AsterTracks 2023 Mid Year List
It's that time of year again! The first six months of 2023 absolutely flew by and I wanted to share what I've been digging so far. These are not ranked and are in order of their release date. I know I've run things a little differently this year and I think it's been my favorite year for writing about music yet. I'm working on getting some new things out as far as outreach goes so keep an eye out for that. I don't get many chances to do general updates but when things happen I will post about it both here and Twitter.
Albums
Sara Henya - Pop Goblin
Folk and dream pop record by PA-based singer, songwriter and harp player; Sara Henya. Sara’s music plays in fantasy spaces with Pop Goblin serving as a look into a world right out of a storybook. What gets me the most about Sara Henya right now is how criminally underrated she is, at the time of writing this she’s sitting at just thirty-four monthly listeners. This might be the record I urge you to check out the most of all of these, not only for the low listener count, but also for a sense of child-like wonder and the beautiful symphony of her harp and voice together.
Angel Electronics - Ultra Paradise
This team up of Ash Nerve and Black Dresses’ Ada Rook released right at the end of January and has remained in constant rotation for me personally. As a kid whose taste took root in the MySpace pop and screamo era this scratches an itch that many have tried to resurrect but essentially none have managed to make sound as magical as I remember. This record does it all and more. Of course it isn’t running on nostalgia alone, these two have incredible chemistry and I really hope this wasn’t a one time thing.
babybaby_explores - Food Near Me, Weather Tomorrow (No Gold)
On one of my most homesick weeks I went with my roommates to see Buffalo Daughter. Opening for them was babybaby_explores; a Providence based synth band that’s a little hard to describe. There’s this sense of irony to these songs, some of them sort of teeter the line between what I view as being a straight-up joke or having hidden meaning. The point is, I think the me from a year ago would have taken a band from back home touring through Portland as a sign to pack up and go back, but instead it made me see in contrast what and who I love right here.
Our review of Food Near Me, Weather Tomorrow
Liturgy - 93696 (Thrill Jockey)
While I’m not normally a black metal fan Liturgy always impresses me. Their last record; Origin of the Alomonies left a huge impression on me in 2020 and now this one is leaving an even bigger one now. 93696’s title track was released as an EP on the tail end of last year and it feels so much more complete, much grander here. This record is a beautifully discordant tour through the rapture, complete with the choir voices of angels sent from heaven to put an end to life as we know it. It’s huge, its disturbing, it's an absolute master class of a record.
Fox Teeth - Through the Blue (Refresh)
I didn’t actually get a chance to review this record but some of these songs have been a daily rotation for me. New Jersey as a music scene is constantly on fire with some of the greatest artists I’ve ever heard across all genres. I think Fox Teeth have an emo classic in them, maybe time will make it this or maybe it hasn’t happened yet. Still, there’s some really memorable tracks here and I think they’ve only scratched the surface of what they can truly do.
Hot Mulligan - Why Would I Watch (Wax Bodega)
I have a review of this one outlined. I haven’t written it yet both for falling a little behind on reviews around its release and because I honestly think this is a perfect record and reviewing perfect releases is its own kind of overwhelming. If you were ever a fan of Hot Mulligan or even the current wave of emo, you will find something to love here. Songs with a lot of heart, screaming and riffing with the entire spectrum of emotion to offer. A lot of the narratives throughout Hot Mulligan’s career end here and they hit know them or not, but if you do they hit all the harder. My review of this record will come, but I wanted to note that this is absolutely worth checking out.
Victory Over the Sun - Dance You Monster to My Soft Song! (COARSE AIR)
I’ve heard the other Victory Over the Sun records over the years and am always impressed, Soft Song felt a little more personal to me though. I’m not even sure if Vivian Tylinska actually performs live, if she has I certainly haven’t heard of shows going on, but at this album’s release I was also living in the Portland area, that local touch always makes everything more special. Even without the live setting or the personal touch, this record is really great. Found within are a huge range of styles and reaches of heavy music, all while never even breaking immersions for breaks in the sound itself. At just under fifty minutes and five tracks I suggest diving into the entire thing.
EPs
Climb - Keep Me from What I Want
Back home however there’s still lots of good things brewing and I’m still keeping my ear to the ground. I don’t know much about Climb, only that they’re a part of my former local scene in the RI and MA area. This little EP is tightly packaged with intense thrash and punk, it’s a breezy little listen but it’s made a huge impact on me this year. I wish I had more to report on this one but I haven’t been able to find much information on this band and hope they're still around.
We also reported on this release here
Softcult - See You in the Dark
Softcult dropped yet another EP holding their three year streak and just like last time have managed to completely outdo themselves. There’s still that same brand of grunge inspired, atmosphere driven rock only this time Softcult are letting us into their world more and more. On Rat and Snake the Arn-Horn sisters covered issues of toxic masculinity and this ever increasingly scary world, however on See You in the Dark they talk about issues on their own day to day with some tracks that sound more like they’re inspired by personal anecdotes and problems. Either way, it's great to see them still at it and I’m hoping for a full length next.
Our review of See You in the Dark
glimmers - Human Furnaces
At the moment, this is my EP of the year, if I ranked releases together this would be my record of the year altogether. A release so good it made me rethink the entire way I ran this blog, saved me from a depressive spiral on the night of its release and showed me how to have fun again without worrying about the next post or the numbers. When this band got burned on a canceled festival it reminded me of why I do this; I want these artists to succeed, I don’t know what a girl in the PNW with around two-hundred followers can even do for anybody, but I know I want to be there for all of them.
Dev Lemons - Delusional
Another EP about heartbreak that gave me a lot of perspective. This record surprised me in a lot of ways, I usually go to any Dev Lemons content to laugh, on Delusional she broke me, however. In just six tracks we’re walked through an entire heartbreak and by the end the house is apart and we feel just as bad as the narrator does. An incredible debut and a wide variety of indie pop.
Other Projects
Jetty Bones - Songs I Wrote Instead of Killing Myself (The Pandemos)
Kelc Galluzzo, who made my personal top albums of 2021 is back with a pretty huge collection of tracks this year. Pandemos is a twenty-eight track audio diary written throughout the quarantine and covers a huge array of topics, some so heavy that the record comes with its own set of trigger warnings. Seeing that this is a diary I didn’t feel right reviewing the record but I did cover it on its own post and a lot of these songs have stuck with me this year. Now, since these are unpolished demos, a lot of them sound incomplete. However if you’re looking for the raw emotion and unfiltered thought process of a woman in isolation that itself is its own appeal.
We also reported on this release here
Origami Angel - The Brightest Days (Counter Intuitive)
Origami Angel feels like they’re absolutely on fire in their own scene. I myself was a huge fan of their 2021 album as well as their genre-deviant double EP from last year and that’s only continued onto this new project. While this is being advertised as a mixtape there’s a pretty coherent throughline of hope in a seemingly hopeless place as well as the decline of their own home city. That and the band keeps up their fun emo stylings with some surf rock and 90s alternative inspiration for a little mix up.
Our review of The Brightest Days
All singles we've reported on this year
Halfloves - C U Later
pulses. - Different Strokes
Wave Break - Spark
Puppy Angst - TKO
Sister Sleep - The Arsonist
Comments
Post a Comment