What does it sound like?:

Anyone who’s not paid much attention to Sweet Billy Pilgrim since their Mercury-nominated Twice Born Men album will be surprised to hear this. The laptoptronica and knocked up in a shed vibe have gone, replaced by a much more muscular full band sound. The melodies and harmonies remain, as strong as ever, and so do Tim Elsenburg’s songwriting chops. Some of the changing time signatures, heavy riffs and midsong shifts carry a whiff of prog (this is their first album on Kscope), but we’re never far away from a big chorus or disco breakdown. It’s an ambitious record, beautifully arranged and full of strings and brass flourishes that occasionally recall Bacharach. It also has a much bigger part of co vocalist Jana Carpenter, whose bruised voice brings a touch of Americana grit. It’s a sumptuous fully realised modern pop album that will be in the running for my top ten come end of year time

What does it all *mean*?

things

Goes well with…

don’t know, it went down nicely on a drive to Cirencester and back the other day if that helps

Might suit people who like…

the Steven Wilson tracks that aren’t » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Taka is best known as the guitarist and chief composer for the Japanese post-rock titans Mono. This is his debut solo album, based on scraps of songs recorded back in 2003 but only seeing the light of day now. The timing is interesting, because this sounds more like the orchestral records Mono are making now than it does the stuff they were doing when these songs were recorded. There’s a distinctly filmic feel to the music, and Taka has said it is heavily influenced by Lars Von Trier’s Breaking The Waves. A piano is the lead instrument throughout, with plenty of strings supporting, and guitar and drums relegated to the background. It’s a much more fragile thing than the bombast of the parent band, with moments of great melancholy beauty.

What does it all *mean*?

Wonderful music, bloody awful title.

Goes well with…

Pondering, drinking something hot from a large mug while watching raindrops running down the outside of the window, unexplained weeping in public.

Might suit people who like…

Mono, obviously, but also the more rock inflected end of modern composition

What does it sound like?:

Most fans would agree that the best ELP albums were the run of three they produced in the early 70’s, comprising Tarkus,Trilogy and Brain Salad Surgery. The second of that run, 1972’s Trilogy, now gets the reissue treatment, with this package of a remaster of the original album on CD1, a new stereo mix by King Crimson’s Jakko Jaksyk (who also did the BSS reissue) on CD2, and the 5.1 mix etc on the DVD.

What does it all *mean*?

The new stereo mix is excellent – the contrast with the original album is like night and day. Gone is the hissy, muddy sound of yore, replaced by a much clearer picture of the sound the band created in the studio. The more complex pieces in particular reveal hitherto unheard nuances. The 5.1 mix also lives up to expectations, placing the listener in the very epicentre of the music. A disappointment though is the lack of unreleased music – only one ‘new’ piece, a not very different alternate take of ‘From The Beginning’ is included on CD2. Frustratingly, the sleeve notes refer to several unreleased versions of ‘Hoedown’, none of which make an appearance, » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

A bit Psych, a bit Synth Pop with spoken word from Maxine Peake. The story of an obsessive fan in pursuit of Johnny Rocket lead singer of The Moonlandingz (Lias Saoudi & Saul Adamczewski of Fat White Family with the ERC). Set in the fictional Valhalla Dale in South Yorkshire, a world of piss filled canals, bricks and kittens, where Thursday is always chippy tea night. The story turns dark and violent and the legacy of Thatcher and her attempted destruction of the north looms large over this valley.

Discordant and beautiful with brilliant Pop songs from The Moonlandingz it is the best of the year so far

What does it all *mean*?

The only thing worse than an obnoxious Pop star is a mad Pop fan(atic)

Goes well with…

Black Pudding, Chips, Scraps, Mild and Bitter.

Might suit people who like…

Ghostbox artists, Motorik, late 70s early 80s electronica (Cabs, Human League etc) Play Misty For Me. Gritty Northern drama. Concept Albums and Rock Operas

What does it sound like?:

Melody’s voice has a smoky, feline quality that kisses the sweet spot at the base of my spine. It makes me purr and tremble both at the same time. She could sing pure gobbledygook and I’d be in raptures.

She is pigeon-holed as a jazz chanteuse but, here, on her fourth album, Melody is is writing songs with greater ambition and scope. There are three main types of song across ten tracks; swampy blues, string-swept slowies and punchy soul. There is very little jazz. Her voice has ripened into a strong, confident instrument, which she deploys with admirable restraint, allowing the mood of the songs to be expressed without histrionics.

