ISSUE #1
Welcome to NMF.
Each Friday, Zach and Mando write about their favorite new releases. Whether it’s a deep dive or a quick heads-up, they’ll ensure you’re up on the latest toetappers, headbangers and bootyshakers.
DEEP DIVE: MANIC FOCUS
It’s Friday the 13th, New Music Friday, and a good day to be wearing your dance pants.
John “JmaC” McCarten, aka Manic Focus, just dropped his new album Lost in a Digital World.
This eclectic artist is renowned for his ability to pull from a dizzying array of sonic influence, collaging drum n’ bass, soul, funk, trap and rock into unexpectedly dynamic dancefloor anthems. If you’re a fan of Pretty Lights, Gramatik or Break Science, you’ll be delighted to find a kindred sound in Manic Focus’ half-decade discography.
Lost in a Digital World may be the most technically impressive release from the Denver-based producer, but it’s extremely listenable.
Spaced-out breakbeats lift you through the clouds on Pearl, a beautiful and atmospheric track with plenty of space to sit back and admire sinuous basslines and stuttering pads.
Never Grew Up brings MF’s hip-hop sensibilities to the foreground, chopping and screwing serrated bass and soul samples with joyful abandon.
All This Is, a glitchy tech-house vehicle full of texture and dimension, is perfect fuel for the club, the gym or the car. This gritty pump-up track is just one facet of the album, but perfectly represents the production expertise and energy Manic Focus brings to every release.
Other favorites include Just Like You, Special, and of course, Riding Solo - a brass-laced cruising song written in collaboration with one of our favorites, Russ Liquid.
Look up some tour dates here and let us know your favorite tracks from the album!
Happy NMF!
♥ Zach
DEEP DIVE: BLOOD CULTURES
My buddy Nicolas introduced me to Blood Cultures some time in 2017.
I was working through a then-recent break-up and found comfort in the melodic, borderline cheesy indie-pop sounds of their first LP Happy Birthday. It was something you could find in an auto-generated playlist with music from Geographer, Porches, or Blackbird Blackbird. Something you could dance to. Something you could sing along with. Something that made you feel good.
Almost exactly two years later, on this blessed Friday, their latest LP has been released following slow and steady of a few singles. Oh Uncertainty! A Universal Despairs is a completely different story. It is evolution in sonic form. A blend of indie pop and heavy electronica you'd find on Gessafelstein's Aleph - or as Zach puts it, it's like "HVOB fucked Zhu", and I couldn't agree more.
Some of our favorite tracks that best exemplify this musical growth include: Oh Theo!, Glass, Dunk on Me.
Please check it out. You'd be glad you did. I've heard it at least 4 times start-to-finish today and intend on playing it all weekend if possible.
♥ Mando
Infant Annihilator’s The Battle of Yaldabaoth was Satan’s latest pre-order.
Infant Annihilator, the UK-based technical death metal band notorious for slamming the Catholic Church and getting kicked off of Spotify repeatedly for the intensely violent and visceral lyrical content of their music, has done it again.
In an astonishing show of technical musicianship, vocal innovation and postproduction black magic, the duo has delivered an album that expands upon their heart-stopping grindcore sound with intricate grooves and beautiful melodies.
In addition, of course, to a whole lot of toilet goblin sounds.
I’ve spun this album 4 or 5 times in the past few days and am completely addicted. If you’re feeling brave, take a trip into the horrifying and horrifyingly satisfying world of Yaldabaoth.
♥ Zach
