#maruja

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

MARUJA @ strange brew, bristol, 23.11.24. highly recommended checking these guys out if you like dark post-punky shit with saxophone or getting destroyed in a moshpit

[edsonlnoe]

Infinite Playlist 2024 | EP 1. Lagos Paris London, Yannis & The Yaw 2. SABLE,, Bon Iver 3. Slow Burn, Baby Rose, BADBADNOTGOOD 4. How To Be Human, Debbii Dawson 5. Connla's Well, Maruja 6. Drop 7, Little Simz 7. CMYK 002, CMYK, James Blake 8. Sophcore, Moses Sumney 9. God Said No (Live), Omar Apollo 10. SHHHHHHH!, King Krule 11. SELLOUT, Jae Stephens 12. KYO, Last Dinosaurs

[jinsei-pika-pika]

Maruja - Knocknarea (2023)

[reckonslepoisson]

Connla’s Well, Maruja (2024)

Perhaps it is my fault that I cannot see past the clichés, that I can’t enjoy Maruja for what they are: an absolutely fine – competent, even – but completely derivative post-rock band. It doesn’t help that the vocals here, which reek of obnoxious, self-satisfied south London slam poetry (aye, I know they’re from Manchester), push me further away. 

Pick: ‘The Invisible Man’

[doormouseetcappendix]

Best Albums Of 2023 21-30

Temps-Party Gator Purgatory

Zulu- A Better Tommorow

Oxbow- Love's Holiday

Slauson Malone1- Excelsior

Maruja- Knocknarea

Model/Actriz-Dogsbody

Kalela-Raven

SZA-SOS

Pinkpanthress- Heaven Can Wait

Travis Scott- Utopia

[portrait-of-the-jaded-dawn]

While there are still a bunch of 2023 releases I haven't checked out yet, here are my top 30 or so of the year thus far. Not sure why the Smoulder art isn't downloading.

[shed0kryptz]

okay so there’s this band called maruja. idk if they’re very popular (seems like they arent) but holy MOLY they are pretty damb good. i literally found them the other day and im in love

[linguaignota]

asking tiny uk post punk bands to come to california actually will work. maybe not for you but i’m different

[coffeejoshy]

Maruja made quite the buzz this year in both the UK’s underground circuit, as well as among sweaty music nerds online (it helps that it’s extremely Fantano-core). That said, the group does pull off this dark, noisy, ambient vibe quite well - exceptionally well, even. It’s not always clear what Joe’s ranting about in his drawled declamations, but that’s not entirely the point either. More than anything, the addition of some fairly heavy-handed saxophone instrumentation to the noise-punk formula is a welcome one; Zeitgeist is a blast from start to finish.

[yestheydo]

from  Knocknarea (2023)

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

crowdsurfer at maruja, 23.11.24

[cintade90]

Maruja - Thunder

[rabbitechoes]

(repost because the original post was marked as NSFW) still trying to tweak a few things with this series. i think i will present the songs in an unranked fashion, but i will still note which song is my favorite of the month! every song will be linked below and i rlly hope y’all enjoy this month’s list. (i’m surprised i was even able to get this done because i’ve been playing Zelda nonstop lol)

also feel free to follow me on rate your music and twitter

‧₊˚✧ BEST SONG OF THE MONTH ✧˚₊‧

“Tears Can Be So Soft” - Christine and the Queens

◇ featured on Paranoïa, Angels, True Love - Christine and the Queens (not yet released) ◇ genres: trip-hop, alt-pop

To be completely honest, I’m not super familiar with a lot of Christine and the Queens work. I love his feature on Charli XCX’s “Gone” and I thought his 2020 EP La vita nuova was pretty decent as well, but other than that I’m pretty much clueless. Despite that, his latest single absolutely blew me away. “Tears Can Be So Soft” takes obvious inspiration from 90s trip-hop, but god it sounds so incredible. The wispy, dreamy vocals backed against a string arrangement sampled from a Marvin Gaye song is a combo that works extremely well. I absolutely love this song and its probably my favorite of this month. If his next album is gonna sound like this, I’m super excited.

“Babylon By Bus” (feat. ShrapKnel) - billy woods & Kenny Segal

◇ featured on Maps - billy woods & Kenny Segal ◇ genre: abstract hip-hop

Maps, the latest collaboration between billy woods and Kenny Segal, is probably the most standout album of the month. Many of the tracks on the album could’ve made this list, but I wanted to limit it to a single one. “Babylon By Bus” is the song I’ve revisited the most. Like a lot of billy woods’ work, this song has that eerie and off-putting feel that makes him stand out. The verses from woods are very strong, but so is the verse from rap group ShrapKnel. I hadn’t heard of them until this and I will probably listen to more of their stuff in the future! Excellent song and an incredible album that I highly recommend.

