Showing posts with label Warpaint. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warpaint. Show all posts

Wednesday 28 December 2022

My Top 10 Albums Of 2022

 
Reviewing the shortlist, It didn't take me long to pick out ten. Quite a few bands, Slipknot, Puppy & Ghost to name a few, have come through with solid efforts but what were the moments that resonated the most? Novelty tends to be a strong fancy yet sometimes a dose of what you know and love has sticking power. This year didn't produce as many deep impressions, with exception for the top two, clear favorites that are still mesmerizing. I look forward to giving this all a listen again in coming weeks!

 

(10) Frank Klepacki & The Tiberian Sons "Lay To Waste" (2022) link

The re-ignition of Frank's C&C era music has been an absolute delight. Although parts of this brief four track EP may have been clunky and obtuse. Its spirit melds that Industrial Metal magic with Power Metal gleams and fantastical RPG VGM themes to a degree that's grown on me. In general its exciting to hear these musicians working on this sound. Even not if exactly what I wanted, together, they have so much potential to appeal to my nostalgia!


(9) Chaosbay "Boxes" (2022) link

A front runner in a post-Periphery era, these Germans made such a remarkable impression with their high octane meld of gleaming melody and hard hitting Djent. Its a juxtaposition that can play to delights on occasion and this EP captured a consistent magic stunningly. Like anthems, its soaring choruses got stuck in the mind and its five songs continue to bestow crunchy, shinny magic.


(8) Malcolm Horne "Mending" (2022) link

Malcolm returns to the top list again with another warm, endearing record of Jazzy Hip Hop beats, now fine tuned for a calmer atmosphere. Mending, crafted for streamers, finds balance and consistency as its flow of gentler crafts keeps one safe while accompanying adventures. This intention is felt so well as the record strides smoothly for its hour duration. An easy pleasure for sure!


(7) Nas "King's Disease III" (2022) link 

Seeming like a routine entry now, the "Goat" returns with an undeniable assembly of rhymes to grip this listener with a dose of the Hip Hop I adore, done to a level of excellence. Its main fault is its strength. That persistent theme. Lacking a little surprise, Nas continues strong with an installment to stand head and shoulders above anything I heard in the scene this year.

 

(6) Sabaton "The War To End All Wars" (2022) link

As a newly indoctrinated fan, I got another dose of exactly what I wanted. Their WW1 themed music got a second stint, recycling the same musical ideas and pumping out more of what works. It can't go on forever but as a result of such, they pulled of another cracking record that gets me fired up again and again. 


(5) Warpaint "Radiate Like This" (2022) link
 
 With so many crooning grooves, gleaming warmth and vulnerable emotive singing, this one read a resounding impression I've gone back to plenty of times. In need of warmth from a sincere, beautiful, endearing place, Radiate Like This has a sweet tone to indulge with. An exploration of prior records has taught me this band like to experiment and explore. I doubt they will repeat this formula, usually leaning to a darker grit. The Ethereal aesthetic here will likely be my favorite of theirs.
 
 

(4) The Weeknd "Dawn FM" (2022) link

You can't escape the Blinding Lights, however the craft of a whole record triumphs here as Weeknd takes on a nostalgic re-imagination of 80s Synth and Michael Jackson's singing style. With that music so rooted from my childhood it was beyond a pleasure to enjoy such a masterful handling of creative vision. In retrospect, the radio interludes are a little on the nose and break up its flow. Its also a record of two halves, the first I find much more appealing.


(3) Ocean Grove "Up In The Air Forever" (2022) link

In another case of "all I want is a repeat". Ocean Grove deliver the goods with another fantastic chapter. Re-imagining the Brit Pop, Grunge, Alternative Rock and Metal of the 90s with a splash of 00s pop too, its appeal ran deep. Little advanced beyond its original concept plotted last record. Perhaps this time a little less aggression and metallic tone but in that absence the catchyness and energy goes a distance. Another cracking record of back to back great tunes.


(2) Arcanist "Hyperborea" (2022) link

I'd consider these Dungeon Synth adjacent spaces a spot for both genius and low-effort clones to emerge. Discovering the better is always a delight for a genre I feel still as much to offer if done like this pair of records has been. My top two this year both take the biscuit in going the distance. With touches of Berlin School and vivid imaginations for fantastical journeys, each offers a vastly different experience yet steeped in powerful musical exploration, they both bare freeing structures and a musical ethos for exploring unchained dynamics between instruments.


(1) Old Sorcery "Dragon Citadel Elegies" (2022) link

As part of my streaming music arsenal, Old Sorcery edges out through its familiarity and repeated listens. If felt obvious early on yet as the months roll by its fantastical character and sense of adventure persisted. Old Sorcery has always felt like an artist with a unique voice but in this conclusion of the Castle trilogy, it's matured greatly. Perhaps The Hand Of Merlin soundtrack helped with that development as Dragon Citadel Elegies instrumental composition feels expanded. Either way, this is one artist to keep an eye on!

Saturday 23 July 2022

Warpaint "The Fool" (2010)

 

Crooned by a blissful flurry of soothing sensual songs, Radiate Like This left its impression. An elegant stride through resonant pleasantries that had me seeking more. Disappointed by Heads Up, we lastly arrive full circle, at their origins. The Fool is a subtly engrossing record of broody chromatic Post-Punk, shimmering with dissonant melodies that fracturing its intensities. Through its dreary tapestry, blooms of saturation erupt. Spearheaded by sharp grooves, illusive voices and swelling guitar licks, each song is armed with a convergence from its apparently unsettled nature. Charcoal aesthetics, smothered in ash and rain, the glum exterior harbors gems, sequestered by its overcast skies. I adore the oxymoron. Bleak and pale, lost and aimless yet human colors seep through its pours as the melancholy evaporates.

