It's been nearly 2 years since we've mentioned Miranda Soileau-Pratt's amazing project The Spatulas. In fact, since the last post, she's moved from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Bloomington, Indiana.
Miranda Soileau-Pratt's work with The Spatulas and other projects with Nowhere Flower and The Blimp have consistently shown a love of New Zealand sounds (The Garbage and The Flowers, Alastair Galbraith) or Kiwi adjacent (Barbara Manning - actually the Bandcamp notes mention the SF Seals!), and "Flowers" is no different. It's currently the only song streaming from "A Blue Dot", the new album due in May on Post Present Medium.
"A Blue Dot" was recorded by Emily Robb in Philadelphia in February 2025.
I haven't had the chance to see Jessica Kourkounis' The Space Between Attack and Decay, an experimental sci-fi short film. But hey, it's already got a lot going for it, thanks to Emily Robb's fantastic soundtrack, which came out recently on the Petty Bunco label. The Philly guitarist takes things in a lot of different directions over the course of the LP's nine tracks, but it all hangs together very nicely indeed, whether she's cooking up some noir-ish jazz, Dead Man-style twangdrones, or garage band Morricone. I'm sure it all complements the visuals perfectly, but it also creates a marvelous movie in your mind all on its own.
Emily Robb — If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection (Petty Bunco)
There’s no shortage of squall on Emily Robb’s new album, If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection. It’s a guitar pageant! One listen and you’ll hear Charley Patton amidst the buzz, his primitive blues lurking in the cacophony. Pull those impulses forward 40 years and you’ll hear familiar sounds that take you right to the early Velvets.
Robb’s guitar hums like a pipe organ to open the record. “Hermit’s Cave” evolves from a solemn hymn into a harmonic drone, punctuated only when the amp catches its breath, then receding. But if you think her sophomore album sounds like a somber affair, you’d be sorely mistaken.
Robb rips into the familiar chug and wail she introduced on her fantastic debut album, How to Moonwalk, with “A Kiss,” soloing relentlessly over a looping riff. “Dispenser” finds her sawing the air with the guitar, growing only more frenzied as the song unravels. The centerpiece of the record, “Slowing Singing Bathing Shaving” locates Robb’s sound among the drone for which Philadelphia is so well known.
But there’s an intimacy here, too. It’s not a noise bath. It’s a deeply personal record – not in the sense that it’s telling a story that feels like a secret being shared – but that it’s just Robb and her guitar, alone together. The sound is at once austere and rich; you might overlook how the raw vulnerability of her work is what makes it so compelling. Unlike the maelstrom that is Astute Palate, there’s nowhere to hide in the mix.
That aspect reveals itself in the record’s more plaintive moments, like the meditative, “First Grow a Gold Plant,” underpinned by a throbbing chord that pulses beneath the melody. It’s countered immediately afterward by the wooly rave up “Rolling Electric Ball.” It’s just a classic wall of riffage that blankets the listener in fuzz before decaying on the runout.
What makes Emily Robb’s work so remarkable is how much is clearly left in the tank. She’s an inventive, exciting artist making fun, engaging music. If misery loves company, then consider yourself invited.
It's going to take years to unpack the last few months of 2023. Whatever mental trauma is inflicted upon those removed from the situation in no way approximates the devastation and inhumanity occurring daily to millions. That the US is funding it all, and institutions and businesses domestically are punishing those who speak out about it, is sickening and terrifying. The latest Lulu's email newsletter wrote more eloquently about it all than I could, and plainly calls for empathy at the end: "Be good in a bad world."
And we do that, pretending things are normal for the sake of others, our kids, our partners. But things are not normal, and that pressure forces other changes, because while we can to some degree control what happens within our lives, there's no fix for seeing (let alone experiencing) dead, maimed children regularly on Instagram, victims of bombings without caution or consequence. A sense of powerlessness pervades. What we can do is keep talking, sharing and banding together. Being good in a bad world.
Some notes:
Lots more instrumental, or nearly instrumental, music than usual this year on my list, which tracks with the current climate. Music without words, or without discernible words, leaves space for thoughts to become untangled, sure; but a lot of what’s highlighted below felt more transcendent than meditative.
