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Somewhere out there, there is a man with a more extensive discography than you can possibly imagine, with over 23,000 songs. He has 27 Spotify profiles (as far as I know of, there could be more) where he puts out album after album. You might be thinking, “Caitlin, I know who you’re talking about, and his name is John Darnielle.” And while it’s true that The Mountain Goats have an extremely extensive discography, that’s not who I’m referring to.
I’ve noticed that in a lot of the album reviews I’ve done in the past few months I’ve made one specific observation: the lack of a verse-chorus-verse structure. I bring this up whenever I get the chance because it’s usually associated with a more experimental presentation that I notice and appreciate, but by now I’ve probably reviewed more albums that don’t adhere to this standard songwriting practice than do. So strap in as I talk about yet another structurally experimental release, this drone metal EP by Mythless.
Confession: Metal music isn’t one of my areas of expertise, and I had never intentionally listened to a drone metal project before so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very restrained, emotive group of songs, kind of like a souped up Animal Collective sound. Opening track “Dreadless” kicks things off with a frenetic drumbeat and soft keys to propel things forward slowly, for me this was the weakest off the project because it had this one annoying piano line that kept popping up but the rest of the track was quite good; the vocals have a very intriguing cadence that says as much as the lyrics behind them and the way the drum patterns combine to elevate the song.
It only gets better from there, with closing track Glossless being a particular highlight. It has the slow, characteristic buildup of drone but with a driving pace and exciting horns that propel the track forward in a unique and fun way. The chanting vocals suit this instrumental style perfectly and the unceasing motion of the track makes every line feel like a powerful mantra which is the kind of maximalist vibe that I want to see out of this type of freeform, emotionally charged music.
Drone and its various forms has always felt somewhat unapproachable to me, as I got into music through vocal-focused indie rock and this is structurally different in almost every way. But if you’re like me and want to dip your toe into drone music but don’t know where to start, “We” is a pretty great place to begin, it’s accessible and almost like the pop of ambient music where it takes concepts that are definitely unique to the genre and packages them into short bursts of enjoyment. I know I have a long way to go and that this is a genre I’m by no means an expert on, but I know a good EP when I hear one and this definitely fits the bill.
-Erie
While CDs are definitely falling out of favor in our general listening habits, WKNC still receives a healthy amount of CDs, of which the album cover quality tends to…vary substantially. I was just informed I had a mailbox and have begun logging all of my submissions, and a piece of advice I received was that most of the time, you could look at an album cover and not bother listening to it. This was interesting to me, someone who got into music in the streaming era when the album cover is just something in the corner of the screen, but when new favorites were found in record store racks the album cover was basically the only window into what the experience would be.
In particular, the inspiration for this blog was the album “Meatcup Just Snack” by Noodle Muffin. Now, with all due respect to Noodle Muffin, this cover is genuinely hard to look at and, while it did certainly make me curious as to how the music would relate to the weirdly Photoshopped teacup full of meat (that’s a sentence), I would still definitely come in with some negative biases.
But why is that? I like to explore the weirder areas of music, what should an album cover have to do with why I would choose one album over another, or wouldn’t that be enticing for a cover to be as weird as possible. Well, to me there are different kinds of weird, and the kind I like the most is an artistically focused weird. A cover with someone’s severed head framed in stylistic lighting is weird but in a cool, evocative way, while a bad photoshop is, well, a bad photoshop. It’s like if there is a certain level of professionalism in the cover, that will be reflected in the quality of production. Noise pop can sound distorted and intentionally dense on a structural level, but when it’s good there’s a level of care and passion that can be felt through all of that.
I ended up looking into Noodle Muffin and found that the cover might have been more intentional than I initially thought. They’re a band that employs crass humor to craft their songs and are very heavily targeted towards the college radio crowd. Interestingly, despite the surreal nature of the album, I didn’t guess that, something about it told me it was a failure of intention rather than a deliberate aesthetic choice. And after actually listening to the album, it’s genuinely well produced, the band has been around for a decade and knows how to put a track together. I judged an album based on a cover and missed. I guess my punishment is opening more mail.
