Hello, music enthusiasts! We've got a heaping pile of in-depth album reviews for you, sourced from none other than WUVT AM trainees, Bryce McCormick, Gabriel Kadi, Georgia Nickens, Alex Van Marcke de Lummen. Be sure to catch their FM shows Mid-January!
Nick Drake is the quintessential “starving artist”. He began recording music in 1967 to little success or acclaim. He was a folk artist, and hoped to capitalize on the success of other similar artists of that time such as Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to no avail. His first of three albums, Five Leaves Left, was released in 1969, only sold 6,000 units, and got very mixed reviews by the few critics that reviewed it. His following album, Bryter Layter, released in 1971 to more positive reviews but the sales didn’t reflect it. Struggling with depression, substance abuse, and the perceived failure of his music career so far, Drake recorded his third and final album with a bit of a twist. This album would be entirely his own work; no backing band, no collaborators, no other writers, just Nick Drake and his guitar...
ClickRead morefor Bryce's FULL review of the Album, as well as reviews from Gabriel, Georgia, and Alex!
Wait a second. Does that sayOctober?Yes! Before you is a denser collection of all the glorious new music submissions WUVT has received in the last month! Enjoy!
Aaron Frazer - Into the Blue
Label: Dead Oceans Genre: R&B / Retro Soul Reviewed by: Matt Nowinski
Falsetto heaven on a cloud of silky, old-timey soul. This is Aaron Frazer's (drummer and singer for Durand Jones & The Indications) second solo album after his aptly-named 2021 premiere, "Introducing...". "Into the Blue" mixes sounds from Motown, Stax, and even some western twang. The instrumentation is multi-layered, with several tracks featuring orchestral arrangements and backup singers. At times though, the album sounds a bit like a movie soundtrack. The best tracks feature Frazer's crooning over driving rhythmic melodies. Overall, this album is a solid choice for a chill evening.
Label: Rough Trade Genre: Math Rock / Jazz Pop / Prog Pop Reviewed by: Hayden Swenson For Fans Of: Black Midi, Frank Zappa, Steely Dan The New Sound sees former Black Midi frontman, Geordie Greep, apply his immense musical prowess to an all-new set of influences. This album deftly explores genres such as jazz-rock, prog, and samba with bombastic, theatric flair. The instrumentation here is fantastic! With his one-of-a-kind singing voice and masterful lyricism, Greep vividly depicts narratives and characters that are at once macabre, sinister, and sexual. Track 2 stands out with its Brazillian-inspired composition. It's a shame most of this can't be played during the day!
Label: Western Vinyl Genre: Baroque Pop, Chamber Folk Reviewed by: Baile Liu For Fans Of: Bjork Fight the Real Terror flexes the artist's wide breath of multi-instrumental abilities. Most of the tracks use acoustic instrumentation, but track 4 comes in with an upbeat electronic drum beat. The artist's voice is somber/Bjork-like but gets a bit bold and aggressive in Rocket in a Pocket. The lyrics on this album walk the line of cringe to poetic. Tracks 2 and 5 are especially cringe. However, track 7 has majestic angelic vocals and is beautiful. Overall I think this is a good album to add to your show stack!
Is that. . . New Music I smell! I hope you're as excited as I am for our new music selection this week. See you next time!
Knitting - Some Kind of Heaven
Label: Mint Genre: Indie / Slacker Rock Reviewed by: Edison Lee For Fans Of: Sonic Youth, Ride, Feeble Little Horse, Sebadoh, Pixies, Pavement Knitting’s sophomore album blends dreamy indie rock atmospheres with noisy slacker rock guitar work to create a pleasant, albeit monotonous, album. Nothing is revolutionary about any of these songs, but much like other noisy pieces of indie rock tinged with dream-pop/shoegaze elements, they get the job done. The guitars are generally thin and bouncy, contrasted with thick and noisy effects. This, along with dreamy vocals, makes for a slightly shoegaze feel reminiscent of bands like Ride, Lush, and Slowdive, but the songs aren't fuzzy/dreamy enough to be considered shoegaze or dream pop. I would compare them to more traditional indie rock acts like Pavement and Pixies. The songs are solid and dynamic, but they tend to bleed into one another. While it's nothing groundbreaking, there's enough fun indie rock antics and hazy guitar noise to keep it interesting throughout its half-hour runtime.
