What does it sound like?:

Kendrick Lamar’s last release, Good Kid: M.A.A.D. City, was a masterpiece, a rite of passage tale of growing up in Compton. However, that now sounds suffocating, introspective and monochrome compared to To Pimp A Butterfly. This is a multicoloured kaleidoscope of sound with complex lyrical themes and narrative threads woven within its rich tapestry. Although one of the themes is being conflicted and depressed, Lamar exudes confidence. At times, his raps are literally breath-taking; they go so fast, one wonders how he actually physically does it without pause. He experiments with rolling the sounds around his mouth and adopting different voices to reflect different characteristics of his personality. He bounces his raps off the music’s flow much better than he has ever done.

The music is spectacularly imaginative. It sounds like a wild free jazz band, underpinned by Bootsy bass and backed by P-Funk singers. But, it can also slow down to perform polished sweet Soul. Thundercat provides the bottom for much of To Pimp A Butterfly and Robert Glasper sprinkles his stylish jazz piano embellishments just as Mick Garson did for Bowie on Aladdin Sane. Its vast array of styles most resembles the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Giddens’ voice rings as strong and true as the Liberty Bell. She is classically trained and is the front woman for the folk revivalists, The Carolina Chocolate Drops. Having stolen the show on Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes, she is rewarded with this solo debut, backed by classy session musicians and a big name producer, T Bone Burnett.

Bravely, she chooses to cover ten songs written or made famous by some of the most inspirational female characters to strut a stage. Usually, a ‘show case’ like this collapses under the strain of attempting to demonstrate all of the artist’s diverse skills in a single album. However, the thread of a feminist message, the theme of updating the past and the fact that Giddens actually is good at everything, hold the album together beautifully. She really can subvert like Nina, stretch the heart-strings like Patsy, seduce like Dolly, testify with the joy of Sister Rosetta and burn the blues like Bessie. However, these aren’t mere copycat performances. They are fresh, cleared-eyed re-imaginings delivered with a warmth and subtlety that reach the emotional core of the songs. I sometimes find Burnett’s productions » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

When Mark Lanegan, the voice of god, describes someone as “a musical genius” I pay attention. Duke has worked with him on many occasions, writing songs, playing guitar, rattling some drums, blowing some brass. He’s a genuine multi-instrumentalist. It turns out his voice is a bluesy growl that sounds as though it has crawled out of a swamp near New Orleans, not unlike Lanegan’s. Heavy Love was recorded in some studio spare time while the two of them made Black Pudding. As a result, Alain Johannes from Queens Of The New Stone Age produces while Lanegan mixes.

Heavy Love, as a whole, is an intense, atmospheric piece. The guitar shimmers and gleams, the rhythm section provides texture rather than drive and the lyrics add intrigue rather than clarity. There may be few actual tunes, no real riffs and no grooves, yet it is very pleasant on the ear. Duke’s voice is authoritative and engrossing, especially when counterpointed by a female (Jehnny Beth on the title track and Petra Phillipson on Disco Lights). There is an undercurrent of restrained anger.

The album evokes the outdoors; sometimes a stifling desert, at others a relentless downpour, a » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Natalie Prass possesses a fragile, feminine voice. On this, her debut, it is swept along by Schmilsson strings and topped by ripe, cherry horns. Over nine songs, she delicately and gracefully picks the bones of a failed relationship. It is a delicious, featherlight confection, cleverly disguising the splintering in her heart. Matthew E. White, her old school chum, provides the label, Spacebomb, the orchestra, the brass and the producer. I doubt it is entirely altruism as the retro smokey-soul sound suits the house style precisely. The quality of the writing and performance should easily repay his investment. It’s a pity the album was shelved for two years whilst White promoted his own Big Inner, yet poor Natalie is left with a window of only a few months until he releases his follow up. In the meantime, please don’t overlook this little gem. It takes a confident, precise performer to pitch such emotional vulnerability against a swelling thirty-six piece orchestra. I am sure by the year end, there will be few albums so coherent, so luscious and so effective in impact.

What does it all *mean*?

If proof were needed, here it is; well constructed » Continue Reading.