Deep Sea Diver – “Billboard Heart” review

Deep Sea Diver are an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington consisting of drummer Peter Mansen, guitarist Elliot Jackson, bassist Garrett Gue & frontwoman Jessica Dobson. Their 2012 debut History Speaks followed by Secrets & Impossible Weight were all solid in their own rights, eventually garnering the interest of the biggest local indie label Sub Pop Records & them fittingly signing the hometown act for their 4th full-length studio album in their discography having the potential to become their most important one ever.

The title track mixes indie rock, dream pop, neo-psychedelia, indie pop, new wave & post-punk revival together singing about welcoming the future by letting go of it whereas the existentially tongue-in-cheek “What Do I Know?” asks why Jessica feels so complicated. “Emergency” turns the punk influences back up warning she doesn’t anyone shit when she really doesn’t while “Shovel” blends new wave, post-punk revival & alternative dance gets at Jessica’s most angular & dualistic.

“Tiny Threads” comes through with a sweeping anthem for anyone trying to hold anything together just before “Loose Change” brings a heavy singer/songwriter vibe to the table with it’s acoustic heavy sound singing about all of us standing up to our mistakes. “Always Waving Goodbye” goes for their signature indie pop/indie rock sound hoping that we all stop hiding one day while “Let Me Go”featuring Madison Cunningham stands out with them giving flowers to PJ Harvey.

To begin the encore of Deep Sea Diver’s official Sub Pop debut, “Be Sweet” calls for everyone to give her more flowers than she can take only for the sole purpose of smelling them in the flesh & promising we’ll survive the bullshit in the past month or so while “See in the Dark” sings about having the ability of having night vision & there being no need for anyone else around her to find another way out. “Happiness Isn’t a Given” concludes the band’s most exciting offering perceiving joy as not being specified.

For a personal breakthrough that prompted an artistic one, Billboard Hearts exemplifies Seattle’s biggest label signing the local act & they hand them a defiant & brilliant exclamation mark at the end of a long period of wandering. They expand the indie rock/indie hybrids they’re known for venturing out in favor of new wave, synthpop, shoegaze, garage rock revival, post-punk revival, singer/songwriter & dream pop peeling back a renewed self of self Jessica has.

Score: 4/5

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Father John Misty – “Mahashmashana” review

Father John Misty is a 43 year old musician, singer/songwriter & producer from Rockville, Maryland notable for being the original Fleet Foxes drummer in addition to releasing his first 8 albums Untitled, I Will Return, Long May You Run, J. Tillman, Minor Works, Cancer & Delirium, Vacilando Territory Blues, Year in the Kingdom & Singing Ax under his original moniker J. Tillman until rebranding himself from the Sub Pop Records debut Fear Fun onwards. I Love You, Honeybear was my introduction to him during my senior year of high school with Pure Comedy & God’s Favorite Customer maintaining that high quality. Chloë & the Next 20th Century became his most moderately received work yet in the spring of 2022, looking to redeem himself on his 14th studio LP.

The title track starts with this 9 minute intro assuring all is silent & not having to do the corpse dance until the next universal dawn whereas “She Cleans Up” works in elements of garage rock revival, boogie rock, glam rock & post-punk revival singing about the aggrieved becoming the aggressor & us doing it all again. “Josh Tillman & the Accidental Dose” has a bit of a Bobbie Gentry influence to it cautioning that one may never be whole again while “Mental Health” takes the orchestral pop route suggesting we’re all far too well.

“Screamland” brings singer/songwriter, art pop, neo-psychedelia, noise pop & post-industrial together into 1 advising to stay young on top of getting numb & continue dreaming just before “Being You” reflects on a dissociative state that he was in for 5 years. “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All” fuses singer/songwriter, boogie, disco, funk rock & funk music pulling inspiration from the book Men of Mathematics by Eric Temple Bell just before “Summer’s Gone” finishes by singing about time being unable to touch him.

Being a fan of Father John Misty for nearly a decade, Mahashmashana is his best since God’s Favorite Customer & lands right behind I Love You, Honeybearfor my favorite in his discography altogether. His production takes cues from the singer/songwriter, chamber pop & baroque pop vibes of his previous material whilst additionally venturing out into art pop, boogie, disco, funk rock, funk, neo-psychedelia, noise pop, post-industrial, orchestral pop, garage rock revival, boogie rock, glam rock & post-punk revival for an experiment in seeing what happens when he erases himself from his work.