Its a matter of chemistry that can hit or miss, mostly striking the mark. Composure for example never quite escapes its own shadow, stuck with a soft gloom. Bees on the other hand walks into a trap. Its initial grim frictions overturned with a triumphant baseline chime. Undertow sidesteps the duality entirely with its endearing warmth upfront from the get go. Variety lends itself textually with acoustic leaning songs, some occasional warbling electronics and sparing use of pianos. The Fool has sturdy foundations yet an illusive chemistry, its feet in two halves, a curious glowing charm.

Rating: 7/10

Monday 20 June 2022

Warpaint "Heads Up" (2016)

 

Reflecting on the fractured minutia of details between Warpaint and Radiate Like this, this record between has been striking. With every project, this Los Angeles quartet of Post-Punk women reorient their sound slightly. Of course, most bands bring a flavor to each record. So whats peculiar? The vibrancy falters when just a few dials are turned. Heads Up is marginally rawer, a little grit and glumness in its moody garage aesthetic has tits allure evaporate on the solemn road in treads, both aesthetic and in spirit.

New Song, The Stall & So Good sit early in the lineup. Together, and with a gloss of colorful reverb, parts of these songs steer into luminous strides of warmth backed by groove and attitude. Despite this streak, the rest of the record is bleak and moody. The dreamy singing of Kokal often drifts into this pale. Bass lines become deep dreary murmurs, lacking a feisty punch. Guitars shimmer impressionable noises alongside fractions of riffs. It amounts to this self indulged soundscape of unassailable blues.

For this listener, the record just didn't click. Its shadowy tone wasn't resonate, passions were dulled and its chromatic aesthetic didn't sparkle. In the aforementioned songs, an upbeat stride, a touch of smiley warmth gave it momentary gusto. Otherwise these songs mostly reveled in their own identity, unable to amplify the expression. With unhurried pacing and reveling in its bleakness, this was a tire on most listens. Perhaps more enjoyable with less attentive focus when in the background. Quite disappointing.

Rating: 4/10

Wednesday 1 June 2022

Warpaint "Radiate Like This" (2022)

 If this title were literal, then one would glow. With radiance in abundance, a deep warmth, a crooning sway, Warpaint resonate sensuality with this casually persuading swoon of blissful songs. Its ten cuts ooze with luscious ease as dreamy aesthetics drift by. Captive to Emily Kokal's gentle endearing voice, she rides the soulful breeze her compassionate presence creates. This performance makes the record whole. For all the gorgeous instrumentation, vibeing in the lofty heat of an easy chemistry. She steps boldly into each song with a tender soul, soft in tone yet powerfully charming.

Once labeled as a Post-Punk band, its only the forward baselines, punching high notes on the fretboard that resemble the umbrella sound. With calming beats, loose grooves and shuffling hi-hat rattles, a subtle percussive performance houses all other instruments from a quiet yet foundational roll. The acoustic guitars, in dense washes of reverberation, gel with keys and electronics. Swept up in a swelling production, the atmosphere of each song punctuates a soulful, dreamy mood with stunning ease. Its tone is part Ethereal, part Dream Pop with a light touch of Shoegaze indulgence.

Radiate Like This is far from perfect however. Navigating all ebbs and flows, frequent detours into halve measures of the magic occur. Often when Kokal is withdrawn the spark is dulled. Despite this, the allure is ever present. A soothing persuasion pulls one in as simple melodic loops revel in the dense ambience they sink through with echos and reverb effects dialed to perfection. The aesthetics and textures are stunningly captured by the group who self produced the record. Its a triumph, as the best cuts, again championed by Kokal, hit the sweetest groove after every repetition.

Rating: 8/10

Friday 8 February 2019

Warpaint "Warpaint" (2014)


It took not but a few songs to be overcome with the feeling of adoration. I knew that this record would be enjoyed immensely and serve as a "go too" for a mood alteration, much like a Fever Ray or Feel It Break. Now that I make those comparisons I realize how much Dream and Art Pop vibes are on display. Initially I felt Post-Punk moods from the warm pulsing baselines that patrol and measured drum patterns. Those moments arise in due time but a lot of the record goes into a luscious Ethereal tangent. Either way its stirring up my favorite ingredients in the musical pot.

Warpaint are a four piece outfit from Los Angeles who I had not encountered before a recommendation for this self titled record, which is their second. Its a scenic collection of tracks with calm, soothing indulgences of the dreamy and slightly psychedelic variety that shuffle into bursts of hurried and pushed temperaments that create a slight tension and unease, mainly enforced by pulsing, filling baselines and drums with a sharp edge to cut through. The contrast does much for the records flow as it mostly musters its way through different measures of a similar medium.

With everyone pitching in vocals, the music is constantly graced by soft effeminate singing, layered and harmonious. Both are complimentary and crucial too the dreamy persuasions the music sways through. Its key melodies are often bare but illusive, drifting into the wash of sounds and occasionaly jumping up front to great effect like at the beginning of Biggy. With attentive ears one can dress down the foggy, reverberated sounds and hear quite a keen and straight forward arrangements of looping melodies that may have not been as charming without this merging setting.

Although I have really enjoyed the record, it is mostly its tone, mood and setting that I adore, a sign of becoming more at home with these Dream Pop and Ethereal styles. Its charm is more so with my want for this sound. It is undoubtedly a strong, consistent record but all its songs are suspended between good and great, never quite leaping off the page so to speak. It has many fond, engrossing passageways but none that quite peak the senses. Either way I have enjoyed it and will seek out more!

Favorite Tracks: Love Is To Die, Biggy, Disco
Rating: 7/10