please mention a genre or description if what you're recommending is anything less widely known than lady gaga

xavi malacara - the man and the ocean
very nice mellow, folky singer-songwriter stuff from spain here
https://xavimalacara.bandcamp.com/album ... ocean-2022

New Dance with the Dead is awesome
https://dancewiththedead.bandcamp.com/a ... to-madness

A few days ago I was about to post that in an old thread here about synthwave or something. But i refrained from it due to uncertainty about genres of that type, and since the band's tags were of other types. But yes, great synth/electronic/whatever album with a metal vibe.

The new Magnum record is out today and it's a pretty damn good rock album. Catley's voice continues to age like a fine wine, and Tony Clarkin's songwriting is as strong as ever. Quite impressive how consistently good they are this late in their career.

The new Fit For an Autopsy absolutely rips. Not an accepted MA band so I'll just post here. The Great Collapse was my favorite album up to now and still is, however this definitely pulls in as my #2 favorite from them. The riffs got a lot of TBDM and Gojira feeling to them, breakdowns are massive, the guitar tone is perfect. Just a grand deathcore album all around.




Edit: wooo looks like they got accepted to MA, party

FKA Twigs put out Caprisongs last week.

It’s being called a “mixtape” rather than an album proper.

As someone who is totally out of touch, I don’t know what constitutes a mixtape vs. an album. It’s like a demo, but released on a more major scale?

EDIT: Its in a similar vein to other FKA Twigs albums, which is to say it’s delightfully weird avant-pop/RnB-ish. Not nearly as emotionally heavy as Magdalene, but still utterly, brilliantly bizarre.

Comeback Kid's new album "Heavy Steps" came out today, and it's a certified ripper imo. Aggressive, heavy hardcore.

https://papir.bandcamp.com/album/7

Papir released a new album, something for people who are into laid back psy/space/kraut rock.

Say it's 1999. You're a 13 year old white kid from the middle of a piece of American suburbia which will in 10 years time decay due to crumbling infrastructure and a lack of jobs for unskilled labor. Your family is middle class but barely holding on. You wake up every day to your 17 year old sister getting nailed by the captain of the football team and your parents fighting because your dad decided to spend all of his money on internet stocks. Poor you, a simple kid caught up in this mess, trying to figure yourself out and who you are. You proceed with your day by gelling your hair into a bunch of spikes, and then go to your closet to put on an oversized black t shirt with some JNCO jeans. You get your Walkman, and turn on Korn's Life is Peachy in which you learn about the mental state of your older sister (ADIDAS).

Then, all of the sudden, a massive portal opens up in the middle of your bedroom. Out pops older you, now in your late thirties to early forties. Bit of a beer belly, big ol' hog lookin beard and bald just like your dad.
He (your older self) asks 'hey, wanna see the future?'. And naturally, yeah you fuckin do, who the fuck wouldn't? You step into this portal and BOOM- it's May of 2022, and you're in a massive stadium. You're one of the youngest people there (1999 version of you, that is), and everyone else is your future self's age- late 30's, early 40's. And who are they all there to see? Korn.

Now, at first, you're like "cool- a Korn concert! In the future!". But about halfway through the set, it dawns on you, this aching question that you cant help but repeat over and over again:

"Still Korn? STILL Korn? STILL KORN?"

I don't think anyone would've ever pictured this band to continue releasing new shit through the time they have. And for it to basically be what they've always done. But this hypothetical future I've just painted, is a fucking reality. Our reality. Korn is still rocking like it's 1999, and that alone is absolutely fucking insane.

Lana Lane – Neptune Blue
Always been a guilty pleasure. Very welcome comeback after ten years. Voice still in great shape. Sadly, these (pop rock) songs are very simple, the hooks are not that compelling, and the instrumentalists have no chance to shine. By far her least interesting album. Back with a whimper. 5/10

Big Big Train – Welcome to the World
Like a companion album to 2021's "Common Ground". Way more poppy, jazzy and neo-proggy than the pastoral retro albums of the last ten years. The good thing is, there's some noticeable progression, it's not more of the same, but it doesn't leave much of an impression if you're expecting the depth and drama of "The Underfall Yard", "English Electric" or "Folklore". If those albums were the rolling hills and valleys, this one is the (pleasant) plain. 7.5/10

