In July, Kansas City math-groove merchants Coalesce completed an impeccable decade-long comeback. Known for combining big, killer riffs with punishing beats, vocal brutality, and tricky time signatures, the recently reunited band released its best creation, OX, while adding bits of acoustic melancholy, heavy blues, harmonized vocals, and Italian Western to its sound.
OXEP is the album's addendum, a series of seven tracks that further incorporates some of these new elements.
A simple, driving rhythm fuels "Ox to Ore" and "Ore to Earth," a two-part intro/outro that is split at the front and rear of the disc. "Joyless in Life" and "Absent in Death" are Western-driven concoctions, "To My Ruin" provides another dose of potent vocal harmonies, and "Through Sparrows I Rest" — in addition to being one of the band's best songs yet — features the shrill scream of vocalist Sean Ingram's young daughter.
If you own OX, this is a must-have accompaniment.
Omar Rodriguez Lopez: Xenophanes (Rodriguez Lopez Productions)
The creative output of Omar Rodriguez Lopez boggles minds, but more stunning than his half-dozen albums per year is his ability to make each stand out from one another. The musical mastermind now has released five solo albums this year, and though a few were laid to tape in 2006, that tally doesn't count releases with The Mars Volta or El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez.
Xenophanes is another journey through Omar's progressive soundscape, this time leaning on the scurrying piano lines of Marcel Rodriguez Lopez and Mark Aanderud. Most notably, however, Omar takes full control of the vocals, singing entirely in Spanish and showcasing an ability that has been underutilized in his vast catalog.
Ultimately, Xenophanes is a highly accessible record that doesn't skimp on raw musicianship. Fans who were looking for more from The Mars Volta's Octahedron should check this out.
(MF) Doom: Unexpected Guests (Gold Dust)
Inimitable rapper/producer Doom (who has dropped the long-adjacent "MF") has a bevy of collaborations to his credit. Now, thankfully, many of his favorite guest spots and behind-the-boards efforts have been collected on one disc.
It may not seem possible for an album of guest work to resemble a greatest-hits album, but Unexpected Guests comes awfully close. Plenty of hip-hop heavy hitters play host throughout the disc, including J Dilla, Talib Kweli, Vast Aire, and much of the Wu-Tang Clan (GZA, Ghostface, Inspectah Deck, and Masta Killa).
The album even includes some previously unreleased cuts. Pick this up.
Honorable mentions:
DJ Rupture & Matt Shadetek: Solar Life Raft (The Agriculture)
Krallice: Dimensional Bleedthrough (Profound Lore)
