Messthetics, “Quantum Path” (Dischord). Are Messthetics the best Dischord band since Lungfish or Slant 6? Quite possibly. Maybe that’s not surprising, given that Fugazi’s Brendan Canty (drums) and Joe Lally (bass) form Messthetics’ rhythm section. (Jazz/experimental guitarist Anthony Pirog fills out the lineup.) They play flinty instrumental rock that flaunts interesting, highly torqued dynamics—sort of like a more linear, controlled Lightning Bolt. “Quantum Path” is a roiling anthem in search of a vocalist, but thankfully it doesn’t need one, as the players summon a revolutionary energy that sounds like a recruitment ad for leftist political activism. You can find the track on their album, The Messthetics, out now.
Jimi Hendrix, “Lover Man” (Experience Hendrix/Legacy). It’s the world’s greatest guitarist in his comfort zone, playing mercurial blues rock, and that’s more than enough. This might be like the 57th best Jimi Hendrix song, but it’s still better than your best song. The way Hendrix flamboyantly filigrees the basic hard-riffing structure of the tune is, of course, what separates him from the pretenders to his crown. And even if this number comes from yet another archival cash-in, it’s still worthy of your diminishing attention span. “Lover Man” is a previously unreleased song from Both Sides of the Sky, a collection of material cut from 1968 to 1970, out now.
Shopping, “Wild Child” (FatCat). A queer post-punk trio from London, Shopping proved themselves to be a wicked bundle of joyous, coiled energy at their recent Vera Project show. Their newish, Edwyn Collins-produced album, The Official Body, jabs and shimmies with the bass-heavy social consciousness of early UK post-punk royalty Delta 5 and Au Pairs, with some early B-52s and ESG ebullience tossed in for good measure. “Wild Child” rides a caffeinated, tensile rhythm, its urgent, stealthy bass line and clap-enhanced beats thrusting you onward with a great sense of purpose. The vocals carry an empowering militancy, as the lyrics espouse nonconformity. Despite their lackluster name, Shopping are one of the best young rock groups operating today.
Mary Lattimore, “Hello from the Edge of the Earth” (Ghostly International). An LA-based harpist perhaps best known for her work on the Thrill Jockey label in collaboration with Jeff Zeigler, Mary Lattimore goes solo for the mostly electronic-oriented Ghostly International, and the result is an incredibly beautiful delicacy like “Hello from the Edge of the Earth.” The ambient backdrop recalls the preternaturally peaceful tones of Brian Eno’s Discreet Music, while above Lattimore plucks a melody that exudes a cozy charm and luscious frailty. The piece conveys the sentiment that everything is going to be just fine, even as our mind tells us just the opposite. (You can find this track on the Hundreds of Days LP, out May 18.)
William Selman, “Polysemy” (Mysteries of the Deep). Formerly a producer of atypical techno under the alias Warmdesk, Portland’s William Selman has evolved into a musician more in the vein of Jon Hassell and Visible Cloaks: creating exotic, atmospheric music that seemingly exists in countries or on planets that haven’t been discovered yet. This sort of sonic conjuring, this striving for unprecedented moods and timbres, remains a musician’s most noble achievement, in my opinion. On his new album, Musica Enterrada (out April 6), Selman succeeds in gently disorienting you, inducing that rare feeling of being tranquilly unsettled. “Polysemy” means “the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase,” and the term embodies Selman’s track of the same name’s sense of multifarious interpretations for a piece that exists in an amoebic state of unpindownability. Revel in its mystery.
Noteworthy March 30 album releases: Frankie Cosmos, Vessel (Sub Pop); Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour (MCA Nashville); Amen Dunes, Freedom (Sacred Bones); MF DOOM & Czarface, Czarface Meets Metal Face! (Silver Age); Chris Carter, Chemistry Lessons, Vol. 1 (Mute); The Weeknd, My Dear Melancholy (Republic); Mount Eerie, Now Only (P.W. Elverum & Sun); Bettye LaVette, Things Have Changed (Verve); Holy Wave, Adult Fear (Reverberation Appreciation Society); The Voidz, Virtue (Cult/RCA); Naked Giants, SLUFF (New West); Sons of Kemet, Your Queen Is a Reptile (Impulse!); Dead Meadow, The Nothing They Need (Xemu); Jean Grae and Quelle Chris, Everything’s Fine (Mello Music Group); Adrian Younge, Voices of Gemma (Linear Labs); ZEKE, Hellbender (Relapse); Suede, Suede 25th Anniversary Reissue (Edsel).