The signature sounds of the album are Pete Kuzma’s gospel organ, mud-splattering guitar from Dean Parks, Dan Higgins’s rumbuctious baritone sax and Melody’s own fragile piano. The strings are sumptuous, constructed by Clément Ducol. He is especially good on If Ever I Recall Your Face and the closing, Once I Was Loved, where he cups a Melody piano fragment like a tiny bird in the palm of his hand and, delicately, raises her up to the heavens. The whole thing is classily masterminded » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The 4th album by West Coast band Dawes is not as immediate as the last one, Stories Don’t End. However, that may turn out to be a good thing. Four days, and repeated listens, has meant that several songs that felt a bit like filler have now opened up to reveal a depth that wasn’t immediately apparent.

Let me declare a bit of an interest here – since someone on this (or, more probably, the previous) site posted a Dawes video, 4 years ago, the band has become one of my favourites of all time. Which, at my age, is bloody fantastic. I have devoured their records, seen them live quite a bit and bored friends and family by slipping Dawes tracks onto every mix-CD I make for them. So, I was just a bit excited by this new album.

Once again, it shows Taylor Goldsmith to be a consummate songwriter. Lyrics about lost love, aging, California and the world around him draw you in and, coupled with his voice, soothe your ears. The band are no slouches, as anyone that has seen them live will attest. Tight playing, tight harmonies and a surprising » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It’s hard to encapsulate the album’s sound in a word, so I won’t try but it is woozy, claustrophobic, dreamlike and sparky – a real star turn by producer Ed Harcourt who also adds harmony vocals. The opening ‘Electric’ is slowly enveloped by a fuzzy warm embrace as Kathryn’s vocal slips into accepting ennui. ‘Mirrors’ crackles with synapse pulsing energy, Kathryn utilising her onstage vocal looping to great effect echoing Esther’s confusion and fear as her grip on her self starts to change. On repeat listens you hear new sounds and vocal inflections that pull you further into the eye of the storm.

The expressiveness of Kathryn’s voice has always been what drew me in to her work and on this record she really does emote the hell out of the material, the ‘ticking, ticking bomb’ of ‘Battleships’ giving the feeling of menace, fear and disgust in the book’s scene where Esther is cajoled into meeting her boyfriend, Buddy, by both their parents in an attempt to steer her onto the path to marriage and the accepted norm for a young women of the age. The imagining of this scene as a game of » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Do you remember that lad at school? You know the one, the class clown, always larking about? The practical joker with the gift of the gab, who could charm his way out of any trouble? He loved to party, loved being the centre of attention and everyone loved him too. He never revised, flunked his exams, but dropped on by pulling the brightest, prettiest girl in the school. You knew he was going to be just fine.

Then, decades later, you bump into him at a motorway service station. Over forty minutes, accompanied by scampi and chips, you’ve heard his life story. He is battered by a broken marriage, damaged by years of addiction and grief-stricken by the loss of his children. It’s a wonder he has pulled through and managed to retain a whiff of the old wit and charm. He tells a good tale well. There is much you can relate to. You are both the same age and you share some of the same regrets. The time passes quickly and enjoyably. You shake hands goodbye. You glimpse the sadness in his eyes and worry he can see it reflected in yours.

» Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Amazingly good. Like it is still 1974, man. Percussive guitar like early John Martyn, sings like Tim Buckley, arrangements like Bryter Layter period Nick Drake, apparently also a bit like the late Bert Jansch. You really owe it to yourself to check this guy out. He is on Spotify, Facebook and available in a good record shops. You will thank me.

What does it all *mean*?

The progressive folk revival starts here pop pickers.

Goes well with…

a good book whilst sitting outside in the sun sipping a refreshing drink. What sort of question is that?

Might suit people who like…

John Martyn, Tim Buckley, Nick Drake. He is playing Hoxton 2nd Sept and Guildford 3rd Sept. I’m going to the London gig. It is only £10.70.

What does it sound like?:

Rising from the ashes of (sorry, Bob, but the FUCKING AWESOME) Earl Brutus came The Pre New, whose Music For People Who Hate Themselves debut was so seriously ignored as to provide conclusive proof that there really is no God.

