Month: April 2026

noize!

alienhaus

As much as I don’t feel done setting up shop here, I’ve had to put off writing about the music of this year so far too many times now and more keeps coming. I’ll just make a list and preserve the single-album typing olympics for December.

January

Ella Red – It’s Not Real: Catching a clip of “He Asked For It” last year sold me. The 4-song run between that and “Aphrodite” has been a favorite this year. If you have any tolerance for pop rock, especially with a feminist if not a bit sapphic tone, do the thing. It’s committing all the known musical attributions to pop but a 90s-00s dance number, so comparisons feel flimsy, but Chappell Roan fans would probably like this.

February

Puscifer – Normal Isn’t: Given my history, it’s an easy guess that I would like this album at least a little bit, and that’s what I was expecting. A little. That I’d shrug at it. Turns out it hit album-of-the-year territory for me. There’s a lot of year left and it now has fair competition, but, for the past couple of months, this album has been played more than any other. I’ve had all of the songs stuck in my head. They definitely buried the lede with earlier released “Self Evident“. I don’t imagine current or former fans of the bands one would arrive to this one from give a shit about my opinion and likely prefer to go in without spoilers, so if for some reason you missed this, do the thing. But yes. If you like songs like “Jerk-Off” and “Ticks & Leeches” for their lyrical content, you’ll enjoy this one.

Converge – Love Is Not Enough: I’ve had better initial experiences with new Converge albums, but eventually this was working for me. The YOB moment on “Beyond Repair” got my attention, “Gilded Cage” has earworm potential, and the final track “We Were Never the Same” has become a favorite. The High On Fire-esque drumming on that last song against the heavy bass, *chefs kiss*. Even though I still feel like a Converge n00b nearly 20 years out from the first time I heard them, real glad Converge is still around.

Peaches – No Lube So Rude: Perhaps it goes without saying, but I fucking love Peaches. I was borderline anxious listening to her music for the first few years when I largely just had her Lost In Translation contribution stuck in my head, feeling the stark contrast between what she was singing about and what my experience of sexuality vs society actually looked like. But I got older, had more and different things going on and learned the world was even more backwards than I knew it before, and now I reflect back grateful she was there to create that tension and keep me on my toes. This album goes straight to the point talking about ageism from lyric one before curtailing to the usual witty sexual rap one fully expects from Peaches, and I hope I’m as fun and brazen when I’m 60. PS. I just watched the title song video, and holy shit. NSFW by all stretches of the imagination.

March

Witchcraft – A Sinner’s Child EP: Witchcraft just released an album, so this felt speedy, but I’d say it’s an easier, more concise version of where the band is right now – largely stripped down and a bit more Swedish than before. I saw a live thing they did here recently and it was a reminder of how “Queen of Bees” is one of the best songs of all time ever. I don’t have the date in front of me, but I think this year marks 20 years of listening to this band for me, and I’m glad to know Magnus is still Magnusing it up.

Ladytron – Paradises: This is the first album I’m typing about today that I haven’t listened to straight through (yet?). Ladytron is still providing some wonderful novelties but the album was too much for where I was when I went to hear it – perhaps it’ll make more sense to me when I’m in a less present, less scattered, more aimless Attention Kmart Shoppers mood. “I Believe In You” and “I See Red” have been individual stand-outs so far.

Neurosis – An Undying Love For A Burning World: My local internet freaked the fuck out about this surprise release. Most of us thought Neurosis was effectively dead after a certain former member was vacated from the band a few years ago for being a piece of shit, but it turns out they just needed a sprinkle of new magic from sludge whisperer Aaron Turner (with assistance from mister “distort everything” Scott Evans). I’m curious to know what the hell happened with their drummer between the selling of gear posts and this coming together. Regardless of who or what or when, the album is obviously a stand-out for this year. I’m not a Neurosis fanboy but I was in tears on listen one by the end. The three-song run starting with “Untethered” got me in my head about everything these last six years. “Last Light” is an incredible song. If you’re a long-time Neurosis meh-er, but you otherwise enjoy sludge, doom, and heavy prog, do the thing.

