Album of the Week – 03/12/21

So, it’s early December and the ‘Best of the Year’ lists are coming thick and fast! Anyone that releases a new album this week really must not care about such things! Which means… it’s another quiet one. This might even be our last ‘Album of the Year’ slot of the year? We shall see.

There are a couple of compilations from the likes of  Baxter Drury (Mr Maserati 2001 to 2021) and Nils Frahm (Old Friends New Friends). There are also new releases from No Rome (It’s All Smiles) and a nice oddity in Arca (Kick ii, iii, iiii, iiiii).

Our album of the week is one of the many created in quarantine, but we promise there are no songs about Tiger King or Banana bread. You can hear some of Peace Meter by Marissa Paternoster below.

Album of the Week – Peace Meter by Marissa Paternoster

Marissa Paternoster (Screaming Females, Noun) began writing Peace Meter immediately after arriving home from a west coast tour cut short due to COVID. Alone in her posthumous grandmother’s empty home, Paternoster sent the skeleton of a song to Andy Gibbs from the metal band THOU with the hopes that he might be able to extrapolate on the original idea. Andy sent his accompaniment back, and that process continued for the bulk of the first wave of quarantine. As the songs developed, Paternoster decided to include two other musicians whom she admired: long time friend Shanna Polley of the NYC-based band Snakeskin on backup vocals, and the cellist Kate Wakefield from the Cincinnati-based band Lung. All parties recorded their parts within their respective homes. Once the songs seemed fully realized, they were mixed by Eric Bennett, one of Marissa’s oldest friends and closest collaborators, who was also quarantined at home alongside his mixing studio.

Albums of Note:

– Arca – Kick ii, iii, iiii, iiiii

— Baxter Drury – Mr Maserati 2001 to 2021

— Marissa Paternoster (of Screaming Females) – Peace Meter

— Modern Nature (feat. Jack Cooper of Ultimate Painting) –  Island Of Noise (Vinyl Release)

— Nils Frahm – Old Friends New Friends

— Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation Deluxe Edition

Albums Released December 3rd:

— 1K Phew & Lecrae – No Church In A While

— ABIOTIC – A Universal Plague: Mutation EP (Reissue)

— Abraham Fogg – Blåkulla

— Acid Tongue – Arboretum

— Aisha Badru – The Way Back Home EP

— Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge – Remixes JID010

— All Bite – Get Well Soon EP

— Anders Fridén (of In Flames) – OFFAIR: Lullabies for the Damned

— Andrew Gabbard – Homemade

— Aquilis – Bellum I

— Arca – KicK ii

— Arca – KicK iii

— Arca – KicK iiii

— ATRÆ BILIS – Apexapien

— Baxter Drury – Mr Maserati 2001 to 2021

— Beauty Pill – Instant Night EP

— Berner – Gotti

— Bo Burnham – Inside (The Songs)(Physical Release)

— The Browning – End of Existence

— Calvin Keys – Proceed with Caution (Reissue)

— Can – Can Live In Brighton 1975

— Carleigh Aikins – Junk Jewelry

— Cayn Borthwick – Big City Remixes EP

— CIVIC – Future Forecast

— Closet Disco Queen – Stadium Rock for Punk Bums

— Cold Collective – Weathervane

— The Communards – Communards (35th Anniversary Edition)

— The Coyote – Bad Killer EP

— The Cutthroat Brothers and Mike Watt – Devil In Berlin

— Dead War – Grandfather Of War EP

— Deep Throat Choir – In Order To Know You

— Depeche Mode – 101 (Deluxe Edition)

— Doodswens – Lichtvrees

— The Doors – L.A. Woman (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

— Dormant Ordeal – The Grand Scheme Of Things

— Doug Carn – Adam’s Apple (Reissue)

— Dormant Ordeal – The Grand Scheme of Things

— Eddie Hazel – Game, Dames and Guitar Thangs (Reissue)

— EERA – Speak

— Elujay – CRKMVNT

— ENST – Vier Gesichter EP

— ERDLING – Helheim

— Emilia Anastazja – Flower House EP

— ERNTE – Geist und Hexeri

— Eva Cassidy – Live At Blues Alley (25th Anniversary Edition)

— Eyes Set to Kill – Damna EP

— Failure – Wild Type Droid

— Feiertag – Living In Slow

— Feral Vices – With Offerings EP

— FFT – Disturb Roqe EP

— Firehouse – The Story of Italian A.O.R. Band 1987/1994

— Fruit Juice – Mirke vs. The Dreamy LLC

— Full Bush – Movie Night EP

— G’emma – Types of Water EP

— Gabriels – Bloodline EP

— GAS – Der Lange Marsch

— Geese – Projector (Physical Release)

— Genocide Pact – Genocide Pact

— Godford – I You She

— Gomorran – Excerpts From The Dark Age

— Green Carnation – The Acoustic Verses (15th Anniversary Edition)

