Five & Five on Friday, 11/24/2023
Massive spreadsheets, Musician Surveys, & Björk's podcast
Happy Friday! Congratulations on making it to the end of the week. As you head into your weekend, here are five recommendations and then five micro reviews of albums from my high school CD collection. Maybe you’ll find something new to read, listen to, or do this weekend. HEADS UP: This is the final Five & Five on Friday of the year. I’m taking a break from my publishing schedule for the month of December, though I’ll pop in occasionally with some off-format posts. Five & Five on Friday will return in 2024 with a new look some new features that I’m personally very excited about. See ya then!
I’m always gobsmacked by those who can write quickly and beautifully about issues of grave importance, especially when my own thoughts top out at “seems bad [1,000 exclamation points]” so I have nothing but respect for this incredible piece from Timothy Demay in n+1 about The Battle of Algiers and the war on Gaza.
Did you know that Björk did a podcast last year where she talks about her discography one album at a time in chronological order interspersed with clips and isolated stems from her songs? I’ve asked a few of the Björk fans in my life and straight up none of them had heard of Sonic Symbolism. That’s wild! Not sure how this pod flew this far under the radar, but it’s well worth a listen whether you’re a Björk superfan or casual appreciator. Heck, even if you just like hearing people with interesting voices talk at length, this might be the podcast for you.
I know we are now a holiday removed from Halloween, but in my experience real horror heads don’t bother with the calendar to get their scares on. If that’s the case for you, you might like this list of avant-garde horror movies from Toneglow. I’ve only even heard of one of these movies but a bunch of them sound extremely rad.
We love a giant spreadsheet here at Lamniformes HQ. Sometimes I just sit and stare at my Drumming Upstream for dozens of minutes on end, just contemplating. If you prefer to look at spreadsheets that are actually useful, check out this incredible database of non-dude audio engineers compiled by Mallory Hawk. What an awesome resource!
I’ve mentioned my support and interest in Ampwall previously in this newsletter, and if you’re an artist or label that’s also interested in finding alternatives to the streaming/Bandcamp ecosystem, consider answering a few questions in a quick survey to help the Ampwall team fine tune their site before in launches.
Now, onto the five micro reviews. Long time Lamniformes Instagram followers will recognize these from my stories back in late 2020, however they’ve been re-edited and spruced up with links so that you can actually hear the music instead of just taking my word for it.
Catch Thirtythree by Meshuggah (2005) - Djent
Take yourself back to a time before djent was a punchline and imagine having your mind blown across the room by Meshuggah, who sounded like no one else in heavy metal in 2005. This album takes their polymetric songwriting style and stretches it into a continuous 50 minute composition. It’s a trip. Minimalist cellular development except played on 8-string guitars at skull crushing volume. So heavy and repetitive that it loops around to being meditative, an effect aided by the koan like lyrics. My favorite Meshuggah record hands down.
Skelethon by Aesop Rock (2012) - Rap
Technically not a part of the teen collection, since I bought this one after college. By that point I’d expanded my taste outside of the rock/metal stuff you’ve seen here to include lots more rap. I didn’t buy many CDs though because I’m of the datpiff/blog rap generation. This record, and Aesop Rock in general, is a bit too self-consciously wordy and obscure for my taste these days, but when he skips the tongue-twisting and sticks to straightforward storytelling he’s very engaging and funny. I like the ugly sounding drums too.
Pink by Boris (2005) - Rock
No joke, I bought this because of a write up in the New York Times. Good call, John Wray. A gnarly, down and dirty, rock and roll record sandwiched between two of the best shoegaze tunes ever written. The raw production is an acquired taste, but the music is top notch.
Into The Pandemonium by Celtic Frost (1987) - Heavy Metal
This is considered a landmark release on metal’s avant-garde because its use of drum machines and orchestral elements was pretty novel in the 1980s. This does not, however, mean that it is good. The new sounds are used haphazardly, the songs themselves are meandering and slow, and for some reason Thomas Gabriel Fischer sings in this weird “I’m a horny little goblin oOOOo” voice. Points for trying stuff though.
Watershed by Opeth (2008) - Progressive Metal
A transitional record for the band after a bunch of lineup changes. After this they’d go full prog rock for the rest of their career, and you can hear that they’re straining against the confines of their older, metal-centric sound on this album. I thought it was really disappointing at the time, but I’ve since warmed up to it. There are a lot of great moments, check out the bonkers free form drum solo in the tune below for example. Often songs will end very strong but the path getting there is rambling and incoherent. Even lesser Opeth is still Opeth. Worth a listen.