April

Angine de Poitrine: And speaking of internet phenomenons… this band caught a sudden wave of broad-reaching attention and now I have two new albums to ponder over. The brand new one came out in April, hence the headline it falls under. It’s strange to be familiar with a wide array of music over my life and not find their approach to musical creation all that interesting by itself while watching people freak out about the details. It’s very “dude what if Lateralus different order tho (bong rip)”. If you like weird and jazzy approaches to sound, or maybe you might say Primus sucks, or maybe you miss Battles, then you’ll get something out of this. The aesthetics are definitely attention-grabbing and the band & music feel fresh and fun, so yay. More rock-based phenomenons pls.

Nine Inch Noize: And here’s the album that finally got me to type these words. I checked and I posted the remix of “My Moon My Man” by Boys Noize (and Feist, originally) on the blog in 2008, which felt like a “that’s it?” situation given how “& Down” and “3 Bass” were on repeat that year. Fair enough, I was making attempts for novelties in my first full year writing exclusively about music. The fact is, now, I’m familiar with Boys Noize, and I’m beyond familiar with NIN, and this felt like a very logical collaboration. They got me with the “live”(?) sound at the beginning and otherwise dispersed through the album – I thought I’d fucked up somehow – but it’s a studio recording. Some of the 2000s-era songs could certainly use a refreshed take, so good for that. So far “Parasite” is my favorite (oh you mean the song with the prominent heavy bass? Who knew). My original notes here made jokes about “Closer” that were so detailed I’ve had this song stuck in my head for days but I think I need to save that for a time I can expand on the ridiculous idea I had. For now, this was fun, but familiarity with NIN cuts the dopamine effect of new stuff down a notch. Looking forward to eventually watching their Coachella sets.

Madonna: I got word last year that Madonna was creating “Confessions on a Dance Floor pt 2” according to my notes, and sure enough, her new song “I Feel So Free” (warning: flashing lights) very much reminds me of that era of her music. It also happens to be my favorite era, with the Confessions tour video being remarkable to the point of making me angry it didn’t come here and I might not have gone for what I was prioritizing in life at the time anyway. I noted the new song online and the next day I had a singular like from an unfamiliar account. I checked and it seems it was a like entirely in earnest by a bear account (read: lots of gay porn). That felt so incredibly appropriate. Exactly what I would have expected, had I considered it.

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol: “Peaches” (no relation) was put out today. Apparently it will be attached to an album later this year, but no official announcement of said album yet.

May and Beyond

Rhododendron (out 5/15): “Firmament” is available to hear now, and it was a reminder that I miss when I was super active and aware of what Portland had to offer. The video comments include a comparison to Russian Circles, which is fair. The other already-out song is more aggressive, and if we’re going there, maybe in the more recent “FUCK YOU, DAD!” era of Russian Circles. That’s not a comment on age, for the record, but one might focus on how young this band was fifteen minutes ago and wasn’t 1999 yesterday… but that’s an old people problem, I suppose. Glad to hear music like this is still happening from a younger-than-me generation. [PS. This is a band I technically work for by proxy so, you know, grain of salt.]

Monolord (out 5/29): Speaking of bands I technically work for, Monodork is still alive and kicking. “Yay?” I thought. Then I listened to “You Bastard” and the question mark subsided. I always seem to forget that I really, really enjoy heavy music. Finger in every pie but that damn cheesecake gets me every time. It’s hard to be this close to the source, seeing a band’s enthusiastic crowd, and balance all that noise against personal taste, but this breed of heavy is effectively my personal elevator music at the end of the day.

Elder (out 5/29): “Through Zero” can be heard today. I’m just now listening to it for the first time, and yep, that sounds like music. They’re going the way of Rush here. I think I just solved a mystery of why Elder’s fanbase is the way it is. Nuuuuurds! And now I feel unconvinced by my spurious statements here and will reflect for the next six months to no conclusion.

All Them Witches (also out 5/29): OMFG nobody panic. I haven’t even heard the thing and I already suspect this album is going to be a top-whatever favorite for this year. “Red Rocking Chair“? God damn. “Starting Line“? I mean you could just go, the whole environment is enthusiastic consent, no need for the pretense of a beginning. Then today’s “The Welterweight“? Sirs, I’m trying to write about other bands right now. Been really grateful for this band these past eight years or so, so, yes, looking forward to this one.

