moddedBear

Music Log

Where I make note of the new music I've listened to.

Music log RSS feed

2022-09-19

Too many albums to list here, but here are some of the more notable ones.

Bret McKenzie - Songs Without Jokes

Bret is perhaps best known for Flight of the Conchords (which you should 100% watch), and he's just released a humor-free solo album. It's good, plenty of catchy songs. There's only a couple songs, like the opener, where I wonder if they might have landed better with a sprinkling of Conchords brand humor.

Death Cab for Cutie - Asphalt Meadows

I grew up listening to these guys quite a bit. Few of their releases this past decade or so have really left a strong impression on me, but this album was different. It's probably their best album in a while and it seems like they've been experimenting with new sounds more than usual.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - Nonagon Infinity

I was told I needed to check this band out and I wasn't disappointed. I've already heard a couple songs from different albums here and there and I expect that the crazy diversity is going to make this band a lot of fun to explore. This album is an endless crunchy jam session. I'll probably keep it on rotation as some of my focus music.

Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed

I was looking forward to this album and really enjoyed it. I think it's got some of Holy Fawn's heaviest songs but also incorporates plenty of their shoegazey sound as well. I'm looking forward to listening to this album some more.

acloudyskye - What Do You Want!

Definitely enjoyed this, more than acloudskye's previous album I think.

2022-09-01

Muse - Will of the People

There's some good songs in here but overall it's probably one of Muse's weakest albums to date. I want to like the revolution theme they've gone with but a lot of it feels awkward or heavy handed.

Garbage - Garbage

Very solid 90s rock. The opener I think was my favorite after this first listen.

Delta Sleep - Ghost City

Heavy math rock that doesn't lean too heavily into the math part. I loved hearing the vocals come in because they're an element that math rock too often does without. I'll likely listen to more of these guys.

Challenger Deep - The Stuff of Legends

Good instrumental rock. The diversity of the songs and the length of the album make for an easy listen and easy recommendation.

2022-06-13

Chris Doerksen - Ultra Parallax

A very relaxing and enjoyable synthwave album. Easy recommendation for any fans of the genre.

Hexsystem - No Confluence

A mostly relaxing electronic album, but it also makes heavy use of stringed instruments at times which helps set it apart. Another easy recommendation.

Tigercub - Abstract Figures in the Dark

Pretty standard metal album I thought, no real strong impressions one way or the other. I think I tend to like dreamier/gazier metal more.

2022-05-23

The Smile - A Light for Attracting Attention

I've been looking forward to this album ever since The Smile's surprise debut during online Glastonbury last year and it doesn't disappoint. The band consists of half of Radiohead + Tom Skinner of Sons of Kemet (who I should check out after this). A lot of the songs feel like "what if Radiohead made jazz".

MASTER BOOT RECORD - PERSONAL COMPUTER

This is the new release from MBR and based on my first listen I'm pretty sure it's my favorite. In terms of song writing, the album seems to incorporate some aspects that I really like from Keygen Church, another project by the same guy behind MBR.

Kinokoteikoku - タイム・ラプス

Decent album. Some pretty good songs that I'll probably come back to but also some filler that I didn't really care for.

2022-04-12

Kinokoteikoku - ロンググッドバイ and フェイクワールドワンダーランド

Pretty nice dream pop, felt a bit shoegaze-adjacent at times. The melodies are really hooky and I like all the riffs that are spread throughout. ロンググッドバイ is probably my favorite of the two.

2022-04-04

Grivo - Elude

Another good Grivo album. Pretty similar sound to the last one I listened to.

Burial - Untrue

Groovy, hypnotic, dark. Going to keep coming back to this one.

2022-03-30

Grivo - Omit

Dark and heavy shoegaze. I like these guys.

A Blaze of Feather - Claire's Lane

I liked the album though I'm a bit disappointed that like half of it was released beforehand as singles. It's nice that A Blaze of Feather keep evolving their sound.

Lantlôs - Wildhund

Good and energetic. I may come back and check out more but lately I've been going through artists related to Holy Fawn first.

Midwife - Luminol

Kinda like a slightly more depressing Grouper.

2022-03-14

Alcest - Spiritual Instinct

Just some good, dark metal. I think I want to check out more from these guys.

Puscifer - Existential Reckoning

Plenty of fun songs with an apocalyptic vibe.

Clown Core - Van

I've died and gone to heaven except it's not heaven it's a clown-infested fever dream hellscape. I don't know what I did wrong to deserve this Spotify recommendation.

2022-02-25

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Another interesting dark metal/shoegaze/post rock blend, though I liked this one more than Infinite Granite which was similar. There's a lot more variety here which I think results in a stronger album. Planning on listening to more from these guys.

Failure - Fantastic Planet

Grungier than I was expecting going in, but I find something oddly nostalgic in that. I had always assumed that A Perfect Circle's version of The Nurse Who Loved Me was the original so it was a nice surprise to discover the actual original on this album!

alt-J - The Dream

Pleasantly chill as anyone would have come to expect from alt-J. This album's certainly stronger than their previous so I'm happy for that.

And So I Watch You From Afar - Jettison

These guys are mixing it up a bit and have included a lot of orchestration in this album. It doesn't rock out quite as often as I would like, but it's definitely a nice listen regardless.

2022-01-28

Deafheaven - Sunbather

Definitely heavier than Infinite Granite which I still like more. This wasn't bad but just wasn't really my thing.

Failure - Wild Type Droid

Really enjoyed this one. Completely hooked by the second track. Definitely going to keep listening to this album and this'll probably be one of the artists I do a deep dive into. I think I'll listen to Fantastic Planet next then go from there.

2022-01-19

Deafheaven - Infinite Granite

Dreamy throughout and at times pretty heavy. Enjoyable album, I'll probably come back to it again. I've been looking for heavier stuff to get into so I may check out some of the band's other material as well.

2022-01-03

acloudyskye - A Place Where Mountains Hide and Blood Rushing Like Current Through a Powerline

Discovered through Beat Saber modding. Both albums are fun listens and give a bit of variety but I think I like A Place Where Mountains Hide just a little more.

Keygen Church - ░█░█░░█░█░█░

A seriously unique blend of Master Boot Record style computer-generated metal and baroque/organ music. And yes, that really is the name of the album.

2021-11-09

Wye Oak - Civilian, Cut All the Wires: 2009-2011, and The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs

Heard about these guys through word of mouth and I'll definitely be listening to more of them.

2021-11-06

Sungazer - Sungazer Vol. 1, Sungazer Vol. 2, and Threshold

Very fun listen. Electrojazz isn't too bad.

2021-09-27

I haven't been great at keeping this up to date. But here's some new albums I've listened to over the past several weeks.

Low - HEY WHAT

I was looking forward to this one and wasn't let down. Low continues to find creative ways to use distortion effects, but also manages to make each song more memorable than most of their songs from the last album Double Negative.

The Killers - Pressure Machine

It's been a while since I've listened to an album from these guys but I was pleasantly surprised. It's a new sound from them and I like it.

Ryley Walker - Deafman Glance and Golden Sings That Have Been Sung

Good chill fingerplucked guitar.

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Enjoy the View

Kind of typical indie rock. Not that that's a bad thing.

2021-07-11 - 2021-07-17

2021-04-25 - 2021-05-01

2021-04-11 - 2021-04-17

2021-03-21 - 2021-03-27

2021-03-14 - 2021-03-20

2021-03-07 - 2021-03-13

2021-02-28 - 2021-03-06

2021-02-21 - 2021-02-27