The Go! Team - Proof of Youth

This is the second album from The Go! Team, and the first one made with a band rather than a guy in his basement with a four-track and a sampler. It’s got their live show energy, but it keeps the charm and heart of Thunder Lightning Strike. This one’s noisier, too, and really fun. Funny story: I saw them touring for this album while my wife was pregnant with a kid who just registered for her senior year of high school!

Copy - A Curve In Rainbowed Air

I’m a big fan of Copy, who has been making instrumental synth albums since the early 00s. I have most of their stuff on vinyl and they get spun regularly. I’m a big fan of all of their instrumental synth and beats. It’s the perfect mix of atmosphere and driving sounds but not synthwave, it's its own thing.

Adam Marshall and Sandro Perri - Uniquity

Sandro Perri is a sonic texture master, and this live improvisation is chock full of incredible sounds. It’s surprisingly beat-driven single 20-minute track that harkens back to Perri’s older work as Polmo Polpo, plus a handful of bonus tracks.

Highspire - Crushed

Found this one on bluesky from an account that has given me a lot of good shoegaze in the past, so them saying it’s AOTY (album of the year) material made me sit up and listen. Jangly, dreamy, crushing. This is great.

Ronnie Martin - Consume Like A Moth What Is Dear Instrumentals

I wrote about this one when it came out in April, but today for bandcamp Friday, Velvet Blue Records put out the instrumentals. I love RM’s synth work, and it’s great that they kept the background vocals in while taking the lead vocals out, really helps the heart of the music feel full.