Genius #20.5 - Aug Scrap Heap
Scrap Heap of Ambient, Jazz (kind of), Rock, and some angry sounds.
Today is the day of the scrap heap & we are scrapping. It's a short one! Just 12 records for your consideration. I've been thinking about a lot of stuff lately & music hasn't really been one of those things. Hopefully these music recs still reach you and you find something to enjoy.
Scrap Heap
Ambient
Focusing down – from airiest & spaciest to most grounded
monotumn
Harbors (Hollie Kenniff & Goldmund) - When We Are Free (Nettwerk, Aug '25)
Air sounds & sunbeams – pure mindfulness meditation soundtrack. Written for "pouring coffee, sipping tea" by the husband-and-wife duo.
Bing & Ruth - Species (4AD, 2020)
Absolutely round & consonant synthesizer ambient. Even at its most percussive, there's plenty of attack on the synth stabs, turning them into little pillows. Tasteful reverb.
To Rococo Rot - The Amateur View (City Slang/Mute , 1999)
Cool downtempo post-rock, little clicky rhythms and squelchy synths and slinky basslines. Music to write emails to.
Rock
From most to least jagged
helemundo
Le Tigre - Le Tigre (Mr Lady, 1999)
No idea why I had never checked out the Bikini Kill side proj. This was a fun listen & the songwriting was a good time, with punchy guitars & synths and it was just the right level of annoying. Love a song about riding the subway, love a song about whether Cassavettes is a piece of shit or a genius.
Wombo - Danger In Fives (Fire Talk, Aug '25)
Melancholy little mathy poppy post-punk album. The riffs fit together sweetly, with bass, guitar, and vocals often working separately from each other. Like the midpoint between Palm and Forth Wanderers – was surprised to learn this is a trio since there's so much happening at once.
Sana Sana - for tomorrow EP (self-released, Aug '25)
Big ups to my friends in sana sana!! This little EP is absolutely chocked full of vibes: shoegazey riffs, chuggy guitars, massive drums, and Katixa's voice suits the songs perfectly.
Not-Jazz
I don't know, it's a crazy free jazz album, an afrobeat record, and a rock album with violin. What do you want? Is this jazz?
Lord Dubious
The Thing - Action Jazz (Smalltown Supersound, 2006)
These white boys can rip!! I feel kind of silly to only just now find out that I could have been listening to a band with Paal Nilssen-Love & Mats Gustavson this whole time, they're 2 players who I always like hearing on other records.
Sons of Kemet - Your Queen Is A Reptile (Verve/impulse!, 2018)
Tuba & sax centric jazzy afrobeat with some toastmastering & a little poetry. Very respectably toes the line before getting too wild, which was unfortunately kind of a bummer for me. Every time the temperature started to rise, I would hope that it would boil over into madness, but instead the band smooths it over.
Shardik - Cruelty Bacchanal (Tzadik, Jul '25)
Not sure if this is jazz – the ID3 tag is "Rock" but this is more like weirdo proggy jazzy stuff (released on John Zorn's Tzadik, you should sort of know what to expect). A metal band with a lead violinist playing strange, labyrinthine skronky stuff. Like evil Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Angry
From most to least tuneful. Times are angry.
Andy Fitzgerald
The Armed - THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED (Sargent House, Aug '25)
A nice return for the Detroit liars band – first half of the record is mostly hair-on-fire-screaming metal that defined their early career and the second half touches on more of the arena-ready rock from their 2023 record.
All Leather - Amateur Surgery On Half-Hog Abortion Island (Jul '25)
Sasscore cybergrind beamed in from the year 2006, very obviously a Justin Pearson (The Locust, Head Wound City, etc.) joint.
Gridlink - Perfect Amber (Aug '25)
Kind of a weird project. The original bass and drumwork from Amber Grey (2008) and Orphan (2011) but with new vocals and guitars recorded. I think I prefer the originals. I love that the album includes the karaoke versions, in case you want to shriek over the instrumentals.