A regional music scene is a somewhat unwieldy entity. Try as one might, it's hard to keep up with every new band that pops up, every producer releasing new tracks on Bandcamp, or every album released across the multitudes of genres the creative folks in the Inland Northwest craft. But it's good as the year winds down to at least get a tiny taste of what the local music scene in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene offered up in 2023. While it's hardly an exhaustive list, maybe this collection of albums will allow you to find a new local fav for 2024 and beyond.
CHRISTMAS PIANO
CALEB NOELDNER
If you're the type of person who loves having instrumental Christmas music playing in your house at all hours during the holiday season, why not throw some local flavor into the mix? Let Coeur d'Alene's Caleb Noeldner's collection of calming piano arrangements of Christmas classics act as a warm and comforting sonic stocking stuffer. calebnoeldner.bandcamp.com
CONVALESCENCE
THE NIXON RODEO
Spokane scene stalwart the Nixon Rodeo has long blended together various hard rock genre flavors together to make a hot musical stew that packs a punch. That certainly continues on Convalescence, which vacillates between angsty aggression and emotional rawness, soaring sung melodies and screamed exasperations, metal shredding and chunky punk riffing, and so much more over the course of its rocking runtime. thenixonrodeo.bandcamp.com
CURA
MIKHAIL HAMMER
Like a sunny digital dreamscape, Mikhail Hammer's Cura washes over listeners in waves of warmth. It's bright and colorful electronic music that smoothly pulses and radiates with a friendly, welcoming aesthetic. It feels like audio positivity. mikhailhammer.bandcamp.com
GOLDEN PASTURES
PIT
While the addition of Carter Bastian playing synth and piano on a couple tracks brings a new dynamic to the group, Pit's latest EP Golden Pastures still revels in the ramshackle indie rock charm that has become the band's calling card when gigging around town. The poppy synth sound (especially on "Splinter") actually provides a delightful counterbalance for a band that isn't afraid to show off the rough corners of its sound. pitpitpit.bandcamp.com
GRAB A BUCKET
BAILEY ALLEN BAKER
It's a fine line to walk as a songwriter to try to make songs that are fun while also slightly unnerving. Coeur d'Alene's Bailey Allen Baker finds that sweet spot on Grab a Bucket. Employing his slow brooding husky voice to high dramatic effect, the collection of forlorn dark alt-folk tunes dwells in dark moments of There Will Be Blood malicious grandiosity and downtrodden reflections that feel like they might need to be washed away by a bucket-sized shot of whisky. baileyallenbaker.bandcamp.com
HEAD CLEANER
HAYES NOBLE
In terms of fresh faces in the Spokane music scene, no other 2023 newbie can touch Hayes Noble. The recent Illinois transplant absolutely rips things up on Head Cleaner, a blissfully noisy burst of fuzzy alternative rock. Calling to mind bands like Cloud Nothings, Japandroids, and even early Nirvana, Noble's no-nonsense brand of garage rock is grunge enough to appeal to Gen Xers while still boasting a touch of Gen Z slacker vibes. As long as you don't hold people to an extended residency requirement waiting period, Head Cleaner is the best Spokane album of 2023. hayesnoble.bandcamp.com
MONOLITH
PRETENDING WE'RE JUST LIKE THEM
It's not easy to make lyrics-free instrumental post-rock feel particularly compelling. It requires real musicianship and a sense of the cinematic to pull off anything close to what a group like Explosions in the Sky can achieve. Spokane trio Pretending We're Just Like Them proves up to the task on Monolith, crafting seven atmospheric rock tracks that make it very easy to get willfully lost in their dynamic, expansive soundscapes. pretendingwerejustlikethem.bandcamp.com