This new one seems to have more traction, though — witness this glowing review in The Guardian…

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/07/the-pre-new-the-male-eunuch-review

As to what it sounds like — like The Sleaford Mods you can dance to. Oh, all right then, like The Auteurs gone electro. Or like Half Man Half Biscuit if they were really, really cross and had a sampler and a bunch of Giorgio Moroder records to play with. There’s something about listening to The Pre New that makes you want to laugh and cry at the same time. This lyric, for example: ‘You left your tarmac on my drive, it’s the stupid things that make it so good to be alive, sleeping now, I am within, past photographs of you when you were thin, up your stairs, down my hall, past the Farrow and past the Ball, past the pictures of the kids when they were young, and all the emptiness the guy » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Merzbow and Whitehouse meet John Carpenter. In other words, dark cinematic melodies with screaming and power electronics thrown in. Sometimes it’s just the power electronics. Sometimes it’s just the dark ambience. But the best tracks, like the opener, Myth Of Building Bridges, combine the two.

What does it all *mean*?

Aaaarrrrggghhh!

Goes well with…

Emptying rooms.

Might suit people who like…

The idea of a Wolf Eyes and Haxan Cloak team-up

What does it sound like?:

It has been eight years since Murphy’s last album, Overpowered, one of the great lost pop albums of the last ten years. Now the ex-Moloko singer returns with an album of dark, pulsating dance tracks. Eight songs, all over 5 minutes long, one stretching out to over 9, this album takes a few listens to get into, but once the songs worm their way into your brain, you’re hooked. The first track, Gone Fishing, perhaps the weakest, meanders a bit too much, but the the album kicks into gear with Evil Eyes and then never lets up. Beautifully sung, Murphy’s voice giving depth to cryptic lyrics while synths pound and the bass pummels you into submission. There is dark disco here, but also touches of jazz. Standouts are Exploitation, Uninvited Guest and House of Glass. A superb return.

What does it all *mean*?

That one of our quirkiest pop stars is back and in fine form. Her previous solo albums, Ruby Blue and Overpowered are well worth listening to. As is the stuff she did with Moloko. Murphy has a voice of great range and emotion and really should be a bigger star than » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Gather round all you Yes fans – others have permission to leave the room! A 14 cd set encompassing 7 shows from late 1972 taken from recently discovered and restored tapes. The set list is the same for each show, although there are minor variations in the performances of individual songs of course. Some of this material was used on Yessongs, but these cds, unlike that album, do not include any material from earlier tours – so favourites such as Starship Trooper, Long Distance Runaround and Perpetual Change are absent. What you do get is a run through of classic era Yes material with the band firing on all cylinders and at their improvisational best. The set is accompanied by an informative illustrated and detailed booklet with articles on the discovery and restoration of the tapes and the background to the album, and comes nicely presented in a box with new Roger Dean artwork.

What does it all *mean*?

A 2cd highlights set is available as well, but hardcore fans will want the full 14 cd 12 hour experience experience, which is a worthy addition to the catalogue.

Goes well with…

Classic prog from » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This album sounds like sunshine. It feels as though it was recorded outdoors with everyone dressed in bright colours and gleaming from ear to ear. It is lush with hooks and melody, sparkling singing, dazzling musicianship and lashings of percussion.

Ngoni Ba are a family band from Mali, a country until recently torn apart from civil war. There was a real threat from fundamentalist Islamists, who did gain control part of the country for a time and persecuted Mali musicians simply for being musicians. Now that the extremists are vanquished and a peace treaty signed, it is time to celebrate and dance.

A Ngoni is a four stringed instrument similar to a lute. Mastery of it is passed from generation to generation in the Kouyaté family. At least four of them are in the group. When they lock into a groove, the interaction and intricacy of the playing is stunning. Bassekou’s wife is the main lead singer but they share the role around and any number of them can participate on backing vocals. It seems like the entire extended family are given something to hit. The whole brew is topped off with western rock » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It sounds like you’re having a night out. Only, in! HOW FANTASTIC IS THAT!

What does it all *mean*?

It means that Australia is still, after many decades, the most reliable source of top new music.

Goes well with…

The eighties. I didn’t expect to like this album, being mostly sorta-disco-synth-dancefloor (the album, that is, not I), but the sheer talent here – not least in the songwriting (hooks that stick like STDs) but the production, playing, singing – everything – hang on – where was I? ‘Ave I ‘ad me dinner yet?

