2017 pt. 21

Bjork - Utopia

*******HIGHEST RECS*******

///BRAV-FUCKING-O\\\

Plays out much like a merry-meadow companion to predecessor Vulnicura; one that valiantly doubles down on scope and knots and amorphousness. And as many distinct selections there are here, it's even less about the tunes and even more about pacing and getting swallowed into that wondrous wandering whole. If you can't fall for layers of Bjork bustin' out beautiful whatever over layers of hectic-n-spacy something, it'll irk ya perhaps more than ever. If you can't fall for flutes+chirps, just forget it. If it seems too rosy, know there's custody battles spit over haunted-club glitch-work and snarls. If it starts to tire, know it should and that the latecomers are more than worthwhile -- see "Tabula Rasa", a somber sparse-string stunner that unassumingly winds up one of the most stirring stands against misbehaving men in recent memory. See "Saint", which manages to take breathtaking atmospheres up just one more heavenly notch. "Utopia / it's not elsewhere", tis true. And thus continues the kind of artistic trajectory that makes her revelations of being smitten over a mp3 swap and catching feels at a record store seem so preposterous; yet you're happy to hear it. No way she took to Tinder, though. 8/10

Errorsmith - Superlative Fatigue

*******HIGHEST RECS*******

Never doubt tightly wound primal techno with a sense of humor. With grooves slim and stiff yet buoyant and bangin', what begins as disembodied pitch-shifting utterances leading the way into melodic motion-sickness gradually advances towards a deconstructed+percussive warpage of synth-funk cheese. Minimal but insistent and best of all vibrant, kooky yet composed. Included is a fitting finale that certifies it's just been his "party my party" all along -- quote as monotonous sole line, handclap as monotonous sole adornment, unabashed stretches of robot beatboxing. An elementary masterwork in making laffs outta loneliness if you ask me. 8/10

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Antwood - Sponsored Content 5.5/10

Bibio - Phantom Brickworks 5/10

Circuit des Yeux - Reaching For Indigo 6/10

Lee Gamble - Mnestic Pressure 7/10

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Polygondwanaland 6/10

King Krule - The OOZ 5.5/10

Kedr Livanskiy - Ariadna 7/10

Machine Girl - ...Because I'm Young and Arrogant and Hate Everything You Stand For 8/10 *******HIGHEST RECS*******

John Maus - Screen Memories 7/10

Pere Ubu - 20 Years in a Montana Missile Silo 6/10

Rapsody - Laila's Wisdom 7/10

Rina Sawayama - RINA [EP] 6.5/10

Steffi - World of the Waking State 7/10