“Justify Your Life” - George Clanton

◇ featured on Ooh Rap I Ya - George Clanton (not yet released) ◇ genres: chillwave, baggy, neo-psychadelia

George Clanton’s previous single, “I Been Young”, was my favorite song of last month and his latest single is one of my favorite songs of this month. “Justify Your Life” follows the 90s nostalgia of the previous single and I love this sound so much. Judging by the art direction of these two singles, it seems like this sound is what Clanton is going with for this new album which is super exciting. This track sounds a bit darker than the last, but it still has one of those choruses you just wanna obnoxiously sing along to. This upcoming album has the potential to be my album of the year given how incredible these singles have been.

“AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM” - Beyoncé & Kendrick Lamar

◇ genres: electro, pop rap

Breaking down this song and explaining why its good feels a little bit pointless. Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar, two of the most important artists of our time, team up on a remix of a song from her excellent 2022 album RENAISSANCE. Obviously it’s great, look who is involved. Go listen.

“The Blades” - Squid

◇ featured on O Monolith - Squid (not yet released) ◇ genres: experimental rock, art rock

This new Squid album comes out in a few weeks and I couldn’t be more excited. I’ve enjoyed the bands earlier EPs and Bright Green Field, but I think this new album could very well be their best so far. “The Blades” is yet another great single. The band has been playing around with added touches of different genres into their sound and it just keeps paying off. The little elements of krautrock are especially a nice touch. I have very high hopes for this new album and I can’t wait to hear it.

“Space Orphans” - Ichiko Aoba

◇ genre: chamber folk

I’ve been slowly working my way through Ichiko Aoba’s discography after adoring her 2020 album Windswept Adan. I wasn’t aware of this new single until after this post was published so I’m adding it in post. This new single is a gorgeous, spacey, chamber folk ballad that is very easy to listen to. The soft strings that occasionally accompany her voice and guitar are a very nice touch. Every time I dive into the world of her music, I am completely captivated. 

“Cops and robbers” - underscores

◇ genres: noise pop, indietronica

I absolutely loved underscores’ debut album Fishmonger and I have been anticipating whatever they were gonna follow it up with. Their latest single “Cops and robbers” builds upon the sound of their last album, but with a bit more polish. It has elements of hyperpop mixed with noisy instrumentation and a chorus that is clearly inspired by pop-punk of the 2000s. These all work together so well. Hopefully this is leading up to a new album.

“sulky baby” - yeule

◇ genres: dream pop, indie pop

yeule is an artist whose music I need to dive into further. I enjoyed a good bit of their last album Glitch Princess, but I couldn’t have anticipated how great this song is. “sulky baby” is one of the finest dream pop songs I’ve heard in a while. I absolutely adore the way the hazy guitar lures you into the track before everything comes to create this incredible burst of dreamy goodness. This is without a doubt one of my favorite tracks of the year so far.

“Zeitgeist” - Maruja

◇ genres: experimental rock, art punk, post-punk

Fresh off of dropping a really impressive EP, Maruja returns with another great song. If you liked their debut EP, I’m sure you will love this new single. One thing I love about this band is their consistently interesting instrumentation. The bass towards the start of this track is really cool and adding saxophone into a post-punk song is always a recipe for something great. This band is on fire right now and I can’t wait to see what they have coming up.

“Master P (feat. Big Sean)” - KAYTRAMINÉ

◇ featured on KAYTRAMINÉ - KAYTRAMINÉ ◇ genre: pop-rap

KAYTRANADA and Aminé joined forces to make a very good summer album. There are plenty of highlights across the project, but I wanted to shout out this track in particular. “Master P” isn’t the most summer-y on the album, but I think its one of the biggest highlights on the album. I think this track has some of Aminé’s strongest rapping in a while and when Big Sean’s verse comes in the track is elevated even more. Really loving this one.

“Infinity Repeating (2013 Demo)” - Daft Punk & Julian Casablancas + The Voidz

◇ featured on Random Access Memories (10th Anniversary Edition) - Daft Punk ◇ genres: disco, electronic

It kinda feels like cheating putting this on here, but I feel like I have to mention it. The 10th anniversary edition of Daft Punk’s magnificent final studio album dropped this month alongside a handful of new demos and extra songs. One such demo is a collaboration with Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas. Daft Punk and Casablancas teamed up for the incredible “Instant Crush” which ended up on the album. I guess this demo was what eventually evolved into that song and I think it holds its own pretty well. If you liked their previous collab, I think you will find something to love about this demo!

[maquina-semiotica]

“ Break The Tension”, Maruja