Glintshake (ГШ) - ОЭЩ МАГЗИУ (2016)

Perhaps it was fate. This band and album were brought to my attention via Spotify's recommendation, appearing on my home page recently on the list "More Like Mikael Tariverdiev". While I will argue that this band is musically nothing like the great Soviet film composer, I was also not complain because this has easily been one of the better musical finds I have stumbled upon recently. Glintshake come from Moscow. They apparently started out as a more straightforward indie rock/post-punk band before taking an abrupt turn recently, shortening their name to ГШ and adopting more Russian and avant-garde influences into their sound and approach. As a result, while the music on this album often retains a post-punk character, there is a lot of other stuff going on as well. Reference points are a bit useless since this band really has a unique sound of its own. Do you like music that balances artiness and accessibility, particularly with scratchy guitar, herky-jerky rhythms and hooks seemingly coming out of nowhere? Okay great, same here.

The album opens in a most intimidating fashion with an intense 12-minute epic. A repetitive, discombobulated drum-bass groove runs throughout, later joined in by persistently aggressive and dissonant guitar strums, abstract vocal interjections from vocalist/guitarist Ekaterina Shilonosova, and some weird horn and flute noises and shit. At first I was all like, "Whoa, what the hell is going on?" IT IS AMAZING! The rest of the album walks a slightly more accessible line, at least  following some sort of a verse-chorus-verse format most of the time. In fact, it is quite catchy in a consistently interesting and off-kilter way. And Shilonosova has an appealing voice that is a perfect fit for the band's musical style. Glintshake toes an avant-garde line often, but their music is also very melodic and playful in an approachable way. This isn't some dour, dull plod too arty and pretentious for its own good. Additionally, the band is quite tightly wound and precise in their approach. While there is a serious level of musicianship going on this album and the music is very well-thought-out, it avoids a certain slickness that would have muted the excitement and spontaneity on display. But perhaps most important this is FUN to listen to. Drop what you're doing right now and listen to this album. Thank you.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5nvKnQ5e6UwZRoNLsRgFYb

Kronos Quartet - Folk Songs (2017)

The Kronos Quartet have been making forward-thinking music for several decades now, weaving in and out of all types of classical and modern music repertoires. It may seem like they're playing it safe with a release like this. Covering traditional folk standards? Guest vocalists, including Natalie Merchant? Thankfully, the ending result is a fully engaging experience and not an overtly polite NPR snoozefest (sorry, NPR!). That's not to say this record is inaccessible--quite the opposite, actually. The Kronos Quartet are simply able to find austere, beautiful ways to approach these classic songs. Even with all of this restraint, there is a lot of excitement put into the song selection and arrangements, and the group always plays with a careful balance of precision and edge. Even with all of the excellent guest vocalists contributing, the song that arguably stands out the most is an instrumental rendition of Geeshie Wiley's haunting "Last Kind Words", with soaring violin parts taking the place of the vocals. Folk Songs is further evidence of the range and fearlessness of the Kronos Quartet.
https://open.spotify.com/album/2ZSxyiSmqmpeC5I2D2XrnQ