Score: 4.5/5

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clipping. – “Visions of Bodies Being Burned” review

This is the brand new album from Los Angeles experimental hip hop trio clipping.. Fronted by Daveed Diggs, he joined forces with William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes to drop their midcity mixtape in 2013 & it landed them a contract with Sub Pop Records shortly after. The label granted them a full-length debut the following year but I didn’t completely hop on board with these guys until their Deathbomb Arc debut Splendor & Misery in 2016, which is a fantastic sci-fi odyssey. They returned around this time last year by dropping their magnum opus There Existed an Addiction to Blood & to celebrate it’s 1-year anniversary, Daveed & company are back with a sequel.

The intro talks about how the album will pick up where the last one left off over a dark ambient instrumental whereas the next song “Say the Name” retells the story of Clive Barker’s Candyman over an electro-industrial beat. After the “Wytchboard” interlude, the track “’96 Neve Campbell” with Cam & China pays tribute to the final girl characters in slasher films over a hyphy beat while the song “Something Underneath” talks about a monster lurking over a buzzing beat.

The track “Make Them Dead” talks about murder over a noise instrumental while the song “She Bad” gets flirtatious over a skittering beat. After the “Invocation” interlude, the track “Pain Everyday” gets paranormal over a breakcore instrumental while the song “Check the Lock” is a worthy sequel to the classic Seagram joint “Sleepin in My Nikes” with a deranged beat.

The track “Looking for Meat” with Ho99o9 sees the 2 groups talking about cannibalism over an industrial beat which & after the “Drove” interlude, the song “Eaten Alive” is a homage to the Tobe Hooper film of the same name over a hollow beat. The track “Body for the Pile” talks about murdering 3 cops over a harsh noise instrumental from Slickness & before ending off with the Yoko Ono-inspired “Secret Piece” outro, the final song “Enlacing” gets on the Lovecraftian tip over a cloudy beat.

Much like the new Alla Xul Elu album Mauxuleum that dropped the week before, I think Visions of Bodies Being Burned just goes to show how underappreciated horrorcore is in the hip hop culture. The concepts that Daveed bring to the table throughout have only leveled up in comparison to There Existed an Addiction to Blood & the trio’s production is a lot more darker as well.

Score: 4.5/5

clipping. – “There Existed an Addiction to Blood” review

clipping. is an experimental hip hop trio from Los Angeles, California consisting of Daveed Diggs on the mic as well as William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes both on production. They first came together in 2013 with their midcity mixtape, which eventually landed them a contract with Sub Pop Records & the label granting them a full-length debut the following year. However I didn’t completely hop on board with these guys until their Deathbomb Arc debut Splendor & Misery in 2016, which is a fantastic sci-fi odyssey. 3 years have since passed & the trio are coming back out of the shadows with their 3rd full-length album.

After the intro, we go into the first song “Nothing is Safe”. Where Daveed talks about the cops raiding a drug house over a darksynth beat that later incorporates some rattling hi-hats during the final hook. The track “He Dead” talks about being chased by the cops over a dark ambient instrumental & after the “Haunting” interlude, the song “La Mala Ordina” with Benny the Butcher & Elcamino of all people talks about the glorification of gangs in hip hop over an a dissonant beat.

The track “Club Down” talks about a venue being closed early over a paranormal instrumental & after the “Prophecy” interlude, the song “Run for Your Life” talks about being chased by a psychotic woman with La Chat providing a fantastic closing verse from her perspective over a beat that starts off minimal, but turns into a trunk knocker when La Chat comes in. The Show” paints a vivid picture of this red room that Daveed has found himself in over some electronics that tune in & out like a transmitter but after the “Possession” interlude, “All in Your Head” contains a great pimping/demonic possession metaphor in the lyrics albeit a pretty weak song structure.

The track “Blood of the Fang” speaks on racism over an industrial beat while the song “Story 7” tells the tale of a woman named Cynthia over a glitchy instrumental. The penultimate track “Attunement” provides food for thought over a chaotic instrumental & then the closer “Piano Burning” is literally the sound of a piano being engulfed in flames for 18 minutes.

This is a damn near perfect album just in time for the Halloween season. The interludes are just ok but the storytelling is vivid, the instrumentals are a lot darker & the guests are very well incorporated into the concept. Their best work to date, in my opinion.

Score: 4.5/5