The Culture Tsar often finds himself in a bit of musical bind. There’s a ton of music out there worth listening to (and not worth listening to, but more on that in a minute) and so many ways access it, but sometimes it’s difficult to find the motivation to take a chance on new music. For many of us, music provides the comfort of predictability when everything else in our lives is crazy. Despite having access to basically every artist ever through streaming services like Spotify, I somehow wind up listening to the same damn stuff over and over and over again.
This year, I’ve decided to change that.
Well, to be fair, I didn’t come to this decision independent of other factors. My iPod Touch had a “Documents & Data” black hole taking up about 3 GB worth of memory. That, coupled with all the music I had on iTunes, made downloading new podcast episodes and albums on Spotify an incredibly annoying game of memory Tetris. Anyone who’s tangled with the “Documents & Data” problem on an Apple devices knows how much of a pain it came be to clear out that memory. Finally, I decided to take a drastic solution by resetting my iPod to its factory settings and wiping all of its data.
In addition to fixing a number of lingering issues, it provided an opportunity for a clean music slate. Rather than re-uploading all my iTunes music (or the tiny portion of it that will fit on the iPod), I decided instead to just install Spotify and download albums from there. But not just any albums. Rather than downloading familiar artists I know and love, I’m going to start checking out new artists on an ongoing basis.
For the rest of the year (and maybe beyond), The Culture Tsar is going to begin every week by downloading at least five albums he’s never listened to before. At the end of the week, he’s going to provide a short review of each one, detailing what he liked or didn’t like about them and highlighting a song or two worth checking out. Keep in mind that not all of these artists will be new. Some might have been around (or gone) for several years/decades. The key aspect is that the music itself is new to me, either because I’ve never heard of the artist before, only know of them only vaguely, or simply haven’t listened to the album in question. In some cases, there will be artists who were well-known in the past, but have fallen out of the public eye despite releasing new material on a regular basis. In other words, the selections will be all over the map.
These reviews aren’t going to be exhaustive. In some cases, I’ll probably only have a few thoughts on each one, just enough to give you an idea of what the album/artist is like and what I thought about it. Sometimes, if I really like an artist, I might wind up listening to other albums they’ve done for some additional context. I’ll try to keep well-known artists to a minimum, although there will be a few cases where I’ll wind up listening to an album I missed for some reason. When possible (as in, when I remember), I’ll also mention how I found the artist in question.
Check out The Culture Tsar’s 2018 Highlights playlist to find the selections below.
Week 1
1: The Birthday Massacre: Under Your Spell (2017)
The Culture Tsar has a soft spot in his black heart for goth music, so this band is pretty much everything he ever wanted to hear. Simply put, I loved this album from the first track to the last and it made me want to never go out the front door again without leather and black eyeliner. Listening to The Birthday Massacre is like dancing on an Ecstasy-induced high in the Pacific Northwest’s coolest goth club in 1997. I’m honestly shocked I’ve never heard of this band before since they’ve been around since the early 2000s. The Spotify algorithm spit one of their older songs into my player after my playlist concluded, probably inspired by the fact that I’d put a London After Midnight song on the list. Their latest album is probably my favorite, although Superstition (2014) and Pins and Needles (2010) are quite good as well. They sound a little bit like a turbocharged version of classic 80s goth bands (The Cure, Siouxsie & the Banshees) mixed with elements of symphonic metal (Nightwish, Xandria), only without sounding completely ridiculous. The lead singer has a beautiful voice, and she really reminds of Sarah Brightman for some reason (incidentally, if you remember Brightman’s 1995 album Fly, The Birthday Massacre kinda sounds like the coolest possible alternate universe version of that album). I became very excited after hearing them, thinking that I’d be able to find similar bands through the Spotify “Related Artists” listing, but most of the other bands in this genre are terrible. At any rate, The Birthday Massacre is great. Check them out if you’re at all interested in goth rock.
2: Sinistro: Sangue Cassia (2018)
This is a bit of a cheat because I was already familiar with this band. I saw them open for Paradise Lost last year and heard some of their debut album, but I hadn’t given them an in-depth listen. A Portuguese doom metal band with a female lead singer (who sings all the lyrics in Portuguese), Sinistro has a pretty unique sound. Most of their songs are quite slow, with crushing riffs interspersed with serene moments. The lead singer’s voice is haunting, and they sound like something you’d hear in the background while you were performing a séance in an abandoned house at midnight. My primary criticism is that they’re one of those metal bands that had fairly lengthy songs with multiple parts to them, so it’s a bit hard to distinguish one song from another. This is an album I think I’d have to listen to several times to really get the most out of it. The whole thing is a bit of a detuned blur upon first listen and it’s not the type of music that gets stuck in your head. If you’re into bands like My Dying Bride or Opeth, you’ll probably love them. Casual metal fans will probably get a bit bored, though. This album also has an absolutely great cover of “Nothing Sacred,” one of my favorite Paradise Lost songs.
3: Chelsea Wolfe: Abyss (2015)
An interesting album by an interesting artist. I found Wolfe on Spotify after listening to Myrkur (a black metal project by Danish pop singer Amalie Brunn; it’s awesome). It’s a bit hard to describe what this album sounds like. Not really metal, not really ambient, not really goth, but rather some ever-shifting combination of the three. The album suffers a bit of the same problem as Sinistro’s in that it’s hard to distinguish one song from another after only a single listen. Wolfe is incredibly talented, and this album has some powerful moments as it careens from one style to another. There’s a thematic darkness holding everything together that’s very compelling, even after only a cursory listen. She’s one of those artists that you have to put in some work to get the most out of, but you know it will be worth the effort. Although I think her most recent album, Hiss Spun (2017), a bit more accessible than this one, Abyss is a great artistic achievement that I’m looking forward to listening to again.
4: Peter Murphy: Lion (2014)
You might know Peter Murphy (AKA: The Godfather of Goth) from his work with the Bauhaus or his (sort of) classic 1989 solo album Deep, which featured the hit song “Cuts You Up” (and the equally memorable “Deep Ocean, Vast Sea”). He’s one of those artists that’s been around forever, had a few hits here and there, but never really stayed in the public eye for prolonged periods of time. After listening to his most recent studio album, though, I’m having a hard time understanding why. Simply put, Lion is awesome. The album has that rich, echo-laden sound that makes each song sound absolutely gigantic, like its bouncing off the walls of a 200,000 seat arena (just for the record, these don’t exist). Murphy’s voice is great, showcasing far more range than a lot of his older material. I’ve always thought that his solo material sounds a bit like a collection of David Bowie B-sides (albeit very good ones), but this album reminds me of what a Bowie-Depeche Mode collaboration in 1994 might have sounded like. The production is great, and there are a number of memorable, standout tracks. Although the second half of the album fades a little bit, the first half is good enough to make up for the fact that it kind of runs out of steam by the end.
5: Metallica: Hardwired…to Self-Destruct (2016)
Metallica? Really?
Okay, look: I know they’re still one of the biggest bands in the world and this album was a huge seller. The fact remains that The Culture Tsar didn’t listen to it when it came out and hasn’t heard anything off it since then. Since I own every other Metallica album and have been listening to the band for 20 years, I had an obligation to listen to it eventually. So what’s the verdict? Actually, it’s pretty good. Maybe great. It didn’t blow me away at first, but I found myself enjoying it more and more throughout the initial listen. The last track “Spit Out the Bone” is good enough to bump the album up half a letter grade (or it would be if I was doing ratings). As happens to a lot of bands, Metallica has entered that phase of their career in which their music becomes more of a showcase of technical proficiency rather than straightforward songwriting. That’s kind of a fancy way of saying they overthink everything. Riffs end up being a measure too long and most of the songs could be two minutes shorter if they took out at that one unnecessary movement that sounds different from the rest of the song. A bit of dead weight aside, though, most of the songs are pretty good. Some of the guitar work has a very Iron Maiden sound to it, and it was nice to hear them dip into their mid-90s sound at times. The Culture Tsar holds the rather unpopular opinion that 1996’s Load features Metallica’s best work, so he certainly enjoyed songs like “Dream No More” and “Now That We’re Dead.”
Week 2
1: Dragonette: Body Parts (2012)
The Culture Tsar really wanted to like this album. First of all, Dragonette is a fantastic name for a pop band. Secondly, there’re a lot of great elements at work on this album. It’s fun, upbeat, and unpretentious. Despite its glossy layer of dance pop sheen, there’s a soul somewhere underneath to reassure you the songs weren’t just churned out by a computer program. You will definitely tap your foot to this album, but like a sugary sweet, the enjoyment doesn’t linger very long afterward. Most of the songs just aren’t that memorable. Despite being catchy, they lack that extra something that makes them stick in your head. There are a couple notable exceptions, though. “Live in This City” is an absolute jam and has been lodged in The Culture Tsar’s brain all week like a sugar-coated icepick. Unfortunately, it’s a little atypical of the rest of the album, with more of a rock element that sets it apart from the other songs’ dance floor vibe. The chorus of “Riot” is almost as good, but it’s sandwiched between boring verses that bring the rest of the song down. Overall, The Culture Tsar would like to hear more of this band, but can’t give them a full-throated endorsement based on this album.
2: Draconian: Sovran (2015)
Dragons are the theme this week, apparently. Sweden’s Draconian has been on The Culture Tsar’s “to listen” list for quite some time. They’re a doom metal band with heavy symphonic elements, featuring a female singer performing clean vocals and a male singer growling like a disgruntled Muppet. Many metal bands have adopted this dual vocalist format over the last twenty years and The Culture Tsar has yet to find a band that wouldn’t be better off just ditching the growling dude. While Draconian mixes the two styles better than most and the growling singer is good (as growling singers go), it’s when the female vocalist is singing over the heavy, lurching guitars and string arrangements that the band takes off to become something special. The songs on Sovran are beautifully arranged and produced, mixing a sense of wonder, dread, and melancholy to fabulous effect. They have the same romantic sensibility as My Dying Bride, who they remind me of quite a bit. When the growling singer comes crashing in, though, the whole aesthetic is thrown slightly off. Again, he’s not bad. It’s not a Lacuna Coil situation, where the female singer is great and the male singer is basically terrible and brings every song down a few levels. In Draconian’s case, it’s just that the growling vocals don’t bring more to the song than the clean vocals. When he’s singing, they’re a very good metal band, but when the female vocalist is featured, they become a great, maybe even transcendent, band. It’s too bad they’re not brave enough to go that route all the time.
3: Cut Copy: Haiku From Zero (2017)
Cut Copy is one of those bands that make you do a double take when you hear them because you wonder if they’re actually an early 1980s group you forgot about. Seriously, this album is so straight out of 1983 that The Culture Tsar had to look the band up online to make sure they’re not comprised of former members of Human League, OMD, and Simple Minds (they’re not). If you love that early 1980s New Wave sound, with its mixture of synthesizers, dancefloor beats, chorus/echo effects, and a dash of reggae thrown in for good measure, Cut Copy is going to be your new favorite band. This album grew on me the more I listened to it; although it’s incredibly derivative, the source material it’s imitating is really good. Actually, I don’t know that calling it derivative is a fair criticism. None of the songs feel like they’re copying any one thing, but rather pull from a variety of inspirations to create the most idealized distillation of a particular era of pop music. Is that imitation or innovation? Maybe that’s a subject for another post, but for now it’s enough to know that you’ll probably enjoy this album if you like early 80s music.
