Here’s a list of major new releases for the week of September 22, 2017. Please feel free to request reviews for any of the following albums from staff or contributors. As our staff post reviews of these albums, links will appear below the art work so that you can read about the release, see how we scored it, and more.
Background:
The fathers of post-rock are back at it. Two years removed from ‘Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress’, an album that for all intents and purposes reinvented Godspeed’s core philosophy (drone/ambient, shorter overall length), the band finds itself trudging further down that path while adding precious few wrinkles in the process. It’s once again shorter than some of their gargantuan efforts of the past, and it opts for emotive string sections and concise, calculated progressions over the sprawling, free-form drone passages of this album’s predecessor. Interjecting their fair share of political imagery, GY!BE ultimately prove that amid the minor tweaks this is still the same embittered, eccentric band that conceptualized the end of the world in 1997’s F♯ A♯ ∞. As our very own contributing reviewer LandDiving surmised in his review, “although previous Godspeed releases have spun sprawling post-apocalyptic narratives imbued with pathos, this new record engenders a last-ditch effort to prevent the end of the world from occurring, as if it plays out before both F#A# and Lift Your Skinny Fists… in this universe’s chronology.” If you enjoy in-depth analyses as far as concept albums go, then sit back and enjoy this Luciferian Towers flashback – a look at the events that led up to the horrific, terrifying end in F#A#.
Listen to the opener, “Undoing A Luciferian Towers” here:
Black Country Communion: BCCIV
Genre: Rock/Blues // Label: J&R Adventures
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The Blow: Brand New Abyss
Genre: Electronic/Indie-Pop // Label: CD Baby
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Chelsea Wolfe: Hiss Spun
Genre: Experimental/Gothic/Industrial // Label: Sargent House
Stream Hiss Spun here.
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Chris Hillman: Bidin’ My Time
Genre: Country/Rock // Label: Rounder
Stream Bidin’ My Time here.
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Circa Survive: The Amulet
Genre: Alternative Rock/Post-Hardcore // Label: Hopeless
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The Clientele: Music For The Age Of Miracles
Genre: Indie-Pop/Pyschedelic // Label: Merge
Stream Music For The Age Of Miracles here.
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Cold Specks: Fool’s Paradise
Genre: Soul/Experimental/Gothic // Label: Arts & Crafts
Stream Fool’s Paradise here.
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Counterparts: You’re Not You Anymore
Genre: Metalcore/Hardcore // Label: Pure Noise
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Cradle Of Filth: Cryptoriana – The Seductiveness Of Decay
Genre: Black Metal/Gothic/Death Metal // Label: Nuclear Blast
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Cristobal And The Sea: Exitoca
Genre: Pop/Rock // Label: City Slang
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Cut Copy: Haiku From Zero
Genre: Electronic/Pop/Post-Punk // Label: Astralwerks
Stream Haiku From Zero here.
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Diabol Blvd: Zero Hour
Genre: Metal/Hard Rock // Label: Metalville Mod
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Enter Shikari: The Spark
Genre: Post-Hardcore/Electronic // Label: Pias America
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Fergie: Double Dutchess
Genre: Pop // Label: BMG Rights Management
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Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Luciferian Towers
Genre: Post-Rock/Ambient/Drone // Label: Constellation
Stream Luciferian Towers here.
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Haley Reinhart: What’s That Sound?
Genre: Pop // Label: Concord
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The Horrors: V
Genre: Post-Punk/Shoegaze/Gothic // Label: Caroline International
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Implore: Subjugate
Genre: Punk/Death Metal/Grind // Label: Century Media
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Kaipa: Children of the Sounds
Genre: Progressive Rock // Label: Inside Out
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The Killers: Wonderful Wonderful
Genre: Indie-Pop/Alt-Rock // Label: Island
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Ledisi: Let Love Rule
Genre: R&B // Label: Verve
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Lights: Skin & Earth
Genre: Indie-Pop/Electronic // Label: Warner Bros.
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Linda Perhacs: I’m A Harmony
Genre: Folk/Psychedelic // Label: Omnivore Recordings
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METZ: Strange Peace
Genre: Noise Rock/Post-Punk/Grunge // Label: Sub Pop
Stream Strange Peace here.
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Moses Sumney: Aromanticism
Genre: Folk/Soul // Label: Jagjaguwar
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The Movielife: Cities In Search Of A Heart
Genre: Post-Punk/Emo/Hardcore // Label: Rise
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Noah Gundersen: White Noise
Genre: Folk/Alt-Rock // Label: Cooking Vinyl
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Phoebe Bridgers: Stranger In The Alps
Genre: Rock/Pop // Label: Dead Oceans
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Rapsody: Laila’s Wisdom
Genre: Hip-Hop/Soul // Label: Rapsody
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Satyricon: Deep Calleth Upon Deep
Genre: Black Metal/Folk/Rock // Label: Napalm
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Sleeping with Sirens: Gossip
Genre: Pop-Rock/Post-Hardcore/Pop-Punk // Label: Warner Bros.
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Tricky: Ununiform
Genre: Trip-Hop/Electronic // Label: !K7
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Ufomammut: 8
Genre: Pyschedelic/Doom Metal/Stoner Rock // Label: Neurot Recordings
Stream 8 here.
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Van Morrison: Roll With The Punches
Genre: Folk-Rock/Soul // Label: Legacy Recordings
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Wolves In The Throne Room: Thrice Woven
Genre: Black Metal/Ambient/Post-Rock // Label: Artemisia
Stream Thrice Woven here.
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