Slift (out 6/5): I made grand statements about Slift the second Ilion came out, so I’m primed for this new one. That moment in time was big in my personal life and it’s strange to conceptualize that the gap between albums will be an entirely reasonable two and a half years. I hope I’ve worked through enough of that moment in my life to be able to appreciate the new album freed of that time. For the moment, the internet seems intent on comparing “A Storm of Wings” to the Melvins, and it makes me wonder for how much the Melvins has changed over time if every loosely related song ever could ultimately be chalked up to a Melvins remix.

Converge (out 6/5): MOAR! You break those rules, Converge. “Hum of Hurt” is out now.

Genghis Tron (out 6/12): We seem to be going all-in on this year, musically. “I Am All” reeks of Nine Inch Nails even down to the way Trent Reznor handles a mic, but that’s fine. Love this style of video.

And also: Placebo, Muse, Modest Mouse, and The Strokes all have new things coming in June. What a year for the 35-50 year old “it’s not a phase, mom” crowd. Suddenly defunct Livejournal communities of yore awakened to the new fascist day.

And More

From the earlier part of the year, I still haven’t heard: Sunn O)))’s new album, the Melvins/Napalm Death album, Crippled Black Phoenix, Gnod… I have heard a little of Truckfighters but not enough to comment on it beyond the usual “yay stoner rock”. I’m eventually going to watch some of the live Roadburn videos from last week but I think this post is long enough.

From last year that took me time to get around to: Trash Classic by Frankie and The Witch Fingers. Who could have guessed “Conducting Experiments”, a song about sexual freedom and/or having threesomes (hard to tell, a man is singing about a FFM situation so could go either way), would be a favorite here for me. If I were inclined to dance in the first place I would dance the fuck out of that song. The heavy sarcasm on Devo-worshipping “Economy” is great, too.

And finally, from last year but I only just grazed: Die Spitz. I just watched “American Porn” and holy fucking shit, everything about that house feels like a fever dream version of the house I grew up in. Was it designed by the same architect or built by the same company or what the fuck? There’s too much green going on outside to assume they’re in the neighborhood I grew up in. Even the outdoor furniture reminds me of a table/chair set we had in the 90s from who-knows-where. Musically I’m reminded of the 90s, attention towards Hole and L7 (vibe) and Soundgarden (video), but there’s something else there I can’t pin down. “Riding With My Girls” is quite Motorhead-coded. I just heard “Throw Yourself To The Sword” and lol, with a title like that, who knew my first impression would be High on Fire? Be cool if they ended up on tour with the band The Sword just for my personal funsies. Imagine the awkward confusion of that crowd having to deal with the idea of 20-something ladies doing “their” thing better. Maybe it’s changed in the wake of bands like Castle Rat, but, hm, I dunno. The Sword’s fanbase is a special one.

Alright, that’s enough for today. I’m sure I missed something, but this is plenty for an update until the next thing happens. If you’re still here and want a dose of irony, literally yesterday I was reflecting on how I didn’t want to become what I see a lot of in the heavy music scene and doubly so in the circa 40+ non-musician crowds, of being very stuck in the mud and insistent on ideas that came about before 20-30 years ago like history makes greatness and not greatness makes history. Even for the abundance going on here, the variety still tends towards well-traveled paths. I’m trying to keep shit interesting, at least.

Mid April 2026

alienhaus

Well, my finger is still healing. The immediate hurt and swelling slowly reduced in exchange for color. That color is now centering around what appears to be the source of the injury and fading away elsewhere. I still don’t really know what happened, but it certainly looks like it hurts. And yes, to the touch, it does. Add a general ache and stiffness for the ambiance. You always hope these things heal fast but it seems I’ve got a while to go.

I finished reorganizing my closet, though. Since I moved here it’s been 100% used for storage and hasn’t been adequately functional as a closet. While there’s still a lot going on, I can finally use a good portion of it as an actual closet. Ironically I’m in the season where using it as a closet isn’t as needed – warmer weather clothes are in drawers – but I’m sure I’ll appreciate the change for a while regardless. It feels more flowy, like I have more space even though the space itself hasn’t changed.

I can’t make promises because of my finger and need for a truck, but the next major related step here is to take what I pulled out of there plus what else I pulled aside to a donation place. I did, however, transfer enough items around so I’ve reduced the cardboard boxes to just a few necessary ones and recycled the rest. That really helped for morale. After last year’s issues with bugs (not in my closet or anywhere near it, thankfully) I had it in the back of my mind that I needed to put my stuff into plastic bins wherever possible and get rid of the cardboard just in case the bug issue spread. I had a few empty plastic bins, so that was the obvious solution. And now most of the cardboard is out of there and the closet is cleaner and functional and what joy to be had.

