OPM: Fourteen Already

Femi and the Foundation – Feeling Right

Deliriously fun fusion of rock, pop, funk, soul, and hip hop. And it is a fusion – the disparate elements aren’t bolted together but synthesized into something new. Groovy, seductive and ebullient by turns, these tunes – just three of them here, alas – are a great showcase for the talent and heart of this band. 

That said, long experience tells me this is the kind of act best seen live, where everything gets blown out and turned up and everyone’s real sweaty ten minutes into it. Having heard it, now I’ll make a point of finding out for real, if it ever turns out they’re playing nearby. Great stuff.  

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Whispering Cosmos – Sailing to Andromeda

A love letter to classic kosmische and the synth-driven B-movie film scores of yore. John Carpenter and Tangerine Dream are obvious touchpoints, but this goes deeper than that, recalling the best soundtrack moments of countless Saturday-matinee schlockfests of questionable quality. 

Some vibey, prog-adjacent guitar work, lots of weird synth noises, drum machine rhythms that lean more into rock beats than dancefloor moves – these are the core ingredients. The way it’s all put together is definitely a bit too authentic to the source material to qualify as synthwave, but it could definitely be of interest to fans of that genre; even more so for fans of early kosmische and sci-fi, horror, and exploitation movie scores from the ‘80s.

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Compression Artifact – Strain Gauge

A single longform soundscape piece made of various samples manipulated by complex, unusual processes. The sounds are so thoroughly mutated and mangled that it’s hard to get a great sense of their original provenance. Mostly the results are weird, somewhat uncanny noises that pulse and evolve in varying patterns. 

Occasionally quasimusical moments are injected into – or arise from? –  the clamor, only to disappear again as soon as they’re noticed. Texture and rhythm are the main ingredients, altho the rhythm is rarely more than a pulse. Still, once you’re accustomed to the overall aesthetic, it’s all somehow peaceful, or maybe simply hypnotic. 

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Malachite Riot – The Plan

Solid set of mid-fi indie rock reminiscent of the late-’00s/early-’10s era vintage. Guitars, bass, drums, and a vocalist are all you’ll find here. The music draws from a deep and eclectic base of influences – punk influenced vocals, metal and hardcore riffs, some pop hooks, some bluesy vamps. 

If this is your thing, definitely check this one out. Rock acts like this are increasingly hard to come by these days, as their natural environments are gentrified out of existence. No surprise to find this is a one-man act, doing it all – but then again, so were half of your favorite bands, at least in the studio.

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Frederick St. Peter – Aperçus Scintillants 

Delicate piano-focused chamber music that almost leans into New Age territory. Tinkling music-box timbres, gentle strings and synths and woodwinds, all working together to create mostly breezy and pleasant tunes. 

A few of the tracks take a deeper, darker turn, which provides an interesting contrast and tilts the whole thing in a Noirish film score direction. Most of the rest would make nice lullabies, or soundtrack a quiet dinner party nicely. Another fascinating byway of deeply idiosyncratic and personal music.

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