This is batch 3 of the posts that I make for noting some of the great albums which came out in current year of 2020, and usually touch upon 3-4 albums which have been added to my library this year.
Pyrrhon - Abscess Time
Genre: Extreme Metal, Technical Death Metal, Avant Garde Metal
Release Date: June 26, 2020
Pyrrhon probably is one of most interesting but really hard to get into acts in extreme metal right now, with two stellar albums before this release where they seamlessly blend Technical Death Metal Hardcore and Noise into their hard sound with very philosophical lyrics bordering on pretentious how can they top it. I am pleased to say this is Pyrrhon's best work yet, the noise and drone elements are explored more with some obvious early Swans influences going on, this allows Pyrrhon to explore with the idea of space and makes the album more dynamic. This is not to say that there are not crushing riffs and super fast technical playing, yes of course there it and the band seems to have only upped their execution. This is an album which challenges the listener on every aspect of the listening experience and that obviously makes the audience of such album very limited but boy-of-boy this is a delight for me. On the production front Colin Marston does a great job on sparse components of the album giving organic dynamics to the flow the album.
My Morning Jacket - Waterfall II
Genre: Indie Folk, Indie Rock
Release Date: July 10, 2020
My Morning Jacket is a standard A tier indie rock band, with some notable albums like Z and At Dawn followed by 'just pleasent' indie rock and folk. Waterfall was an enjoyable album but apart from couple of songs I had no desire to revisit, so I am very glad when I checked out Waterfall II, this is definitely their best offering since Z, and the sonic textures in this album go from dream pop, psychedelic, country rock and folk but it all works together very well. The three song run of Magic Bullet - Run It - Wasted is enough to sell me on this album but then you also have other amazing highlights like Feel You and Spinning My Wheels. Also this album is a grower, I knew this was a great album when I heard it the first time but it has grown on me significantly.
Animal Collective - Bridge To Quiet
Genre: Indietronic, Experimental Pop, Ambient
Release Date: July 4, 2020
Well, there is no question that Animal Collective is one of the most forward-thinking pop groups putting out amazing material as a collective of via individual members for quite a few years now. After the excellent run of studio albums in the 2000s their output in 2010s so far has been underwhelming, this EP, however, is four tracks in the right direction. Each track is ~10 mins long and can be defined as calculated indulgence. The sound of this EP is impeccable, even with long-winded ambient passages like in title track, Animal Collective manages to keep things very interesting by introducing subtle instrumentations in various places. What this EP lacks in cohesion it makes up for a gauntlet of ideas packed in 30 mins and I can't wait for an album making use of these ideas into a more impeccable execution.
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