Might suit people who like…

Music in their cars (this is, like, awesome driving music), music in their stereos (push back the coffee table and pop the button on those dad jeans! YOU ARE YOUNG!), music in their ears. I haven’t had such a good time (in a sad, lonely way) with an album since, ooh, since … hang on – I left the gas on …

What does it sound like?:

If the constant work-rate of the artist otherwise known as Mark Oliver Everett has been a bit much to cope with then this live pit-stop is for you. Never knowingly touring the same show twice, last year’s jaunt promoting ‘The Cautionary Tales…..’ was a stripped back, non rocking affair cherry-picking songs from across his career that fit the downbeat vibe. “Good news, this next one isn’t that much of a bummer…..no wait, sorry, yes it very much is” – it’s the way he tells ’em – mumbled deadpanned between songs. Despite being in the expansive, expensive (which is why I was at Cambridge for this tour) grand old venue, this sounds very intimate, warm and downright cosy. The band sound great subtly adding colour to the bleak canvas yet Eels music is more black dog humour than depressing. ” she locked herself in the bathroom again so i am pissing in the yard i have to laugh when i think how far it’s gone but things aren’t funny anymore” . The encore features Harry Nilsson’s ‘Turn On Your Radio’ and it’s a lovely song that I was unfamiliar with. Does E win his battle » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Following on from the release late last year of the 7 cd box of Oldfield’s albums for Warners comes this 2 cd ‘best of’ covering the same period featuring key highlights plus a dozen or so rarities. Disc 1 concentrates on pieces released as singles, including several non-album remixes and closing with the rerecorded version of ‘Sailor’s Hornpipe’ from the 2003 version of TB. Disc 2 features rarities and remixes, and starts with a demo version of TB2’s ‘The Sentinel’. Billy Connolly gives the rundown of instruments on ‘The Bell’, also from TB2 instead of the more familiar Alan Rickman version – Viv Stanshall’s attempt at the same piece appears on CD1. Several B sides are given rare outings, but the remainder of CD2 harks back to the period when Oldfield’s music was adopted by the ‘ambient/house’ scene. Of the remixes offered in this genre, the best is The Orb’s ‘Orbular Bells’ mix of ‘The Sentinel’.

What does it all *mean*?

The first cd is a handy collection for the casual fan – the second is for the more hardcore completist follower of Oldfield.

Goes well with…

Prog fans will like most of the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

One day, you may find yourself browsing in one of those new-fangled record emporiums. You may stumble across this album in the Jazz section. There is Dee Dee on the cover, resplendent in a white evening gown, draped across a chaise longue, a perfectly posed white dog by her side. Behind is what appears to be her butler but is, in fact, Irvin, sporting a matching bald head. They are clearly in the drawing room of a stately home.

The photograph is a perfect representation of the album; high class musicianship, but staged and conservative. It is meant to be a journey through the history of New Orleans, including covers of old classics and a couple of new ones. The arrangements of the old songs are quite ordinary and the new ones don’t sound ‘new’ at all. All the New Orleans clichés are here, familiar to anyone who has seen a single episode of Tremé, right down to the Dr. John feature. I spent a lot of energy stifling a yawn.

To be fair, everyone is enjoying themselves. Dee Dee allows herself a couple of genuine giggles. Her scat singing is excellent and Irvin’s » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Last year’s untimely death of Frankie Knuckles caused an outbreak of ignorance on the Afterword board, but I’d point any lingering doubters in the direction of this new two-disc compilation, a worthy tribute to a man who not only practically invented house music but remained one its leading lights until the end of his life.

On offer are two discs of remixes and original productions chosen by the man himself, and though you may know many already (Your Love, Tears, Where Love Lives and Baby Wants To Ride are all present and correct) they sound absolutely spiffing here, buffed up and leaping out at you with fresh sparkle.

Meanwhile there’s a ton of stuff that you (and by you, I mean me) probably haven’t heard before: a tremendous, piano-led re-rub of the Pet Shop Boy’s Left To My Own Devices, which over eight minutes builds from its skeletal, jack-track beginnings into a full-on, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink mini-opera, and a gorgeous remix of Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody that feels like a sensuous, otherworldly echo-memory of the original track. His mix of First Choice’s Let No Man Put Asunder repositions a 1970s disco number for the » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The 40th anniversary of Tull’s eighth studio album is marked by the issue of this 2cd/2dvd set. The original album has been remixed by Steven Wilson, and is supplemented by the Summerday Sands B side together with three tracks recorded for BBC sessions (previously unreleased) and three early takes of tracks on the album, these also being released for the first time. The second cd is a Paris concert from July 1975, also unreleased until now. This shows what many would describe as the band’s definitive line-up performing at the peak of their powers.The tapes have been restored to pristine condition by King Crimson guitarist Jakko Jaksyk, who also remixed the recent ELP reissues. The two DVDs add various 5.1 mixes of the two albums, plus an unseen till now eight minute film of the band on stage performing the title track. The package is completed by a lavish illustrated 80 page book with numerous articles and interviews with those involved with the album, which is a great read.

