Cheap Thrills: Q4 2023

This quarter: angsty pop, coldwave, dungeon synth, and more!

It's no surprise that this one is a little late, but don't let that fool you. 2023 was an incredible year for music, and I'm here to deliver one last batch of name-your-price goodies...before prepping the first round of 2024 picks, that is. So kick off your new year with a motley mix of pop, punk, ambient, and more—pay what you want, but be sure to support the artists when/where possible!

Gregory Pepper & His Problems - NO THANKS

We begin this installment with some deceptively angsty indie pop from singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gregory Pepper (& His Problems). Is it a coincidence that he shares a last name with the Sergeant made famous by The Beatles? Perhaps. In any case, NO THANKS may borrow some of that album's whimsy if only to lovingly sharpen it into a shank. From the jauntily skippy "I Just Called to Say I Hate You" to the ironic slow burn of "Unbridled Enthusiasm", Pepper is clearly working through some capital P Problems, and his (allegedly) final album is a suitably crass cabaret of catchy melodies and general misanthropy, the musical equivalent of grinning and bearing it day after weary day.

Lila Ehjä - Yö

Our next album takes us back to the 80's with some cold and brooding "froide wave" from Lila Ehja.  Reverb-laden drum loops ground a lush haze of guitars, growling bass, and half-whispered chants create a smoky and sensual atmosphere with a hint of danger. Impeccable vibes for folks who like wearing all black.

Max Gowan - Glossolalia

I had not heard of Max Gowan before stumbling across Glossolalia, but I instantly became a fan of his warm, laid-back alternative rock filled with subtle yet impressive instrumentation. "Ornamental" is an understated math rock waltz with tasty guitar leads, while the punchy overdriven chords on "Guardian" contrast nicely with Gowan's sing-song vocals. This is a certified comfy™ album perfect for relaxing on a chilly winter day.

Christian Vogel - Busca Invisibles

This is a remaster of producer Christian Vogel's fourth album, first released in 1999. The reissue is composed of 11 tracks of wonky synths and crispy, shuffling beats from back when digital audio workstations, or DAWs, were first becoming popular. Vogel writes of the transition in the (digital) liner notes, recalling that 

"I was now composing on DAW, recording to hard disk, mixing on hybrid digital-analogue and patching virtual modular synths. The realtime DSP revolution was in full swing, and I was discovering so much so fast. My reliable process for electronic music production had become totally fragmented by software technology. It was dizzying and quite an achievement that I managed to get anything finished at all!"

Thus, Busca Invisible isn't just a great electronic (perhaps even techno?) album—it's also a window into a major inflection point in modern music history. 

Lisabö - lorategi izoztuan hezur huts bilakatu arte

The seventh full-length album from this Spanish post-hardcore band certainly is a mouthful—and an earful. Lisabö's organic blend of brash punk 'tude, screeching guitar feedback, and swelling post-rock bombast often sounds like the prelude to a riot. The vocalist vacillates between spoken word and impassioned yells, delivering raw lyrics like "ogi gogorrak laban berria eskatzen du" ("hard bread requires a new knife") over an increasingly insistent marching beat. One almost feels compelled to reach for the nearest brick and take to the streets.

Jim Kirkwood - Herongale

One of my most unexpected musical left turns of 2023 was dungeon synth, a genre that I had long skirted around despite my love of black metal. The overlap between the two genres is fairly significant, and many attribute this to acts like Burzum who, according to black metal legend, began making synthesizer-focused music while serving a prison sentence for murder and arson. However, as I began to explore the fantastical realm of dungeon synth, I learned of artists who not only pre-dated Varg in this space, but also bridged the gap between 70s kosmische musik a la Tangerine Dream and Klaus Shulze and the moody medieval ambient of the 90s. 

Enter Jim Kirkwood, one of the most prolific and influential artists in the space, a man who has been steadily releasing (as well as re-recording and re-releasing) dark fantasy synthesizer music for over 30 years. While I am still working my way through his daunting discography of nearly 50 releases on Bandcamp—which, by the way, can be purchased for a little over $22—I thought I'd feature Kirkwood's latest album. Herongale is both a fitting introduction to his oeuvre and a testament to the timelessness of his sound, which is driven by hypnotic layers of arpeggiated keys and subtle, steadily pulsating percussion (with some strings and distorted guitars for texture). This album is also typical of the Kirkwood style in that it is roughly four hours long, so I encourage you to experience Herongale while seated in your comfiest chair with a drink, a book, dice, and/or a game controller in hand.

That about does it for this (last?) quarter. Stay tuned for more in a few months, i.e. whenever I get around to the next installment!

If you're interested in reading about my top 20 albums of 2023, head over to Invisible Oranges to see what made the cut!