4: The Warlocks: Songs From the Pale Eclipse (2016)
Speaking of imitation…
The Culture Tsar liked this album a lot at the onset, but became gradually disenchanted as it continued. There’s something weird about the mix that pushes the vocals way down, giving them a muted quality that seems intentional but doesn’t really add much to the overall aesthetic. The Warlocks are difficult to categorize. They’re shoegazey, but not really a shoegaze band. They’re psychedelic, but not really a psychedelic band. They remind me a bit of Catherine Wheel, a great shoegaze band from the early 90s, only if Catherine Wheel had produced their albums in somebody’s basement instead of a proper studio. Actually, Joy Division is probably the best comparison because they have a similar post-punk, early “modern” rock sound. The Culture Tsar liked band’s retro stylings, but some of the later songs on the album sound A LOT like other, more famous songs. And I don’t mean kind of similar, but close enough that when you first hear the song, you have to listen closely to make sure they’re not playing a cover. Part of the problem is that most of these songs are so simplistic in terms of chord structure and arrangement that similarities are almost impossible to avoid. Let me put it this way, when the 14-year-old listening to the song in the car turns to The Culture Tsar and says “Isn’t this just ‘Hey, Joe’?”, you might need to workshop the song a bit more. Overall, they’re fine, but nothing you need to run out and listen to right away.
5: Process of Guilt: Black Earth (2017)
Oh, dear.
This one isn’t going to be making its way onto any mainstream “best of 2017” lists. Process of Guilt is as hardcore doom metal as you can get. Featuring lengthy songs with raw production and not a melodic hook in sight, Black Earth isn’t screwing around here. This isn’t an album you should listen to casually. You’d be better served by consuming it in one sitting in a dark room with a good set of headphones. The drum sound is incredible, with a weight unlike anything The Culture Tsar has heard on an album before. It almost sounds like the drums are filled with sand or water, something that soaks up the echo and voices only a deadened thud. Unlike Draconian, Process of Guilt is elevated by its growling male singer; his raw vocals are a perfect match for the rumbling rhythm section and the caustic guitars. While the songs kind of run together and don’t do much to differentiate themselves with easily recognizable melodies, the band has a great primordial aesthetic that’s both ominous and threatening. The Culture Tsar wouldn’t recommend this album to anyone who isn’t into doom metal, but if you enjoyed Sinistro, you should absolutely check out Process of Guilt. They’re the real deal.
Week 3
1: Cults: Offering (2017)
Swirly and dreamy, Offering is one of those albums that lulls you into a different state of mind when you listen to it for extended periods. The female vocalist has a lovely, soothing voice that delivers a sort of mental massage. Most of the songs are drenched in echo and chorus effects, with soft synths whooshing in from every direction. At some points, it sounds almost like a choral piece written for some new age spiritual center. It’s an album that’s best consumed in small doses. Listening to the whole album at once is kind of like eating the entire roll of Sweet Tarts at one time; you enjoy it a lot at first, but your taste buds are oversaturated about halfway through and you can’t tell one flavor from the other by the end. The Culture Tsar came away from this album feeling like he should have liked it more, but the songs themselves aren’t very memorable despite sounding quite good. And the album does sound good, with excellent production and arrangements throughout. There’s just not a lot of variation. The songs all feel like they’re at the same tempo and trying to put the listener in the same emotional state. It’s fine, but never really rises to the level of anything special.
2: Esben and the Witch: A New Nature (2014)
Now this is some interesting stuff. England’s Esben and the Witch is a difficult band to categorize. A sort of mixture of psychedelic rock, folk music, and heavy metal, this band is all about atmosphere. They have a great sound when they’re locked in and rocking, with a solid rhythm section, distinctive guitars, and powerful, haunting female vocals. There isn’t an easy comparison, but they remind The Culture Tsar of Elysian Fields crossed with The Gathering. Maybe the best way to describe them would be to say they’re the most kick ass band you’d ever find playing at the bar on the cool side of town where all the artistic types hang out. Musically, they swing from a subdued, almost coffeehouse melancholy sound with the singer backed up by a single acoustic guitar to a snarling maelstrom of Black Sabbath inspired fury. Actually, early Black Sabbath is a good comparison. They don’t really sound like Sabbath, but their songs have the same sort of tonal variation found on those first few Black Sabbath albums. The songs on A New Nature are a mixed bag. Some of them are long and well developed, while others are quite short and feel almost unfinished by comparison. Esben and the Witch isn’t for everybody. Some might find them tedious and pretentious while others find them brilliant and inspired. The Culture Tsar is firmly in the latter category. I loved this band and want to hear more from them. While A New Nature is quite good, their more recent album, Older Terrors (2016), is even better. Highly recommended overall.
3: The Mission: Another Fall From Grace (2017)
The Culture Tsar was not familiar with The Mission despite the fact that the band’s been around since the late 1980s. This is quite remarkable because their grim, vaguely goth sound is right in The Culture Tsar’s wheelhouse. They sound a lot like Peter Murphy’s solo material, their minor key laden guitar and keyboard work bolstered by strong baritone vocals. The songs on this album are confident and mature, never straying far from the central themes of age, sorrow, and regret. Despite the emotional heaviness of the material, many of the songs are quite catchy and memorable. This is an experienced band at the peak of its creative powers and it’s an impressive thing to hear. While the back half of the album isn’t quite as good as the first, there’s still a lot of great material here. If you’ve enjoyed listening to bands like The Cure, The Smiths, or Depeche Mode, you’ll probably love this album. The Culture Tsar certainly plans on going back to listen to The Mission’s previous albums at some point.
4: Port Noir: Any Way the Wind Blows (2016)
The Culture Tsar has been dreading writing about this band because he still has no idea whether he likes them or not.
The initial impression wasn’t good. Musically, the band is pretty great. They have a versatile sound that can swing from a synth-infused heavy pop rock to more of a groove-laden metal style. Their songs are pretty well written, with catchy hooks and some driving rhythms that hold your attention. But then there’s the vocalist. After listening to the entire album…I just don’t know how I feel about him. It’s not that he’s bad, because he’s not. He has a very good voice, actually. The problem is the style. He clearly draws a lot of inspiration from Maynard James Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle fame, with a rather disjointed delivery that doesn’t lock in with the rest of the song musically. Again, it’s not bad, just jarring. Once you get accustomed to it over the course of the first few songs, the band’s sound kind of comes into focus and works…sort of. I don’t know. The vocal style definitely makes the band stand out from the crowd, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not. The Culture Tsar was ready to label them as an “Enemy of the People” about thirty seconds into the opening song, but by the second track, his stance softened enough to give the band a chance. By the end of the album, he’s no closer to a final decision, so consider this one a “love it or hate it” selection. If you dig the vocalist’s unique style, there’s a lot to like about Port Noir. If not, well, you’re not missing out on anything transcendent, so it’s probably best to just move on to another band.
5: Portugal. The Man: Woodstock (2017)
While it feels a bit like cheating to select an album by one of the most popular bands in the world right now, a close friend of The Culture Tsar has long insisted on hearing his opinion on Portugal. The Man.
So here it is.
Yeah. They’re good. Very good.
There’s probably not a lot The Culture Tsar can say about this album that hasn’t already been written by music/culture critics the world over, but it’s a wonderfully retro-infused pop album with tons of catchy tunes. In many ways, they’re the perfect band for today’s cultural environment because their songs sound like a blend of many disparate elements that’s constantly pushing something new to the front of the song. If you don’t like something about a song, just wait twenty seconds and it will probably change. There’s a lightness and a vitality to the band’s music that’s very compelling. They’re easy to listen to, though that does make The Culture Tsar wonder how well this band will endure over time. You can imagine many of these songs playing on any number of television commercials or movie/television trailers, but will they still resonate with the average listener five to ten years from now? Maybe, maybe not. For now, though, they’re definitely a fun listen.
Week 4
1: Junius: Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light (2017)
Junius has been on The Culture Tsar’s “to listen” list for a long while now and he’s happy to report the band was absolutely worth the wait. They have a great, crushingly heavy sound that never quite reaches abrasive levels. Aside from a few screaming portions, most of the vocals are clean, with a bit of a muted, dreamlike quality about them. They sound a bit like a cross between Mastodon’s more cerebral work (think 2009’s Crack the Skye) and melodic post rock bands like God is an Astronaut. It feels inaccurate to label them as a metal band, although they very clearly are one. Their lyrics and song titles are deeply wrapped up in metaphysical themes drawn from the more eccentric corners of western philosophy. One gets the impression that somebody in the band was a philosophy major who studied a lot of pre-Enlightenment scientific theory, the sort of “quasi-science” that produced a host of delightfully weird ideas about the laws of the universe. Like a lot of metal bands, it’s hard to identify a standout hit on this album. The songs are all quite good, but Junius isn’t in the business of crafting a catchy tune. This album is best experienced as a whole because it feels like a journey through an alternate dimension that you might fall into if you concentrated on the patterns of the stars long enough. Highly recommended, especially if you’re looking for a little more IQ in your metal bands.
2: We Are Scientists: Helter Seltzer (2016)
Let’s get the good news and the bad news out of the way right up front: the first half of this album is absolutely brilliant, but the second half drops off significantly. We Are Scientists have a great pop rock sound and their songwriting is tight and peppy without being cheesy or annoying. Imagine if Weezer and Oasis got together to record an album that didn’t feature any of the pretentious self-importance that makes those bands annoying and you’d have something that sounds kinda like Helter Seltzer. The first three tracks are shockingly good, the kind of songs that make you wonder why this band isn’t a household name. Things begin to trail off after that, though. Somewhere around the fourth or fifth track, the album downshifts into a more predictable indie rock sound. It’s still good, but the bar was set so high by the opening songs that The Culture Tsar couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the end. The whole thing is still worth a listen, though, and whatever you do, you should absolutely check out those first few songs.
3: Client: Authority (2014)
This one’s easy to describe: Ladytron fronted by ABBA. Featuring heavy electronic dance beats with layered synthesizers to keep things moving, Client tries to strike a balance between catchy pop and house music. They do a reasonably good job, but the songs lean a bit closer to the house music side of the equation. As pop tunes, none of the tracks are particularly memorable. You’ll probably enjoy hearing Client when they’re playing in the background, but a more focused listen will leave you feeling like there’s just not much “there” there. The Culture Tsar had a hard time ignoring just how much they sound like Ladytron. While the ABBA-style vocals are a nice touch and sound very good, the fact remains that Ladytron is a much better version of the same music. Client just isn’t different enough to not make The Culture Tsar wish he was listening to Ladytron instead.
4: The Eden House: Songs for the Broken Ones (2017)
Along with Helter Seltzer, this album was the other big surprise of the week. It’s fantastic. Dark and vaguely gothic, it sounds like a less ambient version of groups like Delerium or Dead Can Dance. The first track isn’t great, but the album gains momentum after that and never really lets up. It has an ethereal sound backed up by a substantial rock punch. While sonically and emotionally heavy, the music never crosses the line into metal territory, and rarely even approach what you’d characterize as hard rock. Both the production and arrangement are stellar, making it possible to make out every last note from the multilayered instruments. The female vocalist showcases quite a bit of versatility, shifting from breathy, spoken word sections to more haunting melodic work on several songs. She’s not a siren by any means, but her airy voice is perfect for the dark tone of the material. Overall, a superb album that The Culture Tsar highly recommends.
5: Elysian Fields: For House Cats and Sea Fans (2014)
Alas, not everything can be good news, which brings us to The Culture Tsar’s big disappointment of the week. To be fair, this one is a victim of expectations. The Culture Tsar loves Elysian Fields’s 1996 debut album Bleed Your Cedar, but hasn’t had a chance to hear much of their subsequent material. Elysian Fields has a rather troubled history with record labels, which made it difficult to find a lot of their music over the years (although all of their albums are available on iTunes, only a few are available on Spotify). For House Cats and Sea Fans doesn’t have much in common with Bleed Your Cedar. It has kind of a stripped down, coffeehouse indie sound that occasionally ventures into more of a jazz vibe. A few tracks have a hint of the nastier edge Elysian Fields has shown in the past, but most of the tracks play it pretty safe. None of these songs would sound out of place playing over the speakers at the local hipster coffee shop. Which is fine, I guess. Jennifer Charles has a beautiful voice and she gives a great performance on this album. Again, The Culture Tsar is a victim of his own expectations here. Bleed Your Cedar is a delightfully strange and dangerous album, but For House Cats and Sea Fans is the very definition of safe and non-threatening. After hearing the other standout albums from this week, it just felt a little flat.
