Sockets, the local record label that has released works by Hume, Little Women, and Extra Life (and, in the interest of full disclosure, myself, albeit a while back), recently posted a Spring mixtape on its freshly redesigned website.

All sorts of good stuff here, most of surprisingly melodious, from Nick Rivetti (aka Ricky Rabbit of Food For Animals) ambient gurgling, to Chris Grier’s (Kohoutek, To Live and Shave in LA, Ultimate VAG) SYR-worthy guitar playing. Most of all, I’m enjoying Excepter’s minimalist remix of Brooklyn’s Zs, which whittles the normally raucous band down to a muted throb.

Here’s the tracklist:

1. Chris Lynn
2. Phat Daughter String Quartet
3. Fly Girlz
4. Nick Rivetti
5. Chris Grier
6. FFFFs
7. ZS (Excepter Remix)
8. Extra Life
9. Layne Garrett

Where 2007 was my love-affair year with free jazz, 2008 saw my affections turn to extreme metal in all its varied forms. The sad departure of Transparent Productions meant a dearth of interesting avant-garde jazz in the District, and I replaced concertgoing expeditions to Sangha (RIP) and Twins Jazz with rather different expeditions to places like Jaxx and various smaller venues booking the more underground kinds of metal. My passion for music tracks closely with what I’m seeing in the live setting, so it makes sense that my 2008 list is dominated by the heavy, evil stuff. (My friends—and especially housemates—didn’t appreciate this so much.)

Be it metal, jazz, electronic music, free improvisation, or whatever, I’ve been convinced for a few years now that, industry woes aside, we’re living in a renaissance period with fascinating new music being made at an unprecedented clip. Granted, I have absolutely no empirical basis for this claim, but I present the following 10 recordings as examples of the freshness of today’s music-making scene…

1. One With Filth, Crowpath (Willowtip)
Pundits can quibble over whether or not “avant-garde metal” is really avant-garde in any meaningful sense, but the latest album from Swedish band Crowpath is an undeniably experimental and edgy slab of death metal. Compared to the band’s two earlier releases, it’s downright catchy and accessible, striking a perfect balance between challenging and immediately rewarding, but it’s still impossibly punishing. “Thinking man’s metal” is an overused phrase and too often refers to dry exercises in technicality, but it’s a perfect term for this recording.

Crowpath, “Cleansed In Chlorine”:

2. Doombringer, Nasum (Relapse)
A more than welcome posthumous live release from these grindcore greats. Although Doombringer clocks in at a mere 23 minutes, the 16 tracks here are meatier than most albums twice the length or more. Brutal and unrelenting from start to finish, like getting punched in the face repeatedly, by a guy wearing spiked brass knuckles. You know, if you’re into that kind of thing.

Nasum, “Inhale/Exhale”:

Read More “Music 2008: Alienate Your Friends” »

On Sunday, Comet Ping-Pong (otherwise known as Ground Zero of everyone’s favorite northwest D.C. culture wars) plays host to a pair of bands that have recently been profiled here and in the print edition: Extra Life, whom I wrote about a couple months ago, and Tussle, whose latest record is reviewed in this weeks’ print edition.

So I suppose we’d be remiss not to mention that show in this space; but more than that, there’s no way I’m missing Extra Life in the flesh. Fans of tuneful, accessible avant-rock, you know who you are… if you haven’t gotten your fill at 611 Florida on Saturday, come up to Comet on Sunday.

I’ve never seen live music at Comet before–rumor has it the show should start around 8pm, but I’d take that with a grain of salt. There’s also a closing DJ set after Extra Life and Tussle are done, courtesy of Will Eastman.