ONWARD STRIDES COLOSSUS
MERLOCK
As one might guess by its title, Merlock strives for stoner gloom metal epicness on Onward Strides Colossus. The 10-minute album-closing title track encapsulates this goal with massive riffs leading a musical quest that should delight the headbanging adventurers. merlock.bandcamp.com
THE PEPLOWSKI PROJECT
DAVID LARSEN
While saxophonist David Larsen continues to be one of the best local jazz players, he's not above ceding the spotlight. For example, this LP takes its name from Larsen's collaborating clarinetist Ken Peplowski. Along with an ensemble backing group, the pair explores Al Cohn compositions and arrangements (along with some Larsen originals) across 11 fittingly jazzy tracks. larsenjazz.bandcamp.com
PRESENCING
AVALON KALIN
Avalon Kalin self-identifies as making "healing electronic music," and that description seems more than apt when delving into the meditative album that is Presencing. An exploration of modern being, the album melds Kalin's electronic template with calming vibraphone melodies to try to act as a soundtrack to listeners' reflective explorations of their own awareness. avalonkalin.bandcamp.com
RAMBLING AND RECOLLECTIONS
MEL DALTON
If you stumble into a dive bar where a folk singer is about to take the stage, one can only hope for someone who sounds like Mel Dalton. The Coeur d'Alene singer-songwriter mixes lyrical storytelling and blues-tinged Americana across this little treat of a five-song EP. meldaltonmusic.bandcamp.com
STREET CLOTHES
THE UNITED F—ING STATES
The debut EP from UFS feels like a disorientingly sloshed up-chuck of abrasive post-rock. It's a snarling slap in the face when you're still trying to wake up from a hangover haze. theunitedf—-ingstates.bandcamp.com
UMBRA
KADABRA
When it comes to heavy psychedelic rock riffage, nobody in town does it quite like Kadabra. The band sounds even more confident in its stoner swagger on Umbra, where Blake Braley organ accents give depth to guitarist/singer Garrett Zanol's sinister sonic world. The clean production style brings balance to each tantalizing ingredient in this witch's brew of an album. kadabraband.bandcamp.com
WHO IS MAMA LLAMA
MAMA LLAMA
Oddball easy listening is a weird little niche, but Mama Llama aptly fills it. The group's light rock sound sinks into jazzy bossa nova groves one moment and then bursts into fuzzy garage sounds the next, often while singer Isaac Murcar drones silly nonsensical lyrics. mamallama.bandcamp.com
WITCH OF THE NIGHT
HÍSEMTUKS HÍMI•N
Emerging from a foundation of black metal and the group's Nez Perce roots, Hísemtuks Hími•n's Witch of the Night offers up a heavy atmospheric barrage that feels like it's awash in the glowing blue moonlight of a clear PNW night sky. hisemtukshimin.bandcamp.com
OTHERS TO CHECK OUT...
Amnesia - Guy Wachtel
Be Somebody Else - Glenn Case
Bulletproof - Jake Rozier
The Conquering Kind - Feral Anthem
Daylight - Caleb Stuffle
Echo from Deep Valley - Ho Lan
Elegant Decay Pt. 2 - Ghost Heart
Colorwise - Dario Ré
Conflict Vol. 2 - Everyone Loves a Villain
Fairytale - Heather M Erickson
Fear. - Trent de la Cruz
Flesh of My Flesh - Reaping Fields
Gunk & Disorderly - Roderick Bambino
High on a Daydream - Faces/Houses
Intimations - Group Material
Imposter Syndrome - Elemeno-P
King Nothing - King Nothing
Lie to the Smart Machine - Jeremy Wales
Looking Glass - Not Chris Stark
Medium Christmas - Caroline Fowler
Memory_Book II - Brynn Cortez
The Moon's - The Moon's
Prizm - Jed Wagner
Psychosis OS – Emperor Emotion
Rabbit Hole Scenario - Kevin Kohler & Michelle Marcoccia
The Rest - Whimsy and the Bee
Singles Vol. 7 - Delt
Smoke and Mirrors - Forged in the Storm
Soon - Abe Baker
Songs for a Ghost - The Walleye
Sing While You Can - Blue Ribbon Tea Company
Through Shadow and Stone - Those Who Dwell in Dim Carcosa
Untitled Research Labs OST - Darius Simmons
