Non-Metal Music
Non-Metal Music Threads
Bauhaus - "In the Flat Field" (1980)
I've always quite liked the debut album from this legendary Northamptonshire gothic rock outfit but I have to admit that it's perhaps more accurate to describe it as a playlist contributor for me than a cohesive full-album experience because the material offers me a variety of levels of appeal if I'm being honest. For example, I absolutely adore the dark atmospherics of "The Spy in the Cab" which has always been a big song for me since my goth club days in the mid-1990's but then a track like "Small Talk Stinks" seems pretty disposable & a creative failure in comparison. When taken holistically, I'd suggest that "In the Flat Field" is more of a passing interest than a genuine passion but I have given tracks like "Nerves" & the title track many spins over the years, particularly since the arrival of Spotify.
For fans of Siouxsie & the Banshees, Joy Division & The Cure.
3.5/5
His Name is Alive - " Love Can't Buy Happiness" (1990)
This obscure demo tape seems to have gained somewhat of a cult following over the years so I thought I'd see what it's about. You can expect a sound that utilizes sound collage techniques in combination with post-rock & dream pop elements to create a warm, fuzzy atmosphere. The 17-song tracklisting is a little bit hit & miss but the stronger tracks tend to be the longer ones which has seen me coming away from "Love Can't Buy Happiness" with a predominantly positive feeling.
For fans of Natural Snow Buildings, Stars of the Lid & Lovesliescrushing.
3.5/5
Rhythm & Sound - "The Versions" (2003)
This is a remixes collection of material taken from the above-mentioned "w/ the Artists" album & it's just as incredible too, even if it requires a little more patience again due to its repetitive nature & minimal construction. If pushed, I'd probably suggest that I slightly favour the original album as the vocals are incredible & "The Versions" is mostly instrumental but there's very little in it & both should be regarded as being essential dub releases from the important Berlin scene.
For fans of Deepchord, Deadbeat & Paul St. Hilaire.
4.5/5
Agent Orange - "Bloodstains" E.P. (1980)
A short three-song affair that spans just five minutes in duration & represents the earliest proper releases from this California hardcore surf punk trio. I fucking love the title track which carries this record & is an absolute classic of the early hardcore scene in my opinion. The other two songs "America" & "Bored With You" are pretty decent too but sound noticeably different to the illustrious opener, often displaying more than a hint of Motorhead at times. This is a high-quality recording that should offer plenty of appeal to the punk crowd.
For fans of Black Flag, Germs & Circle Jerks.
4/5
Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle (2009)
Genres: Americana, Alt-Country, Chamber Folk, Country Folk, Singer/Songwriter
Bill Callahan is a name that's well-regarded in the Americana scene, but I rarely ever go on full-on Americana binges. They come out of the blue, mostly out of necessity to explore a scene, and usually I only get through a couple albums by an artist rather than a deep exploration, Callahan included. But due to his new album being well-received, and my disappointment with MEC's Sojourner, I decided I'd finally just get the guy's opus out of the blue.
Now my original intent was to check out a few of his other works before heading to the opus, but the other two works, while good, didn't grab me by the heart, so I disregarded him in place of other Americana artists. But I'm glad I up and chose to listen to this after the two-hour repetitive MEC album posing as a box set. See, most Americana albums... I tend not to be impressed with because there's a very common habit of Americana fans slapping multiple genre tags on an album where each genre is largely built for slow guitar and drum songs, and the emotional range is limited to sad or calming songs. This isn't creativity to me.
But with this album, it's different. You may find that the genre tags for this album are largely the same, but replacing post-rock with chamber folk. And this combination is balanced and unpredictable at the same time, adding various kinds of repeating instrumentations that one can't guess at all, much like a clever EDM album. This greatly helps with the autumn vibe expressed on the album cover. This can easily save many of the songs that drag on a minute or two longer than they otherwise need to. In fact, a part of me even fell in love with the seventh track, All Thoughts Are Prey to Some Beast. Easily an Americana favorite of mine. On this subject of the creativity, most of the repetition and drawn out behavior take place in the first half, but is not enough to drag the whole album down. It's largely absent in the second half, with the exception of the nine minute epic, Faith / Void, which, with its chorus, justifies the 50-something appearances of "what if" in the titular Creed song. The instrumentation still finds room for raw autumn beauty.
