Tier List for 2022 (July & August)

*August additions in bold.*

Monthly Average Rating:

July - 4.0 (A)

August - 3.8 (A-)

Favorite Album of Month (& 2 Runner-Ups):

August - 

(1) Plini - Homemade Cities (2016)

(2) Maykretch - 帰りのない旅 (2022)

(3) Ed Harrison - Valley (2022)

July -

(1) Negativland - True/False (2019)

(2) Juergen Reiter - Dead on Arrival: A Junktime Journal (2009)

(3) Yīn Yīn - The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers (2019)

S-Tier:

Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence (2019)

Ed Harrison - Valley (2022)

Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD (2005)

Juergen Reiter - Dead on Arrival: A Junktime Journal (2009)

Maykretch - 帰りのない旅 (2022)

Negativland - True/False (2019)

Neko Case - The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The Moe I Love You (2013)

Plini - Homemade Cities (2016)

Yīn Yīn - The Rabbit That Hunts Tigers (2019)

Zola Jesus - Arkhon (2022)

A-Tier:

Ariana Sahara & Flight Behavior - From the Wild (2022)

Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses (2018)

Geoff Scott - Oblivious (2012)

Heather Farrier - From the Ashes (2022) 

Karl Hector & the Malcouns - Non Ex Orbis (2020)

Marriages - Kitsune (2012)

Risa Takeda - Pandora (2018)

Robohands - Violet (2022)

Rizomagic - Voltage Raizal (2021)

B-Tier:

Advanced Corpse Materials - Travels (2022)

Arrington de Dionysus - Emergency Ritual to Avert Nuclear War (2022)

Arrington de Dionysus - Abraxasaxophonic Smooth Jazz Vagina (2001)

Diamanda Galas - Broken Gargoyles (2022)

Flightless Birds Take Wing - Taking Flight (2022)

Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 OST (2005)

Himiko Kikuchi - Flying Beagle (1987)

How to Disappear Completely - Aural Stream (2022)

Marine Eyes - Chamomile (2022)

MAYAEWK - The Village (2022)

Roxanne Olivia - Accordion Crumbs (2012)

Senor Kino - Aurora Boreal (2021)

Ed Harrison - Valley (July 2022)

Ed Harrison is back with Valley, a seamless cross-genre album with elements of jazz fusion, progressive rock, and ambient / IDM. This intricately crafted album is one any serious listener to instrumental music should have in their collection.

BANDCAMP / INTERNET ARCHIVE / YOUTUBE

Ariana Sahara & Flight Behavior - From the Wild (April 2022)

Ariana Sahara and Fernando Medina, with a few special guests, combined ethereal vocals, tribal drumming, and other elements of Middle Eastern, African, an Indigenous American tribal music to create a seemingly familiar yet unique sound. There's even a bit of possibly unintentional post-rock sound.

Bandcamp recommended another banger / slapper / whatever the kiddos say. Definitely check it out.

BANDCAMP/ INTERNET ARCHIVE / YOUTUBE

Plini - Handmade Cities (2016) math rock, prog metal, jazz fusion

Handmade Cities is an album living at the intersection of progressive metal, jazz fusion, and math rock. It's yet another album recommended by Bandcamp that slaps, or whatever the kiddos say these days.

Megan approves of this album too. 

Bandcamp / Internet Archive / YouTube

Diamanda Galás - Broken Gargoyles (2022)

Released only two days ago, Diamanda Galás's Broken Gargoyles takes sounds seemingly most appropriate for an avant garde art installation, layers poetry written and recited by Georg Heym. The two poems ("Das Fieberspital" and "Die Damonen der Stadt") fit the ambient sounds, creating an experience in line with what one would expect at a meeting of broken gargoyles.

Not an easy listen, but offers quite a bit for those willing to keep an open mind to the experimental and avant garde fringe of music.

Bandcamp / Internet Archive

Karl Hector & the Malcouns - Non Ex Orbis

Karl Hector & the Malcouns return for a third album: Non Ex Orbis. Non Ex Orbis plays homage to German krautrock, utilizing a mixture of psych rock, prog rock, and jazz to create a sound similar to German band Embryo.

It's only $9.99 on Bandcamp. I'll post other sources in the near future.

