Tracks of Note: 4/11/2025

Ceephax Acid Crew, Don Bolo, Rrose

Artwork by Dylan DiLella

I might as well flog this again. If you missed it, I wrote about some cool Q1 one albums in the metal/adjacent sphere.

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Fifteen Interesting Metal Albums From Q1

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Onward.

Gardenjia - "Natura morta n.1"

Proving I picked the right time to leave the professional world of metal writing before everyone discovered I was a false, here’s Gardenjia, a 10-plus-year vet of dissonant metal I never heard of until it popped up on Rennie’s Bandcamp feed. Why is that notable? I mean, there are a ton of bands I haven’t heard. Just looking at the numbers, I don’t hear 99 percent of metal’s collected output in any given year. But Gardenjia is the main solo project of Raffaele Galasso, who made a record under Fiori del Male, 2023’s Con un grido entrerò nell​'ombra, which I happen to like a lot. It’s always weird to know the side gig and not the main gig. Anyway, this is good stuff, shooting for the center of the overlapping Venn circles of black metal and death metal. Worthy of the label and the phrase: Total Dissonance Worship.

h/t Rennie

Irked - "Fuck Friday"

Longtime readers of this feature know I’m a sucker for this kind of snotty punk that shares some timbres with noise rock. “Fuck Friday” also reminds me of the anthemic slackerdom pumped out by Surf Bort.

Search Result - "Wrinkle"

Speaking of slackerdom, here’s some guitar-centric stuff we used to file under indie rock back in the college radio days. That second verse is catchy as heck.

h/t *sad yeehaw*

Sweet Megg - "This Train"

I caught Sweet Megg, a jazz standards singer who transitioned to country and has made a career uniting the two, last year, and have been keeping tabs on her since. The first two singles from the forthcoming Never Been Home are in the more country mold. “Bridge and Tunnel” reminds me a bit of the twangy side of Laurel Canyon. “This Train” is straight honky tonk. Both are united by Megg’s voice, which has this casual virtuosic characteristic. Like, you know she can sing the hell out of this material, but also eases back when necessary to deliver that country feel.

Radiance - "Savage Clashing of Gears"

This stuff kills. ‘Don’t call it skronk’ from two of metal’s best technicians on their respective instruments, Dylan DiLella on guitar and Alex Cohen on drums. The result is like Don Caballero crashing into Hella at its most antagonistic. Some of the best instrumental noisy math rock I’ve heard in ages.

Side Channel - "Abscess"

“Recorded by [M]anny in a clandestine facility off the 5 and 110 overchange,” you say? Is that why I was stuck there for an hour the other day. Well, maybe. I can tell you that overchange is complete ass. Anyway, raging punk in the GISM mold.

h/t JW

Don Bolo - "Lisan Al Gaib"

Inspired by Dune but also inspired by the ‘70s prog rock records that were inspired by Dune. I think the inclination of a lot of these bands is to make something like Semuta music, the literal musical high that’s mentioned a few times in the Dune books. UMMA, though, isn’t really hypnotic, although it feels good sinking into its quieter moments. No, it’s a lot closer to brutal prog derived from the King Crimson school of pummel. Like, listen to that riff at 1:25 in “Karama.” That’s some real runaway steamroller stuff.

ADJ - "Ruby Murray"

Miami bass lives. Pretty fun comp compiled by EC Underground. We talk a lot about The Journey in metal, but it of course exists in so many other genres, too. ADJ’s contribution here is a great example of The Journey in bass music, cutting a track that could’ve starred on the Hackers soundtrack in that it makes me want to break into a Gibson server whenever I listen to it.

Primal Brain - "I SPY"

Hell yeah. Absolutely ripping hardcore from OKC, which the Bandcamp PR copy calls one of the last weirdo places in the country. Do we all have to move to OKC? I suppose I could become a Thunder fan. Timing seems right.

h/t matt77-pnk

GUM - "Spiral"

Hell yeah. Absolutely ripping d-beat from Berlin. The Bandcamp copy doesn’t mention that Berlin is one of the last weirdo places on Earth, but I think it’s safe to say that most of us would be OK moving there.

h/t matt77-pnk

RiDylan - "Give You A Jacket"

What an interesting track. Starts jungle, adds a sprinkle of chiptune, and then goes full-on breakcore. Once it hits its stride, it’s like Orbital remixed by Venetian Snares. So sick.

Resavoir & Matt Gold - "Canopy"

Hello, International Anthem. “Canopy” is gorgeous. “What started as a love letter to [Resavoir & Matt Gold’s] shared admiration for ‘60s and ‘70s Brazilian music evolved into a dynamic and sprawling body of work,” goes the Bandcamp PR copy. And you certainly get that vibe, the Golden Hour beams illuminating this track that feels ideal soundtracking you sinking into a lounger.

Urakka - "Flutes of the Void"

Huh! I’m not sure what to even make of this. Craw plus Confessor, maybe? Either way, unexpected to say the least. I’ll have to log a few more listens to collect my thoughts, but what has collected in the basin of my broken brain is very intriguing. More on this later. Also, I’d like to join the Spite Club. Doing things out of spite is one of the greatest motivating factors in my life.

h/t Lev

Ceephax Acid Crew - "Acid Cruise"

It’s worth watching a video of Ceephax performing live:

Look at those 303s. Anyway, more than his other work, Slam Zone feels like a throwback to PS1 soundtracks. I don’t think that’s intentional; this isn’t that outside of the Ceephax norm. But tracks like “Acid Cruise,” with its bouncy acid bassline, sounds like something out of Ape Escape. Killer.

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We might as well make a weekly mix an enduring part of this newsletter. Rrose has been getting a heap of well-deserved plaudits for some recent experimental techno bangers, particularly 2023’s Please Touch. Here they are in Bengaluru pumping out some grade-A heaters of what I like to call “warehouse techno.”

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