Best new releases: February 2016

[Jigsaw9 6783]

You know the drill. ;<

 

 

The concept is simple: pick 3 releases (albums, EPs, singles or compilations), write why you like the album/why people should check it out and be cool. As you hear new albums of the month feel free to quote yourself, remove one and add the newest one instead of it. At the end of the month I'll make a new thread for the previous month. That's all.

 

Rules:

Post three albums each

Add a linke to your favourite track of the album. Do NOT embed youtube videos. Just link to the best song. Not everyone have decent computers to handle all the videos.

 

And that is basically it. Ask if there's something you're curious about.

 

February was a pretty uneventful and lax month for me musically. There were some nice releases tho.

 

MeteoroiD - BULLETBOX / A pretty cool album, even if it's just a best of. I've listened to these guys on-and-off after they made a transition from boring pop-rock to kvlt kei-ish territory, and this release is pretty much a perfect treasure trove of that latter era. So it's essentially a darker-coloured affair but also quite melodic and catchy, with nice guitar play and some clever (albeit standard-ish) compositions. A nice surprise.

 

Gehennah - Too Loud to Live, Too Drunk to Die / With a title like that, this record already wins some bonus points! Thankfully the music is kickass too, with a dirty booze-filled punch to the ears. Gehennah do their usual brand of hellish, Motörhead-influenced black-thrash attack with even a bit more rock'n'roll flair than before, making the whole thing sound pleasantly groovy and also powerful as fvck. Hell yeah!

 

Venetian Snares - Traditional Synthesizer Music / Apparently Mr. Funk recorded the entirety of this album 'live' in his studio, which seems like quite a feat considering the towering mass of old-school equipment he has on hand. This album showcases a less chaotic and neurotic side of Venetian Snares, with awesome vintage-sounding synths coupled with some tasty breakbeats (but not overdone to insanity). A pleasant listen.

 

 

Honorable mentions

 

Fuath - I / A one-man black metal project sounding like a one-man black metal project. Awesome wintery atmosphere.

Seth Bogart - Seth Bogart / Quirky & queer pop with a nostalgic neon-glazed sound. Some real hooks in there!

Barren - Void / A progressive mixture of various aggressive metal and hardcore stylings. Not bad.

[beni 2149]

BUMP OF CHICKEN - Butterflies

Best release of 2016 for me at the moment. Was a personal hyped one ever since their last album release back in 2014 which didn't leave that big of an impression on me. Their recent bundle of singles and PVs helped me get pumped for it greatly, and I wasn't disappointed. It's what you'd expect from the guys, poppy sounding but with their flawless rocking tendencies nicely wrapped in one and carried out brilliantly throughout the album. They've got some of the best melodies of any band if you ask me, and it makes them stand out instantly. The already breathtaking PVs (click here for my favourite of them, which is track eleven on the album) are highlight tracks as expected, but they don't outshine the album tracks like one of new favourites from them. Track eight, "大我慢大会" sounds rather folky/festive for them, but it suits the band so well. I adore everything about this release. It may even be my favourite album from them all together.

 

Yeti - 光

I always knew I liked Yeti, I just never really dived into them, and I hate myself for not getting to them sooner rather than later. I love how they look, I loved how they sounded when I'd actually check out PVs of them out of interest, but I still never really downloaded a release of theirs and listened to it properly. This one release proved me I have been missing out. I really don't get where the RADWIMPS comparison has come from because I can't hear it but there really is this alternative sound to them within VK. There's pop influence, almost Oshare Kei sounding if you ask me, but it's still very much VK with those chirpy tempos against the typically darker ones, and definitely that distinctive voice which gives me Aicle. feels. It's really all what I love about VK so damn myself since ever for never getting to them for some reason. ;; My favourite song is a tough one to choose on this, but I may have to go with high light. They might even be a favourite active VK band of mine now... >w>

 

Apart from the two releases above, everything else I've heard has been either mediocre or even lower than that, so I'm going to come back once I've heard more releases and edit/quote myself and add the third pick in!