Genius #20: Aug '25
New music from Purelink, Brighde Chaimbeul, Blanco Teta, Editrix, Zoh Amba, Phil Elverum & Arrington de Dionyso. Minutemen. Show calendar for October
Apologies that this is coming out late, but today (9/5) IS bandcamp Friday & if you are reading this on 9/5 then it is yr civic duty to consider buying records from your favorite artists on Bandcamp -- 100% of purchases are going to the artists today.
20 issues of Genius Dot Com!!! Thanks for being on this journey with me, I hope that you are finding music that you like & you are sharing your finds with your friends and building the network of art connection that we deserve. I have been feeling a little low lately, but hearing from friends that they have been enjoying some of these album recs has been a critical buoy in trying times. Take care of each other out there, let's listen to some tunes together.
- Capitalism
- Album Recs
- Replay
- Garbage Corner
- Upcoming Shows
Capitalism
I lost my mind in the month of August, I simply drove myself insane. While wandering around Chincoteague, VA I must have left my earbuds & that fucking apple dongle somewhere. Could not be relocated. So I decided it was time for an upgrade and replaced my earbuds with the same TinHIFI C3 mkIIIs that I had lost and picked up a Qudelix 5k bluetooth receiver to replace the dongle. So far, I haven't had any hiccups in audio & I get to plug my fancy headphones into it without needing another goddamn dongle that's about to be outdated. I have no love for Airpods or bluetooth headphones – this is a better high fidelity option for me. The qudelix has a 20 band EQ with user-generated presets which can be immediately matched to whichever headphones I'm wearing with it. It's got a belt clip & a little microphone in it for phone calls. Everything sounds nice through it. Unfortunately, I did have to buy thru am*zon because of the t*riffs when shipping stuff from our friendly rivals in China, but that's its own humiliation.
Album Recommendations
All 6 of these are new albums from June and July that I think are worth checking out. The recommendations are in ascending order of esotericism – from dance-punk through free jazz and then into ambient gong music.
Blanco Teta - La Debacle De Las Divas (Bongo Joe, Jul '25)
Bratty art-punk
AndrewHollo
Buenos Aires quartet bring a ton of attitude to their vision of art rock. Snarling vocals, peals of feedback, scuzzy bass, a wide palette of genres. This album caught my ear when the band hit their start-and-stops in the first song "Mechita" – an unexpected moment in what I had figured was going to be a very straightforward punk song. As the album continues, the band uncovers glitchy metalcore breakdowns with shrieks, funky dance punk, a little bit of scuzzy no wave. On the last song "Sin Bombacha" the band's backing vocalist fuckin WAILS on a cello it's one last unexpected moment on an album that continually surprises. Bonus: According to the band, each song on the album was recorded live as an ensemble in one take with no overdubs, which is fucking crazy.
Editrix - The Big E (Jul '25)
Jagged & slippery art rock
Twoodyard
So slippery! Love that this bizarre jazzy experimental rock record was recorded/mixed/mastered by Colin Marston (Krallice) live in the studio. Wendy Eisenberg's guitar playing is mesmerizing: glitchy pitch shifty licks that seek the edges of what a guitar can/should be, igneous guitar solos, clicky percussive slaps. Steve Cameron's bass playing (horrifically mixed into the left channel, but IMO it barely works) is equally labyrinthine – only Eisenberg's vocals and Josh Daniel's drums seem to hold any semblance of structure in place for these songs. I've sometimes struggled with Eisenberg's sing-song voice, but it works so well in the Editrix stuff. Just a very strange and cool record.
Zoh Amba - Sun (Smalltown Supersound, Jun '25)
Multifaceted jazz
glancecyrus
Soulful & free, truly free jazz from the prodigy sax player & composer. Her quartet sweats out some high-energy dissonance, but she couples those compositions with blissful meditative pieces, including one where she plays the guitar instead. This is one of the most thoughtful jazz albums I've heard in a while – each song fits like a puzzle with the rest of the album. Equally as aggressive as it is playful.
Brighde Chaimbeul - Sunwise (Glitterbeat, Jun '25)
Ethereal bagpipe drone & Scottish traditional
arthurcat
Entrancing bagpipe & vocal record from the young that's so rounded off and spherical that it can be hard to find a way in. At once historical & modern, tracks dance between folk songs from Isle of Skye, blissful drones, and blippy arpeggiator sounds that are hyper-real. Chaimbeul wrests all sorts of different tones out of her bagpipe – on different tracks, she can sound like an organ, an alarm, a synthesizer, a human voice. Not every song features vocals, but Chaimbeul's singing is wonderfully free, pushing each piece to take flight. This album was written to be a dedication to winter, so I'm looking forward to revisiting later in the year. Thanks to Sean for sending this one over!
