The Needle Drop

Great Albums: September 2015

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Anthony rounds up his favorite releases of September 2015. Mentioned are:

1. Milo - So The Flies Don't Come
Listen: https://miloraps.bandcamp.com/album/s...
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu4vS...

2. Ought - Sun Coming Down
Listen: http://cstrecords.com/cst115/
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tkJ1...

3. Julia Holter - Have You In My Wilderness
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2JgM...
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTNTq...

4. The Underachievers - Evermore: The Art of Duality
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKbvH...
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YXDS...

5. Travis Scott - Rodeo
Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnZ8h...
Review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6t5w...

Download Meow the Jewels: http://www.runthejewels.net/

Anthony's Smut Cave Interview

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"The Internet's Busiest Music Nerd meets The Internet's Laziest Cavern Perv in this all-access interview with the one and only Anthony Fantano! Join Anthony and the Spelunker as they ruminate on the Needle Drop web series, Limp Bizkit, and Drake memes, THEN follow them to Internet Yami-Ichi, the legendary internet flea market making its first-ever appearance in the US! You won't want to miss this massive adventure from two titans of I.N.T.E.R.N.E.T.! Also Cal Chuchesta...." [via Scrapple TV]

Merzbow Starter Pack

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We've been in a pretty noisy mood lately. Last week we brought you a sprawling noise rock playlist and now you're getting a 2.5-hour-long set of tracks from the master of harsh noise, Masami Akita (b.k.a. Merzbow). In a sense he is the perfect subject for one of these starter packs, as his career spans nearly 300 studio albums over the course of four decades and features a wider array of textures and recording techniques than just about any other harsh noise musician's. However, some of his great works (for instance Rainbow Electronics) are comprised of one very long track, thereby not lending themselves to playlist listening. And many interesting releases, like much of his 80's sound collage output and his masterpiece 1930, aren't on Spotify. Nor are his collaborations with Boris (with the exception of the too-long Sun Baked Snow Cave), which is a potential disappointment for those looking forward to next year's double-album Gensho.

With all that being said, hopefully you will find this set to be as varied and comprehensive as possible. We understand that harsh noise isn't the easiest genre to get into and we can't really help you "get it" if it's not your thing, but if you're looking for some insight into how this type of music can be enjoyable, check out Anthony's talk with Mike Rugnetta about noise, among other styles of experimental music. Whatever y'all get out of it, enjoy!

Further listening - the lighter side of Merzbow:

A Noise Rock Odyssey

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For this month's genre playlist, we've put together a little something for those of you who prefer your rock music dissonant and in shambles. Here's a sprawling set of 21 noise rock tracks we dig, lasting an hour-and-3/4. That's just a case of tinnitus waiting to happen, so we wanna take the opportunity to remind you to protect your ears! (Honestly this playlist isn't extremely abrasive throughout, but it's a message that can't be stated enough.)

As always, you'll probably come up with things we omitted. In particular, there are some intriguing noise rock artists on Tzadik, whose catalog isn't on Spotify; nor is Dope Body's. They would have been fun additions, but we hope you enjoy what made the cut!