Being confined to working from home since 2020 gave me a lot of time to explore films, books and music from directors, authors and artists I had previously no exposure to. As much as I love my old favourites, and I look forward to their latest work, there is a special joy in discovering a new filmmaker, author or artist whose work is different but just as enjoyable.
That certainly has been the case with music in the past few years during which I have published a series about new music from old favourites (2020 Parts 1 and 2, 2021 Parts 1 and 2 and 2022 Parts 1, 2 and 3). But now I really need to do justice to all the new sub-genres, albums and artists I’ve fallen in love with during the same period. There are fifteen bands in this post, covering the gamut of stoner rock, desert rock, psychedelic rock, prog rock, math rock/djent, drone metal, classic metal, pop-rock, synth-pop and big band jazz.
Band: 35007 from Eindhoven, Netherlands
Personnel: Bertus Fridael (guitar), Mark Sponselee (synthesizer), Michel Boekhoudt (bass) and Sander Evers (drums)
Album: Liquid (2002)
Genre: Stoner rock/space rock
The band's name "35007" spells the word "LOOSE" in beghilos, i.e., "calculator spelling", in which numbers entered into a calculator with a seven-segment display, can be read as English letters when the display is turned upside down.
The Dutch band is no longer active, but was known for its instrumental space rock/stoner rock albums in the early 2000's. I like the 2002 album, Liquid, particularly the tracks Evaporate and the trippy 13-minute-long Voyage Automatique. Think of them as a spacier version of American instrumental band Russian Circles, with distorted guitars and synthesizers, built on a foundation of drone metal drumming.
Band: Earth from Olympia, Washington, USA
Personnel: Dylan Carlson (guitars), Don McGreevy (bass), Steve Moore (piano, organ) and Adrienne Davies (drums)
Album: The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull (2008)
Genre: Drone metal
Earth is sometimes referred to as the slowest heavy metal band in the world. The band's sound is defined by founder Dylan Carlson's distorted guitars and Adrienne Davies' slow, deliberate drumbeats. Carlson's Black Sabbath influences are evident, particularly on their signature album from 2008, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull. The title track is my favourite, but the entire album is so sonically cohesive that one can treat it like a single 53-minute composition and listen to without a break end-to-end.
Band: Caligula's Horse from Brisbane, Australia Personnel: Jim Grey (vocals), Sam Vallen (lead guitar), Zac Greensill -> Adrian Goleby -> n.a. (rhythm guitar), Dave Couper -> Dale Prinsse (bass) and Geoff Irish -> Josh Griffin (drums) Albums: Rise Radiant (2020), In Contact (2017), Bloom (2015), The Tide, the Thief & River's End (2013) Genre: Prog rock I've written in detail recently about C-Horse's mind-blowing 2017 concept album, In Contact. The band are not a one-trick pony (er...horse) however, having shown promise way back in 2013 with their second album (also a concept album) The Tide, the Thief & River's End, and getting better with every release. The band seemed to veer off into a more pop-oriented sound with Bloom in 2015, before doubling down on their prog-rock origins with their next two albums, culminating in 2020's Rise Radiant. This last album features two outstanding, though contrasting tracks - the explosive and cinematic Valkyrie, and the thoughtful and evocative Autumn, with one of the most beautifully written and sung bridges I've heard: "Leading time to river's toil as the hollow takes shape || Leading myth to mother soil || Being made and unmade || Oh, and change has always been this way...". Jim Grey is among the finest rock singers in the business today, and it's really his falsettos that elevate this band's accessible, melodic output above that of many other prog rock bands with equally proficient musicianship. I can't wait for their next release.
Band: The Olympians from New York City, USA
Personnel: Aaron Johnson (trombone), Dave Guy (trumpet), Michael Leonhart (trumpet), Sugarman (saxophone, flute), Leon Michels (multiple instruments) Nicholas Movshon (bass, drums) Homer Steinweiss (drums), Evan Pazner (drums), Fernando Velez (percussion), Anja Wood (cello), Antoine Silverman (violin), Megan Conley (harp), Thomas Brenneck (guitar) and Toby Pazner (keyboards, vibraphone)
Album: The Olympians (2016)
Genre: Jazz/Soul instrumental
The Olympians comprise musicians from the Brooklyn-based indie funk/soul record label, Daptone Records. The band was created by keyboardist Toby Pazner who, while touring in Athens, apparently had a dream in which a toga-clad figure asked him to retell the great tales of Ancient Greece through music. He came back to New York City and pulled together his musician friends from the label to work on this project. I love this album and its groovy, cinematic, big band sound.