Purelink - Faith (Peak Oil, Jun '25)
Purelink
foggy ambient from outer space
Sounds like ambient music beamed in from a satellite radio station orbiting the planet. Both earthy/humid and airy/light, like a fog that smells kind of mossy. Great mix of St. Giga whooshing, disembodied voices, undersampled/aliased dubby shuffly percussion. Squeaky clean stuff. Great for misty focus music, though there are some vocals on 2 of the tracks, which might need to be skips if you're writing email or whatever. Two tracks have vocals added – one is a song feat. Whatever The Weather's Loraine James, the other a spoken word poem from multimedia artist Angelina Nonaj with text like "I'm sharing with you some real life content." Honestly, this is one of my favorites of the year, I'm loving this album.
Phil Elverum & Arrington de Dionyso - GIANT OPENING MOUTH ON THE GROUND (PW Elverum & Sun, Aug '25)
gong and reeds harsh ambient noise
Mount Eerie
So nice to get another Phil album so soon after the last Mount Eerie record, whihc was my favorite album of 2024. This one is way more obtuse. Scuzzy and scraggling woodwinds and gong feedback, Phil is even credited for the room where it was recorded. At times it can be even hard to tell where one of the improvisers begins and the other ends – the vibration of the reed and the non-linear distortion of room mic mask each other. Then de Dionyso will suddenly riff into a high pitched squeal and it will become clear where the lines are drawn between mouth and ground. Tuneful and harsh, human and ancient.
Upcoming September albums:
- Band/small cult Big Thief return with Double Infinity on 4AD. They're absolutely ascendant, I bet this one is another dunk. Out 9/5.
- Korean cellist Okkyung Lee's work can be vicious and gnarly and it can be beautiful and sweeping, but her latest release is playfully/wryly titled just like any other day (어느날): background music for your mundane activities and seems like it's gonna be just that. Out on 9/5 via Shelter Press.
- Wednesday are set to take over the world. Their (improbably) 6th LP Bleeds should have more heartache, more oddly-specific references to rural America, and more slide guitar shoegaze. Out 9/19 va Dead Oceans.
- I honestly thought we'd never get another Neko Case record. I didn't love her last record, but she's built up so much goodwill for me that I will absolutely be checking out Neon Grey Midnight Green on 9/26.
Replay - Minutemen
I don't really have a write-up ready for this, so I will forego my usual deep dive and just offer that I've been on a huge Minutemen kick. A trio self-described corndogs from working class San Pedro, CA, they wrote hundreds of songs that perfectly merge the personal and political throughout the 1980s. The thing to know about the Minutemen is that they jammed econo: short songs rarely were longer than 60seconds long and the band was legendary for their thrifty DIY touring & recording ethic. Their 1984 double-LP Double Nickels On The Dime is the album to listen to for the full effect of the band.
Much ink has been spilled discussing this legendary oddball band, but I think there are 3 things that make the band so special:
- No one has ever sounded like them since –super short, funk-indebted, and strange. Each song is a unique outburst of expression
- The lyrics and artistry is so specific: no lyrics are minced and every single meaning is forced to the front of each song & the concepts behind the albums are deep and multifaceted.
- The deep friendship between Mike Watt and D Boon is remarkable – the way they push each other and are tender with each other, the way that interplay is on display in the songs.
Anyways, documentary of the band is really touching & worth the watch to see some old footage & interviews with the surviving members & the family/friends of the band. J Mascis shows up to make fun of D Boon's weight for some reason.
Scene Report
My band Chanp has a show at Wax Atlas on the 27th & I will be playing with Catherine Savage at Subscape in October. See u at the gig.