I also have a “hall” closet, probably meant for things like jackets and brooms but it’s in an awkward spot so it’s just general bulky storage for things I only need a couple times a year. That, too, could be gone through. With my finger situation, probably that’s a bad idea right now. Perhaps after it heals.

In going through everything, I pulled out photo albums and that led to a partial bookshelf reorganization. I skimmed over what was there and felt all levels of weird about what I was looking at. All these people and situations and places that don’t exist anymore. For what isn’t just in my head now (because they died) the situations changed in a negative way. It reminded me that when I was around 22 years old I decided it was time to distance myself from toxic people even if it meant being alone all of the time. And so it goes, that’s what happened. A few years later I was trying to find my people again as I realized the more recent batch didn’t seem to give two shits what I said or did even if they weren’t actively toxic, and for a bit there I thought I was doing okay, but these days I wonder how successful I actually was. A lot of those newer people who I thought were close to the same page as I was or were otherwise interesting turned out to be, in short, incorrect choices. Lately I’m wondering often how much gender plays into that, of how even for what about me is neutral or unrelated to gender or disinterested in playing along with gender shit, I still come across as femme, which seems to be a persistent issue of not being taken seriously or altogether ignored. In instances where I’ve approached friendship or just simply talked to people, the vibe is “oh, a girl” and here comes a bunch of shit I don’t want, whether it’s roping me off to a zone where my input and experience and even self knowledge lacks value, or turning me into a cartoon character going on in their head about women. Really don’t want to carry that feeling into the future. But, for now, I’m stalled, staring at photos of old lives wondering how that can be true but this life can also be true, wishing I had parts of those lives again while knowing what awful shit was going on around them.

In all of this cleaning I continued to keep up with the lunar flyby. That was an incredible experience of joy I completely forgot was a thing that could happen. Been so much mud and slog and persistent disappointment and yet more terrible “unprecedented” news for so long. The war going on in the middle east (omg which one when) has me concerned, especially as it’s becoming a global issue. Counterbalancing that with ten days of persistent joy, wonder, hope for the future… I wish I could bottle those days up and take a drink anytime I need it. I lost count in a hurry how many times I cried. I wish it had been the stand-out news everyone was seeing, but based on social media and headlines those few days, the world is largely concentrated on a bunch of dickhead egos. Here’s hoping this “moon joy” grows into the future, continues to inspire, and we manifest destiny science on schedule.

Meanwhile I’m in a mental space of mild experimentation, trying to inject more color into my life again. I bought more plants over the last couple of months. I haven’t seen bugs near my plants in a while and that’s a concern but so far so good. A $1 strawberry starter currently just bloomed – yay – and my new coleus plants are doing fine. Most of the seeds/bulbs I planted aren’t doing anything yet, but one pot that I think I planted bell peppers in sprouted and is growing. I think the rest should be sprouting in the next week or two if the internet didn’t lie to me, though perhaps it’s still a little too cold. I also got some pothos starters and those seem fine so far. I’ve been told over and over those are good low light “easy” plants, so here’s hoping. I’ve run out of space for everything so I may need to move a pot or two elsewhere, but for now with everything new on the smaller side, they’re fine.

I also pulled out posters and put them on the wall. And I rearranged decor. And I, in lieu of just going to the thrift store and buying one of two dozen choices of blue jeans, bought some cheaper colorful jeans. I wore a pair of plaid jeans for a while ten years ago that were great, so hopefully my precious ego that can barely handle being perceived can handle the switch-up in the event that I actually wear them outside. It’s also a change from the constant choice of soft pants and/or no pants, but it’s a lot harder to find soft pants at the thrift store and the internet choices are largely polyester or polyester blends that feel too thin for the public much of the time. Could go the way of fancy, flowing summer pants but baby steps. I’m still coming from sweatpants and bike shorts most of the time.

The next logical thing for me would normally be dying my hair, but I need my finger to work for that.

