Cordavision Music Reviews

Sometimes? Forever? What’s the difference? I’ve always liked Soccer Mommy’s brand of lo-fi, indie rock and what she’s gone for in terms of her content. I like all of her albums, but my personal favorite is 2020’s color theory, mainly because I think that it took her biggest strengths and concentrated it into a project. Now, we have Sometimes, Forever , a new album with a pretty big shake-up behind the scenes. Producing the album in its entirety is Daniel Lopatin, better known as Oneohtrix Point Never, who’s essentially a pioneer in electronic music and has currently found a second wind in his career with film scores and producing nearly the entirety of The Weeknd’s last project, Dawn FM . How does this clash sound? Let’s get into Sometimes, Forever . I still think Soccer Mommy’s writing and vocals are just as good here as in her past projects, and she has a way to capturing sadness into a song that’s unmatched by anyone else in the genre right now. I already think that this is her most...

I’m all for artistic choice, but the gold frame missing on the left side is pissing me off personally. I have a weirdly specific story of how I came to find out about Beach House. When I was a kid, I went to the library a lot to look through the CDs to see what they had. Most of the time, they had the duo’s 2013 album  depression cherry on the shelf. I’d take it around and hold it often because it had a felt packaging. To this day, it’s something about that physical release, and the album itself, that I feel is weirdly nostalgic for me. Why do I say ‘weirdly?’ Mainly because it’s the only Beach House album I’ve heard up to this point. I don’t know why I never went back and listened to their other albums, I just haven’t yet. Maybe the weird sectioned release strategy of their newest album, Once Twice Melody , should’ve done it, but that’s just me. Either way, I waited until the whole album was out to review this one, and it’s finally here. Let’s get into Once Twice Melody . I state...

I mean, if you name your album W, that’s just peak confidence. If you don’t know about the Japanese rock scene, that’s totally okay. Even if they aren’t the most popular group, Boris is one of the huge pillars in modern Japanese music. They’ve been active since 1993 and have had a steady output since then. Their 2005 album, PINK , is widely considered to be one of the best noise-rock albums ever. The first part of this album was released back in 2020, titled NO . With the group’s new album being titled only W , I think I’m sensing a theme here. Anyways, let’s get into it. What’s most striking about this album is that this is a slight shift away from the group’s typical sound. Instead of the stoner metal that they perform so well, W has more of a shoegaze and even a dream pop sound. Because of this shift, it makes this album one of Boris’s least heavy albums yet, maybe even the least heavy music they’ve made so far. There may be some disappointment in that, but there’s still some heavi...

Oddly enough, this is the first split album I’ve reviewed. I’ve been getting into shoegaze quite a bit recently, and one of the first and newest artists I’ve been into is South Korean musician Parannoul. Even if I didn’t get the chance to formally review it, his last solo album, To See the Next Part of the Dream , was released back in February and is one of the best albums of the year. Now, for his second release of 2021, he’s done a split album with up-and-coming shoegaze acts, Asian Glow and sonhos tomam conta, titled Downfall of the Neon Youth . Let’s get into it. I can’t say what I’ve heard of Asian Glow and sonhos tomam conta because this is the first I’m hearing of them, but they’ve all at least put out one project on their own this year, and to my knowledge, this is the first time that any of these artists have worked together. This is 10 tracks overall and just under an hour long. Both Parannoul and Asian Glow get three tracks each, but sonhos tomam conta gets four tracks. It’s...

With Poppy making and releasing so much music recently, it’s no wonder that this album’s called Flux . Poppy is one of those artists that really wouldn’t be up my alley on paper. A musician/YouTuber who used to make bubblegum pop and slowly went into a more heavy metal route and actually made one of this decade’s highest acclaimed metal albums so far. That album, I Disagree (and its deluxe reissue), is her most accomplished work yet, and even if I didn’t bring this up in my review of it, many saw her sharp turn to metal as a gimmick. I couldn’t argue those claims, but there was at least artistic merit and value there. Now, after a pretty nice EP called EAT and a noise album, we have her official fourth album, Flux . It’s not really a metal project this time around, mainly because it leans more on alternative rock and shoegaze influences. So, let’s not waste any more time and get into Flux . Before I get into Poppy herself, I’d like to shine a light on the producer of this album, Just...

Apparently, Sargent House knows who I am, so hi there! :) For those that don’t know, Deafheaven is a San Francisco post-punk group that have been praised for their work in the black metal genre. Their second album, Sunbather , isn’t only one of the most critically acclaimed black metal albums of the 2010s; it’s also typically revered as a favorite in the genre as a whole. They did that for a couple other albums, but like most bands, they gotta do something to keep themselves in the conversations, right? Well, they certainly did that. For their newest album, Infinite Granite , they mostly avoid black metal and move into a more shoegaze and dream-pop genre. It’s quite interesting and it’s been dividing their fanbase in a way that hasn’t happened in a while. So, where do I land on this? Let’s find out. So, let me get out of the way that Deafheaven is a divisive band in general. They really don’t fit in either the black metal or the shoegaze genre, and whatever you want from them is what y...