This article was featured in RVAMag #26: Fall 2016. You can read all of issue #26 here or pick it up at local shops around RVA right now.
This article was featured in RVAMag #26: Fall 2016. You can read all of issue #26 here or pick it up at local shops around RVA right now.
Avers
Omega/Whatever
(Egghunt Records)
Avers may utilize multiple songwriters and relish in the “strength in numbers” description, but the real strength of their sophomore release is the musical unity they seem to share across this record. Minds, bodies, and souls all coalesce into a stirring sonic force that has built a truly flawless collection of amenable, gratifying, and imaginative rock songs, something impressive regardless of how many people claim songwriting duties. (DN)
Butcher Brown
Virginia Noir
Twelve top-notch instrumentals that would be a dream come true for any hip-hop producer. Soul, jazz, and funk meet on each track as the band fully commits to exploring and expanding the core of each composition, rather than utilizing flashy musicality. It’s that restraint that makes songs like “Last Call” and “Flat” stick around in your head and allow the four musicians to dominate your thoughts as much as an impactful singer. (DN)
Dazeases
Welcome Back
While taking a minimalist approach, Dazaeses is anything but that. With lush glitchy atmospheres, Welcome Back haunts listeners with three songs that feel like anti-lullabies. Each song could be a perfect soundtrack for a night spent staring out of a car window at a city skyline while contemplating the beauty and ugliness of the world that surrounds us. Each moment serves a purpose and Welcome Back is a perfect testament to that. (SC)
Fly Anakin
Velvet Type Joints
This brief release isn’t much in run time, but goes a long way in showcasing the skill and appeal of this young MC. Anakin’s fluid lyricism packs a punch in each song, giving you more to digest in a sixty-second refrain than most rappers could do with triple the time. With help from heavyweight producers DJ Harrison and Ohbliv, this slight offering is a perfect sampler of Anakin’s style that will leave new fans craving more. (DN)
Inter Arma
Paradise Gallows by Inter Arma“>Paradise Gallows
(Relapse Records)
2013’s Sky Burial took the metal underground by storm with its combination of black metal, sludge, and classic progressive rock, and now, with their first release since 2014’s one song epic The Cavern, Inter Arma further refine that which many thought already perfect. Perhaps more dissonant and experimental than those previous albums, Paradise Gallows astounds and humbles. (CE)
Lance Bangs
Lance Mountain
(Citrus City Records)
The new EP from the former Colin Thibodeauxx continues to explore humor and spontaneity in music, while also unwittingly becoming a firm musical outfit. There is a noticeable jump in the song quality from past releases, with focused structures and well-crafted melodies that show the band’s true potential. For older fans, their unique sonic charm is still at the front of every song and it’s clear this is a band everyone should keep tabs on moving forward. (DN)
Lightfields
Feelings
Richmond’s melodic heroes return on this pay-what-you-want release with five tracks that proudly move the band’s conglomerate rock sound forward. Pop singalongs join elastic garage riffs in a union that feels exigent, uncontrolled, and liberating as vocalist Coldon Martin expertly matches each sonic backdrop with thrilling strains. Compact, affecting, and accomplished, this is a release that proudly shows what the Richmond scene has to offer. (DN)
Lotus Grid
Repose In The South Window
Despite, or perhaps because of extremely rare live appearances, Lotus Grid continues to intrigue. The hazy ambiance that Joshua Franklin has been honing for five years now is in fine form here, combined with retro-futurist synth jams like “The Slow Ascension to New Manhattan.” Fans of Boards of Canada and Brian Eno are in for a treat. (CE)