Week 5
1: Marilyn Manson: The Pale Emperor (2015)
Listening to this album was like reconnecting with an old acquaintance you haven’t seen in years and wonder why you weren’t closer friends since you have so much in common. As teenager in the 1990s, The Culture Tsar naturally heard plenty of Marilyn Manson’s early material. While he always thought the infamous 1996 album Antichrist Superstar was better known for its shock value than its musical qualities, he greatly enjoyed its 1998 follow-up, Mechanical Animals. After that, though, Marilyn Manson fell off The Culture Tsar’s radar, usually provoking comments like “Oh, is he still around?” whenever the name came up. He was honestly a bit surprised to discover that The Pale Emperor is quite good. Not quite metal, but not really straight-up hard rock, the album has a sleazy, grime-encrusted bluesy feel to it. If you mixed Alice Cooper with Tom Waits and The Cure, you’d get something that sounds kind of like The Pale Emperor. Manson seems more concerned here with crafting great songs than with shocking people, and it really showcases the musical talent that often gets overshadowed by the theatrics of his stage persona. While still dark and disturbing, it isn’t really “in your face” with shock value. The Pale Emperor may drag you into some frightening places, but you’ll find yourself tapping your foot along the way.
2: Hungry Lucy: Pulse of the Earth (2017)
An interesting combination of elements, Hungry Lucy pairs electronic ambience with delicate female vocals to occupy a unique genre space. Honestly, The Culture Tsar isn’t sure how to even categorize this album. It’s not pop, but it’s not electronica either. The singer sounds a lot like Tori Amos at times, and the songs strike an uncomfortable balance between sad and thoughtful. While the arrangements tend to be multilayered, they’re not overwhelming at any point. The album manages to be deep and austere at the same time. More than any other album this week, Pulse of the Earth is really hard to describe. That doesn’t mean it’s a difficult album to take in. Most of the songs are actually quite accessible, but there’s not an easy comparison for them. It’s not the kind of album you would listen to casually while doing something else. Hungry Lucy is a distinctive and original band you should sit down and dedicate some time to listen to if you’re looking for something different from the typical genre fare.
3: If These Trees Could Talk: The Bones of a Dying World (2016)
Ah, post-rock…
Sooner or later, The Culture Tsar had to listen to a post-rock album for this series. For those unfamiliar with the term, post-rock is a genre of instrumental rock music that originated in the 1990s and has since exploded into a thriving sub-genre. Seriously, you could spend days exploring different post-rock bands on Spotify. The Culture Tsar discovered If These Trees Could Talk on one of those deep dives. They’re fairly typical of the genre in that they manage to compose evocative songs that still cling to the basic rock music structure that listeners instinctively expect from a song. Their music tells a story without a single lyric intruding upon the narrative, though exactly what that story is will vary from listener to listener. That’s one of the cool things about post-rock; the instruments combine to elicit an emotion from the listener, but it’s up to the listener to work out what that emotion means to them. The Bones of a Dying World has some pretty epic moments and creates a variety of compelling soundscapes. Virtuosity takes a back seat to ambiance, with many of the most emotionally powerful moments coming from rather simple arrangements. Post-rock certainly isn’t a genre for everyone. You kind of have to be on board with the idea of listening to a rock song without vocals. If, however, you want to get a good sense of what’s possible in the genre, If These Trees Could Talk is an excellent band to start with.
4: White Lies: Friends (2017)
The Culture Tsar is really digging this wave of bands inspired by early 80s New Wave pop rock. A few weeks ago, Cut Copy gave him a heavy dose of nostalgia. This week, White Lies takes the nostalgia up a notch and adds a skinny tie to the mix. Friends sounds like a lost album out of 1984, which is a good thing in The Culture Tsar’s book. The guitars have that heavily processed New Wave sound that meshes well with the echo-laden synthesizers and the machine-like precision of the rhythm section. Rich and deep male vocals round out the classic sound, calling to mind any number of well-dressed bands from the early MTV era. None of this would matter, of course, if the songs sucked. Fortunately, the songwriting is great, full of catchy hooks, melodies that get stuck in your head, and easy to remember lyrics that you’ll be singing under your breath for the rest of the day. Maybe The Culture Tsar is just a sucker for bands that sound like the music of his childhood, but Friends is the kind of album that will make you happy from the moment it begins until you inevitably decide to play the whole thing over again.
5: Memoryhouse: Soft Hate (2016)
Another tough one to categorize, Soft Hate bounces between an upbeat electronic pop sound and a more measured, introspective style. At a couple points, they veer into slightly darker territory with a couple of songs that sound like they could have come from a David Lynch movie. Most of the time, though, they keep to a standard of layered synthesizers and drum beats backing up the breathy female vocals. The album is good, but the style feels a bit inconsistent at times. There’s a bit of a kitchen sink feel to it, with a lot of good songs doing a lot of interesting things that don’t quite hold together as a coherent album. A great album typically has a strong thematic element that ties all the songs to one another conceptually. Part of the problem is that the best track, “Arizona”, is almost completely different from the rest of the album. After The Culture Tsar’s initial listen, he thought he liked the album a lot, but it was more a case of one song influencing his view of the album. His enthusiasm waned a bit on repeated listens because he wanted more songs that sounded like “Arizona.” Still, it’s not a bad album. Many of the songs are quite good, if not especially memorable. Definitely worth a listen, but it doesn’t set the world on fire.
Now, if they do more songs like “Arizona”…
Week 6
1: The Horrors: V (2017)
The Culture Tsar has a bit of history with The Horrors. They were one of the first bands he stumbled upon during his initial Spotify explorations several years ago. Both 2011’s Skying and 2009’s Primary Colours are excellent, but The Culture Tsar hasn’t really kept up with what the band’s been doing since then. V continues many of the trends present in Skying, moving the music beyond the more straightforward 80s goth sound of their early work. Although definitely a rock band, The Horrors never quite sound like one. They have good pop sensibilities and bring in a lot of interesting ambient electronic elements to break up the structure of conventional rock music. Above all, The Horrors seem intent upon combining every alternative music trend of the last thirty years into a single album. Their music has a bit of a timeless quality that’s difficult to pin down in a particular era. You could have told me this album was from 2007, 1997, or 1987 and every one of those dates would have made sense. Odds are you’ll find at least a few tracks you enjoy on this album as a result, but you might find the entire package somewhat unsatisfying.
2: Cloud Nothings: Life Without Sound (2017)
This is a tough album to review. Life Without Sound is easy to classify, of course. It’s a rock album that incorporates a lot of pop punk sensibility with more mature songwriting inspired by classic 60s era British rock. The songs are catchy, the vocals eager, and the whole thing moves along at a nice, steady clip. It’s fine. Perfectly enjoyable. The problem is that The Culture Tsar remembered literally nothing about the album when he sat down to write about it. This highlights one of the difficulties with this musical discovery endeavor, namely that it can be hard to say something insightful about an album you listened to once several days ago. Still, this hasn’t been a big issue in previous weeks. This album is just a little on the bland side. Again, it’s fine. If you like more modern pop punk type music, you’ll probably really like it. The Culture Tsar didn’t hear anything special, though. Nothing offensive, but just nothing worth getting excited about.
3: Kylesa: Exhausting Fire (2015)
Let’s cut to the heart of the matter straight away: Kylesa sounds awesome. The opening track tells you everything you need to know about this band. Heavy distorted, fuzz effect drenched guitars slogging over a bone crunching, mid tempo rhythm section with muted vocals fighting to cut through the mix. Listening to Kylesa is like going to see Black Sabbath in 1972 with a wet towel wrapped around your head…and you’re drunk. Kylesa is a particularly good example of the “stoner metal” genre, which is a descriptor that’s both unfortunate and perfect all at the same time. This band can crank out the riffs, but they have a good ear for a hook. Most of the songs are pretty catchy, and they’re one of the few bands that mixes female and male vocals effectively. On the downside, this album includes a rather subpar cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” Don’t let that deter you, though. The rest of the album is stellar. Highly recommended for any metalhead.
4: Tamaryn: Cranekiss (2015)
The Culture Tsar was fairly indifferent about this album upon the initial listen, but found it more enjoyable when he went back to it to select tracks for the playlist. Probably best slotted in the “dream pop” genre, Cranekiss is a pretty good album overall. It doesn’t have many tracks that stand out as great, but there aren’t any duds either. The album features a lot of swirling synths and echo-laden vocals that blend together in a pleasant wave of sound. It’s the kind of music that can very easily sink into the background if you’re not focusing on it, which is probably why The Culture Tsar’s initial impressions were rather muted. At its best moments, Cranekiss sounds a bit like a modernized version of Siouxsie and the Banshees, but it never quite reaches the same level of confident swagger. The most standout track, “Hands All Over Me”, feels a bit atypical from the rest of the album, featuring a bit more pep and enthusiasm. Cranekiss strikes me as the sort of album you pick a few tracks from to put on your playlist and then set the rest of the songs aside. Good, but nothing you haven’t heard before.
5: Vallenfyre: Fear Those Who Fear Him (2017)
And now for some really intense music. Vallenfyre is a side project by Greg Mackintosh, the lead guitar player of Paradise Lost, which you may know is The Culture Tsar’s favorite band. But while Paradise Lost is very much a doom metal band, Vallenfyre is straight up black metal. The songs here are heavy, nasty, and sound like they were recorded inside a metal garbage can. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’s great, although this album is probably a bit on the slow side for some black metal fans. If you’re not a metal fan, Vallenfyre will probably strike you as unlistenable (and possibly offensive) noise. In the latter case, you’ll just have to take The Culture Tsar’s word for it that this is what good black metal is supposed to sound like. The drumming is fantastic, the guitars are savage, and the vocals are brutal without being incomprehensible. While The Culture Tsar appreciates Vallenfyre artistically, it’s not something he would listen to on a regular basis. The songs here are a little more melodic than the more extreme strands of black metal (Mackintosh is too good of a songwriter to lose that sensibility completely), but they’re definitely not trying to make their way onto the singles charts. Good stuff, but listen at your own risk…
Week 7
1: Hearts of Black Science: Signal (2015)
One of the first bands The Culture Tsar discovered when he started his Spotify deep dives, Hearts of Black Science incorporates a sense of sweeping, epic majesty with rock solid songwriting chops. Their songs are grandiose without being pretentious. It’s not quite right to categorize them as a rock band or as an electronic band because they utilize elements of both genres. They’re also not so aggressive to be considered industrial, and despite the intensive production, there’s a very human sound nestled in the heart of all the digital wizardry. The heavy synth work melds seamlessly with guitars and the drums swing between a digital and analog sound frequently (sometimes even in the same song). Every song has a sense of vast scale, like it was recorded in the biggest sound room ever built. The vocalist is great, both blending in with the soundscape and pushing just above the mix to command your attention. While the band’s previous album, 2009’s The Star in the Lake, is very good, Signal is a far superior album. This is what a band at the top of their game is supposed to sound like.
2: Ladyhawke: Wild Things (2016)
Speaking of being at the top of your game, let The Culture Tsar get this out of the way right now: Wild Things is fucking incredible. You shouldn’t just listen to it, you should buy it right now. The Culture Tsar loved Ladyhawke’s 2008 self-titled debut, but wasn’t quite as crazy about her 2012 follow-up, Anxiety. It was very good, but didn’t quite reach the same heights. With Wild Things, though, she’s definitely found her stride. The great thing about Ladyhawke is that she manages to evoke the spirit and sensibility of 1980s pop music without sounding like she’s trying to mimic it. While The Culture Tsar enjoyed 80s sounding bands like White Lies and Cut Copy, there’s an inherently derivative aspect to their sound. They’re trying to sound like a lost record from that era. Ladyhawke is different. Wild Things sounds fresh and relevant while still being rooted in a sensibility from another era. If you put early 80s Fleetwood Mac in a time machine, brought them to the present day and gave them six months to get caught up on music trends before recording a new album, that album might sound something like Wild Things. The songs are so well written and produced that it’s difficult to pick out highlights. There’s a sense of earnestness to the whole endeavor, with each song laying something about the artist completely bare. As you can see, The Culture Tsar really can’t recommend this album highly enough. Listen to it. You can thank me later.