I still listen to rap quite a bit, but very few new songs I heard stuck around past a few days. Call it malaise from living in an era where every other song on the radio has a trap beat. Starlito dropped a clunker, which shouldn't have shocked me but did, and it personally felt significant. Maybe it’s indicative of the old guard’s demise, but hopefully it removes a wall and allows me to engage with newer rap music better. That being said: Veeze's Ganger was head and shoulders above everything else; billy woods' short verse on "As the Crow Flies" made me gasp the first time I heard it (and I also loved ELUCID's verse on "Baby Steps"); and I listened to The Jacka's The Jack Artist most of all.
Of all the books I read this year, two books by Fernanda Melchor, Hurricane Season and Paradais, stood out. Melchor’s prose is incredibly powerful, bleakly funny and vicious in equal measure. The sharp, frank assessments by characters in often ludicrous situations feel like a product of the contemporary but imbued with some ancient wisdom. Shout out to Julia S. for the new and notable South American literature tips.
In the midst of holiday/short day doldrums, amidst endless bleak news reports, it was difficult battling back cynicism to listen to anything, especially back to all of these records and tapes listed below. It ended up being oddly therapeutic, highly enjoyable and maybe necessary, the same as when I force myself out to shows when it's easier to stay home. That feeling chips away at the notion of this list-making exercise as futile, for me certainly, but hopefully also for you. Thank you for reading, and I hope you find something you like, too.
And so:
LP
Lewsberg, Out and About (12XU)
Equipment Pointed Ankh, From Inside the House (Bruit Direct Disques)
The Native Cats, The Way On Is the Way Off (Chapter Music)
Water Damage, 2 Songs (12XU)
VoidCeremony, Threads of Unknowing (20 Buck Spin)
Emily Robb, If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection (Petty Bunco)
CIA Debutante, Down, Willow (Siltbreeze)
Olimpia Splendid, 2 (Fonal/Kraak)
Nusidm, The Last Temptation of Thrill (Bruit Direct Disques)
Incipientium, Undergång (Happiest Place)
Witness K, s/t (ever/never)
Leda, Neuter (Discreet Music)
12"/10"/7"/CS
Chrome Cell Torture, Laugh Then Lie 7" (Scarlet)
Joe Colley, Acting As If 10" (Substantia Innominata)
More radical solo electric action from Philly guitarist extraordinaire Emily Robb. Armed with an amp, an axe and a looping pedal, she's like a one-woman VU bootleg, effortlessly / awesomely channeling the raw/beautiful skronk of Lou's freakiest moments from back in the day; and hey, like a good live "Sister Ray," Live at Jerry's clocks in at just about 24 minutes. And, like a good live "Sister Ray," it'll leave you exhilarated and exhausted, but somehow still clamoring for more.
I caught Body Void on their massive tour with Primitive Man, Mortiferum, Jarhead Fertilizer and Elizabeth Colour Wheel last year, and they stunned me with their singular-minded approach to make music as heavy and seething as possible with a guitar-bass-drums trio. In the live setting, they reminded me of bands like Fistula (the riffs) and Indian (the vocals), but for me, Body Void's recordings didn't stack up. Now, having augmented their setup with heaps of abrasive electronics to fill every space on Atrocity Machine with glass, rust and asphalt, I can definitely say they've captured the power of their live shows. The first two proper tracks, "Human Greenhouse" and "Flesh Market," are similar in spirit to their old tracks (slow leaden riffs, maybe a fast part, less concerned with structure than texture), albeit trimmed in length and twice as caustic. It's "Cop Show" that really announces the band's arrival, a nauseating see-saw whirr accompanying every downstroke, grinding the listener down for over six minutes until a slightly different version of the riff comes back for the pile-driving finish. The flip features two songs stretching over 10 minutes each, again recalling earlier recordings, but made whole with electronic noise. As exhausting as "Divine Violence" might seem halfway through, it's an agonizingly slow build to a blinding finish, and you'll be inadvertently headbanging throughout. The title track closes the record out in similarly smothering fashion, electronics whipping up sand storms while the band hammers out a riff swinging ominously like a pendulum, everything except the drums eventually ceding to the painful electronics over the final minutes. This is admittedly a tough sell in an oppressively bleak world, in a society intent on destroying itself, but it's a feat to make music this physically and psychologically punishing. As suffocatingly dense as the sound can be, it's no surprise that when Atrocity Machine ends, you're exhausted; but when it's on, and you're immersed in their onslaught, you don't want it to end, either.