-Erie
| # | Artist | Album | Label |
| 1 | REPTALIENS | Multiverse | Sinderlyn |
| 2 | HIATUS KAIYOTE | Mood Valiant | Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune |
| 3 | ILLISM | Family Over Everything | The CRWN |
| 4 | MCKINLEY DIXON | For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her | Spacebomb |
| 5 | FLYING LOTUS | Yasuke | Warp |
| 6 | KILLS BIRDS | Married | KRO |
| 7 | PLANET GIZA | Don’t Throw Rocks At The Moon [EP] | Self-Released |
| 8 | SERENA ISIOMA | Sensitive [EP] | Fashionably Early |
| 9 | SHYGIRL | “Cleo” [Single] | Because |
| 10 | WAVEFORM | Last Room | Run For Cover |
| 11 | ZEBRA KATZ | Less Is Moor | ZFK |
| 12 | BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE | Old Dead Young: B-Sides & Rarities | Arts & Crafts |
| 13 | CAKES DA KILLA, PROPER VILLAINS | Muvaland Vol. 2 [EP] | Warner |
| 14 | HAVIAH MIGHTY | Stock Exchange | Self-Released |
| 15 | JPEGMAFIA | LP! | EQT |
| 16 | LAVA LA RUE | Butter-fly [EP] | Marathon |
| 17 | MARKEE STEELE | Vet & A Rook [EP] | Thee Marquee |
| 18 | TYLER THE CREATOR | CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST | Columbia |
| 19 | YOUR GRANDPARENTS | Thru My Window | Self-Released |
| 20 | BLACK MARBLE | Fast Idol | Sacred Bones |
| 21 | DAWN RICHARD | Second Line | Merge |
| 22 | DYME-A-DUZIN AND MONEY MONTAGE | TRAINING. [EP] | Below System |
| 23 | ELIJAH ROSARIO | Genuine Truths | 1496748 |
| 24 | ILLUMINATI HOTTIES | Let Me Do One More | Snack Shack Tracks/Hopeless |
| 25 | JIMMY EDGAR | Cheetah Bend | Innovative Leisure |
| 26 | JOESEF | Does It Make You Feel Good? [EP] | Bold Cut |
| 27 | JYROSCOPE AND MONTANA MACKS | Happy Medium [EP] | Self-Released |
| 28 | LITTLE SIMZ | Sometimes I Might Be Introvert | AGE 101 |
| 29 | MILAN RING | I’m Feeling Hopeful | Astral People/PIAS |
| 30 | PINK SIIFU | GUMBO’! | Dynamite Hill |
| # | Artist | Album | Label |
| 1 | WAVEFORM | Last Room | Run For Cover |
| 2 | WARPAINT | “Champion” [Single] | Heirlooms/Virgin |
| 3 | HONEYGLAZE | “Shadows” [Single] | Speedy Wunderground/PIAS |
| 4 | SUGARFUNGUS | Letting Go, Moving Still [EP] | Self-Released |
| 5 | POM POKO | This Is Our House [EP] | Bella Union/PIAS |
| 6 | ELENA SETIEN | Unfamiliar Minds | Thrill Jockey |
| 7 | EELS | Extreme Witchcraft | E Works/PIAS |
| 8 | BODEGA | “Thrown” [Single] | What’s Your Rupture? |
| 9 | UNA | “It’s OK” [Single] | Cool Jewel |
| 10 | EKKSTACY | Negative | UnitedMasters |
| # | Artist | Album | Label |
| 1 | FJAAK | SYS03 [EP] | Self-Released |
| 2 | COFFINTEXTS | 8700 [EP] | Club Qu |
| 3 | KEDR LIVANSKIY | Liminal Soul | 2MR |
| 4 | PARK HYE JIN | Before I Die | Ninja Tune |
| 5 | ROSS FROM FRIENDS | Tread | Brainfeeder |
| 6 | SMERZ | Believer | XL/Beggars Group |
| 7 | ARCA | KICK ii | XL |
| 8 | YAEJI AND OHHYUK | “Year To Year” b/w “29” [Single] | XL |
| 9 | CFCF | Memoryland | Self-Released |
| 10 | LSDXOXO | Dedicated 2 Disrespect [EP] | XL |
| 1 | HIATUS KAIYOTE | Mood Valiant | Brainfeeder/Ninja Tune |
| 2 | ILLISM | Family Over Everything | The CRWN |
| 3 | NATIVESON91 | Come Back Down [EP] | Spear Head |
| 4 | HAVIAH MIGHTY | Stock Exchange | Self-Released |
| 5 | JPEGMAFIA | LP! | EQT |
| 6 | LAVA LA RUE | Butter-fly [EP] | Marathon |
| 7 | MCKINLEY DIXON | For My Mama And Anyone Who Look Like Her | Spacebomb |
| 8 | PLANET GIZA | Don’t Throw Rocks At The Moon [EP] | Self-Released |
| 9 | SERENA ISIOMA | Sensitive [EP] | Fashionably Early |
| 10 | YOUR GRANDPARENTS | Thru My Window | Self-Released |
| # | Artist | Album | Label |
