maria minerva - c or d?

dope

New album feels like a refinement of her work so far: not a bid for crossover appeal but a sharpening of focus - there's still lots of blurriness and wooziness to her production textures and singing, but the songcraft itself is sharper and the ideas are stronger and deliberate. There's still a sense of diffuseness stylistically but there's no longer the sense of noodling meander that let the last album tail off towards the end, and she's got such a strong identity in her sound that it holds together. I've always been surprised that she doesn't have a bigger following on ILX but I imagine this album might change that - I hate to compare female singers against each other but this feels like her Visions, in that it is a turning point in a career arc, still obviously by the same artist but a leap forward in terms of capability.

this is my favourite thing she's released, there are some great hooks (though it's much less straightforwardly catchy than visions & it's less of a departure from her previous records) some great mid-90s techno basslines. ivory tower & runaway standing out atm

Need to hear this one.

you really should

I dug Happiness? a lot; will be listening to this...

Wau @ the "What Have I Done To Deserve This?"-quoting on "Endgame", and the airhorns (& Yarbrough & Peoples?) on "Spirit of the Underground".

i will give this a closer listen, though woof @ that album cover. kind of stopped listening to this sort of thing, idk. *not motivated*

Will be surprised if she ever makes a track I like more than [California Scheming], but I'd be glad to see her try

Unfortunately, this is still true. I just listened to this song again for the first time in quite a while and it's still luxurious.

Seeing Grimes win the EOY poll while this thread languishes with minimal interest saddens me

there's always next year

my fav remains love so strong in all its wonky splendour

new minerva cover

http://calvertjournal.com/news/show/7819/listen-to-experimental-musician-maria-minervas-new-estonian-track

I made a definitive mix covering all her albums if anyone's interested

yes please Ross

hey boxedjoy, not sure the best method for this - you got an email?

oh nvm cool, got it

also interested if you can't post it here

this ended up being really good thanks!

No worries :)

https://soundcloud.com/mariaminerva/florian-wahl-maria-minerva-whitney-feelin-prod-by-florian-wahl

total classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sXtAjnUl3U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht-TLz9BLKY

why does the world continue to malign her?

Soft Power is a little slight compared to her last two solo albums but it's still better than most music I've heard from 2020