3: Paradise Lost: Medusa (2017)
As you might recall from previous posts, Paradise Lost is The Culture Tsar’s favorite band. It’s not even close, really. Luckily for him, Paradise Lost releases a new album every two or three years. Medusa builds upon the doom metal “return to form” of 2015’s The Plague Within, featuring crushing, detuned guitars and growling vocals. But Paradise Lost has far better songwriting chops than most of their peers, which helps to wedge the songs into your skull like a rusty icepick. Every Paradise Lost album has a distinctive tone and feel, and Medusa is no different. The songs are varied and evocative, with a variety of memorable highlights. It’s an album that grows on you with subsequent listens. None of the tracks stand out as classics for the band upon the initial listen, but they all have a way of digging under your skin over time. The album is also a great showcase for the band’s new drummer, who is absolutely incredible. His drum work is far more dynamic and expressive than anything the band has seen since 1995’s classic Draconian Times. Medusa might not be the ideal introduction to Paradise Lost if you’ve never heard them before, but the album is very good from start to finish, easily ranking among some of the band’s best work in their almost 30 year history.
4: Sleigh Bells: Jessica Rabbit (2016)
Ah, Sleigh Bells. All the charm of perky high school cheerleader coupled with the disposition of a bare-knuckle boxer. This band hits unapologetically hard, busting your teeth against the curbside while sucking on a lollypop. Nothing about Sleigh Bells should work. They mash up conflicting musical styles and throw conventional song structure into a blender in the process. And yet, somehow, it all winds up working in the end. Jessica Rabbit is by far their most ambitious album yet, incorporating everything the band has done in the past and pushing them in new directions in the process. Earlier Sleigh Bells albums tended to be more narrowly focused, with the songs more or less featuring a similar style. The tracks on Jessica Rabbit are all over the yard. There are heavy, in-your-face rockers matched with more minimalist fare and other songs that seem intent upon packing as many styles into one track as possible. Alexis Krauss’s vocal work stands out as particularly great. She’s always been a fantastic performer, but she showcases a range and versatility on this album that’s quite impressive. Highly recommended, and as good a place as any to get familiar with one of the most talented and consistently interesting bands recording today.
5: Arch Enemy: Will To Power (2017)
It’s hard to believe that The Culture Tsar almost wrote Arch Enemy off several years ago after 2012’s fairly lackluster (and, frankly, more than a little silly) Khaos Legions. But then came new lead singer Alissa White-Gulz and 2014’s War Eternal, which made him a believer once again. Will to Power isn’t quite as good as War Eternal, but that’s hardly much of a criticism. This album is classic, full-throttle Arch Enemy, shot through with galloping metal riffs, savage vocals, and the most rapid-fire drum work a human being is capable of delivering. Arch Enemy has always been a bit overly invested in its image as a metal band, so there’s a lot of thematic clichés scattered throughout the album that run the risk of eliciting an unintentional chuckle (there’s a track called “The Eagle Flies Alone”, because all metal bands are forever standing alone upon the windswept planes taking on all comers). The songs sound so great, though, that it’s pretty easy to forgive them these flights of borderline silliness. And the songs do sound great. Arch Enemy may be categorized as a death metal band, but their musical DNA is pure Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Will to Power might not be as impressive as War Eternal, but it’s still a great metal album that any fan of the genre should check out. And just keep in mind every time you hear them that, yes, that screaming lead singer is, in fact, a woman. Having seen the band perform live last year, The Culture Tsar can attest that there’s no studio trickery going on there. Alissa White-Gulz really does sound like that. You’ll be hearing A LOT more about her when The Culture Tsar gets around to writing another post about lead singers.
Week 8
1: End of the Dream: Until You Break (2017)
Ah, symphonic metal. It used to be there were only a few bands daring enough to mix operatic female vocals and orchestral arrangements with electric guitars and rapid fire drum beats, but today there are so many of these groups it’s almost impossible to keep track of them. The Culture Tsar has a flair for the dramatic and a fondness for bombast, so he’s always had a soft spot for the genre. Unfortunately, End of the Dream isn’t anything special. They’re a perfectly competent and skilled symphonic metal band, but they don’t do much to push the boundaries of the genre. The vocalist is good, but she doesn’t rise above her contemporaries in any meaningful way. End of the Dream is the kind of band you’d find playing dead in the middle of the lineup of some outdoor music festival, probably on the second of three days. The album has a few good moments and it certainly sounds great, but it’s just not very memorable. There’s nothing about this band that leaps out and grabs you, which is fine. Not everybody is going to be transcendent. Scan the album for a track or two you enjoy, add them to your symphonic metal playlist (what, you don’t have one of these too?), and move on.
2: Minus the Bear: VOIDS (2017)
The Culture Tsar had a hard time getting through this album. It’s not bad, of course. Minus the Bear sounds like…well, sounds like a version of something you’ve heard before. It’s the kind of music you’d imagine being played by a group of skinny guys with well-groomed beards at a hipster brewpub somewhere in Portland while the audience sips on blackberry infused IPAs. They’re fine. The singer has a good voice, the songs feature a decent amount of variation, and there are plenty of hummable tunes. But it also took The Culture Tsar almost three days to get through the album. That has to count for something. There’s just nothing about it that grabbed him in any meaningful way. Despite the obviously good musicianship, VOIDS is kind of a boring album. None of the songs made me want to crank up the volume or hit repeat. Your mileage may vary, of course, but the whole experience elicited a great big shrug from The Culture Tsar.
3: Hanging Garden: I Am Become (2017)
Another album that didn’t quite come together for The Culture Tsar, I am Become doesn’t make a great initial impression. The back half of the album gets much better, but the first few songs are pretty flat and uninspired metal that can’t decide if they want to be in the doom, death, or symphonic genres. It just sounds confused. There’s a growling singer and a clean singer, but it’s not clear how they interact with one another. It’s like the band knows that other groups mix the two styles, but they don’t quite understand how the contrasting vocals are supposed to be used to create tension or thematic variation. The songs lurch from one style to the other and don’t really linger on any one concept long enough to grab your attention. To be fair, the band locks in to a more clearly defined goth sound about halfway through the album and finishes strong. By that time, though, The Culture Tsar’s attention was already wandering. He finished up the album with a decent overall impression, but on the whole, this sounds like a band that needs another album or two before they really get a handle on their identity.
4: Emma Ruth Rundle: Marked for Death (2016)
Now we’re getting somewhere. After listening to a few humdrum albums that didn’t really do anything interesting, Marked for Death stood out like a gunshot on a still winter day. Creepy, brooding, and intense, the songs here are powerful and confident. Emma Ruth Rundle has a folk singer/songwriter vibe, but her backing band sounds like it’s on loan from a particularly nasty Tom Waits recording session. She’s yet another artist who reminds The Culture Tsar of Tori Amos; something about the timbre of her voice and her vocal style invites the comparison. While the vocals are the star of the show, the menacing instrumentation backing them up really cranks these songs up to a whole different level. Marked for Death has an identity all its own. Unlike most of this week’s selections, it’s an album you really need to hear to get a sense of what it’s like because it doesn’t fit neatly into any category. The Culture Tsar highly recommends this one. It might take a few songs for the style to mesh for you, but Emma Ruth Rundle is definitely an artist worth your time.
5: In the Silence: A Fair Dream Gone Mad (2013)
This album almost didn’t make the cut for this week since it was released five years ago and the band has yet to record a follow-up. From the first few seconds of the first track, though, The Culture Tsar was glad he decided to add it to the list. Put simply, this album is a true diamond in the rough. Beautifully arranged and produced, A Fair Dream Gone Mad succeeds in creating a listening experience that transports you into another world. It’s an album that draws you in and doesn’t let go, the songs shifting effortlessly from the serene and emotional one moment to unleashing a tidal wave of sonic fury the next. In the Silence has a very clear vision of their identity. They’re confident in their sound and style, and that surefootedness comes through on every song. It’s not entirely accurate to call them a metal band even though that’s clearly what they are. They have a bit of a progressive rock streak mixed with a symphonic sensibility, but they’re very much a unique combination of several genres. The singer has a distinctively clear vocal style, and the band doesn’t get cute with mixing different types of vocals together. Sometimes with bands like this, it’s clear the singer was merely the only guy in the band who could sing in pitch and so became the singer by default. That’s not the case here as the singer is perfectly matched to the musical style. Overall, another highly recommended album. The Culture Tsar is eagerly awaiting more releases from this band.
(2019 update: In the Silence is unfortunately no longer available on Spotify.)
Week 9
1: King Woman: Created in the Image of Suffering (2017)
Starting out with the obvious, this band has a great name. The name really fits well with the sludgy, fuzz-drenched stoner metal sound showcased on most of these songs. Think early Black Sabbath with a female folk singer whose voice is drenched in layer upon layer of echo and reverb. King Woman is fairly typical of the “stoner metal” genre, which is a fancy epistemological way of saying their music is slow, heavy, and easy to sway to while you’re high or drunk. It’s certainly not a style for anyone with an ear for technical proficiency. Most of the songs are fairly simple, leaning heavily on the typical genre conventions. The dreamy vocals do lend the band a bit of a shoegaze aesthetic that helps to differentiate their sound a bit from the typical slate of stoner metal bands. In fact, if you ever wondered what a metal shoegaze band would sound like, King Woman’s probably pretty close to whatever idea you came up with. The Culture Tsar felt like he should have liked this album a lot more. It checks a lot of the boxes he usually likes, but for some reason it just didn’t stick with him. They have a good sound, but their songwriting isn’t quite there yet. The longer tracks get boring and even the shorter songs sometimes overstay their welcome. None of the songs jump out on the initial listen, and there’s not much in the way of variation. Still, as a debut album, Created in the Image of Suffering is a good effort. Definitely a band The Culture Tsar suggests keeping an eye on over the next few years. They could very easily evolve into something special with a bit more seasoning.
2: Youth Code: Commitment to Complications (2016)
Every now and again, The Culture Tsar comes across an album that reminds him why he loves music. Bands like Youth Code are the reason he started writing this weekly column, because if you’re not actively looking for new musical discoveries, you’ll very often miss the best of what’s out there. To put it bluntly, this album fucking cranks. If Ministry and Marilyn Manson decided to collaborate on an industrial metalcore album with Live Like This-era Courtney Love on vocals, it would sound something like Commitment to Complications. Angry, frenetic, and daring, this album is as subtle as a ball-peen hammer to the brain stem. The energy on these songs is intoxicating. Every track hits hard, driven forward by relentless drum machine beats as screaming vocals claw at your eardrums. The whole album is a sonic assault that never lets up; even the slower tracks have a nasty sound that prevents you from getting comfortable or tuning out. There’s a lot here that reminds The Culture Tsar of the classic 1994 Nine Inch Nails album The Downward Spiral. Much like that album, Commitment to Complications certainly isn’t for everyone, but it doesn’t care whether you like it or not. Highly recommended.
3: Pinback: Some Offcell Voices (2017)
After the fury of Youth Code, Pinback felt like a retreat to safety. Some people may associate safety with comfort and measured introspection, but The Culture Tsar generally equates safety with boredom. This album was a chore for him to get through. It’s fine. The songs are well constructed and combine all sorts of clever instrumentation. You’ll probably find several tracks here to bob your head to as you’re strolling down the sidewalk of some gentrified neighborhood on your way to the organic foods store for a fresh bundle of kale. And that’s okay. Whatever works for you. The Culture Tsar isn’t here to tell you how to live your life. Well, actually he is, but whatever, do what you want. If you want to listen to Pinback while you’re discussing the horrible conditions of chicken farms with your cardigan-wearing friends over slices of avocado toast, that’s fine. Live your life. Listen to what you want. Pinback is a perfectly competent band capable of providing the soundtrack for your gentrified wokeness. They’re fine. The Culture Tsar is just glad he never has to listen to them again.