Jethro Tull – The Zealot Gene
Ian Anderson solo marketed as the return of the once mighty Tull. A Commodore 64 marketed as a Star Wars character. The voice is, of course, gone, the songs are tame, full of recycled ideas and plodding; they neither rock nor folk you; they're there. There are some nice flute and acoustic guitar passages as expected, and I like the proggy ideas in "Mine is the Mountain" and the totally solid "In Brief Visitation", which could have been on "The Secret Language of Birds" or even "Minstrel in the Gallery", but, all in all, jesterdom's no fun if the jester struggles, i.e. sounds as if he doesn't have fun himself. Not much – but a bit – worse than "Thick as a Brick 2" or "Homo Erraticus". A generous 5 out of 10. P.S.: The fat keyboards in "Mrs. Tibbets" sound like Simple Minds circa '85, totally out of character!

Magnum – The Monster Roars
One of my favourite bands. Ever since the return with "Breath of Life", I've been searching the albums of the past 20 years for the glories of olde without finding much. Too much is samey and plodding. I really liked the "The Visitation", "On the Thirteenth Day" and, especially, "Escape from the Shadow Garden" but after that it was downhill again. The new one? Very predictable from the vocals down to the obligatory middle-8. And this is probably their sameyest (Is there a superlative of "samey"?) one ever. 5/10

Steve Vai – Inviolate
Purely instrumental. Typical Vai, yet fresh and creative and entertaining as ever. 8/10

The new Marissa Nadler EP The Wrath of The Clouds (named after her LP last year, The Path Of The Clouds) is great. 3 tracks that didn't make the record, plus 2 cover songs.

The new Weeknd album slaps. Great tribute to our fallen brethren Daft Punk.

I've just recently fallen in love with the album "Rift" from Hugar. An Icelandic post-rock/classical album. Does it sometimes completely jack Sigur Ros? Absolutely. But this is still pretty wonderful stuff:

https://soundcloud.com/hugarmusic

AN EVENING REDNESS is putting out this self-titled album. Sort of ambient, just this massive soundscape. Gorgeous and ultra serious. Immersive stuff. Based on the book Blood Meridian.

https://transylvaniantapes.bandcamp.com ... XNhl8Li2MI

Another solid release from her. It's not as lush as the full-length last year, but it's still such a pleasant listen.

+1 for the Korn album. Had a few listens and it's pretty good.

Bodyjar - New Rituals
Catchy and melodic pop punk. Runs out of steam slightly in the latter half, but I think it's worth a look if you're into this sort of thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXVIhvQau7U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjfbCIDTiYI

Aaron Lewis - Frayed at Both Ends
Don't care for his on stage demeanour and rants these days, but he has a really expressive voice and some great hooks. Genre is country / acoustic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hglJabLKs00
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgjAxojGiCw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z04theTADS0

Another vote here for the Korn album. Not listened to anything they've done for a long long time, bought Untouchables as a teenager when everyone and their mother was into Korn. Decided to have a listen to the new album and this is very enjoyable.
Not anywhere near the "nu-metal" I remember from the 90s/00s and Jonathan showing some pretty nice singing chops.

Didn't realize it was already out so just started it, hooked a minute in.

I've really been enjoying the new Failure album.

Too bad it got ripped from Spotify.

I've recently grown into being a fan of BBT. I've always enjoyed them, but something clicked recently and I'm really digging their output from English Electric onwards. Cant wait to hear their latest...

As for Tull, well, they've been among my all time fav bands for a long time now. Their material from the debut through "A" is the stuff of legend, IMO. Top 5 band all time.
But, sadly, I have to agree with your assessment of the new one. It truly does feel like an attempt made by a collection of 75 year-olds in a JT cover band. Just no energy, no spark.

john mayall's new album is excellent as expected - the violin is a nice touch to the more usual blues

Zeal and Ardor released a bew album today, im in the process of listening to it now, the singels have been fantastic! Black metal/electronic/soul/gospel hybrid

Listening to Zeal & Ardor now. Not as catchy as the last album, but there's a lot going on - blistering, frenetic walls of sound and then really moody soulful stuff. I'll probably have to give this some more listens.

are we listening to the same album? the soul/gospel stuff is nice, but it's all just a flourish on top of a terrible nu-metal/groove album, not even close to anything black, save for some of the vocals

Yeah I agree, this new album (Zeal & Ardor) seems more incorporate more nu-metal/groove riffs, I guess the black metal influences are more heard in older material (Satanic lyrical themes at least (Devil is fine-album)).