Band: Yawning Man from La Quinta, California, USA
Personnel: Gary Arce (guitar), Alfredo Hernandez -> Bill Stinson (drums), Mario Lalli (bass, vocals) and Mathias Schneeberger (keyboards)
Album: The Revolt Against Tired Noises (2018), Rock Formations (2005)
Genre: Desert rock
Yawning Man have been around since 1986, and along with Brant Bjork and his band Kyuss, were the founders of the Palm Desert Scene, a collection of bands whose "generator parties" gave birth to the desert rock/stoner rock sub-genre. Characterized by elements of psychedelia and art rock from the 60's as well as grunge and sludge metal, the music is deliberately slow-paced and hypnotic. The band's signature track is the 3-minute-long Catamaran, which kicks off with a catchy, jangly guitar riff, segues to a spaced-out verse that could have been sung by Jimi Hendrix, then abruptly switching to a grunge-heavy chorus. The band has been performing the song live for years, but it was only in 2018 that they finally recorded a studio version for The Revolt Against Tired Noises album. Other tracks on the album like Black Kite and Misfortune Cookies could well have influenced the psychedelic aspects of bands like Khruangbin. On the other hand, the instrumental title track on their 2005 album, Rock Formations, sounds like an homage to Dick Dale's 60's surf sound. There's a lot to unpack from the music of these living legends, who continue to record new material, with a studio album, Long Walk of the Navajo, due out in June.
Band: Arc de Soleil from Sweden
Personnel: Daniel Kadawatha
Album: Bocosaurus EP (2021), Train of Liberation EP (2021), Libertalia EP (2020), The Thief in Marrakesh Got Caught in Amsterdam Trying to Escape EP (2019)
Genre: R&B/Soul/Rock instrumental
Arc de Soleil is one of the many musical projects by Sri Lankan-born Swedish musician Daniel Kadawatha, who released a number of EPs under this stage name between 2019 and 2021. The music sounds a lot like an instrumental version of Khruangbin (with the exception of the Casino Funk EP from July 2022 which has, well, a funky sound). I love the "Khruangbin clone" eastern rhythms and I am happy to put Arc de Soleil on shuffle and listen to anything from these EPs, especially the three tracks from the EP, The Thief in Marrakesh Got Caught in Amsterdam Trying to Escape.
Band: Thank You Scientist from Montclair, New Jersey, USA
Personnel (on Terraformer): Tom Monda (guitar, shamisen, sitar, synthesizer), Salvatore Marrano (vocals), Cody McCorry (bass), Sam Greenfield (saxophone, clarinet), Joe Gullace (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Faye Fadem (drums)
Album: Terraformer (2019)
Genre: Prog rock, jazz-rock
The first thing that struck me on listening to this band's acclaimed 2019 album was that vocalist Salvatore Marrano sounds uncannily like Rush's Geddy Lee or Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez. In fact, the best description for the band would be "Coheed and Cambria with a horn section" although that doesn't do justice to their genre-defying inventiveness and sly sense of humour. It's not surprising that the band were signed on by Sanchez to his Evil Ink Records in 2012 and have toured with Coheed and Cambria. The band have released three albums, although I've only listened to their most recent release, the double-album Terraformer, which is an hour and a half of unpredictable fun. The album has a mix of straight-up modern jazz tracks like Wrinkle and Chromology, pop ballads like New Moon, and epic prog rock tracks of 8-10 minute length like FXMLDR (pronounced "Fox Mulder"), Everyday Ghosts, Life of Vermin, the cinematic Anchor and the awesome title track Terraformer. Chromology features an extended violin solo that reminded me of L. Shankar's work with Shakti.
