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This is my last article on this website. It’s been fun!
In case you don’t know: What I’ve been spinnin’ is my end-of-week series covering the best music I heard that week. It can be old material, newer material, entire albums, songs, doesn’t matter.
I changed up the formula last week, only talking about music released in 2024; but we’re taking this thing back to its roots today, covering music in a broader spectrum rather than a straightforward topic.
There’s too much of the goods to cover, so, let’s not waste any more time and begin the final instalment (at least on this site) of What I’ve been spinnin’.
Dude. I think this guy likes Thornhill.
Casanova was released to the world on October 28, 2021, and is still, to this day, one of Thornhill’s most controversial songs in the metal scene: It spearheaded an entirely new sound for the band, leaving many disappointed that it wasn’t reminiscent of their debut album The Dark Pool (which is a terrific album). Fortunately, I did not partake in the anti-Casanova discourse. I love this song and have since the moment it dropped.
Thornhill are an interesting case because they’ve always fallen under the more ambient style of metal and metalcore, but the heel turn from The Dark Pool to Casanova was so huge that I can fully understand why people didn’t dig the song at first. Instead of the proggy, atmospheric ambience, the band opted for hints of shoegaze and ’90s alternative rock on Casanova; creating an incredibly fun, metal/dance-pop/alt-rock track.
Jeez, that’s a lot of different genres.
Jacob Charlton (vocals) comes through with one of his strongest vocal performances, howling and wailing throughout the track’s duration, stretching those vocal chords to the absolute max. Heck, we get an Ethan McCann guitar solo in this one; a rarity in Thornhill’s catalogue, but he absolutely shreds here.
You’d think that maybe this song would be too much to handle, but it’s a seamless blend of all the genres I just mentioned; which is so, so impressive considering the varying sounds each genre provides. This track just makes me want to dance, in all honesty: An incredibly fun track from beginning to end.
Oh god, everyone get away, Sean’s coming in with a prog pick.
Look, my prog phase ended in, like, 11th grade, but The Mars Volta are different, okay? This band has put out some of the most chaotic and immersive music the world has ever heard; so, I beg that you don’t write them off for being classified as a prog band.
Drunkship of Lanterns is the 5th track on one of my personal favourite albums of all time, Deloused in the Comatorium, The Mars Volta’s debut record that was released just 30 days before I was born. Each track on the record is a masterclass in songwriting and progression, but the journey to which this track takes me on with every listen is so special, making it my personal favourite track in the band’s discography.
The song starts with guns blazing with some warped guitars and a quick snare drum pattern- holy smokes what is happening with the bass guitar? The rhythm section absolutely murders it on this track; the bass in the verses is just lightning quick, courtesy of Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The song goes through many phases and changes, with the song’s climax being the best part of the song. After a chaotic and ambient bridge section, the song bursts into a reprise of a previous section and gives it new life with howling vocals and an incredible guitar solo.
The song starts with a bang and ends with a bang, kind of The Mars Volta’s blueprint on this album. Give this one a listen if you want a more challenging listen.
Let’s fire through the final rapid fire section:
I’ve highlighted this one in a previous instalment, but I don’t care; this song is going to be a song-of-the-year contender when 2024 is wrapping up. The j-pop sound pallet mixed with emo and pop-rock instrumentals is such an awesome fit that only Porter Robinson could pull off with this level of precision. What a song.
One of the few songs which I didn’t highlight in my Master Of Puppets review gets its flowers on this series, instead. Simply put: This is the greatest instrumental rock song of all time and it came from the minds of Metallica in their absolute prime. We are genuinely so lucky to have this album at our disposal.
An extra from The Replacements’ debut record: Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, is a lovely acoustic alt-country ballad featuring lyrics about lead singer Paul Westerberg’s unrequited interest in someone who is already taken. I’m sure we can all relate to this one.
Magdalena Bay are one of the most exciting pop acts in music right now – apparently they have a new album on the way – and Hysterical Us is probably my favourite song they’ve put out. It’s just incredibly infectious and undeniably sweet; straight-up ear candy.
This is probably my favourite gym song, at the moment. This track is on an album chalk-filled with chaos, yet it stands out as the most ridiculous song of the bunch. The instrumentation is masterful and the way the song ends is both grand and cathartic as hell.
And with that, the rapid fire section is over.
This song is going to live in my head forever.
Although I’m doubtful that this song will end up being my song of the year by the time 2024 is over, I still think it’s a lock for the top ten, and for good reason.
I’ve talked plenty about Quadeca in these articles, and I know that, but his SCRAPYARD mixtape just keeps hitting even two months after its release; and A LA CARTE is a standout on a nearly flawless album.
Quadeca’s vocals on this track have been proven to steer some people away from this track, especially at first listen, but I’m telling you that you just don’t see the vision. To me, the vocals actually complement the song’s fun, yet uncomfortable vibe perfectly; he sounds anxious throughout the track’s duration, which I believe is done on purpose because of the track’s lyrical contents.
Brakence absolutely kills his verse, beautifully singing about some anxiety he – or a character he may be playing – has regarding- how do parents describe this to their kids, again? “When two people love each other very much…”. In all seriousness, I have never heard a song cover this topic before, and I think it’s a brave and vulnerable thing to broadcast in a musical form.
Yeah, this song absolutely rules. It’s an automatic non-skip whenever it comes on, and will probably dominate my Spotify Wrapped by the years’ end since it’s three-minute runtime is so perfectly concise that I have had days where I just put this thing on repeat.
Check it out if you haven’t yet, and while you’re at it, spin the record, too.