That said I think the newest album is stronger than The Devil is Fine and Stranger Fruit, its more coherent with less filler, altough it lacks some of the charm from previous offerings

There are sections of Emersion that absolutely have some black metal influence.

I guess it's way more in the -core vein than anything metal after a few listens, sure, but I wouldn't say it is anything resembling a bad album either. This is a wild, challenging work and has a lot going on - not exactly your usual Pantera or Machine Head type of drivel.

The latest Black Country, New Road album totally slaps. Absolutely masterful post-punk/experimental rock. It's a shame about their vocalist leaving the band.
https://youtu.be/fUnMbuAPT4o

UGH THIS IS SO GOOD

Not sure if this has already been mentioned here, but damn, that new Muse single 'Won't Stand Down'... Heaviest Muse song so far. Pretty metal sounding, although you can't vocally say that out loud, or their modern day fanbase will disavow the band

No seriously, It's been 3 days that I'm going crazy here, I can't get the song out of my head, help ????

Now, I wonder if the band will pull a stunt like The White Stripes back in 2005, where the Blue Orchid single was superbly groovy in a stoner-ish/ Sabbath-y way, but then the rest of the 'Get Behind Me Satan' album failed to impress because there really wasn't anything else as heavy as the awesome Blue Orchid single.

Or... wll they pull out all the big guns and deliver a couple of other heavy ass songs like 'Wont Stand Down' ??

Oh please, I hope for that scenario. Please make it happen. VERY CURIOUS.

Oh no, here comes the song again !!!!

The Beach House album is sounding good so far. More of the depth and expansive, yet tranquil sound from '7.' They can really spin an enchanting, absorbing melody... there's a shitload of music on here with 18 songs and 85 minutes, so I'll see how it holds up.

edit - I'm almost done with disc 1 and only liking it more as it goes on. Really fucking immersive, pleasant vibes. Like spending an afternoon on a beach.

Listening to this new Sarah Shook and the Disarmers for the second time tonight - a brilliant piece of work. Searing punk-country stuff, lots of more diverse songwriting this time. A more challenging mood than the fuck-you of the early shit. I'm really liking this one.

The new Tears For Fears is absolutely incredible.

Yea, I came here to post about this.

I've been a pretty massive fan for years. ELAHE was the high point of their career, imo.

I am enjoying the album so far. "No Small Thing" and it's hint of Lumineers gets on my nerves at times.

The new Hot Water Music album "Feel the Void" is pretty damn good.

Early AOTY contender for me: the new Marillion, An Hour Before It’s Dark.

This just hits so hard on an emotional level, “Reprogramming The Gene” in particular. “Murder Machines” is the perfect statement on post-pandemic existence.

Based on what has come out thus far and what I have on my calendar for the remainder of the year, I just don’t see anything topping this. Only Tears For Fears, The Cure (tentative release in September), or Porcupine Tree (maybe) can possibly come close.

FM – Thirteen

FM's excellent comeback album "Metropolis" (2010) (8.5/10) proved that there can be worthwhile modern reinventions of the aor genre. "Rockville" (2013), "Heroes and Villains" (2015), "Atomic Generation" (2018) had at least a couple of songs that were on the same level (and they pursued the sneaky-cheeky strategy of taking key elements from well-known hits and weaving a new composition around them, e.g. "You're the Best Thing about Me" was something from Def Leppard's "Hysteria", "I want you" was Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love", "Playing Tricks on Me" was The Steve Miller Band's "Abracadabra" with a cameo by Carlos Santana and so on…)

Look, err, hark how awesome FM can be (when they feel like being awesome):



Unfortunately, with 2020's "Synchronized" and this new one the band seem to be content with wallowing in solid pleasantness. Yeah, it's nice to listen to from start to finish but the songwriting and the arrangements are very safe, the hooks aren't as hooky as they could be, and there's a bit more surface than sea. 6/10

Boris W. Stoner drone boredom/relaxation, you decide but it's quite pleasant so far.

https://www.ruinedrecords.com/product/o ... d-blues-lp

New Jersey rock n’ roll bulldozer

Emily Jane White's Alluvion just came out and is easily one of my favorite albums so far this year. I know we have a few who like this newer movement of ethereal singer-songwriter artists, and this is her finest work yet. One of the tracks is also a collaboration with Darkher, and I'm really pleased to see all these musicians pooling their talents.