Aaron Machuca

I was introduced to this album as per my friend Ruijie's recommendation during my sophomore year in undergrad, and I haven't been the same since. I find it incredibly difficult to talk to anyone about this album because I feel anything I could possibly say would simultaneously be an over and understatement as to what the record actually is. It's never easy to discuss grief or the things that cause us to grieve, much less to be able to handle it with any semblance of tact. It's a topic well connected to the midwest emo genre, but it's usually addressed through juvenile subject matters involving teenage heartbreak and other digestible forms of anguish. We are not often digging through the roots to pull on our traumas from the source, and that's exactly the premise that Christian Holden tackles within the lyricism of Home. From front to back, Home systematically confronts sensitive issues found within the silent outskirts of our minds and presents them in their emotionally raw and unadulterated form. All the meanwhile, the accompanying instrumentation takes its time to breathe, to wane in and out, and punctuate in a long-winded, bombastic break whenever the narrative sees fit. The album isn't exactly pushing the envelope as far as the post-hardcore soundscape goes, but what it does have works and to harp on that aspect is missing the point of what the record is trying to do. I don't think that's a cop-out excuse either because I'm not excusing anything, I just think the band is providing more of heartfelt experience as opposed to trying to stand equally in height to their emo predecessors. And for that reason, this album stands out in a way that has personally struck me more than anything I have ever listened to before.

5+/5

Before I delve into this album, I feel I should probably address the elephant in the room and the responses I get from folk who side-eye me for still listening to this record. I think it should be obvious that I openly condemn the actions of Alexis Marshall against Kristin Hayter in his onslaught of heinous transgressions against her on all moral fronts. My enjoyment of an album has nothing to do with being an apologist for or excusing the actions of depraved individuals. With that being said, I don't believe that Alexis Marshall represents the Daughters label or band as a whole within the span of their creative works over the past two decades. I honestly don't have the patience to tailor a discussion on the matter beyond that, and we can agree to disagree otherwise.

Of all the possible ways I could've been pipelined into becoming a noise rock fan, this was definitely not the most accessible choice to go with. Around the time I first gave this album a spin I think I was still bumping generic metalcore and whatever other landfill I had buried in my music library from my high school days. To say I was not well acquainted with the dissonant and lo-fi production found in similar industrial or noise music would be putting it lightly. Nevertheless, I was properly marinated to listen to the album as I had been studying for finals in the hallways of my dorm at some ungodly hour into the night when I remembered Anthony Fantano's review on the album I watched earlier that day (I was 18 leave me alone). I don't remember how or why that album came to mind when it did, but I do distinctly recall the pain resonance I felt in my sleep deprived trance while listening. You have to be in a certain state of mind to willingly subject yourself to this record and you have to have a certain personality to find enjoyment in the listen. It's such an uncomfortable, abrasive experience that tests your ability to withstand a turbulent and blistering composition that has you question how a guitar can even make such harrowing sounds. It's like the band tormented their instruments to the point of animated emotion and recorded their cacophonous screams for your sick, musical pleasures. A huge aspect as to what makes this album so unnerving is the cracked mirror it holds up to the audience revealing a monstrous element innate to our psychology that we have trouble admitting to. There's a kernel of truth in the narration describing the unhinged horrors to our character that to some degree, is universal in the human condition. The production, synthesizing these staggering percussions alongside crashing guitar riffs and synths taken straight out of a horror movie, are all carried out with such masterful pacing in its delivery that it makes me reach some kind of demonic nirvana. There's nothing quite like this gothic masterpiece, that in an ironic fashion, has helped me find solace in my own personal circumstances.

5+/5

Transitioning onto a lighter note, Crumbling is another album that Ruijie recommended me, and this was a special album because it opened a gateway to another world of music whose existence I was unaware of up until that point. And my god what an unfortunate precedent this album set for every other folktronica artist I listened to afterwards. Pinning down an exact explanation as to what makes this record so great feels almost as elusive as Mid-Air Thief's zero social media presence. There's something about the bubbling synthesizers scales and the spaced out mixing and the feathering guitar plucks washing together in a psychedelic haze that makes my brain melt away in a flush of euphoria. I absolutely love Summer Soul being on the backup vocals here, bringing in a lush breath to the production, like a gentle tide ebbing in and out of the sea shorelines. Then there are times when the instrumentation blends with the vocal harmonies in a magnificent crescendo that elevates what was already great music into the ranks of supreme majesty. This is one of the few accessible records in my music library I think anyone could enjoy and I would heavily recommend listening to it if you haven't already.

