Wow, it’s been a while, sorry for the delay in posting to the blog. The Mammoth had a new lab to settle into, and then there were changes around the facility – I’ll spare you the details. Here’s a quick catch-up entry for music since October he’s really been appreciating, and a regular weekly entry for November 21st’s releases will come out this Friday – THE ADMIN
Salarymen – Take It Or Leave It
The Mammoth usually doesn’t go for twee indie rock, but the duo behind Salarymen added enough of a spacey psychedelic aesthetic to the genre to grab him. There’s a lot of Beatles in this without being obvious or antiquated. The vocal performances are a tad lacking, sometimes there’s an annoyingly nasal timbre the Mammoth is assured other critics enjoy, but to him it just sounds like a bad imitation of Oasis.
Highlight Tracks: Too Many Times, Surrender, Let Me Go
Worthy of Investigation?
Probably not. There’s nothing objectively wrong with the Salarymen’s sound, but it rarely grabbed the Mammoth’s attention beyond that of background music.
Ritual Howls – Ruin
For a city most infamous for urban decay, it’s appropriate that Detroit has this phenomenal legacy of music capturing a cold, dystopian feeling. One of The Mammoth’s favorite techno records, Enter by Cybotron, was a seminal early influence on the soundtracks that would accompany cyberpunk media for the ensuing decades, and there’s a lot of that early 80’s midwest techno sound in Ritual Howls’ Ruin. Add to that mixture a clear love of the Cure and other gothic rock stylings, and you get this cold, bleak timbre barely containing a sea of anger underneath it. It’s a great mix, this immediately became one of The Mammoth’s favorite discoveries this fall, and he wholeheartedly recommends it.
Highlight Tracks: The Morning, Enter the Rescuer
Worthy of Investigation?
100% If you played a lot of Deus Ex in your formative years, consider Blade Runner tourist media, and have a sizeable William Gibson collection, give this record and the rest of the band’s work a shot.
Clark – Steep Stims
The Mammoth has often considered electronica to be the ultimate tinker’s genre, when leveraged towards art music instead of hits. Very easy and accessible to put a beat together and get people hype at a concert, but the amount of sonic avenues modern computing can provide are barely even touched in the process. Steep Stims, if representative of Clark’s usual approach to making music (and The Mammoth intends to find out, spoiler warning), is an excellent example of pursuing those avenues while remaining tethered to earth.
The Mammoth fears that The Admin is getting to effusive in his praise – it’s a great electronic record, has interesting, driving beats with a lot of unexpected dissonance and plenty of effects. Especially worthy of praise is Clark’s overall ability to structure a song – there’s a lot of great buildup and breakdowns to be found in these tracks. At its most energetic, it reads as if Aphex Twin made a drum and bass record. At it’s most atmospheric (“Negation Loop”), it’s pretty bleak and thought-provoking.
Highlight Tracks: 18EDO Bailiff, Globecore Flats, Negation Loop, Blowtorch Thimble
Worthy of Investigation?
Yes. Absolutely. A fascinating listening experience.
Seims – V
Seims (stylized SEIMS, but The Admin’s shift key deserves some respite) self-styles as Math Rock, and while the instrumentation is certainly technically complex enough to fit that label, it’s very relaxed and pensive in its tone to really fit with The Mammoth’s usual conception of the genre. Overall, it’s much like the painting used as the album cover – a pleasing audio aesthetic, with deceptively complex song structure and performances underneath. If there’s a weak point to the overall record, vocals are rather weak. Sometimes that works to the song’s benefit (Forever the Optimist), sometimes it’s grating (My Memories Retain Nothing).
Highlight Tracks: Flowing Upstream, Preoccupations
Worthy of Investigation?
The Mammoth is uncertain. He enjoyed it on several listens, so he’ll take a flier on the previous IV records, but he’s not sold on its overall appeal.
Huartan – Huartan
Attaching folk music to modern technology has an earned reputation of being a gimmick – and perhaps Huartan still falls into that category. But, generally, speaking, The Mammoth found their self-titled album quite enjoyable. It’s a different take on Irish choir music, and accordingly the singing is the strongest part of the performance. Every track is in Gaelic, and the electronic part of the performance ranges from very atmospheric accompaniments (“Caoineadh Eoin Burcach”) to house beats (“Uiseog”). There is, of course, the requisite hurdy-gurdy, so if you have no passion for that particular instrument, probably skip this record. Overall, it’s worth a listen for being a novel fusion of two well-established musical traditions.
Highlight Tracks: Bean Udai Thall, Caoineadh Eoin Burcach
Worthy of Investigation?
There isn’t a lot to investigate, and this band’s overall approach screams that the casual fan won’t find a lot in examining their discography beyond more of this. Time will tell.
Dexter in the Newsagent – Time Flies
Another debut record! The Mammoth really appreciates this record. It gives a sense of unearned nostalgia upon listening to it – very introspective, self-questioning lyrics, simple instrumentation. When it amps up, it’s with little trepidations, when it slows down, it carries a powerful sense of regret. Dexter in the Newsagent’s voice is incredibly soothing, and as a huge fan of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, The Mammoth appreciates some Kanye West vocal-sounding synth work in the production.
Highlight Tracks: With u, Care, Special
Worthy of Investigation?
The Mammoth will certainly be on the lookout for her sophomore record.
Sister Ray Davies – Holy Island
The bell hasn’t run yet on 2025, but so far, this is The Mammoth’s record of the year. What a statement of a record. The Sister Ray Davies aesthetic is simultaneously bleak and powerful, dense and sparse, grounded and floating in the sky. From the finger-picked acoustic guitar and poppy basslines to the steel guitar-esque guitar peppered in the background to the soaring, minimalist lead riffs, this record rewards both an intense listen and relaxed casual enjoyment. It provoked a deep sense of comfort and contemplation in The Mammoth, and he is grateful to have discovered this band. Both the prehistoric elephant and The Admin eagerly await their sophomore release.
Highlight Tracks: Iona, Nave, Aidan
Worthy of Investigation?
Man that band’s socials are so thoroughly bookmarked, if a digital file can wear itself out, we certainly will awaiting their next steps.