Band: Trip the Witch from multiple locations in the US
Personnel: Dean DeLeo (guitar), Tom Bukovac (guitar, keyboards) plus Steve Mackey (bass), Sean Claire (violin), Dave Eggar (cello), Matt Rollings (keyboards) and Ian Fitchuk/Jason Sutter/Chris McHugh/Shannon Forrest (all drums)
Album: Trip the Witch (2021)
Genre: Neo-psychedelic rock
Trip the Witch is a predominantly instrumental band that was formed during Covid; the musicians recorded their respective music without ever meeting in person. Dean DeLeo is well known to rock fans as the guitarist of Stone Temple Pilots and Tom Bukovac is a highly regarded sessions guitarist. The album is filled with delightful, easy-listening tracks like Wall of Sound and Surfside Lounge. The only track with vocals is the album-opener, Saturn We Miss You, featuring none other than the legendary Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, whose vocal cords are in fine fettle at the age of 78.
Band: The Dear Hunter from Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Personnel: Casey Crescenzo, (lead vocals, guitar, organ), Nick Crescenzo (backing vocals, drums & percussion), Maxwell Tousseau (backing vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Robert Parr (backing vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Nick Sollecito (bass)
Album: Antimai (2022), Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional (2016), Act III: Life and Death (2009)
Genre: Prog rock
I've still not recovered from my month-old love affair with The Dear Hunter's 2022 album, Antimai. I've also listened to three of the band's earlier releases which form part of the Act series of concept albums, recorded over a 10-year-period from 2006-16. I haven't enjoyed the harder, rock-opera sound of the Act albums as wholeheartedly as Antimai, nevertheless the third and fifth albums have some fantastic songs. In Cauda Venenum from Act III, which switches between raucous screaming vocals and soothing a capella could well have been something recorded by The Mars Volta for their 2005 album, Frances the Mute. Act V, released in 2016, is more mainstream characterized by songs like Cascade, Gloria and The Fire. This musical direction eventually brought the band to the richly orchestrated and exuberant Antimai in 2022. I look forward to the sequel album, titled Sunya, rumoured to be released some time this year.
Band: Sumerlands from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Personnel: Arthur Rizk (guitar), Brendan Radigan (vocals), John Powers (guitar), Brad Raub (bass) and Justin DeTore (drums)
Album: Dreamkiller (2022)
Genre: Heavy metal
In the midst of the dozens of evolving rock and metal sub-genres, Sumerlands presents a refreshing throwback to the classic metal of the early 80s, reminiscent of bands like Dio, Dokken and later iterations of Black Sabbath and Rainbow, with chugging uncomplicated riffs and clean high-pitched vocals. At just over half an hour, even the length of their two albums, Dreamkiller (2022) and Sumerlands (2016) harks back to the limitations of the pre-digital era. I've mainly listened to Dreamkiller, and enjoyed the album opener Twilight Points the Way, but by the time I got to the third or fourth song, the sameness of the music had me zoning out. The second last track, The Savior's Lie, grabbed my attention, sounding a lot like a solo Ozzy Osbourne song from the 80's. The band is the brainchild of rock producer Arthur Rizk.
Band: Polyphia from Plano, Texas, USA
Personnel: Tim Henson (guitar), Scott LePage (guitar), Clay Gober (bass) and Clay Aeschliman (drums)
Album: Remember That You Will Die (2022)
Genre: Prog Rock/Math Rock
Tim Henson and Scott LePage are frequently included in lists of the most talented rock guitarists in the world today, along with the likes of Plini, Tosin Abasi (Animals as Leaders), Misha Mansoor (Periphery) and Yvette Young (Covet). All these virtuosos have a highly technical guitar playing style that is now classified under the sub-genres of math rock and djent. Henson and LePage have been creating guitar magic with their band Polyphia since 2014 and have released four albums so far, steadily building up a fan following. Their most recent album, Remember That You Will Die, features guitar god Steve Vai on the mind-blowing Ego Death. Unlike other math rock and djent bands, Polyphia have introduced elements of EDM, funk and hip-hop into their music, making it quite difficult to categorize them. With a heavier emphasis on syncopation vs. melody, this is music to admire and be awed by, rather than to hum to. Henson cuts a striking figure with his neck tattoos and androgynous look and is fairly active on his Instagram handle.