Upcoming Shows
Baltimore
- 9/2 (Tue) Pre-Zero Fest @ Fadensonnen
- 9/3 (Wed) Crying Laughing, Iceblink, Matt Bachmann, Charlie Chimi @ Current Space
- 9/8 (Mon) Matmos, Sam Weinberg, Mod F @ Comptoir du Vin
- 9/11 (Thu) Nourished By Time @ Ottobar
- 9/11 (Thu) Quintron & Miss Pussycat @ Wax Atlas
- 9/13 (Sat) Richard Lloyd, Powerwasher @ Ottobar
- 9/14 (Sun) Mdou Moctar, Messthetics, Soul Glo, Ed Schrader @ Union Craft
- 9/15 (Mon) Waco Mammoth, Liam Grant & Glenn Jones @ Comptoir du Vin
- 9/17 (Wed) Panda Bear @ Ottobar
- 9/18 (Thu) High Zero Fest @ Baltimore Theater Project
- 9/19 (Fri) High Zero Fest @ Baltimore Theater Project
- 9/20 (Sat) High Zero Fest @ Baltimore Theater Project
- 9/21 (Sun) High Zero Fest @ Baltimore Theater Project
- 9/24 (Wed) Tropical Fuck Storm, Infinity Knives @ Metro
- 9/25 (Thu) Pageninetynine, Dazzling Killmen, Great Falls, Multicult @ Ottobar
- 9/26 (Fri) Shonen Knife, The Pack A.d. and Plrls @ Ottobar
- 9/27 (Sat) CHANP, Ameokama, Vaelastrasz, Crow’s Foot @ Wax Atlas
- 9/28 (Sun) Abell St Fair w/ Barrage Band Orchestra, Exit 17, Baltimorim, KERQ @ Abell & 31st
- 9/29 (Mon) Lightning Bolt @ Union Craft
DC
- 9/6 (Sat) Pulp @ The Anthem
- 9/6 (Sat) Zoh Amba, Deakin @ Rhizome
- 9/8 (Mon) Wombo @ DC9
- 9/9 (Tue) Superchunk @ Black Cat
- 9/9 (Tue) Sparks @ Lincoln Theatre
- 9/10 (Wed) Quintron & Miss Pussycat @ Comet Ping Pong
- 9/13 (Sat) Yeule @ Black Cat
- 9/14 (Sun) Dummy @ Songbyrd
- 9/19 (Fri) billy woods @ Union Stage
- 9/23 (Tue) Mary Lattimore @ Songbyrd
- 9/23 (Tue) Water From Your Eyes, Her New Knife, Aunt Katrina @ The Atlantis
- 9/23 (Tue) Stereolab, Memorials @ Howard Theatre
- 9/23 (Tue) Buzzcocks @ Union Stage
- 9/25 (Thu) Ginger Root @ Black Cat
- 9/26 (Fri) Ginger Root @ Black Cat
- 9/30 (Tue) Lightning Bolt @ Black Cat
NYC
- 9/12 (Fri) Mdou Moctar @ Knockdown Center
- 9/12 (Fri) Rachika Nayar & Nina Keith present Disiniblud @ National Sawdust
- 9/13 (Sat) Rob Mazurek & Chad Taylor duo @ Public Records
- 9/16 (Tue) Nadah El-Shazly @ Roulette
- 9/18 (Thu) Mary Lattimore @ Union Pool
- 9/19 (Fri) Mary Lattimore @ Union Pool
- 9/20 (Sat) Mary Lattimore @ Union Pool
- 9/21 (Sun) Mary Halvorson Amaryllis Septet @ Roulette
- 9/25 (Thu) billy woods @ Knockdown Center
- 9/25 (Thu) Blank For.ms & Larum @ Public Records
Future Shows
- 10/5 (Sun) Ches Smith Clone Row release, Mori/Reid/Taborn/Seabrook quartet @ Public Records (NYC)
- 10/7 (Tue) Kneecap, Bricknasty @ Howard Theatre (DC)
- 10/9 (Thu) J Robbins Band plays Burning Airlines @ Metro (Baltimore)
- 10/10 (Fri) Subscape @ Mobtown & Metro (Baltimore)
- 10/11 (Sat) Subscape @ Mobtown & Metro (Baltimore)
- 10/12 (Sun) Subscape @ Mobtown & Metro (Baltimore)
- 10/11 (Sat) Black Eyes @ Black Cat (DC)
- 10/14 (Tue) Guerilla Toss @ DC9 (DC)
- 10/18 (Sat) Modest Mouse, Built To Spill @ The Anthem (DC)
- 10/21 (Tue) Nourished by Time, Zsela @ The Atlantis (DC)
- 10/24 (Fri) Conner O'Malley @ Baltimore Soundstage (Baltimore)
- 10/24 (Fri) Big Thief @ The Anthem (DC)
- 10/29 (Wed) Autechre, Mark Broom @ Howard Theatre (DC)
- 10/30 (Thu) Nation of Language, Deeper @ 9:30 Club (DC)
- 11/1 (Sat) Boris, Agriculture @ Fillmore Silver Spring (DC)
- 11/7 (Fri) Bill Orcutt/Steve Shelley/Ethan Miller band @ Union Pool (NYC)
- 11/19 (Wed) Bar Italia @ Black Cat (DC)
- 11/21 (Fri) Wednesday @ 9:30 Club (DC)
- 12/5 (Fri) Model/Actriz @ Black Cat (DC)
- 1/15 (Thu) shame @ Ottobar (Baltimore)