Hello there, and welcome to Guitar World Editors’ Picks – our monthly guide to the guitar tracks that have captured our editors’ attention over the past four weeks or so.
With the aid of our Spotify playlist below, we’ve rounded up all our favorite new releases from September and noted our personal highlights – the playing, tones, and songwriting that most set our six-string senses a-tingling.
Highlights this month include tortuous drop-tuned riffs from up-and-coming Parisian djent merchants, a synth-heavy, 8-bit party rocker, Phoebe Bridgers’ hardest rocking song to date, a massive ambient, shoegaze soundscape, and Steven Wilson’s latest prog opus.
All that and much more in our playlist below.
Michael Astley-Brown – Editor-in-Chief
Track of the month: NOVELISTS – Ravage
We’ve had our ear out for Parisian djent merchants Novelists for some time. Their star continues to rise, no doubt helped by their endlessly inventive guitarist Florestan Durand recently beating some of the world’s top players to land a solo spot on the new Bilmuri album.
But for new single Ravage, Durand’s focus is on laying down tortuous drop-tuned riffs that writhe like snakes mid-charm. Just as addictive are the sliding lead lines in the chorus, as catchy and singable as Camille Contreras’ actual vocal.
There’s a fluidity to Durand’s playing that’s technically impressive, but melodic enough for non-guitarists to follow. And in my book, that’s the mark of a true guitar hero.
Also playing:
- Sonny Landreth – Lady On The Rise
- Ex:Re – Radio Station
- Blue Medusa – Crocodile
Matt Parker – Deputy Editor
Track of the month: Anamanaguchi – Yeah I Guess
In a move that may prove controversial, I’m singling out this synth-heavy, 8-bit party rocker as my pick of the month.
On I Guess, chiptune obsessives Anamanaguchi sound like they’ve hacked a lost ’80s Nintendo game and swapped-out Mario out for Andrew WK.
There’s a lot more guitar in the mix here than first meets the ear, as evidenced in their recent AudioTree session. I love it for the garage band energy, but also the way it totally re-contextualizes that guitar-centric form and warps the mix (with sidescrolling sound effects) into something that’s rattling, slightly nuts, and yet somehow makes complete sense as a pairing. It is all of the fun things delivered in one irresistible, chaotic package, and another reminder that the guitar is an instrument with infinite possibilities.
Also playing:
- 200 Stab Wounds – Pangs of Conscience
- Marcus King – Blue (ft. ERNEST)
- Greg Freeman – Loser’s Prize
Jackson Maxwell – Operations Editor
Track of the month: Phoebe Bridgers – On Video
If ever there was an excuse for Phoebe Bridgers to wheel out her BC Rich… Her contribution to the (phenomenal, in this writer’s opinion) new movie, Primetime, On Video is unlike anything Bridgers has ever done. Its central acoustic progression is beautiful but a tad unsettling – it’d be music to the ears of any Alex G fan – but the money for us in the chorus. This thing freakin’ explodes.
It’s pure hard-rock loud-quiet-loud (are those blast beats???) – those tones in the chorus are thunderous. You can get well, lost, in the infinite tones and textures of Bridgers’ new album, Lost Weekend, but this is a thrillingly, brilliantly simple companion to it.
Also playing:
- Jeff Parker, Scott Amendola, & Paul Bryan – Momentum and Backlash
- Muireann Bradley – Dancing On My Grave
- Wavves – Pinesol
Matt Owen – News Editor
Track of the month: Austin TV – Boonmee
Does KEXP have a crazy dress code or something? Months after it gave the polka dot-clad alien duo Angine de Poitrine their big break, the radio station has served up another, erm… let’s say memorable act.
Austin TV, a post-rock instrumental band hailing from Mexico City, are the latest to make a stir on the platform. The uniform this time? Matching tunics and headpieces that are crying strands of cotton (literally). But like Angine, this is no mere gimmick. Austin TV are really good.
Take Boonme, for instance. The ambient soundscapes are massive, the shoegaze-y riffing a true spectacle. You won’t get any microtonal jams here; just anthemic noise rock. It’s inspiring me to get crazy with my pedalboard…
Also playing:
- Royal Blood – Swallow the Bomb
- U2 – Silencio
- Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram – The Chase
Janelle Borg – Staff Writer
Track of the month: Steven Wilson – Requiem for a Village
Just a few hours before Steven Wilson’s latest opus dropped, I was just reminiscing about his other (or one of his many opuses), The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories). You could say I manifested Requiem for a Village, as, lo and behold, it dropped in my inbox (thank you, PR agent).
Taken from his upcoming ninth studio album, which bears the same name, it’s the type of thing that I expected and needed from Wilson. Seven minutes plus? Check. Haunting vocals? Check. A studio full of Stevens? Check. Prog rock goodness? Check. Endless guitar layers? Check. Best of all, there’s an accompanying live session where you can name-check all of the guitars and basses Steven and the Stevens use – you’re welcome.
Also playing:
- Jeff Darko – Messenger
- Ezra Collective – El Corazón
- Yvette Young, Novo Amor – black33
