🎶
It can be hard to give a recommendation when it comes from such a special place (as it does in this instance) because I run the risk of the recommendation losing the meaning I applied to it (once, a friend described a similar process as "don't worry, the lamp you made is now a chair, this is ok, this is supposed to happen"). But I'm trying to open my heart up to vulnerability and get back in touch with the thrill of letting the world react to me
so, Battle Trance: 4 saxophonists, led by the inimitable Travis Laplante, explore the outer limits of both A) the relationship between musician and instrument as well as B) endurance, performance and composition. Three albums released over 8 years, that weave visceral and soulful and grating and stunning moments together.
I experienced a live performance of their second album Blade of Love, not knowing what I was in for. Sitting in the front row in the Red Barn at Hampshire College, the physical impact of the music and the performers' exertion was a physically exhausting and life-giving experience. I think it's cool to sit through the albums sequentially, each of which I try to love equally but definitely find myself enjoying Green of Winter and Blade of Love over Palace of Wind.
I know this is a little over the top of a recommendation, but just feel compelled to go overboard and hype up this quartet
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this album is genuinely fantastic!
i would describe it as a screamy alternative rock album, definitely with influences from hardcore, emo, and indie rock. that being said, i think that it is still suuuuper palatable for people who don't tend to listen to music that's as hard as what i listen to 😅
i went to the album release show back in march on the night of its release and the show was MAGICAL! i also saw Zeta open for them and they are also actually so goated. genuinely one of the best shows i've been to in a very long time :P
ps- the rest of their discography is also insane plsss give them a listen
Nov 24, 2024
I’ve been into this band since 2017 & they inspired me so much back when I was in college. I was also listening to them right around when I was both getting into the concept of “mathy” music and going to my local shows in NJ for the first time.
One of my most memorable shows was driving one of my newer friends to see Peaer on an autumn, Sunday night in a church recreational space, 40 minutes away on a super rainy night. The venue’s parking lot was gravel and next to the church’s graveyard and there was probably 20-25 people total, including the bands.
And it was so worth it, hearing Peaer live finally and seeing their musicianship in person. I have a real love for bands that are trios of drums, bass, guitar & vox, how you can hear everyone individually, but also how just 3 people can create such a wall of sound together. It was so important for me to see them live at that age, and I’m so glad I pushed myself to make the drive down there.
They haven’t come out with music since 2019, an album called A Healthy Earth which I had on repeat religiously. So to have a new single from them with that same guitar tone, funky time changes but new formulas and ideas has been incredibly lovely.
I’m thankful they’re still around and continuing to create 🍐
Jan 7, 2025
A friend of mine recommended this band semi-recently. Was taken aback immediately and have been listening to a bunch of their early catalogue. Hard to beat the creativity of it all, especially in contrast with the rest of the self-seriousness that seeps into the cracks of anything cool.
Nov 23, 2024
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I know slavoj zizek is a fucking loser now, but his movie A Pervert's Guide to Ideology was the first piece of media that began to rub away the sheen/shellac of pretense that the world operates smoothly. It was my first time really engaging with a Marxian analysis and sitting with it. I was in high school, and it set me up to care about critical theory. From this movie, I'd read Mark Fisher's really quick book "Capitalist Realism: is there no alternative?" Fisher grounds a lot of his theory in culture/media in a very similar way to Zizek.
After that, I'd follow recommendations made by others in the thread!
Jun 18, 2024
😃
1. Scroll the "everyone" feed (almost completely ignore that home/friends page)
2. Like gratuitously
3. Follow people who post things you like
4. I try to be brave and comment when feeling moved
I don't search or look for anything in particular, personally, unless I'm about to post something and curious if others have done so already. Just let the river float by and enjoy the ride
Feb 8, 2025
Mar 27, 2025