— Heiress – Distant Fires

— HUSQWARNAH – Front Toward Enemy

— HYPNO5E – A Distant Dark Source Experience

— Ichiko Aoba – Windswept Adan

— Jason Boland – The Light Saw Me

— JENA – Graboid

— Jesse Cook – Libre

— Kathryn Williams & Carol Ann Duffy – Midnight Chorus

— Kenny G – New Standards

— Khalid – Scenic Drive

— King Buffalo – Acheron

— Late Night Thoughts – Bridges & Tunnels

— Leisure – Sunsetter

— Dr. Lonnie Smith – Breath (Vinyl Release)

— Love Object – New Flesh

— LP – Churches

— Luttrell – Music For My Memories

— MadeinTYO and UnoTheActivist – Yokohama

— Malacoda – The Year Walk EP

— Manimal – Armageddon

— Mario Batkovic – Introspectio

— Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On: 50th Anniversary Vinyl Edition

— Mary Wilson – The Motown Anthology

— Marissa Paternoster (of Screaming Females) – Peace Meter

— messier – Off Malaise EP

— Mike Block – Planispheres

— Milan Ring – I’m Feeling Hopeful

— Modern Nature (feat. Jack Cooper of Ultimate Painting) –  Island Of Noise (Vinyl Release)

— Moonspell – Darkness and Hope (Reissue)

— morgen – Unaccompanied Minor EP

— The Mother Hips – Glowing Lantern

— Nardo Wick – Who Is Nardo Wick?

— Natalie Hemby – Pins and Needles (Vinyl Release)

— Nekromant – Temple of Haal

— New Found Glory – December’s Here

— Nick Dorian – Rooster EP

— Nils Frahm – Old Friends New Friends

— Nina Simone – Nina Simone and Her Friends (Reissue)

— NLE Choppa – Me vs. Me EP

— No Bragging Rights – No Bragging Rights EP

— Noir Disco – NOW! 2073

— No Rome – It’s All Smiles

— Ofermod – Mysterium Iniquitatis

— Pearly Gate Music – Mainly Gestalt Pornography

— Pepper Lewis – She Told Me To Sing My Heart Out EP

— Pick A Piper – Sea Steps EP

— Polo G – Hall of Fame 2.0

— PSY:CODE – PSVCODE

— Quinn Christopherson – I Am Bubblegum EP

— Raibard – Dark Realm of the Daylight

— Ram Dass – And Now He Has Wings

— Rebreather – The Line, Its Width, and the War Drone

— Redemptor – Agonia

— REJEKTS – Adamo

— The Ritualists – Baroque & Bleeding

— Rival Consoles – Overflow

— Salt House – Working for Zeus EP

— Sanctuary – Sanctuary Vol. 1 EP & Vol. 2 EP

— Senior Citizen X Tim Walker – What Was That

— Skid Row – SKID ROW: The Atlantic Years 1989-1996

— Sky H1 – Azure

— Sly and the Family Stone – There’s a Riot Goin On’ (Vinyl Reissue)

— So Hideous – None But a Pure Heart Can Sing

— Sons of the Sun – Sons of the Sun

— Static Dress – Prologue…

— Stuck – Remixes That Make You Feel Good EP

— Sturgill Simpson – The Ballad of Dood and Juanita (Vinyl Release)

— Sugarplum Fairies – Altar Songs (1998-2021)

— SUMA – Ashes (Reissue)

— SUMA – The Order of Things (Reissue)

— The Sun and the Mirror and Pseudodoxia – The Eerie and Radiant Doorless Rooms Of Pain

— The Swaggerlies – The Last of The One and Onlys

— Tom Morello – The Atlas Underground Flood

— TOMORROW X TOGETHER – Chaotic Wonderland EP

— Touched By Ghoul – Cancel The World

— Travis – The Invisible Band (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

— Treetop Flyers – Old Habits

— Trini Lopez – The Rare Reprise Singles

— The Two Man Travelling Medicine Show – Going Nowhere Fast

— U2 – Achtung Baby (30th Anniversary Edition) (Digital Release)

— Unanimated – Victory In Blood

— Various Artists – Almost Christmas – Christmas Mistletunes

— Various Artists – Fate’s Got a Driver: Re-Ignition

— Various Artists – The Matrix (Music From the Motion Picture) (Vinyl Reissue)

— Various Artists – Vanilla Sky (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Vinyl Reissue)

— VÍZ – VEILS

— Volbeat – Servant Of The Mind

— Wajatta (Reggie Watts and John Tejada) – Do You Even Care Anymore?

— Weedpecker – IV: The Stream Of Forgotten Thoughts

— Winter Grain – Hollywood & Hard EP

— Wolftooth – Blood & Iron

— Woolfy – Shooting Stars EP

— The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die – Illusory Walls (Vinyl Release)

— Wreckage Manner (Styles P and Havoc) – Wreckage Manner

— Youth Lagoon – The Year of Hibernation Deluxe Edition