5/5

And we're back to the despairing music. Deafheaven's one of the few bands I came across organically from an opening performance they did for Anthrax back in 2015. I actually really enjoyed their New Bermuda album they were touring for at the time, but little did I know the band had an even more grandiose project they had whipped up two years prior, and it only took me three years to discover it. On a summer evening after my freshman year in university, I took an impromptu trip to the Albany Bulb to do some soul-searching, or maybe just get away from my life for a little while. I can't remember what compelled me to give Sunbather a whirl, I just remember being suspended in absolute awe, every, single, minute of the album. I had once described Sunbather as being "what I imagine it's like to come to terms with your own death," and honestly I still think that's an apt description. Their signature blackgaze style, fusing black metal and shoegaze characteristics, presented on this album was a wild and ambitious idea that they somehow managed to pull off with flying colors. Dense walls of noise interrupted by spoken word samples and clean guitar interludes bring forth this overwhelming presence of searing bliss. I almost always play this album in its entirety every time I want to hear it because it doesn't feel right to not immerse myself in the tapestry of the tracklist, seamlessly woven together in each subsequent song. George Clarke's icy shrieks bleed so well into the album's dreamy atmosphere that it makes me feel as though I'm flashing through a blurred slideshow of my memories, or a dream. And I wish the dream never ended.

5/5

Can someone please give God's strongest soldier a break, this poor boy has been through enough. As of the moment I write this, I'm wishing Sufjan the best and hope he recovers from his illness soon. My friend Niss was the one to suggest this album this time around, though I wasn't expecting to vicariously be thrown into a profound heartache. As the story goes, Sufjan's mother Carrie abandoned him when he was a toddler due to prevailing medical issues and passed away from stomach cancer sometime around 2012. This understandably left Sufjan in a dark period in his life where he went on to use his Carrie and Lowell project as an outlet and find closure on what was an incredibly conflicting set of circumstances. Compared to his usual songwriting style, often epic-like in the abundance of historical or mythological references, Carrie and Lowell is bare, stripped down to quiet acoustics and a soft piano. The lyrics aren't hiding behind any grandeur metaphors and Sufjan provides full transparency behind his mind's flurry throughout the grieving process. A central component as to what makes this album so heart wrenching is cosmic quality to his suffering, being so colossal that it is an experience truly unique to him as if he was Job himself cast upon God's whirlwind; in turn leaving the listener stunned in silence, unsure of how to properly respond to the ineffable nature of his questions. The ending track "Blue Bucket of Gold" itself is left on an ambiguous note as he grasps at his surroundings to reach towards his faith and his friends, pleading for someone to be there for him, to find nothing.

5/5

If you know anything about my thoughts on anything anime related, this is probably a really unexpected pick from me. I honestly did not know this album was even a mix between original works and a compilation of anime soundtracks. I might not have been inclined to listen if I did know, but clearly it was good that I was none the wiser to paint this exception to the rule.

Part of what threw my scent off to begin with is just how cohesive this album is, even with the sharp tonal shifts found as you progress through the tracks. But maybe this was to be expected with the accompanying orchestral instruments providing a stellar chamber pop production for this album. Masumi Itō herself serves as the main star of the show as she weaves her vocals to find synergy with the ever-evolving upbeat rhythm of the songs. The tempo of her voice moves with such agile grace; it's like watching the royal movements of a ballet dancer slicing through the air. It never feels too fast, too slow, or out-of-place in any way, it's exactly as it needs to be — it's perfect. There's such an infectious joy emanating off the first half the album, even without understanding a lick of Japanese from the lyrics. If the entire album continued with the same style presented up until すてきがそっと訪れる, this still would've been an incredible album in my books, but Masumi Itō had to soar above even that. Silent Milk is what really magnetized my attention closer towards this album upon first listen. Around this point, the pacing slows to a solemn mood through the night ambient soundscape of glitched-out synths and reverberated piano keys. I don't want to spoil too much for first time listeners, but I will say that the last stretch of this album, to this day, remains as a transcendental experience. A dazzling musical piece, it's wonder, wonderful!

