The New Music Thread Genre • Page 8

OhTheWater · Jul 6, 2026

My Skyscraper’ represents 40 years or so of works, re-works and works-forever-in-progress of one Steven Hall, aka Nirosta Steel — son of Scotland; step-son of the United States of America; adopted Daddy of Taiwan; Five-Star General in the Buddhist Army; legendary horndog stickman (we have pics!); friend, neighbor, collaborator and co-conspirator of Arthur Russell; and one of the most jawdroppingly sincere songwriting voices you’ll hear in this wretched modern era. Sure, that’s a metric fuck-ton of descriptors for a single person. But it's sorta impossible to capture the full scope of this human being named Steven Hall.

‘My Skyscraper’ doesn’t really even scratch at the surface of his output. And plenty of material is already out there — a devastating 1999 live [but not exactly your standard live recording] called Cool Fire; an EP produced with Russell called Foxy Pup; all his work with the storied outfit Arthur’s Landing, a not-quite-tribute group formed to carry Russell’s torch; and quite a load more. But it’s always a rare and specific constellation of ideas and motifs: queer love songs — night life, giddy desire and odes to lovers of yesterday. There’s the anti-vibrato ethos he shared with Russell always present in the vocal stretches and horn performances. Sexy AF window-buffet disco. Cloudfolk earlobe-lick confessionals. Post-rave sauna-wave. We culled ‘My Skyscraper’ from a few hours-worth of longform mixes Hall sent to us last year. Right away, we noted he also shares with Russell a forever-sculpting approach to songcraft. A folk version of a song here; clubbed out disco version of that same one over there. An absolutely maniacal organizational process that had us triple-checking our metadata. No, we've never met a dada quite like Hall. A True Scotch-American wildass. There’s a dance song originally penned for Madonna in the early 80s (“ENGLISH PARTY”) and an unhinged falset-toe industrikal sludgefunk banger (“YHEMA”). “BOSS TRIX (BENNY’S SONG)” is a seductive deep-house ode to a former Taiwanese boyfriend whose profound intellect was only matched by his ability to shoot a load of come up over his own head — which, now that we think about it, is exactly what the song sounds like, in a good way. Side C of this double vinyl features two super-longform acoustic meditations recorded with Russell. And we have right here 22+ minutes of their Buddhist Bubblegum praxis on full peacock plumage display — Russell’s transcendental tippytap drums propelling us along as Hall works through koan after koan of melody and poetics. The stunning ‘GO FOR THE NIGHT’ — co-written with Russell and performed here with Arthur’s Landing — is lounge-y elegant jazz-pop in the way of Sade that captures the quiet percolating anticipation an approaching night at the club. Will the boy be there? Only one way to find out. Put your headphones on and go for the night.

OotyPa · Jul 7, 2026

this rocks

As the latest creation to emerge from Colombia’s effervescent scene of rich hybridizations, Nuevos Ríos offers a breathtaking dive into the Afro-descendant traditions of the Colombian Pacific, elevated by electronic and amplified elements. The result is stunning: an odyssey that never strays from its course, transcending boundaries and guiding listeners along the discovery of a new river full of winding paths. In this music, we feel tropical heat, the embodied force of musical traditions, and the sweat of European dancefloors in a unique cocktail—instantly addictive, at times introspective, and always irresistibly danceable.

Wharf Rat · Jul 8, 2026 at 6:46 PM

need to be in this thread

OotyPa · Jul 8, 2026 at 7:17 PM

Now the coolest people on chorus are here

OotyPa · Jul 10, 2026 at 11:14 AM

Edgar debuts on Dark Entries with Pavor, an 11 track LP of sleazy disco, warped synthpop, and gothic cumbia. Veteran musician Luis Gutierrez has spent the past two decades touring in bands, running Lalalandia Studio, and building his practice in Oakland and Guadalajara. But now, for his first solo outing, he has become Edgar, a pop star who knows no limits.

The Belgian trio brightens up its sound a smidge on its second album, filled with heady, psychedelic songs that house a tenuous optimism.

Sergeant remain one of the headiest bands out, and one of the most searching. Marnef’s lyrics, like the song titles, are syntactically psychedelic but evoke clear meaning. (This is inverted in the band’s production, which sometimes takes a familiar form—jittery IDM song, krautrock groove—before expanding into something wilder and less placeable.)

OotyPa · Jul 12, 2026 at 2:34 PM

OotyPa said:

finally got to this and did not enjoy at all

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The New Music Thread Genre • Page 8

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