Settle Into Autumnal Grooves With These Three Albums
Let Mythic Sunship, Trick Mist, and Eerie Wanda envelop you in atmospheric beauty.
The past few newsletters have been about well-knowns like Beck and Yeah Yeah Yeahs because their excellent albums warrant the reviews, but I’m ready to dive back into some recent deeper cuts. We’ve had an abnormally gray week here in Santa Fe with plenty of rain, which opens me up to music of an unhurried pace while transferring back into hoodie and flannel life. These three records from Mythic Sunship, Trick Mist, and Eerie Wanda deserve your attention, so let us get into it!
Mythic Sunship - Light/Flux
Longtime readers know that nothing peaks my ear interest like some instrumental jams. I don’t have any interest in tales of teenage heartbreak anymore - I want the riffs, man. Enter Denmark’s Mythic Sunship and their latest, Light/Flux for six continuous pieces of “the ethos of free jazz in a doom setting.” Combining freeform jazz and 70s heavy psychedelia, the group is now on their fifth acclaimed album, and Light/Flux is just as good, if not better than before. Mythic Sunship’s unique blend of Krautrock beats, chugging riffs, and saxophone is now their own genre of music, and this latest set is the perfect opportunity to drift off on your Friday afternoon.
Trick Mist - The Hedge Maze and the Spade
A few weeks ago, Headstuff Music Editor and friend of the newsletter Andrew Lambert recommended The Hedge Maze and the Spade from Trick Mist. Built upon loops of field recordings and samples, The Hedge Maze and the Spade is uniquely Irish in its sound and delivery yet presents universal themes of loss, nostalgia, and optimism in difficult times. Suffice it to say, this one has struck a real chord, and I’ve been spinning it constantly ever since. Today, Headstuff published Lambert’s interview with Gavin Murray, who performs as Trick Mist, and it’s well worth your time to read it while listening to one of the year’s most unconventional and stunning albums.
“I think writing about childhood memories, where some of the album is positioned, allowed me to access that positivity. I think childhood memories have this amazingly surreal quality and I suppose I wanted to enlarge that and put wonder under the microscope. The album is steeped in nature so that would always help with installing a sense of hope and beauty too.” - Gavin Murray from his Headstuff Interview
Read the Headstuff interview here.
Eerie Wanda - Internal Radio
In a world of short attention spans and corporate-bought algorithms, it’s more difficult now than ever to give atmospheric, slow-burning records their room to breathe. I found myself in this position with Internal Radio, the new record from Marina Tadic, who performs as Eerie Wanda in the Netherlands. I knew something grand was in here, and I’m glad I kept returning to this gorgeous record. Kicking off the album with plunging piano bass notes, “Sail To the Silver Sun” is the perfect statement for this melancholy work that builds at its own intimate pace. “NOWx100” and “Long Time” are other early highlights, with the latter, dare I say, working into Mazzy Star territory. Autumnal and meant for late nights, Internal Radio drifts through dream pop soundscapes while meeting the season head-on with “Someone’s In My House” for the ultimate Michael Myers Spooky Boy vibes.
Bandcamp Fridays are something I’ve championed since starting the newsletter a few years ago, and for the first time, my new record label gets to be a part of it. For the uninitiated, Bandcamp created the day during the pandemic when artists could not tour and sell merch to make a living. To help in any way they can, Bandcamp Fridays waive the site’s fees they take from each sale, and all money goes straight to the artist. Mama Mañana Records released our first EP this past Tuesday, Empty Dreams by Hubba. If you’ve considered purchasing the cassette or digital copy, today is a lovely day to do it, as we’ll receive one hundred percent of your purchase. The money isn’t going to a new Benz but to supplies that help us build toward our upcoming releases. To all of you who have purchased a copy, we’re so thankful, and the cassettes are on their way, packed with some goodies as a thank you. We’re a two-person outfit, and any support is appreciated during these lean times that everyone is experiencing. We couldn’t do this without you!
And for those who asked for t-shirts, we’ll have them available next week!
"And for those who asked for t-shirts, we’ll have them available next week!"
Here for the merch. :)