5/5

I've briefly met Haru twice during the shows she played in San Francisco during her North American tour(s). She's a noticeably petite woman considering my average stature, but man is she anything but unassuming. Her performance dresses are punkishly extravagant, and she pours her heart out with an inflamed passion into every single one of her performances. I've been keeping up with her since 2021 and it's amazing how consistent she is while experimenting with new styles and genres within her music. Harutosyura is exemplary to this as it was her first breakthrough in merging noise pop, post-hardcore, and hip-hop influences into this kaleidoscopic record. And while these influences play a role to the extent that it may make people believe it's something they've already "heard before," cough Fantano cough, I certainly don't know any j-rock or post-hardcore artist in general that has distorted the j-pop genre to bring the sounds found on this record. Maybe I'm just a fanboy, but the stinging excitement I felt in being swarmed with the spacey synths over Haru's vocal delivery still lingers in the present day. Throughout the album, you'll find Haru's screams coupled with harsh percussions constantly crash into a noise-riddled destruction, to then continue the tracks with the same sonic aggression found in moments prior. All the while, the album somehow manages to keep a semblance of structure intact throughout interludes and interruptions of spoken word/rap sections. There are moments where Haru dials it back to bring in musical elements off of what you might hear from a typical j-pop song. But these tracks, layered with Haru's style and production, just make them that much catchier than most j-pop songs I've listened to. Some people might find this review to be a big overstatement on the quality and presentation of the album, but I don't care, I will gladly die on this hill. To the riot grrrl that is Haru Nemuri, this is easily a

5/5

May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace. One of the golden relics from a now bygone era of metal, and I'm definitely not butting many heads here when I say this is the best thrash metal album to ever exist. Megadeth's fourth studio release, created on mountainous drug problems, frontman Dave Mustaine's vow to overtake Metallica, and a lineup of guitarists spun through revolving doors before settling on Marty Friedman. Tons of documentaries and wiki pages out there if you want to get a grasp on the full story. Right off rip, Holy Wars hits you with Dave's iconic galloping and spider chord riffs before firing on all percussive cylinders to thrust into the thrashing blitz that the listener will soon be familiar with. How Max Norman nailed down the Rust in Peace signature textures is beyond me; it strikes a crystalline balance between clean and distorted instrumental tones. Absolutely no instrument is left behind as neither the drums nor bass stand idly by for the guitars to take the center stage. Super punchy and distinct in the mixing, especially when the double bass comes together with the basslines on tracks like Take No Prisoners and Five Magics. I especially love the shouting harmony part of the latter song, "Give me alchemy, give me sorcery, give me wizardry, thermatology, electricity", with lyrics inspired by the goofy Lydon Hardy novel, it's so awesome. The majority of the album's lyrics, though, are generally centered on Dave's intense viewpoints regarding religion, political warfare, and his personal issues. Dave had always been more thoughtful on that front compared to his metal contemporaries, and as the cover art/title to Rust in Peace suggests, this album is no different. Speaking of which, the title track itself is such a great thematic (technically penultimate) closer. In the past 10+ years I've been listening to this record, that thumping drum intro has still got to be one of my favorites from this album and of metal music overall. Within the album's 40-minute runtime, Rust in Peace is one remarkable song after another, like, do I even have to say anything about Tornado of Souls? I don't wanna hear any gobbledygook about Dave's nasally vocals, how the 2004 remix sucks, or that the album's overrated. PROPERLY RATED, and you can have your own opinions on the age-old Metallica v. Megadeth debate, but Dave took the ultimate win on this one.

5/5

One morning during my elementary school days, my brother had taken me to see the dentist and while we were waiting by a traffic intersection, he asked me offhandedly if I ever heard a song called Master of Puppets before. I said no and my adolescent music tastes were instantly sealed as he passed me an earbud linking to his mp3 player displaying a photo of a white puppy litter playing a song labeled "Master of Puppies."