| 1 | STANGARIGEL | Na Severe Srdca | Self-Released |
| 2 | PENSEES NOCTURNES | Quel sale Bourreau | LES ACTEURS DE L’OMBRE PRODUCTIONS |
| 3 | TRICKLEBOLT | VARIOUS ARTISTS | Self-Released |
| 4 | NOVA SPEI | Sequentis | Bam&Co. Heavy |
| 5 | EMPLOYED TO SERVE | Conquering | Spinefarm |
| 6 | RUNDGARD | Stronghold Of Majestic Ruins | Signal Rex |
| 7 | WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS | Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy | Electric Talon |
| 8 | CARCASS | Torn Arteries | Nuclear Blast |
| 9 | PREDICTOR | …thus spoke death [EP] | Iron Bonehead |
| 10 | ZETAR | Devouring Darkness | Spirit Coffin |
At the beginning of 2022, I opened my iPhone to be treated with a surprise: 3 free months of Apple TV+. While that came as a welcome surprise, I didn’t really know what was good on the platform, with the only name I had heard of being “Ted Lasso.” I gave it a shot and was rewarded with a uniquely charming, funny, and engaging show that also had, and this is relevant for WKNC blog readers, a killer soundtrack.
Pop culture references are the language the show is built on, and there are often mentions of artists by the characters such as Elton John and Robbie Williams. It’s definitely populist, often using tracks that it expects the audience to be familiar with. A moment where lifelong fans of soccer team Richmond AFC finally getting to stand on the field has Queen’s “We Are The Champions” playing triumphantly over it, while the titular character enters England to “God Save The Queen” by Sex Pistols. It’s clearly a very expensive show and casually flexing songs from that caliber of artist adds to the production value.
And in my opinion at least it does it well; when a lot of shows use really obvious musical cues it feels like a symptom of poor writing and a cheap emotional play, but “Ted Lasso” strikes this interesting balance where it uses familiar songs as a way to bring everyone to the party in a way. It’s like how when you’re at a club, super popular songs you would never admit to listening to on your own time become danceable bangers just because you’ve heard them before. There’s a particular episode where “Never Gonna Give You Up” is used as a plot point, and how a connection to that song helps a character overcome grief, taking what is a very played out song by this point and adding emotional resonance to it.
One other way I thought songs were used in an obvious but creative way is through very on the nose lyrical choices. The line “strangers to friends, friends into lovers” is sung over a quasi-montage of two characters going through that exact arc, while Gilbert O’Sullivan’s “Alone Again (Naturally)” plays over, naturally, a character being alone again. This is a technique that always results in cringe, and yet although it’s maybe one of the weaker elements of the show, it genuinely works with “Ted Lasso” in a way I rarely see. Maybe it’s because those songs are often slow and subtle so it’s not very in your face, but I think it’s more of a tonal phenomenon: the show is wholesome in a way where obvious gestures add to the appeal. That’s why I wanted to talk about it today, it’s a wholly unique experience even at the sonic level and I’m really glad it’s been seeing the awards success and viewership that it has been getting. Season 3 is set to start filming soon and it’s probably my most anticipated show right now. And of course I can’t wait to hear it as well, with inspired song choices and musical motifs being such a cornerstone of the experience.
