- Art music
- Experimental pop
- Avant-pop
- Electro-acoustic
- Electronic
- Post-classical
- Singer-songwriter
- Post-industrial
Comment: first of all, This Is Going To Be Ugly is Buffalo-based Kevin McFadden aka The Hathaway Family Plot's pessimistic prediction as they look ahead to the year 2020 in America. I can remember for his first albums approximately a decade ago being released on WM Recordings which were haphazard journeys across different frantic sonic terrains which yet involved decent songwriting with some critical lyrics about topics in his society. Later on, he transitioned incisive noise experiments into more reverb-drenched dreams. Of course, the description of mine is a bit conditional because one and the same elements used to meet on all the albums just being spiced up in different measures and built up in disparate configurations (14 albums in total so far). The music features Kevin McFadden's piano playing more than on any previous issues and fewer toy instruments to be included. However, the aforementioned electro-acoustic songs by nature keep hold the pace on the recent issue either. It is desperate, anguished, painful and highly fervent in its sounds and lyrics. It is all about impending climate catastrophe, allegiance to doubtful authorities, mental and physical pollination of soul and body, respectively. There is a piano which is exploited to play unnerving chords which are amplified with creepy electronics, noisy outbursts and sardonic sonic experiments. All will be changing, all will be the same? The first part of the sentence is obviously true, the same can not be said about the second part – regarding the future of the human race and the music of The Hathaway Family Plot. At least the latter does show a healthy incantation and organic progression based on the previous paw tracks left by him. The former is going on without any control about a destruction machine which unfortunately does live its own life. There's no need to talk about the singularity of the robots because we are already controlled by another, more mighty machine (something analogous has been assumed by Lewis Mumford). Kevin McFadden still presides the sonic process, isn't? Implicitly given that it is beatific and lively.