4: Tonight Alive: Underworld (2018)
A rather conventional entry for The Culture Tsar’s standards, Tonight Alive is a fun band all the same. They’re a bit too heavy to be a pop band, but not quite edgy enough to be a rock band. Most of the songwriting here is good, with plenty of catchy, hook-laden songs that will have you tapping your foot along with the beat. The singer is the star here, and she does a pretty good job of driving most of the songs. Her voice isn’t particularly powerful, but it’s a natural fit for this upbeat style of pop rock. She does have a tendency to sound like a country singer at times, though, especially on the more ballad-style songs. While the rest of the band backs her up effectively, they don’t stand out in any meaningful way. Tonight Alive is one of those bands you’ll probably enjoy a lot while you’re listening to them, but you might have a hard time pointing to which songs people should check out afterwards. There’s not a lot of substance to the album. Like a sugary treat, it goes down easy, but doesn’t provide a lot of nourishment. Maybe The Culture Tsar is a bit too old and cynical for this kind of music to have a strong impact on him. Underworld sounds like the kind of album a 13-16 year old would obsess over for six months before moving on to the next “soundtrack of their life.” Your mileage will probably vary with this one depending upon how in touch you are with your inner adolescent.
5: Collapse Under the Empire: The Fallen Ones (2017)
Against his better judgment, The Culture Tsar decided to take everyone along for another dive into post-rock. Collapse Under the Empire’s latest effort is quite good, featuring a balanced mixture of ambient electronic soundscapes and guitar work. There’s a definite sense of scale to the album. The music here seems to carry across a vast, wide-open space while still creating a sense of intimacy. While all instrumental post-rock is inherently a little pretentious in its ambition, The Fallen Ones is quite good at inviting the listener to embark upon a journey. The music never fails to be interesting, even in its more low key moments. It’s difficult to listen to these songs and not feel yourself being carried away to some imaginary realm. As post-rock bands go, Collapse Under the Empire is among the best at creating a compelling soundscape that doesn’t fade into the background. While no one song is likely to stand out, the album as a whole creates a memorable listening experience.
Week 10
1: Eldamar: The Force of the Ancient Land (2016)
Whoops. The Culture Tsar has a confession to make: he added this album to this week’s list after only a cursory listen to get a sense of the band’s genre and didn’t notice that most of the songs are quite long and are almost completely without vocals. While he’s listened to a few post-rock albums of late, Eldamar is something quite different. The Force of the Ancient Land is pretty much the definition of a concept album, featuring several lengthy songs that focus more on creating a thematic soundscape than catchy melodies. If JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were hanging out in pubs with their Oxford literary pals in the 2010s instead of the 1950s, they’d probably have formed a band that sounds like Eldamar instead of writing The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Seriously, there’s a zero percent chance The Culture Tsar won’t be playing Eldamar songs in the background during his next Dungeons & Dragons campaign. The album has a mystical, fantasy world sound to it without being completely obnoxious. Aside from some background screaming here and there and an occasional choral part, the songs lack vocals, instead bringing an interesting mix of stringed arrangements and keyboards to the forefront. The guitars and drums keep everything moving, and the whole thing sounds a bit like the soundtrack from the recent remake of the classic computer game Shadow of the Beast. Eldamar isn’t going to be for everyone. The band is going after a very niche audience, but if you’re into hearing what Elrond’s rock band would sound like, you’ll probably dig it.
2: Zola Jesus: Okovi (2017)
This is an interesting one because Okovi defies easy genre categorization. It’s not really a rock album, but it’s also not quite a pop album. There are a lot of electronic aspects, but it’s not a dance or electronica album. It might just be easiest to say this is an avant garde “art rock” album, because Zola Jesus is definitely going for that kind of vibe. There’s a lot here that reminds The Culture Tsar of artists like Chelsea Wolfe and Emma Ruth Rundle, which feature an eclectic mixture of styles and sounds that manage to stand out from the crowd even when you’re not altogether sure if you like the song you’re hearing. A classically trained opera singer, Zola Jesus has a fantastic voice, but it’s the way these songs are put together that really grabs your attention. There’s a dark undercurrent running through the album, which helps hold the tracks together thematically even when one features electronic rhythms and another orchestral string arrangements. Okovi never ceases to be compelling as it veers from one style to another, so it’s definitely an album worth checking out if you’re looking for something a bit off center.
3: Teenage Wrist: Chrome Neon Jesus (2018)
Ah, here’s an easy one. A fairly straightforward rock band, Teenage Wrist takes a well-established formula and executes it superbly. The band has a great sound, with a workmanlike rhythm section, meaty guitars, and a vocalist who manages to sound earnest and indifferent at the same time. Teenage Wrist reminds The Culture Tsar a lot of the 90s shoegaze band Catherine Wheel, which is a good thing because Catherine Wheel is one of his favorite bands. There are some real standout tracks on this album, and out of everything he listened to this week, it’s the album The Culture Tsar found himself returning to over and over. In a lot of ways, Chrome Neon Jesus sounds like it could be a lost alternative classic from the mid-1990s. It has that same sense of honesty and modern rock edge that more or less disappeared by the early 2000s, at which point rock music became more ironically self-aware. Teenage Wrist sounds like a band that cares about what they’re doing and wants to build upon the work of bands that influenced them. It’s albums like this that make The Culture Tsar believe rock music might not be dead quite yet.
4: Novembers Doom: Hamartia (2017)
The Culture Tsar has almost listened to this album multiple times over the last six months, so he decided it was finally time to take the plunge. If you’re into doom metal, you could certainly do worse than Novembers Doom. While a few of the songs feature fairly typical growling, heavy metal vocals, most of them actually have the singer doing a pretty good imitation of My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe, who has one of the most distinctive voices in metal. It’s worth bringing up the comparison because the influence is so obvious and specific. There’s a grim, romantic feel to the album, which sets it apart from most of its contemporaries. Instead of seething with anger like most metal bands, Novembers Doom is more focused on sadness and longing. The aesthetic works for the most part, but it does come across as a bit silly in places. One of the problems of being able to actually understand the lyrics of a metal song is it makes you realize most of them are embarrassingly dumb. There’s a lot of “woe is me” to these songs. They sound great, but the lyrics are guaranteed to elicit more than a few eye rolls along the way. If you can look past that, you’ll probably find a lot here to like.
5: Warpaint: Heads Up (2016)
It’s always refreshing to listen to a band that exudes total confidence in what it’s doing. Warpaint is one of those bands. There’s a lot about this album that shouldn’t work. The songs can be a bit quirky, featuring weird time signatures and vacillating between different styles even on the same track. And yet, it all comes together. Heads Up works because Warpaint knows what the hell they’re trying to do. This isn’t a band that’s leaning on a few reliable tricks they can easily recycle every few songs to hold the listener’s attention. They challenge you, enticing you in with a few catchy hooks before hitting you with an eclectic mix of influences and styles that never quite let you find your footing. This is the type of album that casual listeners will like for reasons they can’t quite explain and musicians will enjoy for a host of technical reasons related to the songwriting, arrangements, and production. Heads Up is another album that’s hard to categorize in a specific genre or compare to anything. Warpaint has a unique sound that doesn’t easily invite comparisons. There’s quite a lot going on throughout this album, though, and it’s definitely one that encourages repeat listens to plumb its rather complex depths.
Week 11
1: Black Map: In Droves (2017)
Fairly straightforward rock that manages to be consistently interesting, In Droves is a pretty solid album overall. The songwriting is good, featuring plenty of catchy tracks that will stick in your head and have you humming along with them. There’s nothing that stands out as spectacular, but Black Map is one of those bands that’s more than the sum of its parts. They remind The Culture Tsar of a peppier version of A Perfect Circle for some reason, but it’s hard for him to say why. Maybe it’s the singer’s phrasing, the riffs in some of the heavier songs, or the way some songs occasionally veer into a more ethereal direction before returning to their otherwise conventional rock structure. The better comparison is probably a band like early 2000s AFI, although Black Map isn’t quite so theatric. In any case, there’s a lot of good stuff going on throughout this album and it’s a great listen. In Droves probably won’t blow your mind and it might not linger in your ear for too long after its finished, but you’ll be glad you heard it all the same.
2: Turbowolf: The Free Life (2018)
Now this album was a surprise. Turbowolf is a band that doesn’t do anything at half speed, and this is one of the most fun albums The Culture Tsar has listened to in quite some time. There’s a carefree joy to these songs that gets its hooks in you right away and doesn’t let go for a moment. Imagine The Rolling Stones playing Iggy and the Stooges covers and you’ll have a sense of what The Free Life sounds like. Actually, scratch that. If you recall the early 2000s band Jet (whose big hit was “Are You Gonna Be My Girl”), Turbowolf sounds like the band Jet wanted to be. There’s not a dull moment on this album. Turbowolf does a lot of fun tricks with tempo, slowing songs down or ramping up the speed of a catchy riff. It might sound like a simple gimmick, but the predictability is kind of the point. They sound like a band that’s always playing to a live audience and you can imagine jumping up and down with every tune. If you think rock music is a little too self important or somber, Turbowolf will be a breath of fresh air for you.
3: Wolves in the Throne Room: Thrice Woven (2017)
Another band The Culture Tsar has almost listened to about a dozen times over the last year but never quite got around to, Wolves in the Throne Room should win some kind of prize for having a great name. As far as metal band names go, Wolves in the Throne Room has to rank among the best. It’d be nice if The Culture Tsar could say the same about the music itself. Thrice Woven is fine in terms of what it’s trying to be, which is dark, atmospheric metal that falls somewhere on the general spectrum of the doom and death genres. Most of the tracks are quite long and feature interludes with choirs and traditional instruments to break up the shrieking vocals, crashing guitars, and rapid-fire drumming. The Culture Tsar feels like he should have enjoyed this band more. They sound like something you’d expect to hear playing in the background of a new Conan the Barbarian movie, which is normally right up The Culture Tsar’s alley. Maybe he’s listened to too much metal lately and just isn’t as easily impressed as he once was. Thrice Woven is good, but there’s a bit of a ponderous monotony to the whole endeavor. While it nails the genre conventions effectively, it doesn’t do anything surprising or all that memorable. There’s nothing here that Bathory and Celtic Frost didn’t already do over thirty years ago. Which is fine. If you’re into that sort of thing.
4: Editors: Violence (2018)
The surprise of the week, Violence is an incredible album and easily among the best of 2018 so far. While the band is quite popular in their native UK, The Culture Tsar wasn’t familiar with them before listening to this album. To be perfectly honest, Violence blew him away. Editors are a versatile band, capable of shifting from a quiet, introspective style to aggressive rock to electronic driven pop seamlessly. There are a lot of moments on this album that remind The Culture Tsar of Peter Gabriel and early 2000s David Bowie. They have a bit of an Imagine Dragons feel to them too, only if you stripped away all the dumb bombastic pop elements. Every song is well constructed and quite unique. This isn’t an album where you’ll end up confusing one song for another. Each track has a very distinctive sound and feel; there’s never a sense that the band’s coasting or retreading ground. The production is crystal clear and the songwriting is magnificent. There are songs here that don’t sound quite like anything The Culture Tsar has heard before. It’s rare to find a band with such a distinctive and original style, but Editors are wholly unique despite calling to mind a number of obvious influences. If you only listen to one entire album from the last ten weeks of Musical Discoveries lists, listen to Violence. It’s that good. The Culture Tsar can’t wait to go back and listen to their previous albums.
5: Still Corners: Dead Blue (2016)
Another fun album on this week’s slate, Dead Blue sounds like a mash up of the Stranger Things soundtrack and an early 80s New Wave band like Human League. If you’re a fan of synthesizers, drum machines, and dreamy, echo/reverb-laden female vocals, Still Corners has you covered. There’s still a lot of live instrumentation here too, though, which is part of what gives Still Corners a distinctive sound. Most of the songs are pretty catchy, showcasing a variety of 80s influences that hit all of The Culture Tsar’s nostalgia nerve endings. The vocalist is the star on most of the tracks, and her voice is a perfect match for the blend of analog and digital instruments. Much of the album’s production has a DIY feel to it, as if the whole thing could have been recorded in ProTools on somebody’s laptop in a spare bedroom. That’s not a criticism because the album sounds great, but there’s an intimate, modest sensibility to the production. Most of the tracks have a bit of a dream-like element to them that sometimes causes them to blend together when you listen to the album all at once, but taken individually, they have some catchy melodies and will have you swaying along with the synths. Quite good overall.