Bandcamp / Internet Archive

Arrington de Dionysus - Emergency Ritual to Avert Nuclear War (2022)

Someone has to keep anti-Putin shamanic trance-punk alive, and it might as well be this artist. Minimalist instrumentation, throat singing, obscure and homemade sound makers, field recordings and more fuse together to create this artist's unique albeit abrasive sound.

This 10 minute single track release utilizes a guttural hum with free jazz instrumentation on top. Definitely not for everyone, but for those who appreciate the fringe of jazz experimentalism, this track has something interesting to offer.

bandcamp 

MAYAEWK - The Village (2022)

French / Japanese artist Laurent Maya Garcia began creating music in the late 90s as a ten-year-old. His music production continues to present, with much of his recent work released to Bandcamp and other platforms under the artist name MAYAEWK.

Here's his most recent release from July 2022.

BANDCAMP / YOUTUBE /

How to Disappear Completely - Aural Stream (August 2022)

How to Disappear Completely's Aural Stream released last Thursday (August 4th, 2022). This album's core consists lf ambient, drone, and ethereal sounds. The influence of post-rock and shoegaze can be heard throughout.

Definitely worth p picking up!

Bandcamp

marine eyes - chamomile (2022)

I listened to this album on my walk home from work, assuming that it was an Indianapolis artist. Nope. It's a Los Angeles artist. Oh well.. looks like I'll have to find an Indiana-related album for the other blog after writing this.

Cynthia Bernard (aka marine eyes) releases this solo ambient album on July 22nd, 2022. Each track has a style that wouldn't sound out-of-place as either an opening or closing track of a Cocteau Twins album.

And I just discovered its connection to Indianapolis: this album was released by Indianapolis-based record label Past Inside the Present.

bandcamp / YOUTUBE

2022 Blog Tier List:

Robohands - Violet (2022)

Andy Baxter (Robohands)'s Violet released only a few days ago on August 4th. The multi-instrumentalist / producer combines jazz, indie rock, spiritual, hip hop, and a touch of post-rock to create one of the better albums released thus far in 2022.

Bandcamp has become the best platform for recommending new music to me. Hopefully it doesn't go to the shitter post-Epic buyout.

BANDCAMP / YOUTUBE

Maykretch - 帰りのない旅 [released May 2022] [Peru]

Peruvian artist Maykretch fuses jazz, ambient electronic, and modern genres including Chilliwack, barber beats, and vaporize, to create one of the best 2022 releases.

Thank you random dude from Estonia for this recommendation. Only a few decades ago, it wouldn't have been financially feasible to record this album or source the Japanese track names, and I would have been grounded until my 18th birthday for the phone bill for the call to Estonia.

BANDCAMP

July 2022 Featured Albums

 

The 20 albums I posted on musicasoscuras.blogspot.com for July 2022 in tier list form. Everything from a straightforward indie folk / alt-country album to field recordings / noise / sound collages included. Ordered from best to worst on each line.

S:
Negativland - True / False
Jurgan Reiter - Dead on Arrival
YIN YIN - The Rabbit That Hunts Tiger
Neko Case - The Worse Things Get...
Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2 Legions Promo CD
Chelsea Wolfe - Birth of Violence
Zola Jesus - Arkhon

A:
Marriages - Kitsune
Risa Takeda - Pandora
Geoff Scott - Oblivious
Emma Ruth Rundle - On Dark Horses
Heather Ferrier - From the Ashes
Rizomagic - Voltaje Raizal

B:
Roxanne Oliva - Accordion Crumbs
Senor Kino - Aurora Borealis
Flightless Birds Take Wing - Taking Flight
Himiko Kikuchi - Flying Beagle
Geoff Scott - Asheron's Call 2: The Fallen Kings OST
Arrington De Dionyso – Abraxasaxophonic Smooth Jazz Vagina
Advanced Corpse Materials - Travels

 

 

Marriages - Kitsune (2012)

Emma Ruth Rundle, Greg Burns, and David Clifford form the trio Marriages. This relatively short (six tracks) album fits somewhere between post-rock and alt-rock. "Ten Tiny Fingers" stands out as the most experimental track on the album, with Emma's spoken word passages to backdrop of droning distorted guitars and a repetitive electronic sample.

Emma's distinctive vocals have more of an ethereal quality here, remaining mostly in the periphery as just one of many instruments at the band's disposal.

Definitely a must-own album!

BANDCAMP / comment with platform or filetype if something other than Bandcamp is wanted