Elijah’s Top 5:

The Dark, Chelsea Wolfe (Loma Vista). Armed with a new set of collaborators, Chelsea Wolfe maintains her career’s consistent level of quality while always touching on new and distinct moods. More than anything, the melancholy is beautiful and the darkness is warm and inviting. Wolfe’s previous forays into acoustic folk, electronic, and doom music are all evoked together here into one highly compelling body.

The Grove | Almanac, Warforged (The Artisan Era). Another pinnacle of consistent quality, the force of nature that is Warforged boils down aggression and atmosphere into the perfect stew of catharsis.

Netzach, Jon Madof Trio (Tzadik). An instrumental, guitar-led klezmer project, constantly crossing the lines between high-octane and heartfelt. The twists and turns on this album are often unpredictable, but always worthwhile.

Nine, Russian Circles (Sargent House). Instrumental rock institution Russian Circles have been getting heavier and heavier on their last few albums, and the trend continues here. Even as their riffs get louder, however, they do not sacrifice their density, the power trio’s arrangements building into broader compositional ideas than one would imagine possible with so few instruments.

The Triumph of Time and the Disillusioned, Labor of the Negative (I, Voidhanger). It is a rare month when a release from the Italy-based I, Voidhanger label doesn’t make the monthly list, and this is not a rare month in that respect. Here we have a top-notch slab of darkness built on grinding guitars and haunting, noir-tinged brass instruments. Includes one of the most standout vocal performances I’ve ever heard, consistently sounding like he’s being tortured internally and externally at the same time.

Adriane’s Top 5:

blue fifty-eight, Ken Ueno and Wukir Suryadi (Blue Tapes). I’m a simple girl. I like noisy, hour-long compilations of nature sounds and handmade instruments that come together in aural expressions of absolute doom. And so it is on new Blue Tapes release blue fifty-eight, a collaboration between sound artist Ken Ueno and Wukir Suryadi of Indonesian gamelan metal band Senyawa. Made up of a single composition (“Earth Song”) broken up onto two sides of a cassette, it’s noisy and cathartic–and, somehow, meditative.

Casual Talk, Waking Suns (Magnetic Paws). A crisp edge elevates the atmosphere of Casual Walk beyond the ease of retro chillwave and down more adventurous sonic paths. Made up of Mogwaa and Xin Seha, duo Waking Suns stays cool, but never shies away from heating things up with heavy hits of guitar fuzz, bass and drum, and crystal clear vocals.

Edge of Calm, Tiffany Young (Pacific Music Group/Dreamus). In 2016, Tiffany was one of two SNSD lead vocalists to release a solo EP, and hers was by far the best, much to my chagrin as a Jessica stan. Ten years later, her first full-length release Edge of Calm is even better, moving away from the dance beats and embracing contemporary R&B sounds beautifully suited to her velvety vocal tones. No bangers here, but what a vibe!

Leap Life, Saul Williams (Big Dada). Singular poet and otherwise multifaceted artist and performer Saul Williams offers unyielding clarity on Leap Life, an album of bold social commentary and meaningful textures from across the African diaspora (jazz, hip hop, amapiano, and so on). As always, his is a perspective and delivery that commands attention, art and craft with something, genuinely, to say about the state of things and why small acts of revolution still count in the era of late capitalism. In his words on single “Mazahua”: “A kid throws a rock at a tank / It’s just a rock / What is it against a tank / But it’s not the size of the rock / It’s the precision.”

Refractions, Cornelius (Eat Your Own Ears). Cornelius is here for a good time AND a long time, thank goodness, and Refractions is yet another energetic addition to his eclectic catalogue. A warm and jazzy introduction baits and switches us; a quick rev-up into bouncy, off-kilter synthpop takes us on one heck of a trip. With guest features from new wave band the Monochrome Set, multigenerational experimental artist Sean Ono Lennon, and masterful avant-garde guitarist Arto Lindsay, Refractions is a thrill.