Now the internet is under the impression that this is Callahan's opus. I'm not QUITE sure I'd call it that, but it's close. I slightly prefered Dream River for its combination of prog folk and psych folk elements. Still, this is a very clever album that stays enjoyable while being slower than necessary. It's a good atmospheric folk piece that I recommend hearing at least once.
84
Yellow Magic Orchestra - "Solid State Survivor" (1979)
The most highly celebrated of this Japanese synthpop outfits many studio albums is yet another one that fails to connect with me on any level due to its inherently cheesy approach to music production. A lot of this material sounds like a cheap early-80's video game soundtrack which I assume is a large part of the appeal for some people but which puts me off pretty majorly. I'd probably take "Solid State Survivor" over the first two Yellow Magic Orchestra records but it still never manages to ascend out of the garbage bin at the back of my home office & I think 1981's "BGM" follow-up was a good couple of steps up from here, even if I still have no time for that particular release either.
For fans of Telex, Kraftwerk & Ryuichi Sakamoto.
2/5
Harold Budd - "The Pavilion of Dreams" (1978)
The second full-length from this Californian ambient legend is a pretty decent listen, if not as classic as it's often made out to be. It's four lengthy tracks sit in more of a new age space than an ambient one with a clear jazz & classical component appearing at times. It's perhaps not as exciting as I would like but there are no weak moments included. I don't think it's Budd's best work (not even close) but that hasn''t stopped it from playing a role in a couple of relaxing drives to & from work this week.
For fans of Brian Eno, Pharoah Sanders & Hiroshi Yoshimura.
3.5/5
Bohren & der Club of Gore - "Black Earth" (2002)
After my incredibly successful revisit to 2000's "Mission Sunset" album recently, I thought I'd pull out my old "Black Earth" CD too & have been rewarded to an equally mind-blowing extent. These guys are quite frankly playing on another level to the rest of the dark jazz scene & I now have to speak of them in terms of being one of my very favourite musical artists overall. "Black Earth" is even deeper, darker & more stripped back than "Mission Sunset" was & sits right up my alley from a stylistic point of view. I think I'd give its predecessor a slight edge over it in terms of overall consistency these days though but there's very little in it as both are pretty much perfect. I challenge any doom metal fan to tell me that this jazz is not their bag.
For fans of Dale Cooper Quartet & The Dictaphones, The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble & Mount Fuji Doomjazz Corporation.
5/5
Ministry - "The Land of Rape and Honey" (1988)
I introduced Ben to these Chicago industrial metal legends through the more popular tracks from their classic 1992 fifth album "ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ [Psalm 69]" shortly after it was released & those experiences saw him racing out & purchasing the CD post haste. We both went pretty nuts for that record for a long while afterwards & Ben would subsequently go about picking up a handful of other Ministry CDs in the coming months, including 1988's excellent "The Land of Rape & Honey" third album which is the centre of this discussion. It was the first Ministry record to see mastermind Al Jourgensen's signature sound starting to take shape with songs like the brilliant high-octane industrial metal anthem "The Missing" & the very solid industrial rock/metal hybrid "Deity" being closest to the mark. "The Land of Rape & Honey" is very much a story of two halves though with the B side being dominated by more of an electro-industrial sound like we'd heard on a chunk of Ministry's more-than-decent 1986 sophomore album "Twitch". For this reason, I'm gonna suggest that "The Land of Rape & Honey" feels a little like a transition record as it hasn't quite committed to its sound as yet but is still full of high-quality industrial music. Thankfully, I'm more than down for some well-produced electro-industrial material, as evidenced by how nuts I've gone for the powerful dancefloor number "You Know What You Are" this week which I'm pretty devastated I never considered dropping into my club sets while DJing during the 2000's. The quality does fade a little over the last couple of tracks though with electro closer "Abortive" in particular sounding like a bit of a mess.
I'm sure there's probably a bit of a nostalgia factor with how much enjoyment I've gotten out of this release this week but I'm gonna suggest that it's a slightly better record than 1996's highly regarded sixth full-length "Filth Pig" or the previously mentioned "Twitch", even if it doesn't reach the upper echelons of Ministry's potential like the incredible trio of "The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste", "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (Live)" & "ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ [Psalm 69]" did during their 1989-1992 heyday. Any Ministry fan worth their salt should definitely be well versed in "The Land of Rape & Honey" though because Al hasn't produced anything of this quality for well over three decades now.
For fans of Skinny Puppy, Front 242 & KMFDM.
