Weekly Roundup - Unreviewed Releases: July 28-August 31, 2023

 

Calliope Music Weekly Roundup

Unreviewed Releases

July 28-August 31, 2023

Rated Albums

TURQUOISEDEATH - Se bueno

7/10

Best Tracks: Crawl Space -- Dive -- Guessabelle -- Starfields -- Vertigo

    An utterly absorbent Drum and Bass record

Sanguine atmospheres light up the ear like a wander into a glowing forest of fluorescence. Breakneck drumming coupled with a liquid flow of synth waves and buttery bass bend in space, floating in a dream of technical environments and bioluminescent finish.

Not every step in the forest that is Se Bueno leads to incandescence, but an overall consistency in lush airspaces and graceful progressions make for an overall beauteous listen.

Victoria Monét - JAGUAR II

5.5/10

Best Tracks: Smoke (feat. Lucky Daye) -- Alright -- Cadillac (A Pimp's Dream) -- On My Mama

Smooth RnB Brings Gratifying Hedonism

Polished bass beats, tasteful dark atmospherics, gallant orchestral pieces and handsome vocals emit confident rhythms of power and persuasion. Victoria Monet comprises satiny exercises in Funk and Soul, consistent in their glossy instrumentals and ebullient refrains.

Glittering production makes listening easy, but is often faltered by trivial lyrics and several weary progressions. These issues are common throughout the 35 minute LP, but refreshing production and voluptuary melodies make JAGUAR II an altogether sultry Contemporary RnB release.

leroy - Grave Robbing

4.5/10

Best Tracks: We've Been Smoking All Day ............ -- Front Door Entry Only Until I Cant Feel a Thing -- Bouncin Off da Window

A Buoyant Dance Party Lost Within Itself

Bumping synth play, chopped electronics, reverberating vocal samples and ecstatic bass invigorate the ear with an unrelenting sense of movement. Foaming samples and rapid tempos mix well, building full landscapes of bright lights and spacey vibrations.

While leroy does a magnificent job at producing an eclectic electronic sound, the project relies much too heavily on the choice of samples and its source material. Instead of complete conceptual transformations, popular Pop music is given a quick makeover, superb in ushering in trancing dance grooves, but poor in providing substance beyond the short supply given through the samples.

Overall a lively bubblegum mashup, Grave Robbing suffers similarly to bubblegum, often being an unfocused mix of sugary flavor.

Asia Menor - Enola Gay

7.5/10

Best Tracks: Patio -- Tesela -- Doce -- La naturaleza -- Flores del naranjo -- 1920 -- Buenos Noches

Sputtered Punk Cleanses the Pallet of a Sinking World

Scrubbed guitar meets gravely bass and heaving kicks as lashing cymbals and hissing electronics weave between interchanging time signatures. Punishing Punk catharsis is built as surging refrains fulminate in complex mixes of Heartland guitar, belaboring bass and industrial drumming.

While the vocals are a mixed bag of artsy verses and blustering chorus, a consistent wave of shattering rhythms and tragic lyricism leads the debut into uncharted territory. A pair of tracks lean a little too long into tedious progressions, but an overall diversity of instrumental developments, along with a splintering vicissitude make a harrowing but extensively comforting Post-Punk project.