Week 12
1: 3teeth: Shutdown.exe (2017)
As a child of the 1990s, The Culture Tsar has a soft spot for industrial music. On that front, 3teeth definitely fits the bill, sounding exactly like the kind of band you’d find playing in a makeshift club located in an old warehouse district. Unfortunately, this album is quite a step down from their self-titled 2014 debut. That album leaned heavier into industrial rhythms that made you want to get up and move to the beat, but Shutdown.exe is a bit more of an industrial metal album, featuring a lot more slogging guitars and growling vocals. It’s good at what it’s trying to do, but it lacks the spark and energy of their first album. This band reminds The Culture Tsar a lot of Apollyon Sun, which was a mid-1990s solo project by legendary Celtic Frost frontman Thomas Gabriel Fischer (or Tom G. Warrior when he’s taking himself more seriously). There’s a bit of Marilyn Manson mixed in here too, but the end result can border on monotonous at times.
2: Toothgrinder: Phantom Amour (2017)
Certainly a well-named band, Toothgrinder sounds pretty much how you’d expect a band named “Toothgrinder” to sound. Imagine a lighter version of Mastodon with better pop sensibility and you’ll have a good idea of what Toothgrinder sounds like. As with many bands that veer back and forth between screaming and singing vocals, they can’t always decide what they’d rather do. They probably do the screaming a bit better. There’s always something that bothers The Culture Tsar about these heavy rock bands that shift from tearing the paint off the walls to harmonizing like they’re in a pop band. Toothgrinder does a decent job with it and they’re certainly a good band, but the style feels a bit formulaic and even tired at times. The Culture Tsar feels like he’s heard variations of this band several times over the years and Toothgrinder doesn’t really do enough to stand out from the crowd.
3: Black Moth: Anatomical Venus (2018)
Man, this band sounds so much like Kylesa. Part of that similarity is due to the fact that there’s just not a ton of variation in the Black Sabbath-inspired stoner metal genre, but most of the comparison comes from the similar-sounding singers. Of course, The Culture Tsar loves Kylesa, so he really enjoyed Black Moth as well. Anatomical Venus is consistently good, featuring plenty of great riffs and hard-hitting rhythms. They aren’t the most versatile band in the world, but they manage to mix things up enough within the confines of their style to keep you interested. While none of the tracks stand out as especially great, there aren’t any clunkers and the album has a nice flow to it. Overall, Black Moth is a pretty workmanlike band. They might not demand your attention, but they don’t waste your time when you tune in to them.
4: Keep Shelly in Athens: Philokalia (2017)
Maybe the most interesting album of the week, Philokalia has some great moments. Probably best described as an edgy electro-pop band, Keep Shelly in Athens excels at setting a scene. There’s a lot of great synth work and all of the songs are both well constructed and tell a distinctive story. Most of the tracks have a great production sound, with lots of echo and reverb evoking that early to mid-1980s sense of scale. Having said that, Philokalia isn’t trying to harken back to a specific era. There’s a New Wave influence, certainly, but this band isn’t trading in the nostalgia market in any sense. The singer reminds The Culture Tsar of just about every late 90s alt rock female artist, especially Alanis Morissette, but she’s quite versatile, showcasing a variety of styles throughout the album. Much like Black Moth, there’s nothing here that stands out as brilliant, but you get the sense that you’re in good hands on every song.
5: SPC ECO: Calm (2017)
This is a very hard album to review. The Culture Tsar liked it quite a bit, and on the whole, it’s probably the best of this week’s slate. Calm is a shoegaze album in the most classic sense. It belongs in the same category of dreamy, distorted droning as artists like My Bloody Valentine. Although the songs are clearly separated, they’re all so similar that they tend to blend into each other. It’s the kind of album you listen to from start to finish in a pleasurable, semi-conscious haze. The combination of the swirling guitars, hypnotic rhythm section, and muted, echo-laden vocals lull you into a trancelike state that makes it difficult to pick out what’s actually going on in each tune. If you’re into shoegaze, you’ll love this album. It’s not as abrasive as much of the work in this genre, and the craftsmanship of the production is really quite impressive if you’re into that sort of thing. On the other hand, if you don’t care for the genre, this album will probably leave you feeling bored, sleepy, or annoyed. While there’s a lot going on with these songs, most of the work is happening beneath the surface of the rather simplistic droning. Calm is deeply entrenched in the conventions of its genre and doesn’t do much of anything to appeal to anyone outside the scene. If you don’t already like shoegaze, this probably isn’t going to be the album that wins you over to the genre.
Week 13
1: Air Formation: Near Miss (2018)
Continuing with the shoegaze trend, Air Formation fits somewhere between the swirling miasma of SPC ECO and the effects-laden guitar crunch of Teenage Wrist. They probably lean a bit closer to the former, but with more pop sensibility. There’s definitely a structure to these songs and each track has a very distinctive identity. Air Formation has a great sound, with just the right mixture of distorted haze with melodic arrangements cutting through to give the songs direction. If you’re looking for a listener-friendly introduction to the shoegaze genre, this album would be a good place to start. The vocals in particular sound great, with just the right droning, dreamy quality that this style of music needs to work best. You can’t always make out what’s being said, but that’s kind of central to the shoegaze aesthetic, where the vocals are really just another instrument blending in with the rest of the sonic swirl. Near Miss is a pleasant-sounding album as well. It can get heavy, but it’s never quite aggressive or even abrasive. Even if you’re not into shoegaze, The Culture Tsar recommends taking the time to space out to this one.
2: The Midnight Ghost Train: Cypress Ave. (2017)
Huh. Well that’s different. It’s important for a band to have a distinctive identity, and The Midnight Ghost Train has clearly taken that advice to heart. Imagine Soundgarden fronted by Tom Waits playing songs written by Stone Temple Pilots and you’d have something sounding like The Midnight Ghost Train. The singer definitely stands out, with a very unique style The Culture Tsar hasn’t quite heard before. Tom Waits is probably the closest analogue, but his delivery is a lot more melodic. Listen a bit more closely however, and you’ll find that the rhythm section is the real star. The drummer and the bassist are fantastic, holding each song together while the vocals and guitars wander all over the place. Overall, they sound like the kind of band you’d find in a smokey club in the heart of a music city like Nashville or Austin. They’re a bit too off-kilter to become widely successful, but it’s easy to imagine hardcore fans and other musicians always turning up to see them play.
3: Blood Ceremony: Lord of Misrule (2016)
While not as heavy as their name might suggest, Blood Ceremony is still a nasty sounding rock band. They’re channeling the dark forces of late 1960s psychedelic rock with a modern edge that sounds a bit like Black Sabbath fronted by Janis Joplin. Blood Ceremony really does nail down the trippy sound from that era of rock music, right down to the flute solos and Hammond organs. Unlike a lot of bands trying to emulate that “stoner rock” sound of the late 60s/early 70s, they don’t dirty up the production to make the songs sound like they were recorded in a broom closet. The production here is crystal clear and it sounds great, which helps to highlight the excellent arrangements. Blood Ceremony walks the difficult line of sounding like a band you’ve heard before while also offering a sound that’s totally fresh and new. The vocalist has great range and versatility, shifting from a pleasant folk rock style to a wailing banshee with ease. She manages to sound like every 60s female rock vocalist throughout the course of the album, but Janis Joplin and Grace Slick are clearly the biggest influences she’s channeling. If you love the sound of early Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, you’ll find a lot to like about Blood Ceremony
4: Computer Magic: Danz (2018)
If synthesizers and trippy vocals are your thing, then The Culture Tsar has a band for you. Computer Magic isn’t quite a pop band, but they’re not quite an electronica outfit either. Probably best categorized as synth-pop, featuring all electronic instrumentation and drum machine beats with dreamy, echo-laden female vocals bringing a dynamic range to the songs. It’s a great combination, even if the end result doesn’t fit neatly into an easily defined category. There’s a lot of pop sensibility, but it doesn’t quite feel like dance music. Most of the songs just don’t have enough of a driving beat to work as dance floor anthems. At the same time, the compositions are too tightly constructed to be considered ambient or experimental. Computer Magic definitely fits a niche of some kind, though. The album sounds great and it’s a consistently interesting and pleasant sounding experience. It has that “vintage nostalgia” sensibility that undergirds so much of the synthwave genre (think the Stranger Things soundtrack, for example). You kind of have to be into electronic music to get the most out of it, though, so if you’re someone who thinks that music went downhill when Brian Eno started producing records, you might have a hard time appreciating this one.
5: Drab Majesty: The Demonstration (2017)
Speaking of nostalgia, The Demonstration is practically oozing it from every one of its synthetic pores. This album is pure 80s New Wave made new again and it sounds awesome. Everything about it sounds familiar, so familiar that you’ll occasionally wonder if you’re listening to a long lost record by Love and Rockets, The Cure, or New Order. Sweeping and majestic (no pun intended), The Demonstration manages to sound epic and intimate all at the same time. There are so many great influences behind Drab Majesty’s sound and style that The Culture Tsar almost doesn’t know where to begin. Their songwriting sensibilities and the singer’s vocal performances remind him a lot of The Cure, with some passages sounding like they could have been lifted straight from the b-sides of the classic album Disintegration. It’s not explicitly goth, but it is a very dark and moody album with a lot of emotional resonance. The production and arrangements are fantastic; there’s a wonderful comfort and familiarity to the whole endeavor. While you could certainly make the argument that this is a derivative album that leans heavily upon a preexisting style of music without adding anything new or innovative, The Culture Tsar didn’t feel that way when he listened to it. Maybe he’s a bit too sucked in by the ambience or it reminds him how as a teenager he used to fall asleep at night around the fourth or fifth track of Disintegration, but this album simply sounds great and you’re not going to find him raising a cynical hand against it.
Week 14
1: Rosetta: Utopioid (2017)
An intriguing blend of post-rock sensibilities and traditional metal, Rosetta is an ambitious band. There’s an epic scope to this album, with most of the songs building up from subdued beginnings before cresting in a tidal wave of sound that then recedes as the song winds down to a conclusion. In that sense, they remind The Culture Tsar of a band like Opeth, although they’re not as overtly heavy sonically or emotionally. The post-rock comparison is key here because they really have some of the songwriting sensibilities and sound of a band like God is an Astronaut or If These Trees Could Talk. Were it not for the presence of vocals, they would definitely be slotted in that genre. Speaking of the vocals, they mostly stick to screaming, but it’s a tasteful, non-intrusive sort of screaming, if that makes any sense. The vocals never overpower the music, and there are a few sections featuring softer vocals that stand out as rather nice. Like a lot of bands in this style, however, they can be a bit navel gazey in the sense that most of the songs are quite long and seem to meander on without much direction. There’s not much of a nod to pop sensibility here, but if you’re into this sort of music, Rosetta is a perfectly capable outfit.
2: Good Tiger: We Will All Be Gone (2018)
The Culture Tsar has struggled all week with how to describe this band, so let’s start with the basics. First of all, they’re quite good. Their music is too heavy to be considered pop, but it’s a bit too poppy to be considered metal. They sound a little bit like early Avenged Sevenfold with better songwriting and vocals. It might be best to simply think of them as an indie rock band that isn’t afraid to crank up the volume (maybe a heavier, but less funky Portugal. The Man?). While the songwriting and production are good, the singer is probably the highlight. He has a great vocal range and gives a powerful performance throughout the album. The rest of the band is also quite good, though, with a tight rhythm section and precision guitar work. There’s a wonderful energy to most of these songs, and it’s easy to picture this band playing late in the day at a big outdoor music festival. The Culture Tsar actually had the chance to see them live recently and they put on a good show. After listening to this album quite a bit, The Culture Tsar is still having a hard time slotting Good Tiger into a distinct category, but they’re a pretty good band that anyone with an ear for rock music should check out.