4/5
Chelsea Wolfe - "Birth of Violence" (2019)
I've intended on exploring some of Wolfe's solo material in more detail for a long time now (ever since falling in love with her collaboration with Converge "Bloodmoon: I" back in 2020 actually) but haven't gotten around to it until now, although I have skipped through her 2015 "Abyss" record on occasion. "Birth of Violence" is Chelsea's ninth full-length & sees her combining gothic country & dark folk to brilliant effect. Her voice is incredibly powerful yet super-sweet at the same time & I have to admit that I've somewhat fallen in love with her talents over the past week. This record is dark & introspective yet still devastatingly emotive & dynamic & I can't help but feel that it's been heavily underrated as I consider it to be nothing short of classic.
For fans of Emma Ruth Rundle, Jay Jayle & Darkher.
4.5/5
Basic Channel - "Q 1.1" E.P. (1993)
The second E.P. from this legendary German techno duo is almost as impressive as their first but is perhaps a touch less consistent. It sees the dub techno godfathers veering away from their dubbier sound towards more of a traditional techno one that offered me just as much appeal. I can vividly remember playing A1 & B1 (my personal favourite) in my club DJ sets & receiving very strong responses while I also took A2 along with me on occasion but are not sure I ever got around to dropping it. I love the organic drum machine sounds of old & they're masterfully layered over smooth synth stabs here which ensures that "Q 1.1" E.P. should be essential listening for any aspiring techno nuts out there.
For fans of Maurizio, Cyrus & Porter Ricks.
4/5
Zbigniew Preisner - "Trois couleurs: Blanc" soundtrack (1994)
The second film in the "Trois couleurs" series once again offers a beautiful classical score from Polish composer Zbigniew Priesner. It's perhaps even more stripped back & minimal than its more popular predecessor "Trois couleurs: Bleu" although, if pushed, I'd suggest that I slightly prefer this one. Neither are on the same level as Preisner's classic 1991 "La double vie de Véronique" though which remains my favourite of the Preisner work I've heard to date.
For fans of Arvo Pärt, Yann Tiersen & Michael Nyman.
4/5
Eric Clapton - "Unplugged" (1992)
My father picked this live album up on cassette when I was 16 or 17 years old & played the absolute shit out of it in the car & around the house so it was interesting to discover just how well I know the songs this week. It was also interesting to find that, despite his imposing legacy as a guitarist, Clapton's smooth voice is the main source of appeal with this MTV unplugged session. There aren't all that many genuine highlight tracks but there are only a couple of duds amongst the fourteen tracks included too (see "Alberta" & "San Francisco Bay Blues") so I've come away feeling fairly positive overall. The acoustic rock of "Lonely Stranger" & the stripped back acoustic blues of "Walkin' Blues" are my clear picks of the bunch. It's quite a nice release but isn't something that I connect with enough to see me returning again in the future. I think it's a little too unintimidating & vanilla for that to be honest.
For fans of Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer & JJ Cale.
3.5/5
Dead Can Dance - "Garden of the Arcane Delights" E.P. (1984)
This four-song E.P. was recorded during the same sessions as Dead Can Dance's self-titled debut album from earlier in 1984 &, thankfully, the quality is just as good as the full-length although the E.P. represents somewhat of a transition release between the Melbournites' early gothic rock sound & their later darkwave one with two songs from each category included. "In Power We Entrust the Love Advocated" is an all-time favourite of mine & may be the peak for the entire goth rock genre actually. I used to play & sing it at parties back when I first met my wife. Closer "Flowers of the Sea" is a stunning example of Lisa Gerrard's otherworldly talents too. I can't tell you how much I adore this artist but, if pushed, I slightly favour "Dead Can Dance" over the E.P. which isn't the general consensus these days.
For fans of Lycia, Drab Majesty & Trance to the Sun.
4.5/5
Here's the 2026 edition. Five albums got kicked off, a couple got rearranged, and I'm surprised I have such an obscurity like that Solaris album down there.
POiSON GiRL FRiEND - "Melting Moment" E.P. (1992)
This debut E.P. seems to have built up quite the following over the last decade or so but I have to admit that I find that hard to understand personally. Sure, it's one of the earlier trip hop releases but that doesn't give it the right to be mentioned in the same breath as records like Massive Attack's "Blue Lines" which clearly sits in another stratosphere altogether. The female vocals of nOrikO are intended to sound sweet & they do achieve that intent during the best parts but there are just as many moments where she sounds pitchy & amateurish in my opinion. Plus, the instrumentation is very heavy on the cheap bedroom synths that were around at the time which gives "Melting Moment" a disposable feel. I do quite enjoy the first couple of songs as well as the closing title track but the other material is a long way from the mark (particularly "The Future Is Now" which is fucking awful) & taints the overall experience for me.