Lewsberg, Out and About (12XU)
If there's a sound that will evoke memories of summer/fall 2023 for me, it's gonna be the warm drone introducing "Angle of Reflection," the opening track on Lewsberg's latest record Out and About. Anyone hoping the band would return to the comparatively uptempo self-titled and In This House LPs will be disappointed, as last year's In Your Hands proves itself to be more than a transitional record. At the time, that record seemed intentionally pared down to reflect the group's ranks shrinking from four to three, but the approach appears to have been instructional for the band in some sense. Everything on Out and About feels intentional, very little left to chance, not a hair out of place. Yet even with such a seemingly calculated approach, the band played one of my favorite sets I've seen this year, covering most of Out and About with equal parts precision (Michiel Klein stock-still delivering the searing solo on highlight "An Ear to the Chest") and an infectious enthusiasm. I'm not sure if that enthusiasm bleeds into the record for anyone who hasn't seen Lewsberg live, but I think I've come to prefer this refined version of the band, prone to roomy, sparkling guitar lines, simple floor tom accompaniment, and softly delivered vocals. It is very much a pop record, one that works as social or background music, but there's enough going on under the surface to satisfy a close listen or 20. Shalita Dietrich's rich bass line on "A Different View," the vocal interplay between Dietrich and newest member Marrit Meinema on "Without a Doubt," and Ari van Vliet's violin on "Canines" show a band that is very much buttoned-down, professional and yet still finding new spaces within a well-worn pop framework. Yes, I can do without the precious spoken word of "There's a Poet In the Bushes," but I'm glad they took the swing; this band is nothing if not outwardly bookish. The lyrics across Out and About - funny, pensive, never maudlin or self-pitying - point to a more complicated humanity behind it all, of course, and Meinema's contributions in that department fit right in. It's clear that Lewsberg have transcended the VU influence and have grown into their sound, and they arrive fully-formed on Out and About. One of my top favorites from this year, and easily my most listened to record of this year.
Jef Mertens, No Mathematics (Feeding Tube/Kraak)
New solo album from Jef Mertens, a bastion of the noise/drone scene in Belgium and abroad. Not sure what hipped me to this release - maybe the Kraak newsletter, because who can keep up with Feeding Tube's release schedule - but in any case it's a keeper. Mertens is on guitar and shruti box, both of which give his droning compositions a warm-yet-metallic feel, a sound reminiscent of artists like K-Group. He's accompanied by Nickolas Mohanna on a few tracks, contributing "electronics, rhythmic pads and treated zithers," giving a track like "Metal" an almost rhythmic backbone, pushing Mertens outside of the meditative circles he tends to run on his own. There's more than a hint of Pauline Oliveros' influence evident, on "Hapering" especially, where it's easy to become immersed in the majestic repeating pattern. No Mathematics instills an eerie calm on record, and I imagine Mertens is similarly able to silence small concert venues across Europe easily with his gently welcoming yet powerful pieces, soothing the most frayed of nerves, or at least getting folks out of their heads for a few minutes.
Emily Robb, If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection (Petty Bunco)
A welcome return from Emily Robb, following up How to Moonwalk with a more introspective, yet no less sizzling record. If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection comes with a promise of "high-minded celebration of guitar and sound and tone and string and amp," and that's about the gist of it. No Yngwie Malmsteen-style pyrotechnics here, just a detailed investigation into the instrument, channeling a cozy scratchy knit blanket ("Hermit's Cave"), providing a generous two-track dissection of "Black Angel Death Song"'s violent instrumental ("Dispenser" and "Slowing Singing Bathing Shaving") and sometimes just capturing in high fidelity an interesting noise ad nauseam ("Bells," an admittedly strange favorite). There are, of course, some more straightforward bits like "A Kiss" and "Solo In A" that should make most musicians want Robb in their band, but I find the tracks that mine the exploration of the guitar and exploit the possibilities of the studio to be the most compelling. There is a patient, calm feel to the record, best exemplified by the stunning lonesome electric blues of "There It Goes Again" and "First Grow a Gold Plant," that has been a perfect accompaniment to early mornings. It's rare that I don't flip the record straight over after the smoldering "Rolling Electric Ball" finishes, not wanting to leave the orbit of If I Am Misery, and that's not something I can say about many instrumental records, guitar-based or not. I'd say I can't wait for what's next, but I'm perfectly content when this one's on.