3: Starcrawler: Starcrawler (2018)
The debut release by a very young band, Starcrawler is both a blast from the past and a breath of fresh air. There’s an alternate universe in which Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s daughter forms a band that takes the best of her parents’ musical qualities and records an album that sounds a lot like this one. We may not live in that universe, but we do live in one that gave us Starcrawler and that’s still a win. This album straight up cranks. Although it’s billed as a punk album, it’s not really punk. The musical roots here are actually older, sounding more like an Iggy and the Stooges record than something The Sex Pistols or X might crank out. If that proto-punk sound is the foundation, though, most of the structure is pure early 1990s grunge. There are a number of songs on this album that could absolutely be long lost Nirvana, Hole, or Veruca Salt songs. The vocalist can channel that era pretty effectively, but there’s a lot of Debbie Harry in her delivery style as well. Starcrawler might not showcase a lot of range, but it certainly has a vision of what it wants to accomplish. It’s stripped down, nasty sounding, and gets right to the damn point without any hint of pretense. Is it derivative? Maybe a little, but it’s also incredibly earnest, and that counts for a lot with this type of music. If you have any nostalgia for early 70s proto-punk or the 80s post-punk scene that birthed the grunge movement, you should definitely give this one a long listen.
4: Ash Code: Posthuman (2016)
Another band that draws heavily from the early days of synth-driven New Wave, Ash Code distinguishes themselves a bit for having clearly listened to A LOT of Joy Division. This is a tremendous positive as far as The Culture Tsar is concerned. Despite being dark and moody, most of these songs move along pretty briskly thanks to the driving, reverb-laden basslines and drum machines. Even the vocals are quite reminiscent of Joy Division, with everything drenched in echo that manages to stand apart from the rest of the mix. It’s different from the distinctive shoegaze echo, which buries the vocals in a swirling cauldron of effects. This album has more of an “old school” vibe, sounding like something MTV would air late at night when only the cool kids were still watching. While it’s definitely poppy, these songs manage to not sound like pop songs. They’re more the type of thing you’d imagine being played in the goth club in an early 80s movie about vampires. Speaking of which, if this band isn’t on the music mix for your next Vampire the Masquerade rpg session, you’re doing something wrong and should probably reconsider your life choices.
5: Royal Thunder: Wick (2017)
Over the last few weeks, The Culture Tsar has listened to a lot of bands that draw upon the sounds and trappings of early 70s psychedelic rock and heavy metal bands like Iron Butterfly and Black Sabbath. Royal Thunder certainly fits into that category, but like the similar Blood Ceremony, they manage to carve out a unique space for themselves in that genre. They’re not particularly heavy in terms of crashing guitars and thundering drums, but they still manage to sound big. The vocal work is particularly impressive, with the female singer evoking 70s era Rush on a lot of tracks. At times, she also sounds a bit like the guy from W.A.S.P., which is a weird band to be referencing under any circumstances (The Culture Tsar listened to a lot of The Crimson Idol back in the day; it’s an underrated album…really). Whatever the comparison, she has a way of making every song feel much more intense and urgent than the rest of the music might otherwise suggest. Most of the songwriting is good, with plenty of catchy choruses and hooks laden riffs. They don’t really sound like a metal band, honestly, but something about their sensibility seems to put them in that category. Maybe it’s the singer or the aggressive undercurrent lurking just beneath the surface of every song. In any case, Wick is a solid album that successfully pulls off a classic style of music with a modern touch without coming across as gimmicky.
Week 15
1: Tribulation: Down Below (2018)
Situated somewhere between the symphonic and doom metal genres, Tribulation tries to do a lot of things at once and never quite seems to get where they want to be. The songwriting is decent and musicianship is great, but something about this band just doesn’t come together for The Culture Tsar. It’s an album he feels like he should have liked a lot more, especially since it features lots of atmospheric tracks full of gothic stylings. The production seems a bit thin, however, so the band never sounds quite as heavy or as big as they’re trying to sound. Then again, it could just be an issue of a band that never quite rises to meet its ambitions. They feel like a band that belongs in that second tier of metal bands that you wish were better, but you can’t identify what they would need to do to improve (Shadows Fall and Novembers Doom come to mind). The biggest problem might well be that Tribulation just doesn’t do enough to stand out as unique. They’re good, but The Culture Tsar feels like he’s heard a dozen bands just like this and he can’t tell them apart from each other.
2: The Soft Moon: Criminal (2018)
Now here’s an album that stands out from the crowd. A mixture of Nine Inch Nails-style industrial and the more musical end of the noise genre, Criminal is raw, exciting, and compelling at every turn. Confidently experimental, this album veers all over the road, with some tracks hitting like an icepick to the skull and others hanging back in shadows of a dark alley waiting to mug you. The production and arrangements are fantastic, and there’s something interesting going on in every song. Although The Culture Tsar referenced industrial music earlier, Criminal isn’t really an industrial album, but it does have a similar sensibility and edge. It’s a lot nastier sounding than a typical electronic album, venturing into noise territory at times. Most of the tracks are quite conceptual, working to bring a specific thematic concept to life rather than just being a song you could tap your foot to or dance to. In that sense, Criminal might not be for everyone. It’s the type of music you’d hear serving as the soundtrack for a movie character stumbling through a dark and dangerous part of a city after they’ve hit rock bottom. Great stuff, but not exactly the most uplifting fare.
3: Work Drugs: Flaunt the Imperfection (2017)
And now for something completely different. If you’ve ever sat around and thought, “You know, I wish there were more bands inspired by Hall & Oates out there today; those guys were great”, then The Culture Tsar is happy to report that he’s found your band. While a lot of newer artists have drawn inspiration from the music of the 1980s, Work Drugs takes their lead from a very specific style from that era. Seriously, The Culture Tsar hasn’t heard this kind of tinny, crisp pop music since Culture Club broke up. The band even features a saxophone, for crying out loud. You can’t get more “80s pop” than that. Work Drugs is very good at what they’re trying to do. It’s a great nostalgia ride, and many of the songs are quite catchy. The bass work in particular is outstanding, and the crystal clear production really helps the rhythm section pop out. It’s the kind of music you have to be in the right mood for, though. Just hearing this album made The Culture Tsar wish he still had his white Miami Vice blazer so he could cruise down the seaside streets under the glow of yellow street lamps while the palm trees sway in the wind. Of course, if you’re not really in the mood for a direct jolt of 80s nostalgia, Flaunt the Imperfection can get old pretty quickly.
4: A Place to Bury Strangers: Pinned (2018)
As a longtime fan of A Place to Bury Strangers (henceforth APtBS), The Culture Tsar has been looking forward to hearing this album for weeks. Once referred to as the “loudest band in New York”, APtBS has long straddled the line between shoegaze and noise pretty effectively. On Pinned, however, the band feels a little lost. They’re stretching out in new directions and trying different things, but the results are quite mixed. Some of the tracks land while others don’t seem like they know where they want to go. It probably didn’t help that The Culture Tsar listened to The Soft Moon’s brilliant Criminal before he heard this album. Although Criminal is much more of an electronic album, the two are quite similar conceptually. Pinned sounds like a band trying to reshape its identity, but without a clear idea of what that new identity should be. The band finds its footing a bit on the back half of the album, mostly because the songs there showcase a more familiar APtBS style and sound. The Culture Tsar is hesitant to give this album a poor recommendation, however, because it does feel like one of those albums you need to listen to several times to really appreciate. That’s a far cry from some of APtBS’s earlier work, which The Culture Tsar loved immediately, but sometimes you need to give music time to grow on you.
5: Solar Fields: Ourdom (2018)
An instrumental album that could serve as the soundtrack for an unfilmed movie, Ourdom makes for an engrossing listen. Solar Fields does a magnificent job of creating massive soundscapes that pull you into another world. There’s a fair amount of variety here, with some tracks featuring an overwhelming mixture of percussion and electronic orchestral arrangements while others strip things down to a single keyboard playing over muted synth pads. If you’ve ever listened to a soundtrack by the legendary composer Vangelis (Blade Runner, Chariots of Fire, 1492: Conquest of Paradise), you’ll probably love what Solar Fields is doing on this album. Clocking in at 79 minutes, Ourdom is a lengthy experience. It’s not really an album that’s easy to listen to in small doses, unfortunately. While you can certainly listen to it a bit at time, breaking it up like that robs the album of some of its momentum and power. If you decide to commit to this one, The Culture Tsar recommends setting aside some time to take it in with headphones someplace without any distractions. The album might be long, but hearing it in full is definitely a worthwhile experience.
Week 16
1: Android Lust: Berlin (2017)
Ah, more electro-synth goodness. Let’s start with the name, because Android Lust is a top tier name for a group, especially one that sounds like this. This album does a pretty good job of straddling the line between purely instrumental EDM and New Wave synth-pop. Some of the tracks are a bit more experimental, even bordering on ambient at times, so it’s an album with a lot of range. The breathy, reverb-laden female vocals sometimes take center stage, but they often play the role of another instrument in the mix. Android Lust is one of those artists that two listeners might enjoy for totally different reasons. They somehow manage to sound cutting edge and retro all at the same time. There’s always a question of accessibility with this type of music, though. Some of the songs are catchy pop tunes dressed up with some high concept synth work, but others are more concerned with experimentation than with crafting a catchy tune. Highly recommended for anyone into electronic music, but if you’re more a fan of conventional pop or rock music, Android Lust’s Berlin might be a little too wrapped up in its own conceptual headspace for your tastes.
2: Be’lakor: Vessels (2016)
After fifteen weeks of listening to a new slate of albums every week, The Culture Tsar has learned that almost without fail, there will be one album that he listens to WAY more than the others. This week, that album was Be’lakor’s Vessels. The Culture Tsar listens to a lot of metal and has a fairly high tolerance for mediocrity. One of last week’s bands, Tribulation, is a good example of this. They’re fine, but nothing special. Be’lakor, however, has “it” in spades. This album hits like a fucking sledgehammer to the sternum. Probably best described as melodic death metal (or maybe upbeat doom metal), the songs on Vessels are both mercilessly brutal and beautifully crafted. The Culture Tsar really can’t emphasize enough how good this album sounds. Gorgeous produced and arranged, it sound weaves detuned distorted riffs, growling vocals, and thunderous drums against a tapestry of acoustic strings, orchestral arrangements, and keyboards. Many of the tracks are on the longer side, but none of them feel long. Every section of every song has something interesting going on, and while you would never describe a band like this as poppy, they clearly understand how to write a melody that holds your hand through the sonic chaos. Honestly, Vessels is one of the best metal albums The Culture Tsar has ever listened to. It’s fucking incredible and you should listen to it even if you’re not a fan of the genre.
3: Frightened Rabbit: Painting of a Panic Attack (2016)
An interesting collection of influences, Frightened Rabbit sounds a bit like a lot of bands you’ve probably heard before. There’s a little Coldplay in there, mixed up with some Imagine Dragons and indie rock bands like Editors or We Are Scientists. The Culture Tsar had a hard time getting through this album, which doesn’t really make sense because there are a lot of good songs here and he liked the band’s sound overall. It could just be that there’s not a lot of range or differentiation between the songs (which, again, are quite good). Whatever the case, Frightened Rabbit has a great sound. While they’re not really a dark or goth band, there’s a somber sadness to a lot of their songs. They’re not overwhelming, but they can still crank up when they need to. The vocals are crystal clear and sit comfortably atop the rest of the mix, even if the singer sounds vaguely like about fifty other indie rock male vocalists you’ve heard before. A good album overall, but it’s probably telling that The Culture Tsar forgot about what it sounded like a day after he listened to it. He feels like he should have liked it a lot more than he did, but sometimes music can check all the boxes and still not quite do it for you.