Band: Covet from San Jose, California, USA
Personnel: Yvette Young (guitar), Jon Button (bass) and Forrest Rics -> Jessica Burdeaux (drums)
Album: catharsis (2023), technicolor (2020), effloresce (2018)
Genre: Math rock/Prog rock
As mentioned in the Polyphia section, Yvette Young is one of the rising stars in the rock guitar firmament. Learning piano at the age of four led to her developing her own unique finger-tapping technique for the guitar. Young came into the public eye in 2009 when she started posting YouTube videos of herself playing guitar, which led to a solo tour of Japan and eventually the creation of her own band, Covet, a trio with a bassist and drummer. Unlike Young's predominantly acoustic solo work, Covet is firmly ensconced in the prog rock/math rock genre, as evidenced by their albums, technicolor (2020) and effloresce (2018). With a new bassist and drummer on their latest album catharsis, they have pivoted to a brighter, chirpier sound, best represented by the delightful track firebird.
Band: Elder from Massachusetts, USA
Personnel: Nick DiSalvo (vocals, guitar), Jack Donovan (bass), Mike Risberg (guitar, keyboards) and Georg Edert (drums)
Album: Innate Passage (2022), Omens (2020), The Gold and Silver Sessions EP (2019)
Genre: Prog rock/Stoner rock
Elder is one of my most recent discoveries. Their 2022 album, Innate Passage, has featured in a number of Best Prog Rock of 2022 lists. Their long meandering songs, relaxed pacing and slightly distorted guitars remind me of Wishbone Ash tracks like Persephone from their self-titled 1974 album. All the tracks in Innate Passage are at least 8 minutes long with Merged In Dreams - Ne Plus Ultra topping off at nearly 15 minutes. Guitarist Nick DiSalvo is also the lead singer, and it's obvious from his limited range that he is not a specialist vocalist; this is part of the appeal the band has for me, as the sound harks back to the rough-around-the-edges rock bands and unpolished studio production of the late 60s. Although their current sound sits firmly in the stoner rock sub-genre, their 2008 self-titled debut album leaned much harder into doom metal, before drifting towards stoner/psychedelia with their follow-up Dead Roots Stirring in 2011. I've really enjoyed my first passes through their 2019 EP The Gold and Silver Sessions and the 2020 album Omens, so there's clearly a lot to explore in this band's back catalogue.
Band: Djo from Massachusetts, USA
Personnel: Joe Keery
Album: Decide (2022)
Genre: Synth-pop
Fans of the Netflix hit Stranger Things will be familiar with actor Joe Keery, who plays the character Steve Harrington. Keery also releases music under the name Djo, and his second album, Decide is an absolute delight, tickling all my musical taste buds which were left bereft by the retirement of Daft Punk. This album was on high rotation on my Spotify playlist soon after it was released in September 2022, and is still my go-to for sophisticated synth-pop, with winning tracks like Runner, Half Life and Climax.
Band: Phoenix from Versailles, France
Personnel: Thomas Mars (vocals, drums, percussion), Laurent Brancowitz (lead guitar, keyboards), Christian Mazzalai (rhythm guitar) and Deck d'Arcy (bass, keyboards),
Albums: Alpha Zulu (2022), United (2000)
Genre: Pop-rock/synth-pop
A couple of years ago, I chanced upon an energetic pop song titled Too Young by a French pop-rock band Phoenix from their 2000 album United. Another track Honeymoon also caught my fancy, but somehow I forgot all about them and didn't explore their subsequent albums. Fast forward to a few months ago, and critics were abuzz about their latest studio release, Alpha Zulu. The 35-minute long album is a real tour-de-force, filled with a number of synth-pop confections. The opening title track grabs your attention right away with the infectious and mischievous chorus: "Woo ha, singing hallelujah || Pray to your God, cover your lies || God or guru, hey hey hey". The second track, Tonight follows in the same energetic vein. The next song, The Only One is perhaps my favourite from the album, with strong musical references to Daft Punk, as is also the case with the keyboard riff from another song, Artefact. After Midnight and Season 2 are the other notable songs on the album. Incidentally, band frontman Thomas Mars is married to celebrated director Sofia Coppola.
Nothing beats the joy of serendipitous discovery; I love that moment while listening to new music, when something clicks inside and there is a realization that the song is a “keeper”. Then comes the fun of diving deeper into the band’s music and the dawning recognition that it’s all just as good, if not better. Next comes the research into the band’s composition, history, back catalogue and critic/user reviews. Spotify and the internet at large have created a treasure trove for music lovers and an avenue for talented musicians to find their audience across the world.
Chronophlogiston 