Music I Liked – Black Belt Eagle Scout to Un

I listened to a lot of music last week. Some of it was actually two weeks ago, and I put off writing about it because of the Amorphis concert. But I did a lot of digging through the blogosphere last week and ended up with so much music to recommend: Black Belt Eagle Scout, C418, Sarah Davachi, Forest of Stars, Glenn Jones, Knife Knights, Pig Destroyer, Piledriver, Spectral Lore, and Un.

Black Belt Eagle Scout

A solo album by Native American woman from the Pacific Northwest influenced by Swinomish tradition and the natural environment? Sign me up. Mother of My Children (I love that name; the mother of my children is me) by Katherine Paul as Black Belt Eagle Scout is an album of grief and loss, but it shares a shimmery beauty and pop sensibilities with another Anacortes project I love, Bellamaine. More like this please.

C418

I don’t even play Minecraft. But the Bandcamp Daily post about Excursions, the new album by the game’s soundtrack artist C418, caught my eye. I was a little worried that it might be a Music for Airports kind of thing, but rather than making me feel suicidal, this album hooked my ear. It’s quiet enough to work to, but interesting enough that it kept grabbing my attention when I was working on something else.

Sarah Davachi

Like Sarah Davachi, I have no interest in god and religion. But I am interested in the spirit and ritual and the sense of sacred space in architecture. Gave In Rest is a full-length work of ambient drone was just meditative enough to make it a perfect companion to getting shit done.

Forest of Stars

I’ve never been a serious fan of Forest of Stars, but their work always catches my attention. There’s something inherently intriguing about it. Equal parts black metal and steampunk, even the name implies something fantastical and gripping. I have to be in a certain mood to enjoy the particular sounds of this Victorian gentleman’s club engaging in esoteric activities. But it is quite successful at scratching that particular itch. Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes is the auditory equivalent to the novel The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.

Glenn Jones

The name Glenn Jones seemed so familiar when I saw it on Bandcamp’s Seven Essential Releases, but I wasn’t actually familiar with the guitar master. Refusing to choose between an artistic name and a practical one, Jones inevitably won me over with The Giant Who Ate Himself and Other New Works for 6 & 12 String Guitar. Everybody knows I love a good noodler.

Knife Knights

Seattle group Shabazz Palaces is a major force in my household, and any music that comes out of their community of musicians is pretty much an autobuy. Producer Erik Blood seems to have fingerprints on every album made in Seattle, but he’s a full-on partner with Ish Butler on Knife Knight‘s debut Time Mirage. With that pedigree, you know it’s good before you hear it.

Pig Destroyer

Pig Destroyer is one of those bands everyone has heard of, but I’ve never really given them a listen. The same thing that makes them know even to non-metalheads – the catchy name – gave me pause. I’m resistant to listening to any band with a name I’d be embarrassed to tell another adult.

“What are you listening to?”

“Um…”

I’ve missed out on a few great bands that way. But I’m not a huge grind fan. Like hardcore, most grind is pretty indistinguishible to me. So I wasn’t too concerned about missing out on Pig Destroyer. But then I read about their new album Head Cage on Bandcamp Daily (Bandcamp was really good to me this week). From the article, I’m not sure I care about the albums I’ve missed. But Head Cage had me at the line “You never know what goes on behind closed minds.”

Piledriver

Speaking of hardcore, Bandcamp delivered a great summary of the Philippine scene. Most of it was hardcore, so you know, meh. But I liked Piledriver. What was different about it? I don’t know. It just sounded better to me. Chunkier, groovier, more enjoyable.

Spectral Lore

In general I like the grandiose spectacle of Greek metal much better than hardcore and grind. A Bandcamp Daily article on black metal in space (don’t ask why that triggers “Pigs in Spaaace” in my head. Maybe because of Pig Destroyer?) turned me on to the prosaically-titled III by Spectral Lore.

Un

I’ve heard of the unGoogleable Seattle band Un before. And I liked them then. Angry Metal Guy’s review of their new album Sentiment reminded me. Yep. They’re still good.

See? I told you there was lots of good music.