4: A Perfect Circle: Eat the Elephant (2018)
The Culture Tsar always enjoyed Tool and A Perfect Circle, but he’s never been a huge fan of either. Still, the release of a new A Perfect Circle album (and the first featuring totally original songs in 15 years) is the kind of event that demands his attention. So how is it? Pretty good, although it takes a few tracks for the album to really get going. The first few songs are fairly subdued, but the band cranks up the intensity as the album progresses. A Perfect Circle is one of those high concept bands that’s difficult to judge fairly after a single listen. The Culture Tsar didn’t take the time to do a lyrical analysis of these songs, which isn’t really fair to the band since singer Maynard James Keenan is often revered by fans for his lyrical themes. In any event, the album definitely feels of a piece with the band’s earlier work. It’s strange to think that A Perfect Circle has been around for almost twenty years but really hasn’t released much material in that time. This album doesn’t quite sound like a progression from previous albums, but it has the same sensibility, exploring a lot of the same themes and aesthetics in slightly different ways. There’s definitely a palpable sense of confidence here; this isn’t a band experimenting so much as it’s a group of skilled artists doing exactly what they want to do. If feels like a bit of a cop-out to say Eat the Elephant deserves a few listens before rendering a final judgment, but there’s too much going on in a lot of these songs to fairly judge after a cursory listen. But The Culture Tsar liked what he heard during that first listen, so the album is definitely worth your time.
5: Orphaned Land: Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs (2018)
If you’ve ever wanted a bit more bombast and ambition from your metal bands, The Culture Tsar has a new favorite for you. Orphaned Land is an Israeli metal band with a pretty unique sound. As you might guess, there’s a lot of Middle Eastern influence in their music, but the band really does defy categorization in the metal genre. They have elements of symphonic, power, and death metal, but they don’t fully commit to any of those paths. And then they throw in all sorts of traditional Middle Eastern folk influences to craft a sound that’s truly distinctive. They’re also a band with suitably epic sensibilities, leaning heavily into the political, cultural, and religious themes that have shaped that part of the world for thousands of years. They’re a very versatile band, shifting between complex progressive rock passages to sweeping symphonic arrangements to chugging death metal riffs effortlessly. The singer can growl and snarl when the need arises, but he spends most of these songs singing in a clear, powerful voice that doesn’t sound much like anybody else in metal. He’s not really operatic, more like something you’d expect to hear from a soloist in some traditional choral vocal group. Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs is a sweeping, ambitious album that relishes going over the top at every possible opportunity. There’s an earnest honesty to it that you don’t often get from other metal bands. Irony is not a word in this band’s vocabulary. Orphaned Land is very different from most of the metal bands you’ve heard. They might sound a bit weird (and more than a little pretentious) at first, but give them a chance and let your expectations of what a metal band should be adjusted. This album is a hell of a ride, and it’s worth sticking it out to the end.
Week 17
1: Boy Harsher: Lesser Man (2018)
Another electronic music duo, The Culture Tsar is going to be a bit prejudiced on this one because he actually saw them perform a few weeks ago and they were quite good. The album itself sounds great. Boy Harsher sounds a bit like…well, they don’t really sound like anything that’s easy to reference. It’s probably best to just say they do beat-driven electronica with female vocals. They’re not exactly techno or EDM, but rather are closer in spirit to the synthwave movement. There’s not a ton of variation in terms of style and the songs can get a touch repetitive, but there’s something hypnotic about the combination of the pulsing electronic beats and the vocalist’s hazy, dream-laden voice. Many of the tracks start out quite simple, almost minimalistic. But as the song progresses, new elements creep into the mix and by the midpoint things are pretty interesting. This kind of music work does work a bit better in a live performance context, where you can feel the bass throbbing against your ribcage and the pulsating stage lights making you wonder if you’re tripping on something. To its credit, though, the album manages to capture most of that experience, especially when you can crank it on a decent sound system. Good stuff overall.
2: Manchester Orchestra: A Black Mile to the Surface (2017)
Every few weeks, there’s an album that The Culture Tsar immediately regrets selecting and wonders how the hell it made its way onto the list in the first place. If there’s a title for coolest album cover by a lackluster album, A Black Mile to the Surface wins it in a walk. The Culture Tsar went into this one expecting something dark, nasty, and crackling with energy, but instead he got a well-crafted, folky pop album. A lot of the songs try really hard, featuring minor keys and having some creepy sounding arrangements, but the whole thing is about as threatening as a black lab waving its tail excitedly when it’s supposed to be guarding the damn door. Honestly, it’s not terrible. It’s fine. Trashing Manchester Orchestra for being what they are isn’t really a fair criticism, but there’s just something about the soft-focus indie folk-pop sensibility of this album that drives The Culture Tsar crazy. It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just that it sounds completely bloodless and self-absorbed in its own pseudo-intellectual wankery. Maybe you’ll like it. Which is fine. Whatever. The Culture Tsar can’t wait to never listen to this band ever again.
3: Barren Earth: A Complex of Cages (2018)
This one was a surprise. Barren Earth is a progressive metal band that sounds a bit like early Dream Theater, only with an interesting array of vocal work that overlays growling with clean, harmonized backing vocals. It’s an interesting combination that works well over the intricate guitar arrangements. Other than that, though, there’s not a whole lot about this band that you haven’t heard before in other metal bands. Still, the album is quite good. Barren Earth is one of those bands that sounds familiar, even tired, at first listen, but after you get past that initial impression, you come to appreciate the songwriting (quite good), the musicianship (also excellent), and the strong production. The next thing you know, you’re caught up in the experience and eager to hear where the next movement in a song will take you. They remind The Culture Tsar quite a bit of Orphaned Land, actually, although that could just be because the vocals sound similar in many places. It’s not going to be remembered as a classic, but A Complex of Cages is an incredibly competent metal album that does a good job of holding your attention without having to do anything too outlandish.
4: Skeleton Hands: Wake (2017)
Even more so than Boy Harsher, Skeleton Hands is firmly embedded in the burgeoning synthwave scene. Pretty much every famous synthesizer tone you remember from the 80s is featured here somewhere, along with the shimmering guitars. It’s an album drenched in nostalgia and isn’t bashful about letting its influences show. The vocalist is solid, sounding like he could have been plucked out of some New Wave band, cryogenically frozen for thirty years, and thawed out to perform today. Maybe it’s the roses on the album cover, but the whole thing has a vibe you’d expect to find on an early 80s movie about vampires prowling some decaying, nameless American city. If you enjoyed artists like Ash Code and Drab Majesty, Skeleton Hands will not disappoint you.
5: 10 Years: (how to live) AS GHOSTS (2018)
If you imagine A Perfect Circle with a bit more pop sensibility and fronted by the singer from Filter, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what 10 Years sounds like. Pretty straightforward alternative rock, (how to live) AS GHOSTS has a lot in common with A Complex of Cages. Both albums deliver on the expectations of their respective genres without trying to reinvent the wheel. 10 Years doesn’t have a terribly unique sound, but they do sound good. The guitar work is muscular and the rhythm section is rock solid. This is what a good rock band is supposed to sound like. They’re heavy enough for you to bang your head to, but poppy enough for you to hum along with the vocal and lead guitar melodies. If you listen closely, you can hear influences from pretty much every era of rock music from the early 90s until today. It’s probably not an album you’ll come back to in ten years and insist was one of the best of the decade, but it’s very good. There’s something to be said for proficient competency.
Week 18
1: Box and the Twins: Everywhere I Go is Silence (2016)
Equal parts majestic and intimate, Everywhere I Go is Silence sounds like it was recorded in a massive concert hall occupied by no one other than the band and the person running the mixing board. There’s a lot of early 80s New Wave here, but without the bombast. Unlike a lot of contemporary bands that draw inspiration from that era, Box and the Twins don’t lean heavily on synths. They’re there, of course, but the crisp, almost thin drums and chiming, delay-laden guitars give them a rather unique sound that sets them apart from the nostalgia trend. The female vocals are quite haunting, which matches the ominous tinge to a lot of the music. It all comes together to form a beautiful, hypnotic soundscape, one that draws you in and holds you tightly. Maybe not the best music for driving down the freeway at 80 mph, but the perfect selection if you’re going to sit down and really listen to something for an hour.
2: The Moon and the Nightspirit: Metanoia (2017)
After listening to this album a few times, The Culture Tsar finally settled on the best way to describe this band. Imagine Dead Can Dance recorded an album featuring Loreena McKennitt and you’d probably wind up with something that sounds like The Moon and the Nightspirit. There’s a heavy helping of Celtic music, but the album uses that tradition only as a delivery mechanism for something much darker. While far from a gothic album, Metanoia is nevertheless very dark. It’s very much a fairy tale sort of darkness. Sure, the music might evoke ancient forests and verdant glades, but only after twilight casts long shadows over the landscape. There’s a lot of impressive musicianship here, with traditional instruments featured alongside more modern offerings. It’s one of those albums that’s best experienced in a single sitting rather than by breaking it up over time. If you’re the sort of person who loves the atmospheric vibe of Celtic music or whatever the New Age genre is called now, you’ll get a lot out of Metanoia.
3: God is an Astronaut: Epitaph (2018)
One of the premier bands of the post-rock genre, God is an Astronaut has a long track record of putting out great instrumental work. Epitaph is a worthy addition to that resume. While a bit more ambient and atmospheric than most of their earlier work, the songs here are all doing something interesting at all times. The band has always been good at writing songs that are always on the move, always building towards something or going somewhere. Good post-rock songs should be able to tell a story or convey emotions without using lyrics, and Epitaph’s songs do a good job of always making the listener feel something. One could quibble that the album is a little stuck in low gear, never quite building enough momentum for the band to really cut loose like they’ve done in the past, but that would miss the point. Epitaph just isn’t that kind of album. It’s meant to be introspective and measured, and in that regard, it succeeds admirably. God is an Astronaut is a band best consumed multiple times to get the most out of their music, so anyone with initial misgivings about this more low-key approach should hold off on judgment until they can experience the music for a few times.
4: Nuen Welten: The Sea I’m Diving In (2017)
Right about now, The Culture Tsar is wishing he’d picked a few more upbeat selections for this week. Stylistically, Nuen Welten has a lot in common with Box and the Twins (and actually with The Moon and the Nightspirit, at times). Slightly understated and drawing both from folk music traditions and dark New Wave stylings, The Sea I’m Diving In is another hypnotic album that lulls you into its cold embrace. Musically, it features a lot more acoustic instrumentation than Box and the Twins, which helps to give it more of a folk feeling. Some of the songs pick up the pace a little, showcasing fuller orchestral arrangements, but generally the airy male vocals keep things from getting too stridently upbeat. Another album that’s very good for just laying back and listening to something. If you’re planning to sample this one on the daily commute, you might wind up swaying yourself to sleeping and veering into a ditch.
5: Les Discrets: Prédateurs (2017)
The Culture Tsar tried to spice things up with the last selection by picking the latest album from French metal band Les Discrets. Of course, it turns out that Les Discrets isn’t even pretending to be a metal band anymore. Although their first album (2010’s Septembre et ses derniéres pensées) featured some crushing doom metal inspired riffs, this album sounds like it was recorded by a completely different band. But that’s okay, because it’s pretty good. It reminds The Culture Tsar a lot of The Gathering’s post-metal work, which is good company to keep. Prédateurs sounds a little like a progressive rock band trying to incorporate all the diverse music they’ve been listening to for the last year or two. So sometimes it sounds a bit jazzy, and other times it takes a more ambient approach. It’s a unique album and definitely one worth listening to for the experience of what it sounds like when a French metal band tries to expand its musical vocabulary (hint: good things). Listening to some of the beautiful melodies and the soothing male vocals, it’s hard to imagine this band was cranking up the distortion less than a decade ago.
Unfortunately, a series of life circumstances intervened in the final weeks of the Musical Discoveries series which caused the Culture Tsar to put the project on hold. The Spotify list is still available, however, so if you have the time and interest, take a few moments/hours to check out some of the highlights from these albums.