Outgrown (2024)

Dr. Spin's radio playlist in tha hizzy...

2024 Album Preview Series: Summer Stimulus Package

 A BIG roundup of my summer vacation music.  You might want to sit back with a cup of joe for this one:

 

2024 Album Roundup Series: June Tier 2 Contenders

The last Tier 2 roundup for 2024, including:

Jeff Rosenstock - Hellmode (2023) Avalanche Kaito - Talitakum (2024) Circe Link and Christian Nesmith - Cosmologica (2021) Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She (2024) The Devin Townsend Project - Ki (2009) Philip Glass - Glassworks (1982)

024 Album Roundup Series: May Tier 2 Contenders

Pour this honey in your auditory system and see what happens:

Fleet Foxes - Shore (2020) Mauritz Duda - AFR AI D (2023) Lyle Workman - Built to Last (2023) Inui - Murmuration (2023) Joe Howe - Debossed (2024) Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - Of the Last Human Being (2024)

Text posts about seeing Ben Butler and Mousepad

And you should already be acquainted with the ever-growing 2024 playlist

2024 Album Roundup Series: April Tier 2 Contenders

Need some new music? Here's some suggestions:

The Guess Who - Pleine D'Amour (2023) J. Robbins - Basilisk (2024) Brittany Howard - What Now? (2024) Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden (1988) Hans Zimmer - Dune Part 2 OST (2024) Hermeto Pascoal y Grupo - Planeterio de Gavea (1981)

AND....the ever expanding playlist is still...well....expanding.....

2024 Album Showdown Results: Tier 1, Week 5

Foxygen - Hang VS. The Strokes - The New Abnormal

The Strokes - The New Abnormal

In many ways, I see these albums as evenly matched.  They both capture the essence of a particular era of pop music.  For Hang, the reference is the grandiose era of theatrical late 70s glam rock (minus a bit of the glam), and for The New Abnormal, it is the slick college pop of the late 90s.  Although both are meticulously crafted and varied within those parameters, I was drawn to the latter.  After a relatively long run of 70s inspired power pop last year, The Strokes felt refreshing, while Foxygen’s broadwayseque leanings tilted towards melodrama

Adventures of Jet - Muscle VS. Bill Rieflin - Birth of a Giant

Adventures of Jet - Muscle

Very tough, because I am currently fascinated by Rieflin’s musicianship, and this debut solo album from him is very revealing.  Despite the presence of Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn, however, there were some mixing and production issues that were hard to overlook in comparison to the slick clarity offered up by Muscle.

Toehider - I Have Little to No Memory of These Memories VS. 88Kasyo Junrei - ◯△☐

88 Kasyo Junrei - ◯△☐

Contentious showdown of the week award goes here.  I Have Little to No Memory of These Memories is a conceptual and technical tour-de-force, made all the more astonishing by the fact that Toehider is a one-man project.  It's also an album that warrants deep investigation and contemplation, so choosing ◯△☐  in the context of Tier 1 allows me some time to let it simmer a bit in the background.  Aside from that, since Cynic's last album, i am having increasing resistance to progressive metal, and although I wouldn’t consider I Have Little to No Memory of These Memories a progressive metal album per se, it has enough content in that style to hold me at bay.  All that being said, I am truly fascinated by 88Kasyo Junrei.  Their frenetic Green Day-meets-King Crimson vibe is truly distinctive and engaging, transcending the language barriers presented by their defiantly Japanese identity.

Zombi - Surface to Air VS. Mandy, Indiana - I’ve Seen a Way

Zombi - Surface to Air

I wish that I could say that this one was tougher, because I am interested in Mandy, Indiana’s dystopian post-industrialism.  Zombi’s analog synth noodling backed by highly organic Peart-inspired drumming hits just a bit too close to home for me to pass it up, though.  Winner.

Viewer’s Choice

Foxygen - Hang VS. The Strokes - The New Abnormal

The Strokes - The New Abnormal

Adventures of Jet - Muscle VS. Bill Rieflin - Birth of a Giant

Adventures of Jet - Muscle

Toehider - I Have Little to No Memory of These Memories VS. 88Kasyo Junrei - ◯△☐

Toehider - I Have Little to No Memory of These Memories

Zombi - Surface to Air VS. Mandy, Indiana - I’ve Seen a Way

Zombi - Surface to Air

2024 Album Preview Series: March Tier 1 Listening

Recent new listening, including music from:

Timmy Sean - Songs From and Inspired By Noisewater (2010) J Dilla - Donuts (2006) Mid-Air Thief - Crumbling (2018) Wednesday - Rat Saw God (2023) L'Rain - I Killed Your Dog (2023) Ministry - The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste (1989)

That Timmy Sean interview

2024 Album Preview Series - Tier 1: Part 12 of 12

The final episode covering a six-week series of new music, including: Slift - Ilion (2024) Autechre - LP5 (1998) Ison - Inner-Space (2019) The Adventures of Jet - Muscle (2003)

And, y'know....the playlist

2024 Album Preview Series: Tier 1, Part 11 of 12

Home stretch on this deluge of fresh listening, including music from:

The Smile - Wall of Eyes (2023) Brian Eno w/ Daniel Lanois and Roger Eno - Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks (1983) Subsignal - A Poetry of Rain (2023) Zombi - Surface to Air (2006)

And the ever-growing playlist

2024 Album Preview Series - Part 10 of 12: The All-Japan Episode

This episode features artists from Japan, including:

88Kasyo Junrei - ◯△☐ (2012) The Yoshida Brothers - Hishou (2006) Naoki Sato - Godzilla Minus One OST (2023) Oki - Tonkori in the Moonlight (2022)

Here's a few words on the Space Battleship Yamato OST.

Aaand the ever-present Dr. Spin's 2024 Radio playlist

2024 Album Preview Series: Tier 1 - Part 9 of 12

Loving all the new suggestions? I got more love to give...

Black Pumas - Chronicles of a Diamond (2023) Ora the Molecule - Human Safari (2021) Tigran Hamasyan - StandArt (2022) Anteloper - Pink Dolphins (2022)

2024 Album Preview Series: Tier 1 - Part 8 of 12

Pour this in your earholes and thank me later: Death's Dynamic Shroud - Transcendence Bot (2023) Madlib - Sound Ancestors (2020) Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die (2023) Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (1978)

2024 Album Preview Series: Tier 1 - Part 7 of 12

Apologies to Mo Troper for mis-speaking the title of his fantastic Jon Brion tribute album...

Marnie Stern - The Comeback Kid (2023) Colin Stetson - When we were what wept for the sea (2023) Nick Hakim - Cometa (2022) Mo Troper - Troper Sings Brion (2023)

And, y'know - the LIST!

2024 Album Preview Series: Tier 1 - Part 6 of 12

More music to peruse at your leisure, including albums like:

The Strokes - The New Abnormal (2020) Mandy, Indiana - I've Seen a Way (2023) Birth - Born (2022) Low - Things We Lost In The Fire (2021)

And....y'know....

2024 Album Preview Series: Tier 1 - Part 5 of 12

Still frozen in? Me, too - let's check out these albums:

Jaga Jazzist - Pyramid (2020) Young Fathers - Heavy Heavy (2023) Kebu - Urban Dreams (2021) Bully - Lucky for You (2023)

...and the ever-growing 2024 Playlist