-Erie
Alright well if no else else is going to talk about this album for WKNC, I guess I will. FKA Twigs is a art pop and alternative R&B artist from England who has made some serious waves in the Indie scene as of late. Her persona is that of a mercurial and unpredictable songwriter known for mixing in unconventional sounds and ideas into mainstream adjacent sounds.
I put off listening to her new mixtape “Caprisongs” for almost a month, partially due to personal fatigue, but also because I’ve had trouble getting into FKA Twigs for some time. This new album was the latchkey for me. The mixes feel just a little cleaner, the experimental elements are a little more seamlessly integrated into the rest of the sound, and the songwriting is just the tiniest touch more personal. While the tape is hardly a leap forward for the singer in any one regard, she has refined her established sound just enough that the music finally popped for me.
The album, on a granular level, is a whiplash inducing cross between depressive and wistful ballads and high energy sexual bangers. It’s a tightrope that has no business working as well as it does, but through the very specific lens of FKA Twigs it makes a lot of sense. One of her lyrics on this album is literally “beautiful and sad” which feels about as on the nose as Post Malone releasing a song called “Rich and Sad.”
The title is something of a self-effacing joke. The meme from a few months ago of “Astrology girls will really hit your car in a parking lot and say ‘Sorry, I’m a Capri sun,'” is inverted here to rib FKA Twigs’ “feminine mystique” inflected persona. The joke is mostly advanced in interludes, but it strangely becomes a thematic element of the album. The album sees FKA Twigs stop romanticizing and spiritualizing her life so aggressively, and wake up to the realization that the men in her life aren’t good enough for her to waste her time on. And yet, she never gives the wistful Astrology girl energy, she, in her own words “Is still mysterious.”
A duet with the Weekend was the album’s single for fairly obvious reasons. However, the highlight of the album for me is actually the track with Shygirl, “papi bones,” which if you can’t tell from the name, is a pretty brazen sex jam. The electronics are nowhere near as off the wall as something you’d find on a solo Shygirl record, but still just heavy enough to make the song pack a punch. To give you an idea of the tone for the song, the lyrics are entirely clean and PG, and yet the song was still flagged as explicit by my streaming service. FKA’s soprano moans may be entirely above board, but they evoke a dirtier image than any Cupquakke song ever could.
If you were already into FKA Twigs, this album might not be a whole lot to write home about. But if, like me, you weren’t already aboard the hype train for this artist, give “Caprisongs” a chance, it might finally make this artist click for you too.
For a while I had seen both the band Japanese Breakfast and the book “Crying in H Mart” float around in the different spheres of the internet I occupy. One day, a couple months ago, I finally had the realization that Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast was the same Michelle Zauner who authored “Crying in H Mart.” Who would have thought? After hearing the umpteenth glowing review of this memoir, I finally decided to read it.
“Crying in H Mart” is a story of grief, specifically revolving around the passing of her mother and how her mother’s life and death is the throughline in her journey on this earth. Zauner is particularly skilled at putting the reader in her shoes, giving you every detail down to the food she ate and what she was wearing. Food is the hallmark of Zauner’s relationship to her mother, because of the connection it gives her to her Korean heritage. Zauner communicates the permanence of loss, never searching for the silver linings but rather describing the concrete ways that grief sticks with you.
The book, published in 2021, originally began as an article Zauner wrote for the New Yorker in 2018, which now serves as the first chapter of the memoir. The article/chapter ends with the following disclosure: “Within the past five years, I lost both my aunt and mother to cancer. So, when I go to H Mart, I’m not just on the hunt for cuttlefish and three bunches of scallions for a buck; I’m searching for their memory. I’m collecting the evidence that the Korean half of my identity didn’t die when they did.” The remainder of the book explores the memories she is on a hunt for.
Michelle Zauner is a spectacular and versatile writer. It shouldn’t have been surprising to see that an excellent songwriter was also an excellent storyteller in other mediums, but for some reason it caught me off guard. She is the narrator of the audiobook (which is how I elected to read this book), and she makes every word feel important.
“Crying in H Mart” is deeply personal to Zauner, but also deeply telling of the human experience. Kristen Martin, in her review of the book published on NPR, sums it up perfectly when she says: “What Crying in H Mart reveals, though, is that in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself.”