Emily Robb - If I Am Misery Then Give Me Affection
Philly guitarist Emily Robb is back with another slab of unearthly (but also quite earthy somehow) six-string workouts. Robb's sometime tourmate Rosali Middleman recently released a great collection of electric guitar instrumentals under the Edsel Axle moniker and If I Am Misery is a perfect chaser. The pieces here take great pleasure in the simple essentials — pure volume, amp buzz, feedback, raw melodies. Robb is a master at coaxing unusual sounds from her axe, always going in unexpected directions, but still remaining deeply rooted to the source. While this is a solo album, it definitely rocks — like a VU bootleg or a vintage PSF LP. Don't forget to boogie.
What a freakishly dark year. Amidst our dystopian descent, one where D-beat and grindcore record covers seem particularly apt, independent record labels and artists keep providing and grinding, delays and inflation be damned. What the fuck else are ya gonna do? I wince reading headlines - the world is dying, tribalism reigns, someone just burned down the Planned Parenthood blocks from where I live - but music remains a constant source of elation, solace, rejuvenation and invigoration for me. It's helped me through a lot this year, and turned into a form of self-care in a way, given that increasingly rare free time was almost always accompanied by immersion into music. When I survey the past 12 months, these are the records that resonated. Grown man photographs his precious belongings, 2021. Take care of yourselves and each other, support the music venues and artists suffering through the pandemic's never-ending coda, and I hope this list can introduce you to something new even if I gave away the top dog months ago. Damn, what an amazing time for new music - happy digging.
LP
Nusidm, Hatred of Pain (self-released)
Cube, Drug of Choice (Alter)
Monokultur, Ormens Väg (ever/never / Mammas Mysteriska Jukebox)
Nightshift, Zöe (Trouble In Mind)
Quarantine, Agony (Damage United 82 / La Vida Es Un Mus)
Heimat, Zwei (Teenage Menopause)
Mortiferum, Preserved In Torment (Profound Lore)
Lea Bertucci, A Visible Length of Light (Cibachrome Editions)
The Body, I've Seen All I Need To See (Thrill Jockey)
N0V3L, NON-FICTION (Flemish Eye)
Six more:
Cerebral Rot, Excretion of Mortality (20 Buck Spin)
CIA Debutante, Dust (Siltbreeze)
Jean-Luc Guionnet & Will Guthrie, Electric Rag (Ali Buh Baeh / Editions Memoire)
Maraudeur, Puissance 4 (self-released)
Emily Robb, How To Moonwalk (Petty Bunco)
Waste Man, One Day It'll All Be You (Feel It)
12" / 7" / cassette
CIA Debutante, Music For Small Rooms 12" (ever/never)
CIA Debutante, Pier 7" (SDZ)
Earwig Deluxe, It's An Emergency To Them CS (Striped Light)
The Fulmars, The Lost Ones 7" (Hüüpnootsche Platen Un Kassetten)
Horrendous 3D, The Gov. and Corps. Are Using Psycho-Electronic Weaponry To Manipulate You and Me... 7" (Whisper In Darkness)
Sial, Zaman Edan 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Suffocating Madness, s/t 7" (Active-8 / Roachleg)
Stomachache, Good Machine CS (self-released)
Taphos, Blood Plethora 7" (Night Shroud)
Treasury of Puppies, Lollos Dagbok 7" (I Dischi Del Barone)
Rap
Separate category because I'm a tourist at best. Here's what I was listening to that hit a nerve.
Armand Hammer feat. Earl Sweatshirt, "Falling Out the Sky"
Flint & Detroit Rap 2021 mix by the best @thehotboxsocial
MIKE, "Disco!" (10K)
Pooh Sheisty feat. Lil Durk, "Back In Blood"
R.A.P. Ferreira, the Light Emitting Diamond Cutter Scriptures (self-released)
Starlito, Funerals & Court Dates and Insomnia Addict (Grind Hard) Not new, but it's never a bad time to revisit my favorite rapper's discography. The two albums I listened to most this year in any genre or form.
Young Nudy, Rich Shooter (RCA)
Young Slo-Be, Red Mamba and Slo-Be Bryant 3 (KoldGreedy / Thizzler on the Roof) - thx @raygarraty