For fans of Color Filter, Sugar Plant & Lily Chou-Chou.
3/5
Raphael-Weinroth Brown - Lifeblood (2025)
Cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne first showed up on my radar in 2015 as one half of the canadian neoclassical darkwave duo The Visit, alongside vocallist Heather Sita Black when their album "Through Darkness Into Light" attained the distinction of being one of a very exclusive club of non-metal albums to receive AOTY status from me. Despite this, I must admit that I haven't kept up with his solo work much since. He has tended to focus on releasing single tracks on Bandcamp, with 2020s World Within being his only other full-length prior to "Lifeblood".
The album is wholly instrumental and solely features Raphael's acoustic cello playing with the aid of amplifiers and effects pedals, apart from on a couple of tracks, "Pyre" and "Nethereal" which also feature a bass drum. He says in the Bandcamp blurb that this is his most personal album, with the theme of his relationship to his music and growth as an artist. The result of all this is a classical piece that has great crossover potential and, I believe, may well appeal to many a more open-minded metalhead. I mean, look at that cover, is that metal or what? There is a wide range of emotional scope presented within the albums runtime. As well as sweeping broad strokes that breathe air and life into things, there are moments of quiet reflectiveness and spells of fervent and rabid aggressiveness that complement and contrast each other effectively and are redolent with passion and feeling.
This passion and feeling are the two most apparent emotions I take away from "Lifeblood" and the album as a whole stands as a great testament to the compositional and technical virtuosity of a musician who, in this world of overhyped crap, by the sheer weight of his talent and passion, deserves to be heard by a much wider audience.
4/5
Hvile I Kaos - Lower Order Manifestations (2025)
The cello is my favourite classical instrument. Capable of creating such slow, haunitng and melancholic sounds as well urgent and oppressive timbres as well, I find a versatile and always pleasing instrument. Hvile I Kaos deploy the cello alongside guitar, frame drum and bass to create 'dark chamber music'. This has been on a few nights as I have laid in bed with the lights out ready to get into a peaceful slumber. Full of mystique and dark terrors, the descripton from the Bandcamp page sums it up perfectly:
Quoted Vinny
Nice tip Vinny. I have listened to this a couple of times. I'm not sure I would find it conducive to a peaceful slumber - but it's great stuff. I gave it a 4/5 as well, probably just over 4, not quite reaching 4.5 status (maybe on more listenings)
Now Playing
Alessandro Stefano - "Alessandro "Asso" Stefana" (2024)
One of my favourites and probably most played from last year. Ambient Americana from Italian multi-instrumentalist that repurposes the voice of Appalachian folk musician, Roscoe Holcomb. Produced by PJ Harvey and on Mike Patton's Ipecac imprint. The first 5 tracks are laid back, soothing americana invoking images of the desert and lonesome highways, then Holcomb's haunting voice from the past come in for 3 tracks before ending with the longest and most ambient tracks on the album. It's when Holcomb's vice comes in from nowhere on track 6 that really make this album for me, and is a surprise on each listen.
4.5/5
Vinnie Moore - "Meltdown" (1991)
I picked up Vinnie Moore's third album on CD shortly after it was released given that I was a big fan of his 1986 debut album "Mind's Eye". "Meltdown" saw Vinnie changing direction a bit with a record that's a lot more hard rock than it is metal but it still made quite an impact on this young shredder as there's little doubt that Moore understood the art of song-writing as well as any in his craft i.e. instrumental guitar shred. Time hasn't been as kind to "Meltdown" as I'd hoped though & I see it as a step down from "Mind's Eye" these days but it's definitely still worth a listen if you're into this sort of thing.
3.5/5
Kensuke Ushio - "Ping Pong" The Animation Soundtrack (2014) 2 x CD bonus disc edition
Over two hours of music taken from a Japanese animated television show. It spans a huge wealth of electronic subgenres including techno, trance, progressive house, drum 'n' bass, IDM, downtempo, ambient, etc. There are a few really great tracks included, particularly the techno & ambient material which is most closely aligned to my taste however there's simply far too much filler here & I find the cheesy trance & quirky IDM stuff to be pretty hard going.
