TranscendNoise

50. Pray For Sound – Waves / Mono – Nowhere Here Now Post-Rock carried me through my teenage years and will always stand as a genre of contemplative sounds, dramatic crescendos and mirroring experiences of nature of emotion in (mostly) instrumental sounds made by a band flowing together into a holistic entity. In recent years, many bands changed it up, have taken their sounds into more electronics realms, started to experiment with vocals more. Even Mono made the choice of letting their bass player Tamaki come to the forefront and deliver breathy vocals to their usual blend of tender destruction. Gladly for Mono, this move served as a welcome addition to their incredible body of work. Pray for Sound seemingly discontinue the progression of the genre, the need to reinvent to stay relevant or avoid a creative misfire of repetition by sticking to their guns, taking instrumental music and fleshing out the sound and interplay as a band. Waves as a listening experience is full of nost...

30. ANOHNI – Hopelessness A drone attack leaving behind a girl wishing for death. The world burning as a cause of climate change, leaving the animals suffering and dead. The state of surveillance, being a happy reality of watching the watchers. Claiming to be a progressive western state, while still killing in the name of justice. Losing your love for it was something that only brought you pain. The leader everybody placed his hopes in, who couldn´t, for the life of him, change the unchangeable. The undercurrent of a world dominated by men being in turn dominated by bloodshed and Darwinist ideals. Losing your connection to the world you live in, mourning the death of your life-world. The effects of fighting alleged terrorism by acts of terrorism yourself, violence leading to acts against the violators. You yourself are the problem, the virus. Hello Americanism, disease without cure. If you´re dealing with music most of the time, you might run low on reading the news and ge...

40. Frank Ocean – Nikes ( Blonde ) “These bitches want Nikes” might be one of my favorite lines of this year. I Can´t give any rational explanation akin to the depth of such a statement, it just sounds incredibly good especially in the auto-tuned madness of Frank Ocean. While Blonde is full of great songs and an emotional and introspective ride that only someone like Ocean could pull off, “Nikes” is the perfect intro and re-introduction through the unfamiliar. If someone doesn´t need to pitch shift his voice, it is Ocean, but when he does, it becomes something as surreal, as the world “Nikes” introduces us to. This fashion of rnb melancholy still is something fresh and evocative and Ocean is truly a master of this craft. Frank Ocean - 'Nikes' from DoBeDo Productions on Vimeo . 39. Drake – U With Me? // Controlla ( Views ) Drake´s latest album was the first to receive deeper criticism of some flaws, his music has had throughout his career, but which became...

10. Saba – Comfort Zone Strange dancing Chicago rapper Saba is the best newcomer in Hip Hop this year. Well, he has been around but this mixtape will hopefully turn a bunch a people on to him. Comfort Zone works in almost every direction of hip hop you want it to. There is the socially conscious, the fame-rap and many positive messages. Saba´s style of rapping is as variable as it is enjoyable. For someone making this kind of blend, not going into the dark, scruffy or gangsta rap might be a stepping stone as such, but hopefully, with affiliation to the likes of Chance The Rapper and the overall urge to finally deliver more positivity in hip hop music (read: messages that evoke thinking and not having a good time) hopefully Saba will see great success and musical growth in the future. Read my full review here. 09. WIFE – What´s Between James Kelly, the man behind WIFE is better known for his work with Alter of Plagues, a black metal act , that as many ...