Next on the menu should be spacing out to video games, but same. Finger. I can type reasonably okay but it’s not cool with that much intention. So perhaps getting back to watching movies again. Last year’s overdose of movies smacking into awards season seems to have burnt me out on the idea a bit. What do you mean sit still for two whole hours? I know once I get to watching something it’s fine but the idea of being trapped in a story that long beforehand is a difficult concept to wrestle with. So maybe I watch two hours of shorts, or five 25 minute youtube videos… because that totally makes sense.

Music is there. I’ll be typing about it soon enough. To be fair, I already did a lot of that typing, but life happened and then my finger was like lol viva la chaos *randomly explodes*.

Early April 2026

alienhaus

I’ve spent the last few weeks mulling over whether I should go through my closet and reorganize what’s in there, hopefully to free up space but most specifically to transfer what’s in any cardboard boxes to some empty plastic boxes. I finally got to it yesterday.

I had pulled most of the boxes out, reorganized much of the closet, and was in the process of putting some boxes back that didn’t need attention when I suddenly felt a weird burning pain in my finger. I looked down and it was visibly swollen. The hell? I had just moved two particularly heavy boxes so maybe I hit my finger somehow… but I felt nothing unusual. This, naturally, freaked me out for a while until it was apparent something had happened to, I guess, a vein, and I was getting a bruise.

It hurt for a while. I used a cold pack then ice, which helped a lot. Eventually I slept and woke up with it a bit less swollen, a hell of a lot more purple (or blue/black/red), and only aching a bit save for one incident where I apparently hit the wrong spot and got an awful stinging pain. I can type now mainly because I’m used to letting the finger take a break as it’s the number one asshole when it comes to everyday pain and numbness (which makes me wonder if I missed a traumatic sensation and that’s why I got hurt). But the overcompensating that the hand is doing to keep my finger from touching anything is not a fun feeling.

I decided I couldn’t deal with half the boxes still out of the closet so I got back to work today and tried my best not to hit my finger. Moved a few things around and set aside a few more items and did a lot of busywork to get a few of the heavier boxes back in the closet. Still lots to do but what’s left makes sense at a glance and doesn’t feel wholly overwhelming like it did when I had to quit yesterday. Nice to only have one cardboard box left from when I first moved (though I think there’s a few small ones elsewhere, not needing to be dealt with just now).

I’ve also spent multiple hours in recent weeks shuffling around decorations and art. I finally got some posters on the wall after taking down other things. I was in a shitty headspace in 2024 and it bled into 2025 so small things like this just didn’t get done if they weren’t vital or in the way. But now posters are up and I get to mull over how it is that I’m me and like I am yet so much of what I own has the vibe of a 7 year old girl raised by hippies. To be fair, much of what I own literally comes from when I was young as I wasn’t doing too much purchasing of things besides music and clothes once I hit adulthood. But there’s a juxtaposition between my often gender-neutral, level-to-frustrated vibes and how much femme, semi-psychedelic, sparkly, and youthful stuff I have. I think people would more assume neutral to halloweeny decor. And it’s there, but it’s drowned out. I did, however, make a point not to have all black all the time as I find it boring to look at on a good day and think it contributes to depressive feelings on a day-to-day, at least personally. The aim was towards good feelings, hope, positive nostalgia, warmth, possibilities, growth, the future being seeded into reality. I don’t want to look at my space and think dungeon, hole to hide, musty basement. So it’s pink and rainbows and sparkle and stupid.

As such, the decor adventure landed at me putting window clings on a poster frame.

a pastel rainbow canvas in a poster frame decorated in bubbles

Can’t say that felt like the most adult-ish thing to be doing with my time, and maybe it looks tacky somehow, but boy did it scratch an itch. One really has to question why adults of a certain age are siphoned off to beige all the things. Get back in your lane, slave. No rainbows 4 u.

These things feel extra at contrast with the world right now. The lunar flyby mission: that’s the vibe I’m going for. Science! Future! Joy! The news otherwise? Ick. Put it back. Actually, don’t do that: throw it out altogether. Straight to the dumpster outside. Don’t even wait til trash day on that.

The fucking idiot in chief just threatened to level an entire country. I don’t understand how this isn’t the final straw for congress, et al, to take him and his masters/cronies out. We’ve had enough. Stop.

So I’m concentrated on what I can control: beautifying my space, taking out the literal trash, and putting aside things to donate or use for projects. Keep things from touching my dumb finger. Looking at more pictures from the moon. Updating the new site.