Sink your fangs into this lot
The nights are drawing in, and the weather’s not the only thing that seems determined to keep getting worse. Oh well. By way of consolation, October was another excellent month of new music, serving up game-changing metal, properly terrifying experimental hip-hop, breakthrough UK drill, of-the-decade-good indie folk, and much more. Sink your plastic fangs into this lot, and stay safe out there.
Artist: Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou
Title: May Our Chambers Be Full
Label: Sacred Bones
What is it? Dark folk singer-songwriter Emma Ruth Rundle unites with sludge/doom metallers Thou, resulting in one of the best heavy albums of the year.
L&Q says: “The whole LP would be a great release for either artist, but it’s the brilliant convergence of sensibilities that sets it apart in the landscape of alternative metal.”
Artist: Clipping
Title: Visions of Bodies Being Burned
Label: Sub Pop
What is it? Terrifying and exhilarating in equal measure, L.A.’s most innovative hip-hop group plumb the depths of horror cinema to astonishing effect.
L&Q says: “With this postmodern horrorcore record, the LA trio have achieved something that hasn’t been done since Nightmare On Elm Street – a sequel that is not just better than the original, but a standalone classic in its own right.”
Artist: Headie One
Title: Edna
Label: Relentless
What is it? UK drill’s first true crossover star lives up to the hype on a debut album that’s as reflective and insightful as it is brutally honest.
L&Q says: “There is no condescending feelgood narrative here… Headie One is at last ready to assume his place at the top table of UK music.”
Artist: Open Mike Eagle
Title: Anime, Trauma and Divorce
Label: Autoreverse
What is it? A nerdy, vulnerable, and ultimately playful record from the Chicago native, darkly comic as he teeters on the edge of a midlife crisis.
L&Q says: “Eagle has become a standout artist in leftfield hip-hop… This record will earn the cultish acclaim coming its way.”
Artist: Delmer Darion
Title: Morning Pageants
Label: Practise
What is it? Bursting with ideas and a remarkable clarity of purpose, this is quite the debut from the Warwickshire production duo.
L&Q says: “It’s remarkable how fully formed Morning Pageants is… As satisfying as anything I’ve heard all year.”
Artist: Adrianne Lenker
Title: songs and instrumentals
Label: 4AD
What is it? An intimate, introspective effort made entirely in a mountainside cabin, this is further evidence that the Big Thief singer is a once-in-a-generation songwriting talent.
L&Q says: “Adrianne Lenker’s songs seem to effortlessly flow out of her, suggesting even better things are yet to come.”
Artist: Junglepussy
Title: Jp4
Label: Friends Of / Jagjaguwar
What is it? NYC rapper Shayna McHayle’s latest as Junglepussy is a ferocious, multi-faceted affair, on which she sounds like nobody but herself.
L&Q says: “Commercially, Junglepussy continues to fly under the radar. On this evidence, you wonder why.”
Artist: Oneohtrix Point Never
Title: Magic Oneohtrix Point Never
Label: Warp
What is it? As ever, Daniel Lopatin has little time for genre or convention – this album, taking in vaporwave, R&B and much more, is classic OPN.
L&Q says: “An absorbing 47 minutes that reveals new layers with each sitting, as Lopatin further explores the plunderphonics that he used so well on albums such as 2011’s Replica.”
Artist: Fatima Yamaha
Title: Spontaneous Order
Label: Magnetron
What is it? Don’t be misled by the disproportionate success of ‘What’s A Girl To Do’ – Fatima Yamaha has lots more to offer, and this LP showcases it beautifully.
L&Q says: “Something with real depth: moreish, unpretentiously sophisticated, and rich with possibility.”
Artist: Oliver Coates
Title: skins n slime
Label: RVNG Intl
What is it? Another bold step forward, this time into monolithic synths and atmospheric intricacy, from the British cellist and producer.
L&Q says: “His boldest evolution of these now-familiar ideas yet: the record at once feels more liberated and more oppressive than anything he’s done before.”