What does it all *mean*?

As with the Passion Play and War Child rereleases, this album has really benefitted from being remixed and now has » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Surprisingly enough for a Blur record, this sounds a lot like, well, Blur. After over a decade since their last album, much has been made of this “surprise” return. Anyone who has seen them since their 2009 return will know that this new record has always been something of an inevitability, although no timeframes were ever announced. This album sounds reassuringly like the band’s previous work, but with a hint of further experimentation, to ensure that hardcore fans will satisfied, and that new audiences will still be found. The punky, shouty “I Broadcast” is possibly the most distinctively Blur track on “The Magic Whip”, and will slot in nicely to setlists alongside familiar tunes such as “Song 2” or “Jubilee”. This is Blur playing themselves, and as such is probably the most immediate, yet predictable, track on the album. Songs such as “My Terracotta Heart” and “Thought I Was a Spaceman” continue the ethereal, vibe-based, nature of Albarn’s previous work on The Good, The Bad and The Queen, and his solo album “Everyday Robots”. A few of the tracks also reflect the funkier music he’s put out with Gorillaz. But the presence of Coxon’s » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Their last two or three studio albums have found The Fall sounding like the received Hepworthian opinion insists they’ve always sounded. ‘Like a drunk tramp fighting a vending machine in a bus station’, or something. And for a long-time fan and staunch defender it’s been tough hearing MES gargle incomprehensibly over boring, repetitive music driven by the worst-sounding keyboards this side of a toddler on a Bontempi.

While by no means a classic, album number 31 is enough to restore your faith if, like me, your fandom has been wavering. Back comes vocal melody and lyrics you can actually hear, while on the music front, Poulou’s tragic keyboards are less prominent and the guitar work more creative than it has been since Imperial Wax Solvent in 2008. Ten-minute psych-epic Auto Chip 2014-1016 is the Blindness we’ve all been waiting for since, well, Blindness, and Fibre Book Troll bristles with aggression and anger. In fact, for twenty minutes or so, this album is as good as anything they’ve ever done, and finds The Fall in all their Beefheartian glory, with singer and band clicking in an unholy and irresistible cacophony, an inscrutable puzzle of music » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

I have to declare my bias here before proceeding with my review. I consider Tom Russell to be currently the greatest living songwriter in the genre we describe as Americana. In short he has no equal. This is the third in a trilogy chronicling the West that started with The Man from God knows where and continued with Hotwalker. It is his magnum opus, his raison d’être for the last few years and is an absolute joy from start to finish. It should be listened to in one sitting but at 2 discs long and with around 140 minutes of music it may not be possible to devote that much time in one go. Bitesize chunks do not detract from the enjoyment and it is clear that this is a labour of love that he must surely be proud of. How can anyone be this good? It tells the story of an Irish immigrant who left the shores of the Emerald Eyes as a young boy. The narrator is 90 years old and looking back on his life. A life of Cowboy hustlers, barroom brawls, gamblers, roustabouts and ne’er do wells. The whole set » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This album is the sound of a young band finding its feet by searching for something new in the guitar-led blues/rock template. It is organic, sizzling with the interaction of a handful of humans, living, breathing, sweating, bleeding together in a room.

Brittany Howard doesn’t simply possess a remarkable voice. It is a voice that arrived with the slave ships, baked in the cotton fields for a century, then swept along the Mississipi to emerge with the power and authority of a lifetime’s hard labour. Effectively, she carried the first album, Girls & Boys, but, now, the band have grown and perform with assurance allowing Brittany to experiment. She approaches each song with imagination. It’s almost as though there is a different vocalist for each one. She is incredibly versatile, not just with her harmonic range but with the ability to switch the decibel count from one to 500 and back in a single breath. Her screeches and scratches are a joy in themselves. The songs and the arrangements may be painstakingly constructed but the playing is rich, tense and dramatic and there are plenty of surprises in the dynamics of the song » Continue Reading.