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This month we had a few interviews! We chatted with Mali Obomsawin, Núria Graham, Arbor Labor Union, Conic Rose and Perfect Angel at Heaven.

Sus Dog - Clark

I’ve already expressed my admiration for Clark’s newest over on our mid-year roundup, but it should be restated just how stunning and surprising Sus Dog is. Unveiling a sensitive, gossamer tenor, British producer Clark has done a fearless, flawless pirouette into art pop from his textured electronic days. The result? A strong frontrunner for album of the year.

Careful of Your Keepers - This is the Kit

“Childish” is usually a dismissive term to attach to art. But Children can be cruel, weird, think in ways jaded adults have long since lost. This is the Kit’s newest, Careful of Your Keepers, is childish in all of those slightly twisted, occasionally disturbing ways. Interjections of fluttering noise interrupt flawlessly composed folk-pop with Kate Stables unspooling stories that flip between hilariously mundane and unnerving.

Dance You Monster to My Soft Song! - Victory Over the Sun

I’ve jokingly referred to my weirder taste in metal as “blackened-death-jazz” in the past. I didn’t think someone would go out and make the damn thing a reality. And add a few more adjectives on there, as Victory Over the Sun also has synth breakdowns, accordion leads and saxophone majesty. Mastermind Vivian Tylinska takes deep inspiration from chamber music and the cheesiest cuts of the 1980s, while still delivering the pulverizing “WHEEL,” 2023’s heaviest moment.

Time Ain’t Accidental - Jess Williamson

Almost all music can be put on a four point compass: “sad,” “horny,” “horny about being sad,” “sad about being horny.” Citation maybe needed, but none is needed for Time Ain’t Accidental, LA/Austin’s own Jess Williamson’s rocket into stardom. Powerful, unapologetically sexy (“Forget what they said to me, it doesn't connect/ To the angel in bed with me, his face between my legs”), and just as harrowingly depressing (an all timer feel bad piano ballad “Stampede”) Williamson channels the spirit of Neko Case, her power as sweeping as a Texas thunderstorm, as detailed as a Flannery O’Connor’s wit.

Yalla Mika - Yalla Miku

Punk is not held by any country, squeezed by any border. But there is the occasional flash of surprise, and excitement, when an unexpected mutation splices itself into the genes. Swiss outfit Yalla Miku might be based in Geneva, but their roots spread over the world, with strong influences from North Africa. Their hallucinatory take on post-punk is colored by traditional Moroccan music and the stranger corners of German electronic. Completely, utterly out there, completely, utterly captivating.

Flight - Nico Gerois

California composer Nico Georis guides me to the nexus of ambient, classical and pop music, and makes a pillowfort on top of the intersection. Desert Mirror was one of the finest, and most comforting, albums of 2022, and Georis has tunneled further into his lush, synth dappled work with Flight, a throw back to vintage and analogue precursors to modern ambient. So come with us, bring some blankets and tea.

Samba em Kigali - Tapioca

“Laaaaaaid back.” No word on the mind on the money or the money on the mind, but Brussels duo Tapioca certainly have the first part of Dre and Snoop’s immortal chorus down. Over lush, jazzy beats, Alessandro “Le Tagarel” Vlerick deliver’s the year’s smoothest flow.

3D Country - Geese

Remeber that Ween album 12 Golden Country Hits? It was a fantastic pastiche from the Pennsivanya pisstakers that ended up being a bafflingly beautify and hi-fidelity ode to the Nashville Sound. Now what if they made a country-rock album? That’s essentially what New York rabble rousers Geese have proposed. After a promising debut, the quartet made a hard left turn into 3D Country, a propulsive, asskicking, ridiculous mixture of cocaine fueled blues, Rolling Stones tributes and–did we mention the cocaine?

Underbelly - Kiltro

Colorado by way of Chile trio Kiltro delights in psychedelic murk. Don’t think of acid washed jeans and paisley patterns, think of the flickering sights through closed eyelids or misremembered dreams. After a hell of a breakout single in “The Drunk,” Kiltro’s return is as intoxicating as their introduction.