Quest For Fire - (Self-Titled)

Although they haven't been around for very long, Montreal's Quest For Fire plays like they've been together for years. The band’s self-titled debut for Tee Pee is a flavorful trip through psychedelic garage rock, and the first thing that one might notice is the attention to detail with regards to its tone. The guitars are overdriven, but in more of a classic sense, which provides for a warm feeling throughout the album. You could almost feel the heat of the tube amps if you were to put your hand up to your speakers, while patient drumming and angelic-yet-masculine vocals also work to comfort like a toasty campfire. QFF covers a wide spectrum of nostalgic-sounding riffs, while still coming off as fresh and relevant rock by avoiding the tired stoner rock thumbprint through excellent songwriting and a keen sense of their own sound. From the album's straight-up rocker, “Bison Eyes,” to the steady THC-saturated stomp of “The Hawk That Hunts the Walking,” the four-piece never stops pleasing, and all the while, keep you guessing as to when the next technicolored, smokey turn might hit you full on. They take their time with each song, fleshing out each feeling and note and rock heartily, while staying mysterious and stoic.

Jon Hassell - Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street

For over thirty-three years, trumpet player and composer Jon Hassell has been creating a world that has yet to exist. With his latest, Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street, Hassell brings the listener even closer to this alternate reality of a "Forth World," which is a blend of the traditional music of third-world countries, Western Jazz, and electronics.  Hassell plays his trumpet in long strides that paint a landscape of some familiar, yet out-of-reach places. Many times, his instrument is filtered through electronics and effects that change the timbre in a way that evoke feelings and memories of places that are simultaneously distant and regionally familiar without actually being a real place that can be found on any map. Hassell's composition exhibits a strong sense of restraint and patience, and although it can be considered minimalism, it is extremely rich music with an unfathomable depth of layers. Listening to Last Night is kind of like being on the verge of sleep while Miles Davis' In A Silent Way plays from another room. "Time And Place" lumbers forward with electric bass modes piled underneath swirls of stringed instruments and Hassell's trumpet voicings. The title track is the strongest piece on the album: a yawning string section undulates between two chords as occasional, glitchy melodies wash in and out between harmonized trumpet phrases (think a jazzier Stars Of The Lid). Last Night makes for a truly lush and beautiful listening experience that will take you all over a world that has yet to come.

Jodis - Secret House

Jodis is a weird band. Not in the sense that the music is weird, but in the way that it is not what you would expect from its members.  James Plotkin and Tim Wyskida (OLD, Blind Idiot God and the serial-killer-doom outfit, Khanate) have been longtime collaborators. They are joined by Aaron Turner (ISIS, Old Man Gloom, House of Low Culture, Lotus Eaters, Grey Machine, etc).  Already, most would expect a painful, glacially-slow and experimental take on low-tuned, heavy metal dirge-scapes, but Secret House destroys any of these preconceived expectations from the start.  Make no mistake - Secret House is as heavy as a dump truck full of anvils made out of collapsed stars, but the heaviness is not derived from Sunn amps cranked to eleven or bombastic drums. It is achieved by the use of slow-moving textures of clean, full bass, prickly, barely over-driven guitar and pitter-patter drums that phase in and out of each piece like a lonely ghost that yearns not to be forgotten, but is barely there.  Through most of the tracks, Aaron Turner's vocals are almost Gregorian chanting monk-like, which makes Secret House feel more meditative than metal (save the title track which features the growl that Turner is known for). Sound, ambience, and timbre, rather than composition and structure are the band's strong points.  Turner and Plotkin hang on to notes on "Ascent" so long, that they almost dissipate completely, only to drift back into focus though the drowsy meter as Turner croons into the void. The melody of "Continents" moves as slowly as the name suggests; slabs of monolithic bass drift under waves of trebly guitar and the sparse drumming of Tim Wyskida, that colors rather than pendulates. The album ends with the smokey finish of "Slivers," which is a soulful drone seance that displays both bluesy falsetto vocals and ISIS-style yells in the distance. With most songs on Secret House hitting the six-plus minute mark, it allows Jodis the space it needs to stretch their barren-wasteland metal out as they see fit. It requires your time and attention, but is entirely rewarding once you are caught by its inescapable gravity.

Liturgy - Renihilation

Black metal may be the the least understood avenue of rock n' roll. Mention the term to any avid music fan and the first images that come to mind are weirdo Norwegian dudes wearing all black with faces painted to look like some fucked-up hybrid of Eric Draven and Gene Simmons. It is a genre that is steeped in tales of church arsons, Satanism, personal despair, glorified suicide (i.e. Mayhem's first vocalist), and overall withdrawal from mainstream society. However, it is by these stigmas that black metal has, for the most part, been left to flourish and grow untouched. Far from Bergen and emanating from the hipster-saturated streets of Brooklyn, NY, exists Liturgy. The four-piece conjures tried-and-true black metal without all the laughable badges of authenticity (no corpse paint, a legibly-printed band name, or uncompromised recordings). Their recent release, Renihilation simultaneously pummels and mesmerizes. Songs like "Ecstatic Rite" and "Beyond The Magic Forest" deliver white-hot, repetitive riffs and blast beats that are played so lightning-fast that the effect is that of opening the lid of a washing machine during the spin cycle, and watching the clothes blur into a spinning, pulsating, polychromatic cylinder. Renihilation is a step forward for black metal and the name itself suggests a rebirth: annihilating nihilation or cancelling out nothingness. Liturgy strive to create music that uplifts and promotes cosmic unity while staying true to the genre by dishing out a fire storm of guitar, drums, and bass (yes — audible bass guitar!). Listening to this record is a mind-opening (and altering) experience and Liturgy stands to change the painted face of what might be the last frontier of music.

Trans Am - Thing

How does one describe "modern" music? Depending on who you talk to and what you read, the definition can change. The feel and sound of Trans Am has been ever-changing over the past fifteen years. Album to album, TA reconfigures what it is to be a rock band, however they have succeeded in doing this without losing the indescribable essence that is Trans Am. With this year's release of Thing, TA comes closer than ever before to establishing what it is to be a modern rock band and the album wastes no time getting your ass to move after the first track which is aptly titled "Please Wait." Right away, "Black Matter" explodes into a Bladerunner-esque groove with blazing bass synth and vocoder-treated vocals set to pounding drums. "Naked Singularity" and "Arcadia" would fit right against a setting of some post-apocalyptic pub or some outer space outpost full of galactical outcasts. This is rock music that happens to be electronic; a feat that is rarely accomplished, let alone done well. Thing is definitely cinematic in scope but don't think for a second that TA forgot the riffs. "Heaven's Gate" and "Maximum Yield" are chock full of mountainous slabs of guitar hell. Think of a high-gain Surveillance. More tranquil moments on this LP include "Interstellar Drift" and the Krautrock-flavored finish of "Space Dock." TA has mastered the art of soundtracking the past's future, and with this polished scrap, has set a standard for truly modern rock n' roll . If you want the full experience of Thing, turn down the lights, turn up the volume, stare at a Syd Mead painting, and enjoy the rocket ride.