Terminal Serious – Tear You Away

Post-rock goth vibes with that classic deep male voice. My only complaint is the drums, which falls in that uncanny valley of not being played live, but mimic that just too closely while not getting there. Something that sounds more like classic programmed drums would work better, or just playing the whole thing with a live band would as well, of course.

Moin – Moot!

It’s some alternative post-rock, sometimes I feel it’s shoegazer style but then often it’s much more upbeat and lively than that. The percussion grooves are killers. It’s rare that I hear a drummer and start looking up other projects by them just based on the beats played—this is one of those cases. But all other aspects are amazing too, like bits and pieces of melodies, and some well-placed spoken word segments or samples. It’s a record that I have a hard time putting into words: I feel like I don’t have the right dictionary to describe what I hear, but I love it so much. It’s really surprising and absolutely amazing.

Jambinai – A Hermitage

After listening to ONDA today I went straight on and listened to all releases by Jambinai, and it’s quite a trip. Their latest album is a sophisticated soul toching record and in contrast this first one is an experimental metal road roller beast. I see the journey they took from being this raw revolutionary composition through exploring their own realm that they created and arriving to the final destination where they can control their space with such a fine touch. But I love all stages of this journey. I kept starting to write a sentence about which version of their music I prefer but kept deleting, decided not to say. This may be my top new find this year so far: it is so new, so refreshing, so not like something else, so surprising. I still have some processing and re-listening to do.

Actually this specific record brings up feelings that I had for Karyn Crisis’ Salem’s Wounds in 2015.

Jambinai – ONDA

Korean post-rock played with traditional instruments and musical elements. This ablum is breathtaking. The “totally didn’t see this coming” winner of the month. The kind of experience that is hard to imagine without listening to it and feeling the goosebumps all over me.