Stigma Continues His Run of Doomy, Minimal Trip Hop on ‘Too Long’
Stigma’s Too Long is a seven-track vortex of sinister filter sweeps, bleary-eyed synths, and detonating rhythms. As his music gets darker and weirder, it gets better and better.
Parker Desautell
Parker has published with The Wrong Quarterly, Everyday Fiction, The Sun Chronicle, and Cadaverine Magazine. He graduated from Eastern University with a bachelor's degree in English.
VC-118A’s ‘Spiritual Machines’ Wrests Life Out of Infernal Dub and Electro Regions
If Shift Register showcased Samuel van Dijk’s mastery of sound design, Spiritual Machines is where he pushes his skill into more definitive and purposeful directions.
‘Preacher’s Sigh & Potion’ Lacks the Swagger of Matthew Dear’s Best Records
On paper, Matthew Dear’s Preacher’s Sigh & Potion: Lost Album seems like the kind of album that deserves to come out of the vault.
Penelope Trappes’ ‘Penelope Three’ Is a Meditative LP of Sultry Vocals and Glossy Electronics
Penelope Three is not a pop record, but it is Penelope Trappes’ boldest, most straightforward work to date. On Three, Trappes holds nothing back.
Ground’s Rickety, Folkloric House Achieves Perfection on ‘Ozunu’
Like all the best dreams, Ground’s Ozunu stays both bizarre and entertaining the whole way through. The folkloric house achieves nothing shy of perfection.
Daniel Avery Gets Nostalgic on ‘Together in Static’
Daniel Avery’s Together in Static moves along at a glacial tempo, full of mournful ambience, slow-motion beats, and waterlogged synth tones.
Colleen’s ‘The Tunnel and the Clearing’ Takes Us Deeper Into Her Fuzzy Analogue Sound-World
Colleen has struck out on a course all her own and continues to inhabit one of the most distinctive sonic terrains today, as on The Tunnel and the Clearing.
‘Amnesiac’ Remains Radiohead’s Freest Record 20 Years Later
Twenty years ago, Radiohead stepped back on Amnesiac, deconstructing their trajectory and tinkering around the edges of their sonic universe.
Leon Vynehall’s ‘Rare, Forever’ Is Daring But Overstuffed
Rare, Forever may be Leon Vynehall’s most daring work, but unfortunately, the result is just too cluttered to achieve any sense of artistic transcendence.
Andy Stott’s Chopped and Screwed Techno Takes on Warmer Hues with ‘Never the Right Time’
Andy Stott’s Never the Right Time may be the most inviting record in his catalogue, an entry point into his funereal sound-world. It’s also one of his best.
Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders Create Experimental Electrojazz on ‘Promises’
Sparseness aside, there is an explosive energy lurking just under the surface of Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders’ Promises.
Smerz’s ‘Believers’ Is a Wild, Uneven Ride Through Trance, Hip-Hop, and Classical
Lyrically and sonically, Smerz’s Believer is a bold, risk-taking LP that charts a wild, uneven ride through trance, classical, R&B, and hip-hop.