What is there to possibly say about this record that neither I nor anyone else has already said? This is a landmark album in Metallica's discography that transcended the metal genre as a whole. Following the path they had paved with Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning, this is Metallica perfecting the thrash/heavy metal formula with their own signature kick varnished over it. To reiterate my Metallica discography reviews, this tight tracklist was edited with machine-like precision and milled to artificial perfection compared to their earlier freeform songwriting process. You would be hard-pressed to find a dull and/or flawed moment that doesn't completely rip in the technical dexterity behind James's machine-gun riffs, Cliff's ingenious bass licks, Kirk's wailing solos, and Lars's unrelenting drum rolls. Perhaps the best showcase of the band's skill reaching skyscraping heights can be found in the composition behind Orion. The song begins with the waning feedback of Cliff's bass to introduce a slow drum beat before transitioning to the main riff of the song. The guitars serve a mixed role in playing the lead melody as well as providing harmonic support for the bass riffs, and my lord, the bass riffs are so damn sick. Especially during the interlude where it plays in tandem with the wah-wah guitar pedals, it is just phenomenal heavy metal. Everything about the arrangement on this multilayered instrumental track shines with the unblemished luster of a titanium alloy, the world has never recovered from losing Cliff. The lyrics found on this album take on socially conscious themes in its messaging concerning oppression via manipulative forces found on a societal or institutional level. Although by today's standards the lyrics may seem on the nose, they were pretty unsettling at the time as much of what they wrote about was heavily stigmatized and very much considered a taboo to discuss on any media platforms. This record was pivotal to many people's youths during (and after) the early days when thrash metal was an underground scene. To this day, the tab to the intro of Master of Puppets is still ingrained in my finger's muscle memory and probably always will be.

5/5

I first came across Nurture while lurking a discussion some of my friends were having on the recent release of the album. Admittedly, my initial impressions of the record were pretty poor as I was turned off by the voice synthesizer, despite thinking the instrumentals were great. It wasn't until the start of 2022 that I revisited the album by sheer coincidence after stumbling on a synopsis explaining the context behind Nurture and Porter's struggles with depression throughout his seven-year creative drought. To say that this album concept struck a chord with me would be putting it pretty lightly. I won't divulge too much into the details on why Nurture is so sentimental to me, but it was a serendipitous and healing album for me to reencounter through a very trying time in my life.

While I'm not very well-versed with EDM or House music, this album is probably one of the best the genre(s) have to offer (sans Daft Punk and the likes). Nurture builds itself on simple but creative ideas that work to have a great effect on the production end of the album. Despite the fact that much of the instrumentals are heavily spliced up and crafted virtually, there's a surprising organic quality to the soundscape as a whole. This primarily stems from how the glitchy electronic collages and piano melodies are brought together — especially during the interludes where the static negative space resembles the tranquil sounds found in quiet, windy meadows. Now, I will say that my personal feelings on this album obscures the quality of the chiptune-like vocal synths, but there are definitely notable aspects to it that are worth mentioning. Musician is probably the best example of this, given the context of how Porter chopped up the intro (as noted in this tweet) from an early demo of the song. If I had to venture a guess as to how he even came up with this, I'd say it seems very reminiscent to how Daft Punk made One More Time (as seen in this sample breakdown) by chopping up More Spell On You by Eddie Johns. The main difference being that Porter is sampling from his own track and is creating a melody from isolating and pitch shifting Sarah Midori Perry's vocals rather than another song's instrumentals. Otherwise, chalk it up to divine inspiration I guess, I'm not an electronic music producer. Production technicalities aside, Nurture is so striking in the way it plays on a duality by discretely juxtaposing peace and anguish. Between solace and despair. Nature and nurture! On the surface, Nurture presents itself as an emblem of hope, yet there's an aspect of doubt constantly hidden in plain sight — usually in relation to the lyrics. Though, my favorite instance of this thematic conceptualization is found on the instrumental track, dullscythe. To me, this song has always sounded like a musical draft revising its way into an elegant, edited piece. It's a unique portrayal of the frustrations found in the creative writing process and personally touches me for that reason. Porter created something really special here in encapsulating his artistic struggles I have found much resonant comfort in. Unfortunately, listening to Porter these days feels bittersweet to me for reasons unrelated to the aforementioned discussion. Maybe someday I'll silently remove this part of the review when Nurture is as rejuvenating to me as it was in 2022.

4.5+/5